Andrew Loh with special thanks to “wildpoppies2009″
In December 2008, Bangladeshi worker Mohamad Kamaluddin, 28, was found dead in his dormitory at 468 Tagore Industrial Avenue. He was an employee of Gates Offshore, a ship repair and dormitory services company.
Kamaluddin had contracted chicken pox but was not given any medical assistance by his employer or the police, which his fellow workers said, had visited the dormitory several times prior to Kamaluddin’s death. We understand that his employer had given his family S$167.
We have learnt that legal firm, Leonard Loo & Partners and the non-government organization, TWC2, recently submitted a notification of Kamaluddin’s death to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). MOM was never notified by the employer, Gates Offshore, or Mr Paul Lee. The policy was that the employer is to notify MOM of the accident. However, the worker or his family could also notify MOM if they found out that the employer, in this case Gates Offshore/Paul Lee, did not notify MOM. Kamaluddin died late last year. MOM was only notified in June 2009!
Below is an exclusive, never-before-seen video of the scenes at the dormitory at 468 Tagore Industrial Avenue on the morning of 28 December 2008, the day Kamaluddin’s body was discovered motionless in the dormitory. The police had been called and his fellow workers had spilled onto the roads outside the dormitory, which housed about 700 workers, outraged at the way they were being treated.
Read also:
Mohamed Kamaluddin by The Online Citizen
Bangladeshi worker found dead in dorm by Today
3 more get chicken pox by The Straits Times
Family grieves as body of Bangladeshi who died of chickenpox arrives home by The Straits Times
——
As the economy takes a dive, migrant workers are told there are no more jobs for them and many are left without any money, some relying on aid workers for their daily meals. In the following video, several workers speak about their plight. Most of them have since been repatriated – either with a few hundred dollars to bring home or nothing at all – after having paid agents thousands of dollars to work in Singapore and being exploited by unscrupulous employers.
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This is a sad story. Our foreign workers are treated like dirt.
I wonder why so many foreigners are allowed in when there is hardly job available for them.
The ones that approve their work permit must either be blind.
Something must be done in this ministry – they are underperforming for so many months now.
It is a shame.
Have the police got to the bottom of this? Have the police checked out the Owner of the property? What is the connection between the Owner and the agent running this? Can a Owner deny not knowing what goes on in his premises?
Disgusting.
I am ashamed of being a Singaporean.
What are the scholar mandarins doing? They must be out touch with reality.
Sing – first class everything.
Sing – a caring society.
You must be stupid if you believe the gamen is caring.
Check out conveinences stores exploiting “student” labour circumventing the labour laws making them do grave-yards shift with no special night allowances. The commisioned labour agencies who in turn exploite these”students” Have we become a nation where the poor worked for the rich (cunnings) over a meagre sum of monies. Check out these “student-pass” holder, in reality they worked full time plus grave-yards shifts with very little or no pay – all in the name they need to graduate Is there another worse word for “EXPLOITATION”
Who issed these “student pass”? Do they have a duty to check out what these “student” really do in SIN? Were these pass used to help certain sector businesses do business by exploiting the poor and clueless “students”
The Government of Singapore should hire more jobless citizens, put them into the ministries that need manpower.
Why invest so much in something that is high risk, then to feed our own citizen ?
What kind of logic is this ??
Something is not right here..
#4) Plen…mmmm a very interesteing name…have i heard of it somewhere…
You are right….overseas student working…night shifts…without allowances…or a decent pay…
Foriegn workers…they pay about SGD$6,000 to come here to work and this is what they get…
Who gave them the permits….did they check…no way…just stamped…
this rubber stamping instititions must be better organized & informed….
One wonders why…but then, when you look at the ministers running the show…you know why they are like that….
Singapore is IMPLODING FROM WITHIN…..
looks like govt employees are disgusted with their leaders and the direction it is heading….thus, such services occur and reoccur….
To stop this…Introduce Competition….Political Competition in Parliment…Question the damn minister for such a state….he’s getting paid by the millions…
only then we will and can move forward….Elections seems to be around the corner..perhaps end of this year…
I feel sorry for the dead worker’s family & the other workers…Is there some sort of collection for the unfortunate guy. Please let me know.
Gilbert Whos care! Just collect Worker Levy $300.
If I’m the ministry, I will put priority on $$$$$$!
the people who cause the workers’ death through negligence should be held accountable, ranging form the security guard to the company management who has so grossly neglected the welfare of these people. There should also be a board of enquiry on the police as to why no action was taken when they inspected the dorms. The police should be held accountable as well!!
Well Done! Andrew Loh, Gilbert Goh and Leong Sze Hian etc etc!
Online Citizen is the Number One Singapore Blog! Keep it till 2011 election!
God Bless Online Citizen!!!!
It is shocking to see so many unemployed Banglas in Singapore. Why does our so called 1st class Home Team security gatekeeper ICA allow them to come in to be unemployed? Is ICA stamping the passports blindly without even looking at them and the passports? ICA must account for the death of this unemployed Bangla Mohd Kamaluddin for allowing him to come and die in Singapore.
It’s outrageous that such blatant exploitation of fellow human beings took place and is continuing to take place in a self-proclaimed first world country run by leaders who are paid many times what other world leaders are paid! Is there really nothing these “leaders” can do to put a stop to such exploitation? By choosing not to do anything when they have the power to do so makes them just as guilty as the perpetrators of the exploitation. Their hands are equally stained with the blood and tears of the exploited workers.
Just feel very helpless and sad for those workers, I am sure that this is not first time such incident happened in singapore, or all over the globe. I remembered watching another documentary featuring similar plight in dubai and middle east. And also similar news in south korea, japan etc.
They must have heard of such cases before. Why do these workers still rushed to work even they have to pay the agent a huge sum of money? Who are the agents that coaxed them to work oversea?
>> toolang
“It is shocking to see so many unemployed Banglas in Singapore”
I am not surprised. Unemployment is rising across all countries now- even Singaporeans are jobless. The situation is a timing problem- before Lehmen Brothers collapsed (just end last year), the economy was still doing well. Now projects have unexpectedly stalled, leaving the Bangladeshi on a two year contracts, in a tight spot.
Not having a job is a tragedy in terms of loss of livelihood. But it is something that everyone grapples across the world.
But paying agency fees before working is something that opens workers to exploitation. When they are retrenched, not only they don’t earn anything (which is happening all over the world), they make a loss in terms of agency fees!!
The problem is why workers are made to pay agency fees before work. Unfortunately, this is a practice that happens in their home countries.Sg govt can compensate workers their agency fees but question is should sg tax payers pay for the profits of their home agents? Or should sg companies compensate the workers for their agency fees that their home agents collect?
I think the injustice is where the worker pays fees in anticipation of recovering the fees and get higher wages over two years of employment to the agent, but that does not materialize. The right thing should be agents refunding workers agency fees in proportion to their remaining length of their employment contract.
On Singapore side, we should ensure that workers get paid the wages in full for the months they worked in Singapore. In event of bankruptcy (due to the crisis), FW wages like all other bankruptcy proceedings should be given top priority.
IMO, on a personal level, we should be compassionate about the plight the workers are in- jobless but saddled with debt. We should, out of our own free will, reach out and help them. But at a societal level, it will be unfair to force Singaporean taxpayers or companies to compensate for agency debts collected by their home agents.
what to do…the end justifies the means in SG
The BIG question is why are FW allowed into Singapore when is no work. The first criterion for issue of a work permit must be that the FW has secured a job. Why allow FW in to stay unemployed?
Another other BIG is what does MOM do with the FW Levy collected. Is MOM treating this collection as just free income?
MOM must take action to eliminate such pitiful happenings in Singapore. Remember, we are a caring society. Why is it that there seems to be any move by MOM to stamp this tide? Do the minister and ministry staff have no sense of pity and compassion? Power is in their hand, so do something about this sad state of affairs.
As a Singaporean, I am ashamed that we are paying pittance to people who do our dirty jobs whether they are local or foreigners. If we can afford to pay millions to our ministers, let us give a decent wage to our cleaners and labourers and construction workers.
Where is Goh Chock Tong with his EQ? Where are you Mr Goh? Do you care at all? Or are you continuing to talk crap.
I think when something goes wrong, we should crucify ministers or mandarins. frankly i think thee middle-tiers managers who are also collecting a decent salaries have a duty to know what is happening.. and are paid to do their job properly. The minister is under seige with so many responsibilities – were they told the whole truth? All the middle manager need do is to check out personally what goes on with these “Student” pass holders & check more frequently.
Point here is “Pay them” accordingly to labour rates if the stores are asking them to work grave-yard shifts and there should be no middleman exploiting & collecting fees while these poor soul slough it out and take only part shares.
Did these appointed agencies collect portion of these “students” work monies ie exploiting these “students”
Why so many here without work – $1500 per workers agency fees. 1000 workers x $1500 = $1.5 millions. In a society where your TOP man is paid millions, the middle ranking will say WHY work so hard – work for what? It becomes a moral issue between GREED and INTEGRITY.
Money & GREED exceeds all evils.
#19 oops
I meant “—- when something goes wrong, we should NOT crucify ministers or mandarins. frankly i think these middle-tiers managers …………………”
>> 17. Summer
“As a Singaporean, I am ashamed that we are paying pittance to people who do our dirty jobs whether they are local or foreigners….. let us give a decent wage to our cleaners and labourers and construction workers.”
Agreed. The qns is where is the problem?
Employers of FWs (including those who have maids) can have a choice to pay higher salaries. But nobody wants to. In fact, many employers do not even consider non-monetary things such one off-day for maids.
Of course, we can get the govt to set a minimum wage, mandate one off day and FORCE everyone in SIngapore to comply.
But the very fact we have to do that is either because
(i) Singaporeans can’t take initiative to make a difference (e.g. tipping cleaners, giving off-days, give higher pay)
(ii) majority of people in society do not really care about it. some may pretend to, but when they can make a difference, they choose not to.
If SIngaporeans really care, there will not be a problem in the first place.
#20 Plen
True, as well…the middle management should be held more accountable, since they know the field. However, a minister must know what’s going on…and not when things go wrong.
Getting paid by the millions….
I think one should know what to do when the economy goes down.
FW’s don’t need to stay for 5 months without jobs.
They should be sent back home, then with the data available, should be given first priority to come back when the job pertaining to his skill arrives…
this can help him(FW) to save the agency cost and be happy with Singapore’s system.
MOM just seems to be in so much trouble. FW lah , employment stats lah…… some fellows there are just sleeping….and doing what they are told….
….time for implosion…
I meant “—- when something goes wrong, we should NOT crucify ministers or mandarins. frankly i think these middle-tiers managers …………………”
You have weird logic.
The minister and mandarins pick the middle-tiers managers. Hence, the former responsible for the behavior and performance of the latter.
last nite my toilet flushing system broke down, it so smelly the whole nite. Damn those million dollar ministers who can’t even built a proper toilet.
24) Ahgong
amazing link
Exploitattion of human labour since the days the Americans exploted the Africans to be slaves persist up to this present day. It respects no boundaries and perpetuate every corner of this world. The essential ingredients for this to exist is human greed and human desperation. When there are desperate people in need of work and greedy people wanting to make money without conscience, this happens.
#14 RW
///We should, out of our own free will, reach out and help them. ///
Good point. There are many kind hearted people involuntary civic groups that put their personal time effort and money to help others in need.
But interestingly, with the internet, we now have a group of citizen journalists who go around searching and sensationalising such news, kick up some dust, feel heoroic for helping them by bringing awareness and then move on to the next items that is newsworthy.
The age of TV has taught everyone on this planet the power of the media, and even in this video, you can those being interviewed understand this.
Very interesting indeed.
Exploitation is a big word but do you juys know that a lot prefer to be “exploitated”? They are willing to borrow thousands to pay their agents back in their home country so that their wish of getting employed oversea can come true otherwise they remains a miserable unemployed back home.
Do you guys forgot that not too long ago your grandfather was pennyless, shoeless and jobless when they squeeze into the Kongsi house when they 1st came here or you guys can only remember that today you haven’t taken your usual bow of bird’s net soup?
simple math.govt gets levies, employers exploit cheap labour, agents thrive on huge commission, only workers bring home shite.
karma is on its way.
To Apek
the job of journalists is to go around searching for news and bring awareness to readers. I dont think they are paid for this (unlike SPH reporters), so what more do you want?
that’s not all. how many times have you seen workers being ferried to and from work in the backs of lorries, many of which don’t even have roofs? it’s simply miraculous that there hasn’t been an accident yet. (or has there?) has anyone even seen dogs being transported like that? for the love of the jupiter (in this case, read ‘money’), they’re not called CARGO. they’re PEOPLE.
28) ma bew yeng woh
/// Exploitation is a big word but do you juys know that a lot prefer to be “exploitated”? They are willing to borrow thousands to pay their agents back in their home country so that their wish of getting employed oversea can come true otherwise they remains a miserable unemployed back home.///
Agree. Good to read more view on TOC with your line of thought.
That is still very true in many parts of the world now.
///Do you guys forgot that not too long ago your grandfather was pennyless, shoeless and jobless when they squeeze into the Kongsi house when they 1st came here or you guys can only remember that today you haven’t taken your usual bow of bird’s net soup?////
Many in TOC seems clueless of this. But we need to recognise their birthright includes high grade bird nest soup at low cost and remember no waiting in plastic chairs, please,
30) Small Time Businessman on July 4th, 2009 10.30 pm To Apek
///the job of journalists is to go around searching for news and bring awareness to readers. I dont think they are paid for this (unlike SPH reporters), so what more do you want?///
I am not refering to any SPH reporters, which i a popular target of ridicule in TOC. That is not the context of my post.
I am comparing these so called citizen joyurnalists to the volunteers who put in their time effort and monety help the people they belief need help.
to Apek:
without these free journalists, how will the volunteers know about the real plight of these foreign workers? SPH newspapers?
“without these free journalists, how will the volunteers know about the real plight of these foreign workers? SPH newspapers?”
Plight? Is a big word too.
If foreigner workers have to come here and plight than my suggestion to them is to stay at home. There is a saying that “Nothing is better than home” so why go and plight?
34) Small Time Businessman
are you saying such volunteers did not exist before the age of the internet?
35) ma bew yeng woh
As an eye opener, it may be good to know that there were numerous cases of foreign workers self inflicting injuries at work to obtain workman compensation injury as the amount paid can be rather substantial for them. This is usually co-schemed by unscrupulous people in the legal profession.
And also many illegal overstayers take refuge worker these dormitories.
That is why they sometimes are afraid to report non payment of wages, poor living conditons etc.
As in everthing, there are good workers and there are not so good one.
There are good employers and the not so good ones.
We hope our citizen journalists are aware of the these issues as they broadcast such events with zest.
31) observed:
” that’s not all. how many times have you seen workers being ferried to and from work in the backs of lorries, many of which don’t even have roofs? it’s simply miraculous that there hasn’t been an accident yet. (or has there?) has anyone even seen dogs being transported like that? for the love of the jupiter (in this case, read ‘money’), they’re not called CARGO. they’re PEOPLE.”
This is what I call “Talk no need money” or “Talk only no action”.
So what do you expect a contractor to ferry their worker? Beside budgetting for lorry add budget for coach too? Ask government to hire bus driver to give free transport for foreign worker? or you want company to pay worker so that they can take a taxi to work in the construction site? Haha……. sound so simple to you.
Accident in all cases is result result from careless driver not the lorry.
Look at what happen to the School Bus sit belt issue, the court verdict is because of the careless bus driver resulting in the death of the kid, is not the bus fault. If the driver is not careless the boy do not have to die and we do not have to force bus sit belt down the throat resulting in thousand and thousand of poor parents paying more for school bus fare every month.
“are you saying such volunteers did not exist before the age of the internet?”
did i say that?
39) Small Time Businessman
Good that you did not. My point is that these volunteers were already helping whoever they were helping for decades without the “citizens journalist” telling them that such people are need help exists. They are on the ground, they understand the plight of the people they are helping, they do it with their time, effort and money, from their heart and without publicity.
38) ma bew yeng woh
///This is what I call “Talk no need money” or “Talk only no action”.////
happens regularly on TOC lah.
talk is free. complin is free.
to Apek:
these journalists are already volunteer journalists. If you disapprove of what they are doing, then you should steer clear of TOC. Because almost all articles here are contributed by these volunteer journalists.
please dont contradict your beliefs by visiting TOC
38) ma bew yeng woh
One needs to appreciate the interdependance of labour cost and cost of services and goods. If we want a higher pay, the services and goods in the sector we are in will have to cost more. In order to keep cost down, local labour gets replaced by imported labour. So thus the issue of foreign workers, local pay, and cost of everything are all in a interdependant web.
So if our concerned poster wants our foreign workers to be ferried in lorries, buses, tourist coaches, helicopters, all options are possible, but with coreesponding cost of the end product. It is easy to be so gungho speaking for workers rights, but when these construction workers are shuttled in other than loories, cost will go up for the contractors, which will lead to higher HDB flats, which then peope will blame on high minister pay and Temasek lost billions.
aiyah
42) Small Time Businessman
you steered clear of my questions.
42) Small Time Businessman
very typical reaction to dissending views
is to stay away from TOC
so that TOC become the exclusive domain for those who hold the same views?any view not in line stay out?
doesn’t that sound familiar?
of the accusatoion that gahmen alway do that ?
I agree with RC and Summer. Ironically, our government has taken care of us not poorly, but too well, such that when such seemingly unbecoming episodes happen, we are quick to point fingers at our government.
The point is, how many of us take notice and give aid besides the occasional donations to charities?
Hopefully we can, as individuals, do more to help. Granted, The Online Citizen’s a great platform for such issues to be brought to attention. Now that you’ve known, you are held accountable.
Ed
To Apek:
you know what is TOC all about, and you chose to come here.
Consider this scenario, you know a shop that sells things that you dont like, yet you still visit the shop repeatedly to tell the shop attendants that you dont like their things. What’s the point?
“Now that you’ve known, you are held accountable.”
Yeah, vote out PAP next election
This sad state of affairs has been going on for years.
The parties to blame are in my opinion, Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for what appears to be just ”ineffective” in sorting this mess, unscrupulous agents, Employers, etc etc…the list goes on.
I personally discovered this sad state of affairs about 9 years ago.
And I can say not much has changed.
The people at MOM do not appear to understand the state of affairs in the foreign countries that force them to come here to seek work & the abuse that comes with it.MOM should send their staff to these countries, talk to those workers who have gotten into trouble here to understand the situation, NOT just ”process” the cases…which we singaporeans are good for….we do not appear to have a ‘soft’ side to understanding situations!
The fact that we build our first class city state on the misery of these foreigner workers is appalling!
They are abused by one & all, not cared for, turned a blind eye to, etc for us to have new buildings, keep our estates clean, trim our trees, collect our garbage…..and no one except for a few non-profit organisations that try to do something.
In the past I have asked MOM why not introduce an accredition system for agents, maybe even employers.This will stop to a large extent the abuse.
If the agent has too many complaints against them, they will be stopped from acting as agents.
Of course MOM should be smart enough to make sure the people behind agency firms are persecuted NOT the company as the latter can be closed down easily & a new one started.
By accrediting agents, it will save other govt departments money & work too.The police force dont have to round up ”ali-baba” workers.These are ”illegal” workers who decide to break the rules because they have no one to turn to for help……thats how the turn ‘illegal’!
I understand about 20,000 a year are rounded….thats a huge waste of public funding!
No wonder our police force is so busy & takes ages to attend to us (turn up) when called…they are running the merry go round with these ali-baba workers!
On the top of that, they have to be jailed, fed whilst in jail…..another waste of public funding.
There are many other govt departments involved I am sure….even ICA (immigration).
Isnt this all a waste of our funds?
If something can be done at the ”accredition level”, I think alot of misery will be prevented for ALL…..most of all the foreign workers.
Perhaps its true whats been written earlier above, we just dont care…….not even the govt.But if the govt can see the wastage of public funds as I have highlighted above, maybe they will make a MOVE….save money what!
#Kopi Tiam Apek….
You just want to get into trouble….the problem is straight forward…..
no point talking…action is required. Proper system must be put in place. If MOM can’t do it….then who will. These are simple problems, easy to rectify and yet.
Just don’t pay the minister for 1 month and use the money to slove the issues.
Or ask this minister to go to the private sector….see how you get screwed when such problems come up during meetings…..
mmmm, BTW how many times have we seen these same problems.
If this was in the private sector….some people would have lost their jobs….
govt sector..iron rice bowl mah…