Home » Posts tagged with "foreign workers"
Posts tagged with "foreign workers"
Joo Chiat fire – an old issue surfaces
Oct. 25 | Andrew Loh Following the fire which broke out at a restaurant at Joo Chiat Place last Thursday, several residents from the area have written to their Member of Parliament, Mr Chan Soo Sen, to raise certain concerns. Besides the issues of the accessibility...
Not all foreign workers are counted?
Mar. 2 | By Leong Sze Hian I refer to media reports (“Resorts World Sentosa say 70% of its over 8,000 staff are S’poreans, PRs”, Channel News Asia, 17 February) that Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) said that 70 per cent of its staff strength of over...
Raising foreign worker levy will not solve problems, say critics
Feb. 26 | By Wong Chun Han Raising the foreign worker levy will not reduce Singapore’s dependence on foreign labour or raise productivity, but will increase the financial burden on workers and employers, social workers and analysts say. The levy hike – part...
Conflicting signals from Government over foreign manpower policy
Feb. 9 | By Ng E-Jay The government appears to be sending out conflicting signals over its foreign manpower policy, a possible indication that rising concerns over the liberal import of foreign workers in recent years are starting to overwhelm decision makers...
In bed with the Economic Strategies Committee
Feb. 5 | One of our resident cartoonists, Sei-Ji Rakugaki, wonders about the ESC through his sketchpad – is this further from reality or closer to the truth? See more of Sei-Ji’s work at My Sketchbook… __________________________________________
A false necessity: Singapore’s maid trade
Feb. 3 | Jolene Tan The F-word Blog In my gleamingly modern home town of Singapore, trading in women has been refined to a stomach-churningly efficient art. The women in question are foreign domestic workers (FDWs), locally known as “maids”, who travel from...
Violation of foreign workers’ rights – in Singapore and Japan
Jan. 15 | Video of scuffle at Japan airport when some foreign workers were to be forceably repartriated Ralph Hosoki / additional input from Jolovan Wham During the late 1980s, the Japanese government was faced with a predicament. With depleted domestic sources...
Is multiracialism also just an aspiration?
Jan. 4 | Breaking News: HDB resale flat prices rose 3.8 per cent over the third quarter which saw prices going up by 3.6 per cent. (Straits Times) Singapore’s economy shrank 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter to December from the previous three months…...
HDB flats – a precious resource for foreign workers?
Jan. 1 | The following is a letter from Mr Leong Sze Hian to the Today newspaper. It was published on Today Online on 31 Dec 2009. I REFER to “Asset that keeps growing” (Dec 30) and reports that two Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks in Toa...
TOC Blog Feature: The expats will rule Singapore
Dec. 30 | From the website, Adam Khoo’s Philosophies And Investing Insights: I have a prediction. My prediction is that in a couple of years, the expatriates (from China, India, US etc…) will rule Singapore. They will increasing take on more leadership roles...
“Cheaper, better, faster” may just break the camel’s back
Dec. 1 | Latest: The High Court has granted Yong Vui Kong’s application for a stay of his execution. Yong was scheduled to be hanged this Friday, 4 Dec. His appeal to the Court of Appeal will now be heard next Tuesday. TOC will have a report on today’s...
Importing foreign labour not sustainable, says Citigroup economist
Nov. 30 | Over the last few years, Singapore’s rapid growth has been mostly driven by a massive increase in the workforce… But it is clear that growth powered by importing foreign labour is simply not sustainable. Citigroup economist, Kit Wei Zheng
Social isolation – left among the dead
Nov. 1 | Foreign workers dormitory at Lim Chu Kang cemetery Andrew Loh / Pictures by Damien Chng Member of Parliament, Ms Irene Ng, asked the Minister for National Development, Mr Mah Bow Tan on 21 October 2008: “Can I ask the Minister whether he agrees that...
People and Power – Human Trade
Oct. 22 | People & Power uncovers the widespread and disturbing scams surrounding human trade in Singapore and Malaysia. A film by Lynn Lee and James Leong.
Foreign workers are akin to the lowest life forms in Singapore
Oct. 21 | Excerpts from Asian Correspondent: The argument is that Singaporeans either don’t provide enough talent for the higher-tier jobs that these foreign talent bring, or are too choosy to want to take on the menial jobs that these foreign workers do....
Journalist assaulted for work on foreign workers
Oct. 18 | Andrew Loh Assault is an attempt to silence journalists who expose abuses. Mohsin is the Chief Editor of Bengali newspaper Bangla Kantha, which caters to the population of Bangladeshi workers in Singapore. The paper has been pivotal in exposing agents...
Chinese worker issued with receipt containing vulgarities
Oct. 5 | Editor’s Note: This article was originally a facebook note written by Stephanie Chok. It was published here at TOC’s request. Stephanie Chok Looking at it makes me sick. Sick with rage, disbelief, and sadness. I arrived in Geylang yesterday...
TOC Special Feature: Is Singapore really slum-free?
Sep. 27 | Location, location, location. Is that the only problem we have when it comes to housing for foreign workers? In Part One of this Special Feature, Stephanie Chok argues that the real ‘housing problem’ is the substandard living conditions thousands...
“You are hereby permitted to remain in Singapore…”
Sep. 20 | Andrew Loh Bangladeshi worker asked by Manpower Ministry to remain in S’pore to help with investigations ends up waiting for four years. The number of foreign workers who faced salary disputes with their employers rose to more than 3,000 in 2008. This...
There’s that phrase again – “calibrated inflow”
Sep. 16 | We have been calibrating the inflows… Quah Ley Hoon (Ms), Director, National Population Secretariat, 29 August 2009 [We] must have a sustained, calibrated inflow of immigrants. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 15 September 2009
Room for more, but at what cost?
Sep. 16 | While Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave students much reassurance during this year’s NTU Ministerial Forum, transient workers, on the other hand, are dehumanised as mere cogs in a machine. Terence Lee / Deputy Editor IMAGINE a gathering of Singaporeans,...
Six months on the streets
Sep. 2 | Andrew Loh For the past six months, Ali has been braving the Singapore weather and sleeping on the streets in Little India. It is not something which he has chosen to do. Circumstances have dictated that he has no choice in this. Ali is one of the many...
Goodbye, Abu Sama
Aug. 30 | The Online Citizen reported the case of Bangladeshi worker, Abu Sama, in May this year. We gave him the name of “Asmad Kadir” in that report. See here for the story. Abu Sama left for his home in Bangladesh last Friday. The following is an update...
Human Trade – the scams in Singapore and Malaysia
Aug. 20 | Human Trade is a film by independent filmmakers, Lynn Lee and James Leong. It exposes the widespread scams in Singapore and Malaysia by agents and employers in the trading of foreign workers. Millions of dollars change hands between agents and employers...
Migrant Dreams – Singapore has been a nightmare
Aug. 19 | A film by Lynn Lee & James Leong on the plight of foreign workers in Singapore. The film premiered on Al Jazeera on 18 August 2009. You can view Part Two here.
Cutting cheap labour not the solution, says Manpower Minister
Aug. 8 | If we are not careful, it will instead create rigidity and distortion in the labour market, add costs to businesses and undermine their competitiveness…Just reducing the dependence on massive amounts of cheap labour is not the answer to our productivity...
What the Little Pink Camera saw
Jul. 22 | Lynn Lee You’ve probably never heard of Sutha’s. Why would you? It’s just a little restaurant in Little India that serves, well, Indian food. The offerings are run-of-the-mill, the service, so-so. But for thousands of desperate migrant...
TOC Exclusive: Death of Bangladeshi worker in 2008
Jul. 3 | 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...
A nation of foreigners in 11 years
Jun. 22 | Ng E-Jay / Current Affairs Desk Half of Singapore’s population could consists of foreigners in 11 years time, if the government continues its current plan of attracting foreigners to feed its “growth-at-all-cost” economic model. This,...
Legal recourse for foreign workers
Jun. 16 | Jonathan Koh / Reporter Wallace Woon/Photographer Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME’s) opening of its new resource center and legal helpdesk promises to give the pursuit of justice for migrant workers a more forceful legal bite. 13...
Justice for workers, not quick fixes
Jun. 8 | When the Ministry of Manpower acquires a culture of always looking away when workers complain against their employers, what makes us think they will not look away in other cases where Singaporean workers are involved too? Alex Au, Yawning Bread
Worker assaulted by employer outside MOM building, and possibly to be repatriated
May. 15 | Andrew Loh Note: The following report has been edited to reflect more accurately what had transpired in the case of Asmad Kadir. This is because of clarification the writer has obtained with his sources. Asmad Kadir (not his real name), who is owed some...
Gan Kim Yong’s new committee
Apr. 3 | A new steering committee on foreign workers should consider wider reforms to protect rights of foreign workers Yesterday’s edition of the Straits Times published a low-key article about the activities of an inter-ministerial steering committee chaired...
The short, hopeful life of Odud Sayed Ahammed
Apr. 2 | TOC would like to specially thank Ms Lynn Lee for allowing us to publish the following story. Lynn Lee / Dhaka, Bangladesh Odud Sayed Ahammed was a hopeful man. So hopeful, he gave his one piece of land to his neighbour, so the neighbour could go find...
MOM takes action against illegal lodging for foreign workers
Mar. 26 | Andrew Loh MOM’s actions comes several weeks before minister’s visit to new “up-market” dormitory’s opening In a press release on 25 March, the Ministry of Manpower said it conducted two nationwide operations on 16 foreign workers’ dormitories...
2,000 foreign workers attend Singtel event
Mar. 18 | Story by Koh Yi Na / Pictures by Damien Chng Around 2,000 foreign workers from various countries thronged the open field at the junction of Upper Jurong Road and Pioneer Road North last Sunday evening. They were there for a road-show and community event...
The men who lived in the containers
Mar. 12 | Story and picture by Deborah Choo For 14 workers, formerly employed by Ocean Marine Engineering, being made to live in containers was perhaps the least of their problems. These workers have since been unemployed, and are now struggling on their own. When...
Men in containers
Mar. 12 | Story and pictures by Damien Chng Last Saturday, 7th March 2009, Mohamed Ismail brought me and my two companions on a tour of his dormitory. Mohamed is a Bangladeshi worker with shipyard firm, Ocean Marine. We were taken to a place passed a forest...
Jobless migrant workers protest in Singapore again
Feb. 27 | Excerpts from Reuters: “We don’t want to go back to Bangladesh. We take loan, we cannot pay, we die,” said Rahman, who gave up his farming job in Bangladesh and took a loan of S$7000 from money lenders back home to pay an agent fee to...
DAB, DAMN, DAFT – some ideas to help foreign workers
Feb. 26 | Joshua Chiang I’m feeling lazy tonight so I shall not pretend to be a professional journalist and just write about this Indian restaurant at Cuff Road, Little India. For the past two years (at least), it serves a free meal a day to any unemployed,...
Foreign workers bring local agency to court
Feb. 11 | Story and pictures by Tan Tze How Kelvin Would you want to leave for a greener pasture that offers a salary four times of your current one? Samal did. In Dec. 2007, Samal was at Serangoon Plaza, a popular weekend gathering area for South Asian migrant...
“Singapore law good for boss”
Feb. 10 | Joshua Chiang Joshua Chiang gives a personal account of what he witnessed in a visit to a foreign workers’ dormitory at Tagore Industrial Estate. The familiar musky smell of damp clothes and stale air greeted us as we stepped into the makeshift workers’...
Forgotten and forsaken
Jan. 30 | Story by Andrew Loh / Pictures by Mervin Lee & Kenneth Tham On 22 January, the Straits Times carried a report headlined, “Workers move out of Tagore dormitory”. It reported that the dormitory at 468 Tagore Industrial Avenue, which housed several...
A response to MOM but rejected by the Straits Times
Jan. 30 | The following is a letter sent to the Straits Times by Ms Stephanie Chok, a volunteer providing help to migrant workers. It is in response to the Ministry of Manpower’s Deputy Director, Ms Julia Ng’s letter to the Straits Times forum. (See below) The...
Set a good example
Jan. 28 | Whatever can be achieved for the well-being of migrant workers in Singapore does not just stay here: It is a stimulus for progress in other countries. John Gee, President, TWC2
Mohamed Kamaluddin
Jan. 21 | Andrew Loh (Additional reporting by Deborah Choo) *Visit Migrants Workers Singapore for consolidated news reports and articles about migrant workers. All that most Singaporeans know about Mohamed Kamaluddin, 28, is that he is the Bangladeshi worker...
Blood, sweat and tears
Jan. 18 | Report by Al Jazeera, exposing the appalling conditions facing many Asian labourers in the Gulf. Take some time to watch the following video (which comes in two parts), to understand the exploitation of migrant workers. The stories from the Gulf...
Singapore is my second home
Jan. 15 | Story by Ching Ann Jie When Mr Moe Kyaw Thu took part in a protest to support the Burmese people’s struggle for freedom in November 2007, he did not realise that he was putting his own future in Singapore at stake. Mr Moe is now racing against...
