UPDATE:As at 5 p.m. on Monday, 23 July 2012, total donations exceeded $23,000.

DONATION WINDOW WILL CLOSE ON FRIDAY, 27 July 2012 at 23:59h. This should allow sufficient time for those interested to help to do so. As agreed with the lead initiator of this appeal, Benjamin Lee aka Mr Miyagi, should there be any donation coming in after that and marked “Bugis MRT accident”. TWC2 will respond with an email asking the donor whether he/she wants it refunded (net of Paypal or SgGives commission), or would he/she like to donate anyway, but into TWC2’s general fund which helps support all our other operations and services benefiting migrant workers. If a donation comes in after the cut-off without any contact information and yet marked “Bugis MRT accident”, we will have no way to pose that question to the donor, and the donation will go into TWC2’s general fund.

In an appeal jointly with a group of bloggers led by Benjamin Lee aka Mr Miyagi , Lee Kin Mun aka MrBrown and Adrianna Tan aka Popagandhi, TWC2 is raising money to help the families of the two workers from China who died on Wednesday, 18 July 2012, as a result of an industrial accident. They were buried alive in wet concrete at the construction site of the new Bugis MRT station.

Men coming to work in Singapore are typically the chief breadwinners of their families back home. Not only would their loss be a huge emotional blow to their loved ones, there are often all sorts of financial consequences. Their children may no longer be able to afford school; their elderly parents may need medical care.

Many migrant workers pay recruitment agents thousands of dollars to secure their jobs in Singapore and an accident like this can leave the family at the mercy of debt collectors.

However, we do not know the exact circumstances of the two men yet, but almost surely, if someone comes all the way to do such work in Singapore, there will be financial needs one way or another.

TWC2 appeals to the public to join in to provide a little help for their families, especially in recognition of the importance of foreign labour in building housing and infrastructure enjoyed by Singaporeans.

If the amount raised is substantial, a part of the money will also be used to help the eight other injured workers, if any has suffered serious injuries that may leave them with a long recovery period.

Please go to TWC2’s DONATE page for ways to donate. Please notate your donation “Bugis MRT accident” so that we know the purpose of the donation. You may also wish to send an email to [email protected] with your name, address and a reference to your donation (amount, and mode of donation) so that we can send you a receipt.