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Law students’ reflections 1: What they need
By Sanjana Jayaraman Sometimes because of the very nature of life and development, we tend to sideline people. No one deserves that kind of treatment because it is unfair and that person could very well have been one of us. Foreign workers are as much human as we all are.
Easrafile chose to give up $1,050 to see ill father
By Nor Karno Easrafile Sikdar Eskandar Sikdar approached Transient Workers Count Too for assistance on 30 October 2013 with an unusual request. Most workers ask us to help them commence or progress their salary or injury compensation claims, but Easrafile asked for the opposite. Could you help me stop the process
The blue thumb
Hossain Mohamed Dulal holds up his cellphone and shows us a a picture that he took of his left hand. It's bandaged after surgery, but his thumb is a sapphire blue. He says that day his boss "catch my hand and squeeze" it. "Very, very pain," he says of that
What’s this lorry doing here?
Michelle Ngern with some delighted and grateful workers A lorry pulled up outside our free meals station on Friday evening, 27 December 2013. It had some eye-catching cargo, loaded as it was with colourful bags. What's going on? The bags were soon unloaded and distributed to workers registered
Bollywood for the boys
By Terence Kek They danced into the night. It was also Harun's last participation in a Discover Singapore event. "Discover Singapore is very good," he says. "It helps to take away the pain, worry and unhappy thoughts". Harun will be going home the week after, his injury compensation case finally resolved
Thanks for your donations 2013
A well-wisher slipped a $100 bill under front door over the weekend, together with a short note. Thank you very much. He signed the note and we have emailed him personally with our appreciation. We take this opportunity also to thank all our other donors, small and big, for their
“Play play accident,” says foreman to doctor
By Emily Benjamin At National University Hospital (NUH) where Khan Momen was brought to after his accident, the orthopaedic surgeon only spoke "little bit to me", said the injured worker. The surgeon spoke mostly to the company foreman and safety officer, and at some distance from the patient too. While Khan
Informed consent, wages, kickbacks, termination and transfers
Four first-year law students were attached to Transient Workers Count Too for three weeks in December 2013. The project we designed for them involved interviewing as many workers as they could on themes of their choice. However, these themes had to be drawn from the submission that TWC2 made to
“We allow legal exploitation,” says TWC2 president at forum
The panel comprised (L-R) Braema Mathi (Maruah), Russell Heng (TWC2), Siew Kum Hong (Maruah/moderator), Jolovan Wham (Workfair) and Vincent Law (Healthserve) TWC2 president Russell Heng spoke for the organisation at a public forum 'Foreign workers, justice and fairness', organised by human rights group Maruah on 23 December 2013.
Woolim, part 1: how low can a salary go?
Hossain Iqbel's IPA states a basic monthly salary of $800, but for a year, he's been paid a basic of only $1.50 an hour (equivalent to $286 a month). The 'IPA' is the In-principle Approval for a Work Permit, a letter issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to employer