Tower of Babel
Speaking in Parliament on 11 September 2012, then-Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-jin told the house:
To empower workers to make informed decisions about working in Singapore, my Ministry revised the in-principle approval letter for work permit holders last year to include key employment terms and translated all these letters into the workers’ native languages.
It’s been thirteen years since that parliamentary statement. Amazingly, it’s still a work-in-progress even if the way that boast was phrased, it sounded like it was done and dusted: “translated all these letters,” the minister said.
To be fair, the great majority of Work Permit holders get bilingual versions of their IPAs, but the point we are making here is that a significant minority do not. Why this oversight has gone on for thirteen years (and counting) we don’t quite understand.
What is an IPA?
Short for “In-principle Approval for a Work Pass”, the IPA is a document (now in PDF form) issued by the Ministry of Manpower when it has approved an employer’s application for a work pass for a foreign employee. Depending on which category of work pass it is (Employment Pass, S-Pass, Work Permit, etc), the format of its pages can vary. For Work Permit holders especially, the salary details stated therein are crucially important, as the majority of them do not have written employment contracts. The IPA then serves as evidence of the oral contract that had been agreed to prior to taking up the job.
IPAs come in several pages. Additional information and conditions are stated within and it is important that all these details are also in workers’ native languages, otherwise how is it fair to hold them to to these requirements? Additional information includes expiry date of the IPA, and what are their basic working hours per week. Conditions include the warning that the work pass holder should only work for the specified employer and in the specified occupation.
Examples
Below, we image the key salary page of IPAs from workers that TWC2 has met with from China, Bangladesh and India. The Indian worker in this case was from Tamil Nadu and his native language was Tamil. As readers can see, all of these IPAs are bilingual.
More examples
In the last two years, more and more Burmese Work Permit holders have been coming to TWC2. It soon struck us that none of them had bilingual IPAs. Below is an example of an IPA shared with us by a Burmese worker. It is only in English.
Clearly then, despite the minister’s statement in 2012, the policy has not been fully implemented.
Interestingly, there was a half-implementation some years back when the IPAs for Burmese domestic workers became bilingual. But until now, IPAs for workers in non-domestic sectors, such as construction and services, have remained English only.
The next example is almost hilarious. At first glance, it looks fine: it’s bilingual (English and Tamil) and issued to a worker from India. But look closely, and one will see that the worker is a Sikh guy from Punjab. Does MOM not know that they speak Punjabi there?
In this particular case, we even saw the employer’s application form. In it, the employer clearly said the prospective worker was from the State of Punjab and that he was Sikh. Even if bureaucrats’ knowledge of world geography isn’t up to scratch (but it should); at least read what the employer wrote.
Liable for prosecution
Deep within the many pages of an IPA is a forewarning that soon after arriving in Singapore, the worker will be required to sign a declaration that all the information submitted by the employer (when applying for the IPA) are true and correct, including copies of any attached documents. If there are any falsehoods, the worker may be liable for penalties such as prosecution for making a false declaration. Here is an example of such a forewarning in a Bangladeshi Work Permit holder’s IPA:
It should only be fair that the IPA bundle be in a language the worker can read. Otherwise, how can we hold him or her responsible?
IPAs for S-Passes and Employment Passes
The above examples of IPAs relate to Work Permit holders. These are the workers in the low-wage category. Although fewer in number, many foreigners hold S-Passes and Employment Passes. These IPAs are not bilingual. Here are two examples of S-Pass IPAs followed by an example (the third one) of an Employment Pass.
We note that Tan Chuan-jin’s 2012 statement in Parliament only referred to Work Permits. He made no mention of bilingual IPAs for S-Pass or Employment Pass holders. Perhaps there is a logic to it. In theory, foreigners employed under S-Passes and Employment Passes should meet minimum educational requirements. The argument can be made that since they have a reasonable standard of education, they should be able to read English. Yet, this too is another problematic assumption.
Firstly, nothing anywhere says the education must be in English. Most Singaporeans know of Chinese nationals working in mid-level jobs who speak not a word of English. At TWC2, we also see S-Pass holders from Tamil Nadu State who barely know more than 50 words of English.
Secondly, employers can successfully apply for S-Pass IPAs while leaving the educational fields blank. See this example.
Thirdly, there is no shortage of job scams wherein less educated workers are brought into Singapore under S-Passes and Employment Passes, and they turn out to have no capability to speak or read English. Yet, we may hold them to account for violating the conditions of their passes – conditions which they would not have been able to read.
There are many aspects of the IPA and its processes that are in need of intelligent review.
06892, 15918, 15883, 15475, 14888, 16546, 14204, 16493, 15787.