A boss of a construction firm pleaded guilty on October 11, 2011, to ten charges of obtaining kickbacks from foreign employees. This was in violation of the law that prohibited employers of foreign workers from demanding or receiving any benefit for hiring them. Kenneth Lim Ong Long also pleaded guilty to making false declarations to
An employer who failed to pay wages to 73 foreign workers on time had his four-week jail sentence affirmed by an appeal court. The unpaid salaries ranged from two to seven months' worth. The Straits Times reported that Lee Chiang Theng, 58, sole director of Goldrich Venture and Gates Offshore, had pleaded guilty last year
Sunday Times, October 9, 2011, had a full-page feature about an issue that TWC2 has also noticed to be increasing in frequency -- doctors in private practice giving workers who have been injured in workplace accidents just two day's medical leave. The newspaper story headlined 'Lost part of finger, 2 days' MC' begins with Wang
International news network CNN carried a story titled Debts and dreams: Singapore's migrant workers on October 7, 2011. See http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/07/business/singapore-migrants/index.html. Opening with a scene from TWC2's Cuff Road Project -- our daily soup kitchen -- the 1,600-word story focuses on the way male migrant workers are exploited and abused, touching on key issues such as
John Gee responded to a letter in the October 4, 2011 edition of the Straits Times: Dear ST, Madam Chua Lai Keow certainly had a bad experience with her domestic worker who became pregnant, but this should not be seen as a reason for denying domestic workers days off when they can go out. Many
This is the unedited version of a letter sent to the editor of Straits Times Forum on September 30, 2011, in relation to an article that appeared in the paper the same day (see summary): Dear ST, It is good to see that action is being taken against employers who fail to pay workers' salaries
Up till then, it was a quiet morning at TWC2's office. Up till when the phone rang. On the other side was a woman whose voice told of deep concern. Mrs K (not her real name) told TWC2 staff member Mansura that there was a domestic worker in an apartment a few doors away from
The Ministry of Manpower announced on October 3, 2011, that charges will be increased for the application and issuing of Work Permits. The changes will effect from December 1, 2011. The new charges will be $20 to apply for a Work Permit, and $20 for the issuing of a Work Permit Currently, the fee for
TWC2 Executive Committee member Debbie Fordyce was featured in a two-page spread in The New Paper, September 30, 2011. The story's focus was on her extending hospitality to injured migrant workers, letting them stay with her in your apartment till they have recovered or their cases resolved. You can read the full story by downloading
"Oh yes, and the prints you see here are for sale," Sim Chi Yin said, almost as an afterthought to the speech she had just made, launching her book The Long Road Home, "and the proceeds will benefit Transient Workers Count Too, Home and Migrant Voices in equal thirds." She was referring to the framed
