Failed by the system

Apparently foreign workers can fully expect to not receive help from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) when they need it, even after they were assaulted by their employers and have a pending police case. If they pursue the matter through our mighty justice system, we will slap the employers on the wrist, wag our fingers and tell them "don't do that again". And when I say "that", I mean slapping someone so hard their eardrums rupture, then refuse to pay them outstanding wages, and then attempting to kidnap and assault them again right outside MOM.

Abu Sama had faith in our justice system. Hell, he had faith in this country, and we have failed him and others like him as if we are a failed state.

Abu Sama had spent a small fortune coming to Singapore. He had heard so many stories about our wonderful country, thought he’d be treated fairly. But his employers made him live in a shithole, failed to pay him, and hit him when he dared speak up.

It's a tragedy that his employers were protected at his cost. This is a blatant endorsement of thuggery, and I really believe that we are better than that. Apparently, I am wrong. TOC added the following in their publishing of the original article:

TOC’s note: The police had notified Abu Sama earlier this year that preliminary inquiries into Abu Sama’s police report “is completed and it discloses an offence under Section 323 of the Penal Code… which is a non-seizable offence.”

I'm not sure if TOC got the right information, but the Singapore Penal Code is easily verified, and this is what I've got from the Attorney-General's Chambers:

Hurt.
319. Whoever causes bodily pain, disease or infirmity to any person is said to cause hurt. Explanation.––A person is said to cause hurt if he causes another person to be unconscious.

Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt.
323. Whoever, except in the case provided for by section 334, voluntarily causes hurt, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine which may extend to $5,000, or with both.

Voluntarily causing hurt on provocation.
334. Whoever voluntarily causes hurt on grave and sudden provocation, if he neither intends nor knows himself to be likely to cause hurt to any person other than the person who gave the provocation, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 months, or with fine which may extend to $2,500, or with both.

I am not a lawyer, but those sections do not read like a "non-seizable" offenses to me, and certainly merits more than just a warning. This casts some doubt on the handling of Abu Sama's case, and one that the authorities would do well to set right.