All Articles
Survey uncovers exorbitant agent fees suffered by Bangladeshi workers
By YC Loh For Bangladeshis in their first job here, about half paid more than S$7,000 to their agent. More than 70 percent paid over $5,000. By contrast, the majority (over 60%) of Indians paid less than $5,000 to their agent for their first job. These figures emerged from a survey recently
Movie treat: Ilo Ilo
Happy voices in Bahasa Indonesia and Filipino filled the lobby of Golden Village Tiong Bahru cinemas on Sunday, 25 Aug 2013, as members of the TWC2 family came together for a screening of Ilo Ilo. This first feature film by Singapore director Anthony Chen won the Camera d'Or at Cannes
Worker falls ill soon after arriving in Singapore, made to bear own medical costs
By Ankur Kumar It was early August last year when Hossain Mohammad Arif's friend took the crucial decision of taking ill Arif to Alexandria Hospital. Arif's condition looked serious enough for him to opt for a not-inexpensive cab ride. The decision sure looked sound to the doctors at Alexandria. Arif
So this is barbecue
By Terence Kek “So this is ‘barbecue’! This is the first time we have barbecue and it is nice!” Nazimul, mumbles happily, in between mouthfuls of perfectly grilled food – which includes the fish they caught that same afternoon. This is the fifth outing organized by TWC2 Discover Singapore. The day
Workers told to ignore max carrying load per man; suffer injury
By Lim Wei Zhen Seventy to a hundred kilogrammes make a heavy load to share between two men. Yet for Elias Malu Miah (picture, right) and Mahmudul Hasan Majbar Rahman (left), as well as many like them, it is a burden they must shoulder most days. While the Construction Safety
Phone call: Fourteen workers told to get off the bus
By Max Ang Dawn on 10 July 2013, and the men file out of the Woodlands dormitory to wait for the company bus. A phone rings. It's a co-worker from the Tuas South dorm with alarming news: 'gangsters' have showed up and taken fourteen men away. More calls come
Boss upset that injury reported to authorities
By Fuxiong After an accident report was made at the Ministry of Manpower, "my boss, he angry me," says Shirazul. "He say now have problem with insurance." Shirazul's story raises several questions for which no answers are immediately available. The employer treated him relatively well when he was injured and
Clinic quotes worker over $1,000 for a medical report
By Wendy Ma If you had $1,000, how would you spend it? This sum is equivalent to five months of Wang Cunbo’s living expense in Singapore, as he spends only $200 per month. He sends the remaining $1200 of his monthly salary back home in Zhengzhou, China, so that he
Injured worker held by four ‘rabi’ in windowless room
By YC Loh For some transient workers, the option of spending their last days in Singapore calmly settling their affairs and buying gifts before returning home is far removed from reality. Instead, they are forcibly repatriated to their home countries when their employers are unwilling to incur the costs of giving
Workers will bear over $5 billion of costs for injuries sustained in 2011
Preliminary findings from a study of workplace injuries and ill-health in 2011 reveal that slightly more than half of total costs fall on workers themselves, when quantified into dollar terms. Since low-wage foreign workers tend to be the ones doing the dangerous jobs, they suffer injuries and ill-health disproportionately. Now