Story by Andrew Loh / Pictures by Damien Chng
“My wife crying, my mother crying, my father crying,” Delowar said to me when I asked him if he had told his family that he was returning to Bangladesh. “Everything I lost,” he added. “I lost my father’s land.” For the second time since I have met him, his eyes turned red as tears threatened to fall. He had sold his father’s land and borrowed from the bank to raise S$9,000 to come to work in Singapore.
In the end, he is paid a measly S$600 to bring home with him.
We were seated in the foodcourt at Changi Airport where 24 Bangladeshi workers were awaiting their flight home. Seven more will go home on Tuesday (13 Jan). Earlier in the morning, the 24 men were ferried to the airport in two lorries, they told me. “No bus? No coaches?” I asked. “No coach, no bus,” Delowar replied.
And apparently also no lunch was catered for them either. In fact, their “boss” had told them the night before that there were to be no meals for them today, the men said. It was 11.30am and the men had been at the airport for an hour – without knowing which flight they were to be on, or the time of their departure. It seemed that they were dumped at the airport without any information or instructions at all.
There was also no sign of their employer, or anyone from the company. “No one,” Delowar told me when I asked about this. “No boss. Only lorry driver. Two lorry, two driver,” he said.
Surely they were given breakfast, I thought. “No breakfast,” came his reply. Their passports were also still being held by their employer.
It was only at about 1.30pm that a certain “Michael Choo” appeared. He had on a polo t-shirt which bore the name “Halcyon Offshore”. He was speaking with the workers when Delowar, Ramananda and I walked up to him, with 20 packets of rice for the workers. Mr Choo asked me who I was, I being only one of two Chinese among the group, the other being my TOC colleague and photographer, Damien Chng. “I am from The Online Citizen,” I answered. He looked bewildered for a moment. Then he asked me again. “I am a Singaporean helping them,” I offered. He didn’t look very happy.
A little later, he said he was not going to speak to me and asked if I could leave him alone to speak with the men. I asked, “Why so secretive?” His answer, “If you’re talking to your wife, would you want others to listen in?” I thought that was the strangest thing to say. I replied, “But they [the workers] are not your wife.” He looked away. He said something and asked if I understood. I said no, I did not understand. He then turned to the workers and asked them to have their lunch first – a lunch which he did not buy them – and that he would speak with them later.
After lunch, which the men ate at the waiting area of the airport, Mr Choo started handing out the rest of the money to them. (They had been paid part of what was owed them a few days earlier.) It was then that I could see the disappointment in the workers as they received the few hundred dollars from Mr Choo. Some told me that they had borrowed thousands but now have only a few hundred dollars.
Soon, the men had to check in their luggage. As I spoke further with them, one of them told me, “Singapore government must make sure company have work then let people come.” He couldn’t understand why the government here would allow recruitment agencies to bring in so many workers and leave them in dormitories for months without so much as a day’s work. The only consolation I could offer them was to tell them that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is going to charge some employers, according to reports from news media yesterday. When they heard this, they just shook their heads and smiled. “Too late [for me],” one of them said.
Abdul Wahab, who had arrived in Singapore on the same day as Delowar, some four months ago, was deeply disappointed. “I sell land, sell family gold, come Singapore,” he said. “Now, nothing. Pay $8,000 come. Now $300 go back,” he said as he showed me the three $100 notes in his hand. Ramananda, too, was given three $100 notes as the final payment for the months spent here in Singapore, clearly disgusted with his employer. (Picture left).
In the foodcourt, during lunch, Delowar told me that his dream was to build a primary school in Bangladesh, in his district of Tangail. I asked how many students the school would have. “400 to 500,” he replied. “That’s a lot of students,” I said. He smiled. Then he hung his head. “I come Singapore, make money, go home build school,” his trembling voice evident. He had been a teacher before he arrived here. “Now, I cannot.”
I told him not to give up and promised that I would visit him in Bangladesh a few months from now. That lit up his face – and that of Ramananda, who was seated with us. “You come, I go airport meet you,” Ramananda said. “You stay my house,” he urged. “His house in jungle!” said Delowar. We laughed. I said I did not mind the jungle. Ramananda explained that his home was in a tea plantation. “Tea everywhere!” he said. “My family, my father, my mother, will happy you come.” It was decided that I would visit Delowar first as his home was nearer the capital, Dhaka, and then visit Ramananda, who lived 5 hours away in the district of Moulovibazar.
When the men had finished checking in, it was time for them to enter the departure gates. Ramananda said to me in his halting English, “I English no good. Cannot say [what I feel]. You understand can [already].” I told him I understood what he is feeling and asked him to continue his automobile work which he was doing before he came to Singapore. He promised that he would.
It is the end of their collective journey here in Singapore – but a new set of problems is facing them when they land in Bangladesh airport a few hours later.
As I bade them goodbye, I realized that it must have been a torture or at least a very difficult decision for them to make to sell their land which, in some cases, had been in their families for generations – in order to pursue a better life for themselves and their loved ones. Land, in a country such as Bangladesh, undoubtedly holds much more meaning than perhaps it does for us here in Singapore.
Two days before, I met Delowar over dinner. I said to him then, “Do not hate my country. There are good people,” I said, “and there are bad people.” He smiled and told me that he did not hate Singapore.
He just hated how he and his friends were treated.
“Thank you,” Delowar (picture right) said to me at the departure gates of Changi Airport. “I didn’t do anything much,” I replied. He smiled and shook my hand and gave me a hug. Then he said, “Employer clever.” I did not understand at first but then I realized he was referring to how he felt his employer had cheated them. I told him to not think of this sad episode and to work hard and fulfill his dream of building a school for his town. But the sadness in his eyes told me that he was resigned but upset with his employer as he heaved a sigh and turned to enter the gates of the departure hall. He looked to me one last time and said:
“I hope Singapore government punish them.”
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Note: The 24 who went home are part of an original 36 who had made complaints to MOM about their employer. 5 went home last month, and the remaining 7 are to go back to Bangladesh on Tuesday, Jan 13. All 36 who complained are now back in Bangladesh.
——–
Read also:
The story of Delowar by Deborah Choo.
Mega development projects and labout supply chains – whose responsibility is it? by Stephanie Chok.
Sent home with $600 by Deborah Choo.
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I am glad our leaders are helping the jobless.
there is this WCA thingie which stands for Work Care Agent.
they put many notice on HDB notice boards of aljunied grc .
they kindly displayed the message “Need a job? Let us help you!”
just a pitty, I emailed them the mail got error.
apparently the email address given is wrong.
I went to http://www.aljuniedgrc.sg/Care.php and found the email is also stated the same. but the email address seems wrong given this gmail error message:
the Mail Delivery subsystem error message is :
This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification
Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:
wca.aljuniedhougang@gmail.com
the following url shows the email address in the website:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34347053@N03/3196151186/
I hope they rectify this. many jobless may need the help.
1. why use gmail and not official email wca@xxxxxx.sg?
2. why the email could not get through and still so long already, the many hdb notice boards still showing the same error email?
i no no leh. i really really the no no leh.
The problems are:
1. You do not have a government and political system that is accountable to the people.
2. You do not have journalists. Full stop. You DO not have a media. You only have people who write and publish some words on paper.
3. You now no longer have choices and options in choosing another political system. All opposition has been destroyed, snuffed out and JB died recently too. And hence it may be too late.
39) JohnnyKid
Assuming the govt is pro-company. A higher wage of the foreigners will translate to a higher construction cost. Given that all companies are all profit maximiser, which will translate to a higher cost of living. In the end, all the costs will be shouldered by all Singaporeans which include the poor. Means solving a problem and creating another problem.
If the system doesn’t change, we will never see the balancing effect (company v.s. govt v.s.workers) . The status of companies and govt will remain fixed. The losing party will sure be either the locals or the foreigners (workers). Would this result to a crazy wage cycle that might be created between locals and foreigners?
Eh, with the employers paying “practically nothing” for their labourers, what “high costs” are we talking about here? The cost of padding up their own wallets?
A travesty! We need to enact more employee protection laws. All this companies have no regard for humanity. I can’t believe MOM didn’t do much. These greedy employers and agents only care about money.
52) tiredman
I wasn’t asking government to implement a minimum wage for foreign workers. Do reread my post.
What you are saying is worrying – that it is alright to have foreign workers treated like slaves as long as our costing of living is kept low.
Its really a loophole in the Spore govt, esp MOM, when it comes to employing foreign white-collar workers. They may not be as fortunate as fellow Sporeans, but they do have dignity and a family to raise back in their hometown.
Hi Andrew,
If you are really going to visit them, perhaps we can collect some money for them to help them get back on their feet again.
This is the least that we can do, I think.
donate,
Tentatively, it will either be in April or June this year. I would be more than happy to help distribute any donations to them. :)
I just heard that Delowar is having a very tough time at home. Sigh… I can only imagine what he is going through. I will be calling him soon to find out what’s going on..
Andrew
The plight of the foreign workers is not new. This has been happening since the day the Singapore government imposed the levy system.
Many are gone unpublished.
MOM has put up posters in areas where foreign workers mingle and tell them to report if they are not paid. Many of them do but the end result is still the same. No one take a concerted effort to understand these workers problems, including MOM. These cheated workers return home with a heavy heart and face insurmountable burdens. Some even committ suicide, whilst their ex-bosses here still drive around in Mercedes Benz. The only solution is to abolish the levy system, which I think the local government wiil not do because the income through that is substantial. So until then more foreign workers will suffer. Never ending story.
Wow, TOC, trying to use a touching story to stir up anti-gahmen feelings hah?
Wow, TOC, nice try at using a touching story to exploit people’s emotion to stir anti-PAP feelings.family too?
Nice try for deleting my comments for the 3rd time!
This article has nothing to do with inciting hatred towards the Government or PAP, as claimed by high five and black kettle. Why bring politics into everything. It just shows the immaturity in them.
TOC is only highlighting the problems foreign workers face and it is only the tip of the iceberg. Everyone agreed that foreign workers in a way contribute to the economy of Singapore and as such it is only fair we treat them fairly. They are here because our dollar is strong. Can one imagine if someday our dollar loses strength and we are forced to seek employment in another country where you are treated the same way as we are treating our foreign workers now. This day is’nt too far away.
For those of you new to TOC, the story of Delowar, originated from the TOC article titled; 179 foreign workers abandoned by employer.
The article in this tread is not just a story to stir up sentiments but is one followed up closely by TOC’s reporting crew since mid-December. There are no anti-whatever sentiments to stir up except to ask questions of the authorities that be, on why such situations are allowed to happen in frist world Singapore; and what course of action these authorities will take to ensure that no future abuses will happen.
We have seen vigilante postings, attempting to stir up anti-TOC and anti-Opposition sentiments, and very much so since this afternoon.
TOCers, I trust, are more discerning than those who blindly and religiously follow the MSM and PAP propaganda.
I have nothing but kudos for this article; this is investigative journalism at its best. Thanks TOC for bringing up this matter which would otherwise may not be reported by our mainstream media.
I followed up on a link to Mr Siew Kum Hong’s blog about the speeches in Parliament about the issue – despite the claims of only 0.05% affected, the views of this disaffected minority must be heard, loudly even.
It’s a sad day to be Singaporean – to have people being treated this way on our shores is simply unjust and unfair and must be condemned. If our fellow Singaporeans can stand by and dismiss this as unimportant then half of our battle (for the various freedoms) is lost.
if there is nothing wrong done, why scared others stir whatever emotion and why mainstream media not covering such reports……真金不怕火炼……
The MOM allows them to come in because they have no clue what is going on. Headline numbers look good so it must mean that the underlying situation is also rosy. Taking in workers to collect levies? Is the MOM given a performance target as well ? are they being assessed on a $$ yardstick??? All sorts of problems created. No housing? Stick the workers in residential areas!
They just take orders from their Minister to let in these foreign talent. Its not just the low salaried jobs that we are going overboard. Its the high salaried jobs as well.
Whats the result ? Singaporeans are sandwiched between the top end and the bottom end of the economic spectrum.
Sickens me, what the Govt is doing
It just shows Singapore is NOT First World.
Certainly not in the way it treats its workers, both local and foreign.
I cannot believe this happened. It really makes me a little ashamed to be Singaporean. I hope the government can do something about it, if we allow this to go through, then won’t be spread and expand to something larger in the future?
I wonder why main stream media is not covering this too,
Sadly I no longer identify myself as SinKaporean any more. Although I was born and bred in SinKapore but I spent many years in JB as my mother’s family came from there.I identify myself as from Malaysia.SinKapore now had a culture of getting rich quick and by any means. It is a matter of time before it is internationally known as a crook and cheating nation not to be trusted. If gahment could help themselves to whatever money they want why not SinKaporean as well. It is the first step to 3rd World status. We have not seen anything yet. More will come to the surface as time goes on. So far one scam was discovered, more are waiting to be found. Just wait and see.
The MSM only carry good news, positive news, such as booming housing market, to reflect the efficient govt.
It sweep underneath the carpet all bad news, hence, we oftenly see bad times or issue arrive suddenly.
这是 报喜不报忧
It happens everywhere not just Singapore. But the only different is in Singapore it has been legitimized by the gahmen slowly but surely over a long period of time. The general public has been blinded by the success storiesall these years and so much so nobody saw the hidden agenda, not until the syatem start to crack or fail. But then it was too late.
In other countries the general public call it “IT IS WHAT IT IS” i.e. corruption, thus due to this Singapore has always been viewed as the least corrupt country compares to the neighbouring countries. And why not? Since the gahmen says so.
Take a look at these examples:
In other countries, appointing family members in cabinet as well as GLC is considered nepotism. But in Singapore it is meritocracy.
In other countries, losing public funds will be accounted as mismanagment corruption and negligence, But in Singapore, it is a business decision (Yah! A bad one that is)
In other countries, favouring one race over another is considered discrimination and favouritisim. But in Singapore, it is Meritocracy.
The list goes on and on..
Koh Beng Seng on September 9th, 2009 11.43 pm
A “speculative orgy” (to borrow term from the Great Crah 1929) in property market when the economic fundamntals is heading south, is sign of sucides, It has always been and higly likely will remain the same. Some group is gong for a kill anytime now.
@high five, @black kettle.
fact: the foreign workers were mistreated. right or not?
at least TOC don’t sweep the bad things under the carpet.
TOC, pls keep up the excellent work ! Kudos to you guys !
Time to vote out these miw pigs. Think they care about how these migrant workers are treated ? ! Think they care about the existence of recruitment companies who mercilessly abuse these workers ? No, in fact, they are advocating an increase in the levy. All they want is to fatten their own coffers to cover the massive loss by their incompetent TH & GIC.
I read most of the comments and have this to say. If we were to just focus on a few social issues and get mad, it is quite myopic. We should look at the bigger picture of the country and count our blessings that we have a growing economy, good schools and infrastructure and a safe place to live. Most of our people live in HBD flats which are very big and well located. All we need to step outside our country to notice the poverty and political turmoils. As an individual ourself, we can also never find everyone to be happy with us. For a leader to run a country, he has to consider many things, and implement what is required, no matter how unpleasant.
For these foreign workers, there is no hope in their countries and they take a huge risk, borrowing money to come here to work. For some of these workers, they have been cheated and I agree that justice must be sought. But a majority of them are doing well, living in dormitory and earning a sum which was agreed. There are also many of them in the service sector and trying hard to upgrade their services. In any trade, there are always unscrupulous people on both sides, employers and employees and it is certainly up to the individual to judge for themselves if they want to be a part of it.
firenz,
Are you sure HDB flats are very big and well-located? You must always state clearly and specifically what you are referencing to. Otherwise, you’ll end up talking like Mah Bow Tan who has constantly been drilling into our heads “HDB flats will be affordable”.
If you are comparing our standards of living to the slumps of 3rd world countries, sure, life here is great. But we are SUPPOSED to be more advanced than that right? So called “1st world country”. So why lower our standards to comparing ourselves with the poor?
If you consider how a lot cheaper it was to buy HDB flats just merely 5-10 years ago, you’ll pause to think. It just doesn’t make sense. You can get a new 5 room flat for $300+k not too long ago. Today the same resale flats are going for $600k. But do our salaries increase by a lot more to cope with the insane increase in prices? An emphatic NO!!!
And if you look at size of newly built HDB flats these days, you’ll know how much cramped and smaller they are than those built in the 80′s and 90′s.
If affordability of HDB flats as what MAH BT always utters means being able to pay before you kick the bucket, without having to beg or rob a bank, then sure, many of us plain joes can also AFFORD a FERRARI. Take a 40 year car loan and work hard to pay till you’re 70+ years old.
Coming back to what you have written, your statement that HDB flats are very big is a big joke to say the least.
I cannot comment much on what was written about the mistreatment of Bangladeshi workers as it has not been personally authenticated by me. But if it’s really true, then I think it’s not definitely right. Suffice to say that many times, the way I see things being done in Singapore, I think it’s such a farce. We are so good at wanting to show off to the rest of the world how nice Singapore is, but if you experience life here, you will know soon there are many things which are not how they seem to be.
To give you an example, I work at a local hospital. I hold high responsibility as far as patient’s lives are concerned. But yet, I am not properly trained. And I actually am involved in patients’ treatments! Do you find it scary? Surprised? Yes, indeed. Yet, as long as you’re not doctors, no one up there seems to care about you. The Singapore’s Ministry of Health doesn’t know we even exist! How bad is that…. Sorry I cannot reveal more. But I find it so crappy they want to send us for accreditation after accreditation to show to others how well-prepared the hospital is in terms of quality this and that. But they totally ignored the importance of our profession.
Are u going to be collecting money for the school?
I wish to donate to the building of the school.
Please contact me. Thank you.
i think what TOC is trying to bring out few issue.
1. employers are abusing the lax foreign labour policy to profiteer. ah neh paid $8k to 9K to work in singapore. this money go to the middlemen in singapore and blangadesh,who then paid singaporeans employers $xxxx amount to get workers from them.
2. MOM and SIR do not have the ability nor the manpower to administer the nos of foreigner let alone knowing who are the genuine empoyers and who are rouge employers.
3. there are no protection for foreigners as in work pass common contract. this actually not only to protect genuine workers but also to deter emplpyers who had no need for job but to profiteer from middlemen fees.
from what i had seen , hear in singapore. we are not far from human trafficking at all.
i urge all singaporeans to talk to this workers, coffeshop china men or ladies, workers in factory, to get a real feel what is happening in singapore.
The PAP Govt will not be doing anything. They are in this together with the contractors many of whom are in the grassroot organisations. It’s a gold mine for the ministers and their cronies – bring in workers, c
*collect levy. The contractors on the other hand get almost free labour to help build the various projects that the PAP award them via a pseudo-tender. Once done, the contractors will find some excuse to repatriat these workers with the PAP’s connivance.
Those who are prosecuted for not paying workers are the few who don’t belong to grassroots. The majority are in grassroots and they get away with it.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Banana Republic of Singapore.