Articles > Stories
Worker says his employer wanted him to tell doctor, ‘I OK already’
By Saw Suhui Rana Masud met with an accident on the 19 May 2015. His left thumb was cut off and the hospital was not able to reattach it. They tried the first time, but in Rana’s words, it was “many problem, sensitive”, and was amputated on 15 February this
Paid and paid for three jobs, only to end up injured and jobless
By Jas Kaur Abu Younus Mohammad is no novice to work in Singapore. So why is it that a man who has experience and in fact, skills, is sitting here with no job? Younus has held three jobs in Singapore. Firstly, he did a painting job for two years, for
$300 fine or prison for dropping a cigarette butt
Sep 2012 arrived Singapore Aug 2013 injured at work, 3 months MC Feb 2014 caught working illegally Apr 2015 received injury compensation of $4,000+ Feb 2016 issued $300 fine for dropping a cigarette butt A sad chronology of events for Hasibul: He had worked for less than one year when
Four workers allege employer made them pay for their jobs, MOM investigating
By Ranjana Raghunathan At TWC2's Cuff Road Project, a group of five workers, three Indian and two Bangladeshi, catch my attention. They seem to know each other, and have come to enroll themselves in the free meal program together. Upon questioning a little, I learn that they, along with
26 stitches in his hand, 2 days medical leave
By Richard S Getting off at Farrer Park station, I pass railing after railing of discount clothes, sunglasses, and mobile phone accessories. This is an area catering to the migrant workers of southern India and Bangladesh. The food here is authentic, delicious, and served with staggeringly large portions of rice.
Seeing rain clouds on a clear day
By Lucas Sim All through my hour with Masud (not his real name), I was expecting him to say something like 'my boss don't want me to see doctor', or 'my boss don't want to pay for my treatment'. These are common complaints that volunteers like me hear from workers
Sardar knocked down and fainted, yet not sent to doctor
By Zhan Nanxin When Alex touches Sardar Md Shamin’s shoulder, he flinches. The accident is several months ago, but should his injury be permanent, he will be unable to take up any heavy-duty job again, in Singapore or in any other country. He will be unable to support both his sisters
Clinic-shopping while Alam bleeds away
"Boss say I must not talking (tell others) how I accident," Alam recounts of the first hours after his forearm was torn open. "He say I must explain like this: (that) I go canteen to makan (eat), and I fall down there." "He tell other workers, nobody must talking." But
Razibul goes from lots of work but no money, to no work no money
By Zhan Nanxin In his third month on the job, it was ‘Tomorrow…. Tomorrow’. Then it became ‘Next week’ and gradually escalated to ‘Next month’. It's November now, and Islam Razibul has not received his pay since June 2015. He waited patiently for three months, but eventually lodged a complaint at
Injured worker told he must show up at work, but “just standing only”
By Saw Suhui When I first spot Rahabul, he is standing at a corner of a coffee shop, using a flimsy piece of tissue paper to cover the wound on his hand as his friend helps to translate his account of his unfortunate incident to a fellow volunteer. “Pain,” he