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Workers with gloomy anniversaries
Nagaraju Ramakrishnan Raju has been waiting twenty months since his injury. A small piece of metal flew into the right eye of the 34-year-old construction worker in June 2011. He had four months of treatment at Tan Tock Seng Hospital before it was decided that he really needed an operation.
Not guilty, but kept behind bars for want of bail
Salauddin broke down in tears when the court acquitted him, late December 2012. But by then, he had already lost his freedom for five months. And through that period, his family wondered what became of him and why remittances stopped. All because he didn't have money for bail. He didn't
Private hospitals making it difficult for workers to access own patient records
Hooq Samesul (above) went back to Raffles Hospital where he had been treated in March 2012. He asked for a copy of his medical records and a statement as to many days' medical leave was given to him. "Nurse say, 'No give'," he recounts to Transient Workers Count Too, meaning
Injured men financially desperate, yet no urgency in paying MC wages
By Chow Zhi Ying Since the accident on 14 May 2012, injuring his right eye, Morshed Alam Saiful (above right) has been without income. He has been on medical leave but has not received any medical leave wages ('MC pay') from his employer. By law, as long as he is
Direct Services Report for 2010 and 2011
Periodically, Transient Workers Count Too produces a Direct Services Report, summarising the help we render to migrant workers. Help takes various forms, including advice through a toll-free helpline, intervention and case management and a free meals programme. The 18-page Report for the years 2010 and 2011 can be downloaded by
Promised $650 a month, Johon suffers pay cuts to only $390
Mohamed Johon was one of 21 workers from the same company who marched to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in October 2012 to lodge salary complaints, but most of them have since settled for rather less than they were owed, he tells TWC2. He is one of four still demanding
Great escape from Changi Airport
By Suresh Mohammad Nazrul Asadur Rahman shows me his newly-minted Special Pass. It was issued just earlier today. But he has endured three months of hardship to get it. And it's not over yet: his boss refuses to hand back his passport. A lanky 40-year old from Bangladesh, Nazrul is
Worker with broken arm told to see Chinese sinseh
By Danielle The second doctor told Rafiqul he needed an X-ray. But "I no money for X-ray," he reports to TWC2, and when he asked his company for a referral letter, "the company say I cannot have letter." He eventually had to find the money to pay for it himself.
Samiul Basir makes us all happy
"I go back after two day," says Samiul, evidently happy that he'll be seeing his family again within 48 hours. Well, then, a quick debrief has to be done to see how his case ended. His debrief turns out to be a pleasant surprise because he then gives us a
Cuff Road Project 2012: Statistics
The Cuff Road Food Programme is Transient Workers Count Too’s signature project. Not only does it address a critical need among workers who have been abandoned and left destitute, it offers an important contact point between the organisation and those in need of help. Workers not only get a hot