All items filed under News
Kickbacks in the news: MWC urges workers to complain; reader retorts: “unlikely to work”
In the wake of the sentencing of a construction company boss for demanding kickbacks from his employees (see news story in Today newspaper, thumbnail at right), the Straits Times had a story about his unsavoury practice on 13 April 2015. The Straits Times noted that extortionate demands are typically made
Letter to Straits Times: Lower debt, raise job security
Following the deaths of two Bangladeshi workers in a fire , and a commentary article by Straits Times journalist Toh Yong Chuan (7 April 2015), TWC2 president Noorashikin Abdul Rahman wrote to the editor to better focus the root causes of poor housing. The letter was published on 17 April
BBC features a 17,000-man dormitory
Headlined Singapore is keeping an eye on its foreign workers, the BBC did a report (14 April 2015) on Tuas View Dormitory, said to be the largest in Singapore, housing 17,000 migrant workers. While showcasing its facilities, it also discusses the surveillance system incorporated into its design and operations. The
Thousands of possibly trafficked fishermen rescued from Indonesian islands
The Guardian newspaper reported that s many as 4,000 fishermen, mostly Burmese with some Cambodians and Thais are being rescued from remote islands of the Indonesian archipelago. A quarter of them are said to be on Benjina, an island in the Aru group south of West Papua. After the Indonesian
Medical Council hauls 2 doctors to disciplinary tribunal
Jolovan Wham, Executive Director of fellow migrant-worker NGO, the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) posted on his Facebook page the news that the Singapore Medical Council is holding a disciplinary tribunal over two doctors. TWC2's clients have reported very similar experiences: severe injuries, yet given only one or
In the news: bad food served to workers
"Foul-smelling curry, rock-solid fish with scales still intact..." -- this was how Today newspaper opened its story (titled "Foreign workers served 'unappetising, stale food'", 19 March 2015) on the poor quality of food that foreign workers get. The story referred primarily to male workers at construction sites. Based on an
Acting on a tip-off, TWC2 rescues a maid trapped over two years without a day off, part 2
The Ministry of Manpower has accused TWC2 of publishing a "grossly untruthful account" relating to Indonesian domestic worker Wahyuni (see our earlier article here). This quote was contained in a story published in The New Paper on 8 March 2015 and archived on AsiaOne. See here and here. Transient Workers Count
88 percent of our 2014 spending was on charitable activities
In 2014, about 88 percent of TWC2's spending went towards charitable activities, benefitting our clients in a relatively direct way. Total expenditure in the year was $463,025, leaving us with a surplus of $108,203 from the year's income of $571,228. About 94 percent of this income came from voluntary donations,
Genius Engineering, part 3: nearly 100 skilled electricians lost
Four months after employees of Genius Engineering and related companies lodged salary complaints with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Mouazzam Hossin (pictured above) is still in Singapore, struggling to get something out of what he is owed. Mouazzam is among the last of the workers still here. Nearly all the
John Gee in Straits Times: A win-win way to help injured foreign workers
This is the opinion piece by John Gee of Transient Workers Count Too, published in the Straits Times, 3 December 2014. ---- A win-win way to help injured foreign workers The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is considering outsourcing the inspection of workplaces to counter the illegal employment of foreign workers,