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Salary complaint resolved unusually quickly
By Davina Tham When eighteen workers demanded the four months' salaries that were owed to them, their boss told them that they would only receive the money if they first signed a “condition paper”, says Mohammed Anisuzzaman (striped shirt). "But never show paper," he adds, indicating that they were upset to
A year and a half since the accident, Mahadi still stuck in Singapore
Volunteer Christine Pelly flipped Mahadi's dinner card over and noticed that the date of accident recorded on it was more than one year ago. She directed the young man to your writer, who this evening was interested in the stories of those with prolonged cases. Visibly, there was no obvious
SMRT drivers’ strike — a stand for dignity
On 26 November 2012, 171 bus drivers from SMRT Corp did not turn up for work. Many of them did the same again the following day. Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-jin called it an "illegal strike" saying that public transport services had been classed as "essential services". Five drivers
Short-paid worker complains, finds boss trying to strangle him
By Suresh When Khairul intervened to pacify two co-workers having an altercation, the boss, who had been watching all this while, suddenly came forward and pushed Khairul flat to the ground. He mounted Khairul’s chest and attempted to strangle him. The poor worker did not have a clue why all
Workers terminated early have trouble getting refunds
The law says that if a foreign worker is terminated within six months of starting a job in Singapore, the Singapore agent who placed him or her in that job shall refund 50 percent of the fees to the worker (Employment Agencies Rules 2011, section 13). Two recent cases seen
Tsunami survivor meets more misfortune in Singapore
By Lim Wei Zhen The slip of a drill left his right thumb fractured, and the hole in the road unfinished. It also punched a hole in Sivaraju's dream of a Singaporean road to riches. Growing up in the fishing village of Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, his face clouds over as
Leg in cast, but told to go back to work
By Wendy Mah On the second visit to a doctor, Venkata was told an operation might be needed. In the meantime, a cast was put around his injured left ankle. How many days' medical leave did he get? "The doctor said no MC needed, go to work," recalls Venkata with
Workers with gloomy anniversaries
Nagaraju Ramakrishnan Raju has been waiting twenty months since his injury. A small piece of metal flew into the right eye of the 34-year-old construction worker in June 2011. He had four months of treatment at Tan Tock Seng Hospital before it was decided that he really needed an operation.
Not guilty, but kept behind bars for want of bail
Salauddin broke down in tears when the court acquitted him, late December 2012. But by then, he had already lost his freedom for five months. And through that period, his family wondered what became of him and why remittances stopped. All because he didn't have money for bail. He didn't
Private hospitals making it difficult for workers to access own patient records
Hooq Samesul (above) went back to Raffles Hospital where he had been treated in March 2012. He asked for a copy of his medical records and a statement as to many days' medical leave was given to him. "Nurse say, 'No give'," he recounts to Transient Workers Count Too, meaning