All Articles
Father of two finds savings depleted in long wait for case resolution
By Li Zi Xin Hossain Billal, 33, has been without work and income for almost a year. He has a wife and two children to support. He may never fully recover from his workplace injury and may never be able to do heavy work again. There is nothing dramatic about
Govindarasu, though injured, says his employer did their best for him
By Vivek R “They tell me Singapore is very good,” says Muthusamy Govindarasu. “But cannot throw rubbish and must behave well. If not police fine you.” Govindarasu hails from a small town in Tamil Nadu, India. Having only had a secondary school education, for Govindarasu and many foreign workers like
Arm in sling, denied medical treatment for a year
https://youtu.be/M4VrPkuDZWg Video by Nicole Ng, text by Colin Ng The above video was produced in June 2016, sixteen months after Anowar suffered his injury. Throughout the months following the injury, Anowar did not get much-needed surgery for his shoulder. Some injury cases, like Farid’s, go smoothly and the worker
“Boss say: if asking [salary], then you go back Bangladesh.”
By Anthony Chua When I first spot Barai Dipok at TWC2’s Dayspace, he is seated in front of a volunteer case helper, clutching some important looking documents and appearing visibly frustrated. As I approach to shake his hand, he utters a weak ‘hi’ and turns his attention right back to
How we walked Muslem Motalb, with broken knee, home
Muslem Motalb will always remember Transient Workers Count Too fondly. "I [will] never forget TWC2," he told us in the days before he went home. "Many people in TWC2 help me so much." We'll tell the story here of what we did to help bring his case to a successful
There are laws about salary payment and work permits, no?
By Kan Ren Jie For many Singaporean employees, it would be unthinkable for our employers to stop paying our monthly salaries. Many of us are accustomed (and excited!) to see our bank balance increase every month like clockwork. However, this basic confidence is denied to many foreign workers. My conversations
Discovering that they’re boys again
"Never before, I touch a fighter jet," said Dharmaraj, "and sit inside helicopter, pilot seat." Meanwhile, Amin just beamed broadly, unable to say which moment was the most interesting for him. They went on Friday 20 May 2016 to the Air Force open house, held at Changi airport. The outing
How dare you ask about injury compensation!
By Gek Han In sixteen years of working in Singapore, Islam Aminur has been diligent and careful, working without an accident. But luck turned against him in December 2015. A heavy, 20kg block of metal fell on his thumb, necessitating surgery at the National University Hospital (NUH). Aminur was given 25 days medical
Dorm operator fined $300,000 for having 10% more occupants than allowed
KT Mesdorm Pte Ltd, the operator of a purpose-built dormitory in the Boon Lay area was recently fined $300,000 for having more than the permitted number of workers living there. Mesdorm pleaded guilty to 30 charges. It is the first dorm operator to be so prosecuted, said the Ministry of
The Cuff Road Project: how many men? how many meals?
The Cuff Road Project[i] (TCRP) serves many purposes. For starters, it fills the bellies of a large number of men who aren’t permitted to work under the terms of their Special Pass, or because of action taken by their employer to prevent them from working. Most of the men have