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Photos through the eyes of workers
How do migrant workers see the spaces, people and activities around them? What is significant to them? A fascinating exhibition will let you in on the secret. Migrant Encounters is the brainchild of Ye Junjia ("Jia"), and brought to fruition with the help of her friends Tai Shuxia and Jessie
Injured? It’s over, you’re going home
By Nigel Lin I offer Pitchai a handshake – it is my first time interviewing a foreign worker and hey, I thought it’d be polite to do so. He takes it up, albeit rather weakly. That prompts my first question. “Is your right arm okay?” “Very pain when I moving
From video to concert, this 23 November
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H0sbZnCf2I Many people will have seen the above Youtube video that circulated a few months earlier. It was made by Beyond the Border, Behind the Men, a project that celebrates the otherwise anonymous and invisible Bangladeshi migrant workers in our midst. Now the BTBBTM music team is having their first
Confined to wheelchair for months, worker had no good advice how to make a claim
By Chow Zhi Ying Safiulla told the law firm that he wanted to discharge them from representing him. He was shocked to be told in return that he had to pay $1,000 before they would issue a discharge letter. Not having this kind of money, he is now stuck. But
Planning in progress for International Migrants Day 2012
When a Transient Workers Count Too volunteer met domestic workers of the Filipino Family Network and the Indonesian Family Network in June and said, ‘We were thinking about what we should do for International Migrants’ Day this year...’, there was no discussion. Immediately, the workers said that they’d like to
NUS students witness cleansing operation against foreign workers
Introduction by Alex Au: Even as Debbie Fordyce was explaining to a group of students from the National University of Singapore (NUS) the problem of homelessness and lack of social space for foreign workers, ten to twelve uniformed officers swept into the same area to shoo away men resting in
Supply of blue-collar foreign workers drying up
A report in the Business Times, 24 April 2012, highlighted the gradual drying up of Singapore's usual sources of foreign blue-collar workers. The story, headlined "S'pore magnet losing its foreign worker pull" by Cai Haoxiang is archived in Asia One. The traditional source of unskilled labour, Malaysia, dried up years
Big operations meet big heart
By Benjamin Wong Approaching Zakir Hossain, one immediately notices the giant white cast that covers his left forearm. What comes to mind are the stories, the turn of events so commonly heard: an accident occurs, a worker gets injured, his work permit gets cut, he isn't able to get an
Settling in: Class no.1 for new maids in Singapore
By Rob Irene joins the queue to get her height measured. She is in a group of about 10 new arrivals from the Philippines packed into a training room to take the Ministry of Manpower’s mandatory Settling In Programme for domestic maids. Irene arrived from Manila last night and joins
Lured by promises, worker hands over $5,000 to employer
By Spiegel Saddled with debt and stripped of his livelihood, Rahim (not his real name) feels his life hanging in the balance. A wage dispute last month prompted Rahim’s Singaporean employer to revoke his work permit without warning, casting the 28-year-old Bangladeshi out in the cold. It’s a bitter blow