All Articles
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
We ask three Bangladeshis what they think of Singapore
By Davina Tham Ever since recent events in Little India (see Riot in Little India after bus knocks down pedestrian), the tendency to depict migrant labourers as a matter of statistics, a numbered but faceless crowd, has only worsened: 28 charged, 53 deported and another 200 "issued a formal police
Escaping from repatriation toughs, Neelakandan left all his belongings behind
"Meeting time, they speak all very nicely," recalls Neelakandan of a meeting at his company office on Tuesday, 22 October 2013. Present were "boss wife", a Chinese Singaporean, a manager and an engineer, both Sri Lankans. They -- Neelakandan's superiors -- asked him for details about the incident on Sunday
TWC2 celebrates International Migrants Day 2013 with ‘Lunch with Heart’
TWC2's 2013 benefit event Lunch with Heart, coinciding with International Migrants Day, began a minute's silence in remembrance of Sakthivel Kumaravelu, the man who was killed in a bus accident last Sunday night (8 Dec 2013). Coincidentally, the event (at Apollo Banana Leaf Restaurant) was held but a stone's throw