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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
We’ve served half a million meals
Transient Workers Count Too has served half a million meals since our Cuff Road Project began in 2008. The milestone was celebrated on Monday 28 April 2014 with a boisterous lucky draw and contest. Nonetheless, reflecting on its significance, TWC2 president Russell Heng suggests the event deserves mixed feelings: "Half
Went to lawyer in November, injury claim not filed till April, says worker
By Pan Chuen His livelihood depended on him being physically fit and able to shoulder heavy materials, but a worksite injury dashed those hopes. The only break in the dark clouds above him is a compensation pay-out from his employer. But what if the lawyer doesn't act promptly? Like many
Where the nose leads
With additional reporting by Chris Lee Eventually, the case ended in a rather unsatisfactory way. We can hardly fault Jalil Shaikh Bala Miah Shaikh, 27, for being frustrated with the outcome. His case shows how Singapore's work injury compensation system is stacked against migrant workers. Whenever an employer flatly denies
Even with his good eye, Atikur can’t see what his ‘lawyer’ is doing
By Peter Looker "Lawyer say you wait, you wait, you wait MC money" Atikur (not his real name) tells me, "but money no give". For four whole months now, Atikur, a worker from Bangladesh, has been waiting for "MC pay" accruing from the medical leave he was given for a
First advice from lawyer’s assistant: quit company dorm
Several law firms specialising in work injury claims have offices in Little India By Nguyen Minh Quan To the question "How much do you have to pay your lawyer, how much is he going to charge you?" Gowri (not his real name) replies: "Charging, no talking." It is phrased
Salary problems two jobs in a row
By Peter Looker Polash has no passport. He can't go home. "My boss, he say passport lost." His previous boss at Timberlux International Pte Ltd claimed not to have the passport. “Boss alibaba,” Polash alleges, using the shorthand term widely understood among migrant workers to mean 'untruthful'. What led up to this
With a broken foot, Siva climbs three floors to sleep
By Eitan He's been hobbling around with that boot and a crutch for four months already. Every day he goes up and down three floors to get his free meals provided by Transient Workers Count Too, each step presenting a risk of tumbling down. Unable to put weight on his
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