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Four men, picked at random, speak of low pay and hardship, part 2
Continued from Part 1: By Rabin Kok I am happy for Ishaq. However, Nitai Chandra Sarker, my next interviewee, reminds me that many workers are far less lucky. Nitai does not sport a smile – only a blank, wistful look. Like Islam, he too paid 400,000 takas (about S$7,000) just
Four men, picked at random, speak of low pay and hardship, part 1
Rabin is a new volunteer doing his first interviews. At his first volunteering session, he was not expected to go for an in-depth story. Instead he was tasked to do quick interviews with a random pick of workers in order to gain a broad familiarity with the issues and the
Kickbacks are illegal, but how to eliminate them?
By Seema Punwani You must spend money to make money. Even Forbes magazine propagates this theory and it has probably inspired several entrepreneurs. A worker living across the Indian Ocean in Bangladesh who has limited formal education and sparse knowledge of English has in all probability not come across this famous quote.
In one of the richest cities of the world, the wages of toil
By Joanna Korycinska $6,500 is the amount Hossain Jahir paid upfront to secure a job in Singapore. It took him two and a half years to earn this amount back. Only then did his family begin to benefit from his working here. When he started on this job in March
Sivam’s saints
On the evening of Thursday, 2 July 2015, Subbaiah Ramasivam flew home to Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, a very happy man. He was still slapping himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming it all. In his pocket were slightly over two thousand dollars, money that less than a week earlier, he
Marine workers earn less than working at McDonald’s
By William Chin I was told that working in the marine industry is a lucrative segment, which pays higher than an average job. Economics 101 teaches that jobs that are dangerous would pay more than an average job to draw applicants. That is until one evening, when I meet the
Elayaraja’s hopeful beginning… and bitter end
By Ranjana Raghunathan “Oh you share your name with the wonderful Tamil music director,” I try to break the ice as he nods, unimpressed at my remark. Elayaraja is from Killaipichavaram, a village near Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, India. He was earning about 10,000 Rupees per month (around $200) in
Injured worker needs money for treatment, employer turns hostile
By Lim Shaomin "See the doctor yourself, after that money give you" is the phrase most dreaded by foreign workers. The statement is duplicitous in its simplicity; settling injury claims are never as straightforward as they seem. Getting reimbursement can take months. In Moyjjin's case (as in the case of many others),
Case study: Two injured workers stuck for two years
A noticeable number of workers who have been injured at work lose over two years of their lives waiting for resolution of their cases. Typically, their medical treatment is largely over within months, but the compensation process (for permanent disability they may have suffered) can drag on for another year
Throwing sawdust at doctor’s advice
By Samantha Ege On 14 November 2014, Sarker Babu Sukanto should have been preparing to spend the night in hospital. Moments earlier, he had suffered a fall while at a working site in Kallang. The accident left him with severe pain across his right shoulder, down his back and around his