Articles > Stories
Domestic workers cheer new day-off rule, struggle with memories of work without rest
By Francesca Ummai, a 34-year-old domestic worker from Indonesia remembers a dark stretch of her life when she would cry every night. She was 17-years-old, on her first job as a domestic worker, and her Singaporean employers did not give her a day off. “It was terrible, I had no
Death in Geylang: 200 ‘Likes’ and Counting
How do you measure compassion online? Or empathy? How do we advocate tolerance towards migrant workers when negative stereotypes are being continually recycled and unchallenged in cyberspace? Civil society is changing shape online but sadly it hasn't brought with it civil discourse. I stumbled upon this article yesterday about the
Petshop worker ‘caged’ by boss
中文翻译 The staff at Transient Workers Count Too are used to hearing female voices with a Filipino accent asking for help over their difficulties, but this call was different. Evangelina (not her real name) was speaking about a "him" in trouble. "His employer has taken him out of Singapore, to
Worker with back pain sent here and there — the system requires it
Part II, paragraph 3 of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Regulations says explicitly that employers are responsible for any medical care that foreign workers need: The employer shall be responsible for and bear the costs of the foreign employee’s upkeep and maintenance in Singapore. This includes the provision of medical
Thirteen months with a broken knee, part 3
Continued from Part 2. Monday, December 19, 2011, Manik showed up at Alexandra Hospital for his long-delayed knee operation. He was nervous, as anyone would be undergoing his first surgery. An operating theatre was ready and waiting for him. He changed into a gown and was placed in a gurney
The perfect job
Abul Kalam thought he had found the perfect job, one that he could arrange directly with the employer and that didn’t require him to deal with an agent or recruiter in Bangladesh. Most Bangladeshi workers are recruited by a friend or acquaintance who takes $8,000 to $10,000 to line up
Tired of waiting
Unlike other stories at this site, 29-year-old Madasamy Muniyandi's story is not one of grievous injustice. He has no major beef with his employer though he suffered a bad accident that has left him with a permanent impairment. But he's tired of waiting. The process is very slow. As an
Time-lapse: a typical evening at our Cuff Road Project
TWC2.org.sg from benjamin broekema on Vimeo. Benjamin Broekema spent nearly three hours on his feet making the above time-lapse video at Isthana Restaurant, one of the two places where Transient Workers Count Too operate our daily free meals programme for out-of-work migrant workers. At the start of the video, while
How low can a salary go?
Shobus never would have agreed to a job that promised only $9 a day. But of course that’s not what he was promised before he came. He was told that he would earn $800 to $900 a month for working 8:00am to 7:00pm. He dreamed of how much he would
Eighteen men, two windows
By the time a foreign worker comes to Transient Workers Count Too seeking help, he most likely would have been kicked out of company-provided accommodation. For many of the men we help, shelter is a cramped, stuffy room in tenement housing -- that's if they are lucky enough or rich