[rkhl]

SCMP via yahoo.hk today -
Police investigate Discovery Bay maid's death (SCMP) 04? 16? ??? 00:03AM

Police are investigating the death of a Discovery Bay domestic helper whose body was found floating off Tung Chung on Friday days after she allegedly fled her employers'

home barefoot and wearing pyjamas.

Vicenta Flores, 31, from the Philippines, was seen running out of her employers' house in exclusive Seabee Lane on the night of April 7 as her employers returned home, police said.

A police source said Flores, known among Discovery Bay residents as "Vicky", had been employed by the couple for 12 years.

The woman also took care of the couple's four dogs and walked them to Discovery Bay Plaza where many other helpers looking after dogs congregate every morning.

Initial police investigations found no evidence of a dispute before she left the home, and police are investigating whether her death was a case of suicide or an accident.

A postmortem examination found no cause of suspicion, and determined wounds on the woman's face had been caused when the body washed ashore and hit rocks.

After a woman's body was found in the sea near Tung Chung ferry pier at about 6pm on Friday, her employers were asked to identify it but could not confirm if the victim was Flores. The woman's aunt, who had been trying to call her since she disappeared, said on Saturday the body was that of her niece.

Police said the identity was confirmed yesterday.

A spokesman for the Philippine consulate said yesterday it was offering assistance to Flores' aunt.

[KnowItAll]

Not so Stepford Wives after all ....

[clip_my_wings]

its strange how the death of an airline gets some 20 pages of comments but the death of a person can not manage the completion of one ...

for anyone interested, the death of poor vicky seems to be clouded in suspicious circumstances. The SCMP report states that the police has concluded that the death was a result of accident or suicide but many questions remain unanswered.

Vicky was last seen running from her employers discovery bay address in pyjamas ..

the next known whereabouts of Vicky was being washed up on tung tung lake in pyjamas

well the only feasible way vicky's body could of ended up as tung chung lake would be via the DB tunnel (no unregistered private cars are allowed to enter/leave DB) - either by herself (which would of meant taking a bus or possibly a hire car) or by private car/removal van registered to enter/leave discovery bay.

for many residents in DB this case requires a full investigation and it appears from media coverage that it is being largely ignored and not prioritsed.

anyway please read the enclosed site if interested. If your able to help or at least concerned with the lack of a thorough and transparent invesitgation into the case please sign the on-line petition.

About this Blog ? A Death in Hong Kong

for those of you with Oasis bookings may you also please get a full and fair refund for your cancelled tickets

[KnowItAll]

Aside from what we mentioned earlier, petition copies have now gone over to Mui Wo with Filipinos who were visiting Discovery Bay today. Uncle Russ Coffee in the Plaza has copies of the petition to sign, but the Flying Pan unfortunately decided not to take any.

Strange .. did they have a reason?

[PDLM]

As I understand it her body was washed up on the shore in Tung Chung, not in a lake. There are extremely strong currents around Lantau, so I don't see it as given that she had to have passed through the DB tunnel. Given that it was (I think) 4 days between her disappearance and the body being found I would have thought that would have been plenty of time for her body to have been washed around there is she had entered the water in or near DB.

Good luck in trying to get to the bottom of this. Something certainly doesn't feel right to me.

And I would be inherently suspicious of any employer who (if reports in the SCMP are correct) puts a camera in their maid's bedroom.

[clip_my_wings]

http://adeathinhongkong.files.wordpr...ores-route.jpg

maybe its feasible PDLM but if you look at the map seems one long journey and pretty remote chances

[Skyhook]

Maybe the maid couldn't swim, fell into the drink by accident some how, and inevitably drowned?

Most of Hong Kongs population can't swim, I am sure a fair percentage of the maids out there, cannot either.

One of Hong Kongs more popular forms of suicide, is to jump in the harbour, hence why the Police are saying she fell in by accident, or deliberately jumped in, to kill herself. This is providing she couldn't swim, which if discovered that she could in fact, swim, then my argument doesn't hold any water.....

[ontheroad]

Originally Posted by PDLM

And I would be inherently suspicious of any employer who (if reports in the SCMP are correct) puts a camera in their maid's bedroom.

That's disgusting. Are there any laws to prevent these kinds of things? Are people allowed to install cameras in their helpers bedrooms?
It would be interesting to find out what suicide rates among helpers are in HK. I hear so many stories of helpers being treated badly by their employees... I don't know who some people can live with themselves.

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by ontheroad

Are there any laws to prevent these kinds of things? Are people allowed to install cameras in their helpers bedrooms?

From PCPD - Topical Issues

Can employers monitor employees' e-mails and phone calls?
Before deciding to monitor, employers should first assess whether it is really necessary to conduct such activity having regard to the business risks that they seek to manage and the impact on personal data privacy of its employees. Employers should consider alternatives available in order to lessen the adverse impact brought by the monitoring activity. In carrying out monitoring, employers should also implement clear Employee Monitoring Policy and communicate it to the staff affected. The use, retention and processing of personal data collected should also be kept under control so as not to contravene the requirements under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.

Can employers of domestic helpers install surveillance cameras at home?
The same assessment process as mentioned above also applies. Given that the workplace is also the place of rest for the domestic helpers, employers should seriously consider whether it is really necessary to engage in such activity, the reasonableness as well as the openness of the activity. They should therefore inform their helpers of such practice, restrict monitoring to targeted areas (not toilets or other private areas) and make clear the purpose of monitoring and the retention period for the taped records.

[ontheroad]

Holy crap.