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‘Tis the season for family (except for foreign workers)
By Shri Devvi Elangovan This past holiday season signifies, for most of us, a special time, being able to spend some quality time with our family and loved ones. And along with the start of 2014, we celebrate the International Year of the Family to foster stronger family bonds. But
Three cases filtered out
Whenever we have a new story about a worker, we tend to put a link to it on TWC2's Facebook wall. Most of our stories tell about workers' experience with salary defaults or the frustrations that follow a workplace injury. Once in a while, we see a comment by a
Law students’ reflections 2: Different, but the same
By Nicholas Kam Migrant workers are not that different from us. While they are not Singaporeans or permanent residents and hence do not enjoy certain rights and privileges, they are human beings, and, like most of us, simply wish to earn enough to at least support their families.To subject them
Unknown to worker, records say it wasn’t a workplace accident
By Joyce Wong Pitchai Murugesan rolls up his right sleeve and shows us a long surgical scar running from his upper arm down to below the elbow. I estimate it to about 20-30cm long. He has suffered nerve damage: his little finger stays bent and he has difficulties exerting strength
A wild day at the zoo
By Terence Kek The Straits Times featured TWC2's Discover Singapore project in its edition of 29 December 2013. Their photographer Desmond Foo followed the group on our zoo outing the day before to capture some pictures. Click the thumbnail at right for Straits Times' feature story. Publicity in the Straits
Trafficking easier to identify if migrant labour in general is treated better
Former president of Transient Workers Count Too, John Gee, spoke at the NUS Human Trafficking Conference on 10 January 2014. Others on the panel included Kandhavel Periyasamy (Joint Ops Director, Ministry of Manpower), Jolovan Wham (Workfair Singapore) and two students from Singapore Management University who recently did a project relating to trafficking.
MOM catches employer charging workers for permit renewal
Ananth's newly-minted Special Pass, that's bad news for him By Fuxiong Around 20 November 2013, "MOM call all 30 men to [a] meeting," says Ananth (not his real name). I ask if the boss was present. "No, not boss, but company driver [was] there." Held at the Bendemeer
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