News > Media Coverage
Video of container housing for migrant workers
TWC2 spotted a Youtube video described as showing the conditions that foreign workers are housed in when their employers use shipping containers for accommodation. Based on TWC2's experience, this video provides an authentic view of the situation. The video, uploaded by "xising" has no commentary and therefore much contextual information
Singapore needs updated trafficking laws
As published in the Straits Times Opinion pages on 21 October 2013, by John Gee. --- Why S'pore needs anti-trafficking laws District Judge Low Wee Ping was very forthright in his comments on Sept 12 when he sentenced four men who had sexual relations with a 17-year-old girl. "What you
Andrew Loh reports on workers’ dormitories in industrial buildings
In a Yahoo Singapore story titled 'Hidden slums of Singapore revealed' Andrew Loh describes conditions he witnessed in places where migrant workers are housed. He visits some of these places and has a video of what he saw: He writes: On the second floor lies the narrow doorway to the
Mixed progress on maids’ day off
This commentary by John Gee, immediate past president of TWC2, was carried in Today newspaper on 22 July 2013: --- It is just before 9am on a Sunday and there is an elegantly dressed woman in the lift, but she is carrying a large bag that does not go with
Don’t dictate sick leave, employers told
The Ministry of Manpower sent out an email reminder to 28,000 workplace safety and health officers telling them "not to influence doctors to give injured workers less sick leave than they need," reported the Sunday Times on 21 July 2013. According to the newspaper, this email was dated 11 July,
Straits Times editorial: Callous collusion must be stopped
In its editorial of Saturday, 13 July 2013, the Straits Times says "collusion between doctors and employers is conduct simply too callous to go unpunished." It was addressing the issue of insufficient medical leave given by some doctors in private practice to injured workers, as covered by the newspaper in
Doctors told to give injured workers enough leave
The story made it to the front page. When TWC2 received a copy from Healthserve of a circular letter issued jointly by the Ministries of Health and Manpower to all registered medical practitioners, we knew it would be something the Straits Times might be interested in. We contacted the newspaper
Companies should publicise their labour standards and write them into contracts
In a letter published by Today newspaper, TWC2 immediate past president John Gee proposed a means by which good labour standards can be propagated in Singapore. Companies should write labour standards into contracts with their subcontractors. Government-linked companies should lead the way, he says, among other suggestions. --- Today, 31
Two workers, broke and in debt, speak to Today in video
In this video, Today newspaper interviewed two Bangladeshi workers suffering because they are receiving no income, when they have borrowed money to come here. Below is a transcription of what's said in the video that was uploaded onto Youtube on 4 January 2013. The accent can be quite thick and
Jolovan Wham writes open letter to Manpower minister
Jolovan Wham (right), writing in his personal capacity, sent an open letter to Tan Chuan-Jin, acting minister for Manpower on 7 January 2013. The opening paragraph references a defamation suit that the minister is threatening Vincent Wijeysingha of the Singapore Democratic Party with, over a previous Facebook post by the