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Seeing double: an unexplained mystery
A curious case involving nearly 20 men approaching TWC2 within a week, all of whom had proper IPAs at MOM, but due to a mismatch of names compared with their passports, were refused Work Permits. Now left jobless.
“If you complain, we will kill you”
Employers abused the Training Employment Pass scheme to hire cheap day labour; now hear it from the worker's perspective: distress, helplessness and financial disaster.
Resign? What fiction is this?
Without a sense of financial security, resigning from a bad job may be an unrealistic move for migrant workers – even when salary isn't fully paid.
If farmers can lock up their oxen in a barn, why can’t we lock up our workers too?
There's a continuing pattern of employers locking up their employees. We describe a recent case when TWC2 had to intervene and explain why such employer attitudes and behaviour persist.
Management executives washing dishes – media coverage and more
Our earlier article "Management executives" washing dishes got media attention. Then more informants came to us to tell us about the issue. It's much bigger than we had thought.
Scams and substitutions, case #3 of 3
Another day, another scam. This time, it involves the Training Employment Pass. This case suggests lax controls and oversight at MOM. But when real individuals lose big money, something has to be done.
Scams and substitutions, case #2 of 3
A Burmese restaurant worker was never paid for overtime work, suffered huge salary deductions, and then more than a year later, discovered that the employer had substituted his contract with another one.
Scams and substitutions, case #1 of 3
A Chinese worker was asked to work, not for the company stated on her work permit, but for a related company. The boss was the same. How could she say no? And then when she was not paid properly, how does she claim what's due?
Fall guys for working at heights
Working at height demands rigourous safety measures. If an accident happens and is traceable to negligence, criminal charges can follow. So, when we heard about superficial compliance with regulations....
Entrusting children’s lives to sleepless lifeguards
Two lifeguards hired from Kerala, India were tasked to work 14-hour days, seven days a week. And paid only half of what had been documented as the agreed salary. Wouldn't fatigue affect their alertness?