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Inspectors coming, so crew moved elsewhere
Your writer asks Deepak (not his real name) how much overtime he worked, and gets a long-winded response that doesn't quite answer the question. Instead Deepak describes how he has to work two, three or four Sundays a month, sometimes at the main project site in Loyang, other times at
Kamal of many chops
By Elizabeth Zhou Cleanly shaven, he is dressed in a tight-fitting dark blue T-shirt that betrays a physique built by hard labour. A pair of trendy earphones is slung around his neck. It is my first time at Transient Workers Count Too's free meals point, known as The Cuff Road
Engineering diploma-holder made to work as general labourer
By Hui Zhen Manikandan was instructed to meet “boss” one day, after six days' absence from work, and told he would be fined $180 ($30 a day) for not being on the job. “Boss say, 'Don’t give story',” he exclaimed. He was then gripped by his shirt and told he'd
TWC2 calls for comprehensive bill on labour trafficking
TWC2 calls for practices of labour trafficking suffered by low wage migrant workers in all sectors of employment and foreign fishermen who dock in Singapore or on transit in the country to be addressed in the “Prevention of Human Trafficking Bill”. In a 17-page document submitted via email on 18
Polash, Palus and their passports
It is normal procedure for the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to require employers to hand over foreign workers' passports when employees have made salary complaints. "Today, MOM officer call two times to him (the boss)," Polash tells TWC2. "MOM officer give him up to 2pm to bring passports." But it
After an injury, Sohag asked to sign “many paper”
By Fuxiong Some employers try to take advantage of a foreign worker's weak English. They present stacks of papers for the worker to sign, papers that he can't understand. All sorts of pressures are then applied on the worker to make him sign them, but doing so may prejudice his
Half of construction workers deployed outside their skill areas
The report Training centres in Bangladesh have become money-minting machines (published September 2013) was based on research done in Dhaka. Drawing from anecdotal information, we asserted in the paper that "Most workers report that their Singapore jobs are unrelated to the skills they trained for." This anecdotal information was from workers
Mover moves back home
Most men from Bangladesh dress quite conservatively. Compared to his compatriots, Sohel, standing at our front door, flashed a lot of skin. Your writer remarked to himself: This guy is halfway to becoming Singaporean. When Sohel opened his mouth, more proof flowed. He was fluent in Singlish. It turned out that
Serving up shirts
Dinner time at the Cuff Road Project is usually hectic. Too many laid-off workers crowd into a tiny diner not just to get their meals, but to seek a consultation, get a document explained to them, or apply for an EZ-Link card. They're also there to catch up with friends,
A brighter picture for hospital staff
"They didn't ask any questions," said Nor Karno, "unless the managers weren't in the room. Then the questions came." The Transient Workers Count Too social worker was describing his experience giving three talks at Bright Vision Hospital in March 2014. It was a sign of enlightened management practice that the