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Migrant workers in Qatar – a personal perspective, part 3
Jennifer and Steve Parenteau lived in Qatar for six years before coming to Singapore last year. This is Part Three of their three-part story about migrant workers in Qatar. --- By Jennifer Parenteau Initiatives for Bridging the Gap Living in Doha taught us so much about the inequalities of our
Migrant workers in Qatar – a personal perspective, part 2
Jennifer and Steve Parenteau lived in Qatar for six years before coming to Singapore last year. This is Part Two of their three-part story about migrant workers in Qatar. In Part One they profiled the stories of some of the workers they met. Here in Part Two, is a general story
Migrant workers in Qatar – a personal perspective, part 1
What's it like to live and work in Doha as a migrant worker? Jennifer and Steve Parenteau lived in Doha for six years, not as migrant workers but as expats, with some of the privileges such a life affords. As Jennifer says, "We were allowed to walk on the Corniche
Frustrating time as Badal waits for ministry to look into salary deductions
By Nguyen Minh Quan Unlike injury cases, workers' complaints about salary and deductions usually don’t take more than a few months. However, Bangladeshi national Badal, 34, has been in limbo for ten months. His case probably won’t be settled soon. The longer the process is, the more difficult it will
Worker’s ‘five points’ flutters to court
By Joyce Wong He signed and accepted the five points awarded through the injury assessment and is waiting for the payout to go home. But on checking his case status via MOM's website, he is surprised to learn he is scheduled for a pre-hearing conference. “So what did your lawyer
Every year, Mofazzel asked to pay for his job
By Elizabeth Zhou To trust is to place your vote of confidence in a person or organization, to believe in its reliability, and to be led to feel certain that s/he would honour an agreement. Bangladeshi national, Mofazzel Ukil Late Royjaddin Ukil, is no naïve rookie. But he thought he
Two domestic workers sexually assaulted, part 1
The first hint was in the Phnom Penh Post: that Transient Workers Count Too was helping a domestic worker from Cambodia who said a member of the employer's family had sexually molested her. It's a relatively new pilot programme: bringing in domestic workers from Cambodia, and naturally there are many
Memorandum on required training for construction sector workers
By John Gee In 2011, when looking into the costs Bangladeshis face in coming to work in Singapore’s construction industry, one of the expenses about which the research team asked workers was that of training. They quickly discovered that, though the workers had to pay significant amounts to training centres to gain skills
As painful as the accident, breaking the news to family
By Nguyen Minh Quan “Mother must die”, says Muthu Chetty Murugesan when he shows me his injured left eye. What he means is his mother will be devastated when she learns that her son has lost an eye. He hasn't yet told anyone back home about the injury. "My country
“In Bangladesh, we don’t live like this”
"Don't tell people address," says Kamal (not his real name). "I promise I won't," your writer assures him, honoured to be trusted enough by him and his room-mates to be shown the hovel where they live. We both know that this is illegal accommodation for foreign workers. But when workers