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Shahadat borrows from an “NGO” to fund his recruitment fee, but at what cost?
To pay the agent fee for his job, Shahadat had to take a loan. We calculate the interest rate involved. We can barely believe our math.
Monzur the ‘liar’
Doctors have diagnosed from MRI, X-ray, a problem with Monzur's spine after a back injury. His boss insists that Monzur is lying, claims he has videos to prove it.
Sajalal and his shape-changing salary
What was Sajalal's salary? He couldn't be sure. We ask him to give us a history and it shines a light on some widespread employer practices.
Ferdous has had enough, wants to go home
Ferdous feels overwhelmed by problems: injury, unpaid salary, unrecovered recruitment fees, borrowing money to pay for treatment, delays due to Covid-19....
Only nine company directors convicted in 2019 for not paying salaries
Despite the Employment Claims Tribunal finding hundreds of employers liable for salary non-ayment, only a handful of compay directors are convicted.
Invisible occupations: hotel housekeeping
Singapore's hotel industry is highly reliant on foreign workers too, though they're less visible than construction workers. Barathi gives us a little insight before he goes home.
Moving mountains to remove 3cm of metal wire
Rana needed a small medical procedure to remove a wire implant that has outlived its usefulness. Bureaucracy and faulty government policy stood in the way.
“I don’t understand, I don’t know press one or two”
In Singapore, we rush to digitise many things, but forget that in the process, groups of already-disadvantaged people get left further behind.
Sheikh Hasan’s first 24 hours with TWC2
Hasan paid over $15,000 for his first job in Singapore, which didn't materialise. After 4 months in limbo, he approached us. A case study of the social work we do.
From the murkiness, a señora emerges
How did Shahabuddin end up with a lawyer over his injury case when parties are not in dispute? A simple question leads to a bigger exploration.