Comments on: The short, hopeful life of Odud Sayed Ahammed

By: Racist

Racist — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:37:57 +0000

people should not expect much from this racist gov who i bet in a magical world singapore can be part of europe and every thing is white and pretty.

By: PeeAndPoo

PeeAndPoo — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:14:26 +0000

The PAP govt have no regards for dignity even for their own citizens and we expect them to do something for the foreign workers they exploit?
Besides the above tragic story,many such foreign workers who have been lured or misled here are sometimes caned for overstaying when they try to earn their airtickets home.
PAP govt claims to be First World but has been overlooking such inhuman acts taking place right in their self-proclaimed Paradise(which resembles Hell actually)!
Or the PAP govt is motivated by the revenue generated from such foreign workers?
Imagine if there are 500,000 workers multiply by S$350 collected each month; then the levies would amount to S$175mil….every month!
Wonder where this money all end up? Definitely not used in alleviating the local homeless or destitutes’ plight.
Or is this justification for the increment for Ministers’ pay ….??

By: Benedict Thambiah

Benedict Thambiah — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:04:07 +0000

This is indeed a really sad story. I can’t believe how hope for a better life has led to a man losing his life. Very sad. Especially so for his wife and children.

The behaviour of the Singapore employer is not surprising. All you need to do is observe how supervisors and managers speak to their workers – there is no respect. Just scolding and yelling. It is symptomatic of our ‘you are lesser than me’ attitude. An attitude we harbour towards foreign workers not expatriates…

I think, we treat our dogs better than the way we treat these poor men and women; who leave their homes to come here to help us build our homes and offices, our economy and look after our loved ones.

Just observe and you will know what I mean.

By: Ali Kati

Ali Kati — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:25:21 +0000

There’s a duty of care to be expected from the employment agency, whether it be contractual or moral. They failed to do the basic – to provide medical care, or if they feign ignorance of his condition, to conduct an investigation on negligent practices with regards to employee care, and then provide a full account to the family. It’s unacceptable for them to deliver his body with no report or follow-up.

This got me thinking this morning. In Singaporean society, sometimes it’s hard to identify with foreign menial labour workers. However, there are parallels. Odud’s family and friends pooled their resources to send their beloved friend/husband/brother abroad to further his chances of making a better life for them all. To a certain extent, haven’t many Singaporean families done the same to send a son or daughter abroad for further education so as to create a brighter future for them all? Imagine if one of those sons or daughters died abroad on campus and was sent back with no explanation.

This is an opportunity for the Singporean government to live up to a general global perception of Singapore as an ethical, merit-focused and conscientious society. I hope the government will do its due diligence and follow up on the reports.

By: fjb

fjb — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:03:02 +0000

i am appalled. and as a singaporean and a muslim, embarrassed. how could my government allow this to happen repeatedly. and how could the muslim organization in singapore allow for such an insult to happen to a fellow muslim — to be embalmed and then shipped back without proper rites. it is humiliating, insulting and degrading.
i feel awful for his family. devastation on so many levels. this is harrowing. i think it is tantamount to murder.

By: Shelley

Shelley — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 08:38:13 +0000

14) Akira, employers who bring foreign workers into Singapore are responsible for their upkeep and maintenance. This includes payment of all their medical costs. It is the very least an employer should do for his employee. Odud had been sick for 9 days. He died before he was sent to the doctor for medical treatment. It is a tragedy. Furthermore “he had collapsed behind a bus-stop along Boon Lay Way” which means it will prove difficult for Odud’s family to claim compensation for his death under workers compensation. Now Odud’s wife not only has to find the means to survive, , she has also incurred his debt of S$9,000 to give him the right to come to Singapore to work. There are some good and decent Singaporean employers but not in Odud’s case. Odud’s story is not far-fetched. This is not the first time either that a migrant worker was sent home in a box and his family left to live in poverty.

By: akira

akira — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 03:59:42 +0000

I am a Singaporean. I have nothing against the foreign workers. Nor do I think that we should condemn Singaporean employers based on the death of a worker.

His death certificate says “he had collapsed behind a bus-stop along Boon Lay Way” what a way to write a death cert.

What we should be looking forward to now is to get the employer to speak up! We cannot listen to just one side of the story and moreover WHO is giving this story? Is the employer not providing the medical protection? Or that the employee simply doesn’t know that he can seek treatment when he’s ill?

If the purpose of this article is to ask for help for a foreign family in peril. Fine. But if it is to relegate the morality of Singaporean employers in general, it is too far-fetched.

Condolences.

By: Daniel Chip

Daniel Chip — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:02:32 +0000

What the hell was that?! These stories have to be reported, brought to the fore in the media, in order for Singaporeans to know the kind of unlawful-ness that prevails in our country. Sigh. Do these lives not matter at all? Why are talents treated like kings and queens, and these foreign workers like servants and maids?! Are their lives of any lesser worth?!?!

By: thedoc

thedoc — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:21:11 +0000

Jesus christ. This is just sick. What have we become?

By: Lynn Lee

Lynn Lee — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:16:32 +0000

#3 Lee Chee Wai
You’re right, this is just one side of the story. I hope to follow-up with Odud’s employer, Ree Engineering, when I return to Singapore. Odud’s former colleagues will also be able to give us more information.

What is clear though, is the callous way Odud’s employer handled the whole situation. As you said – not a shred of sympathy. It’s also clear that Odud’s wife is living in poverty. She can hardly afford to feed her baby, let alone her two older kids who are now in an orphanage.

By: Spirit-centred

Spirit-centred — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:12:50 +0000

Our government is condoning this modern slavery trade by allowing recruitment companies to bring these foreign workers into Singapore like commodity to stock them in temporary make-shift quarters(warehouse) waiting for potential employers to employ/pick them up. The recruitment company are profiting a sinful commission from these desperate foreign workers. Thats why Singapore is included in the list of countries that conduct human trade.

By: Spirit-centred

Spirit-centred — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:01:24 +0000

This is modern slavery in the most despicable order.

By: Ganga

Ganga — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:05:25 +0000

What can we expect from a robot city? Everyone is measured in terms of monetary contribution and little else. I would go as far as to say that the first thing the employer(s) probably said when the death was discovered was a set of expletives to curse fate (and the deceased) for adding trouble, more work and unnecesary costs.

Sending back the body was required by law, it was not even the least they would have done.

By: KK

KK — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:58:39 +0000

If I were to die during my employment in a foreign country, the foreign employer might not even send my body back to Singapore. Reason being our Government got governing rules to protect the foreign workers but not their own citizens. So please Singaporeans wake up.

By: KK

KK — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:26:51 +0000

Hi Singaporeans, you should pity yourselves not the foreign workers as foreign workers working in Singapore are covered under the mandatory Medical Insurance whereas we, Singaporeans, have to take care of our own medical costs. So actually the government has actually taken great care of the foreign workers,

By: zook

zook — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:42:03 +0000

[---deleted by moderator---] our fellow singaporean employers is on their mind? so corrupted by the profit-driven governement so everything must be measured in term of money? god damn pls someone write to the new, young, and supposed to be capable MOM minister to tell him about this fact, and demand them to investigate the issue and prosecute the employer if found guilty.

Singapore is becoming a rotten name, a broken image, and cheapskate country.

By: HHH

HHH — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:50:00 +0000

The foreigners are conveniently termed “talents” such that we do not find them working on the road after midnight. Only in the day are they working clogging up the roads at peak hour. So much for spoiling them!

By: Lee Chee Wai

Lee Chee Wai — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:39:00 +0000

I agree with the author. It is probably too late, but the first thing a company ought to have done was to offer condolences, an explanation of how he died (somewhat present in the death certificate but that’s a really cold way to tell a family member how someone died) and finally, an offer of at least some emotional or token monetary support in difficult days ahead.

To be fair, I am taking with a pinch of salt the article’s claims that absolutely nothing was done other than send his body home (in a nutshell). If true, then that is truly a damning indictment of cooperate culture in that company … not a shred of empathy. As if Odud was not human.

In fact, this is what infuriates me most about how we treat foreign workers in general. The government and companies do not treat them as individual adult human beings, taking away their passports, making them live in dorms (they do not have a choice do they? even if they could somehow afford to rent a flat?). Ok, fine … then surely they are now considered “under your care” and if bad things happen to them, it is “your responsibility”? It seems to me that ONLY when bad things happen, do we suddenly apply the term “individual responsibility” as an excuse …

By: Chan s p

Chan s p — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:51:04 +0000

My god these people are sick who runs the company?! I’ll picket his house…

By: slev

slev — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:14:42 +0000

More people need to be aware this story! The govt should definitely punish employers if they are found to be negligent!