By Sujin Thomas

MONTHS after a four-year-old had chilli padi smeared over his mouth by his childcare centre teacher, he still woke up in the middle of the night screaming: 'I don't want chilli.'

According to the mother of the boy, who cannot be identified because of his age, her son had nightmares for months after the incident in May last year.

The ill-treatment also caused him to have eight ulcers in his mouth and he could eat only cold food for a few weeks after that, she said.

Last Friday, the teacher, Hasanah Ahmad, 25, who was sacked after the incident and is now unemployed, was fined the maximum of $4,000. District Judge May Mesenas said she decided against a jail sentence - which could have been up to four years - in lieu of the lawyer's leniency plea.

Mr Pritam Singh Gill had said his client, Hasanah, was four months pregnant and suffering from depression and anxiety at the time of the incident.

Hasanah, now a mother of three, had two miscarriages in the past and her stress levels were up at the time of the incident as she had two new pupils in her class of 12 needing special attention.

On May 7 last year, she saw the boy about to toss a wooden stick at her three-year-old son, who also attended the childcare centre in Ang Mo Kio.

She scolded him and brought him to a classroom where she returned with a packet of chilli padi. The boy kept quiet initially but started struggling when she tore open the packet and pointed at the fiery chilli padi. During the scuffle, the contents came into contact with his mouth and face.

His mother, who later picked him up from the centre, lodged a police report. She said: 'When I went to pick him up, I could even see chilli padi seeds on his face. I would not want this to happen to even my enemy's children.'

The boy's mother, who is in her 40s, and who has two other sons, said she forgives Hasanah for what she did.

Although Hasanah offered to pay $2,000 in compensation, she declined it. 'I don't want to take money from her as she has already apologised. She's unemployed now and she probably needs the money more than I do.'

She has since placed her son in another childcare centre. 'My son is okay now. He told me he accepts her apology but does not want to see her again because he's scared of her.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 20 Oct, 2008.

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