Articles > Stories
Going international: Singapore’s toothless laws
A recruiter goes onto Facebook to publicise his scheme to hire low-wage workers in violation of Singapore law; he seems to have nothing to fear.
When TADM’s discretion becomes the employer’s bargaining chip
Over the years, ministers have repeatedly said that migrant workers with valid employment claim will be permitted to find new jobs without repatriation, but Anna was denied this.
Laundromat city
Construction worker Domog faces a host of problems, of which his agent fee is not top of mind, but nonetheless we ask him to detail the payments he has had to make.
What happens when “I take care of workers [that] boss don’t like”
A worker is injured in an accident, his supervisor is called as a witness. Is it a coincidence when the supervisor is accused of theft of company property?
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.