TikTok helps Singaporean employer catch Indonesian housekeeper stealing

A Singaporean employer caught his Indonesian domestic helper stealing money from him after coming across her TikTok by chance. Photo illustration by Freepik

The South China Morning Post reported earlier this week that the Singaporean man Sim Yuan San, 41, reported a case of theft to local police after coincidentally spotting red envelopes given to him by his late father-in-law in videos uploaded to the TikTok account of his 36-year-old Indonesian housekeeper, Nurfiyawati.

He then checked the place where he kept the envelopes and found that dozens of them were missing.

Nurfiyawati subsequently admitted to stealing the envelopes with money inside from her employer starting May last year, when she found their hiding place while Sim and his family were on a trip to South Korea.

She snuck envelopes out of the home a total of at least 32 occasions over a period of three months, and the cumulative amount of money she took was at least S$7,000 (around US$5,200).

The Indonesian woman then pleaded guilty in court and was sentenced to three years imprisonment.