By Gerald Lim, Lionel Ong and Marjorie Pang “Don’t bother talking to my maid. She knows absolutely nothing and is impossibly lazy” – the words of a Singapore employer, who wouldn’t allow us to speak to her Indonesian domestic worker as part of our survey. It speaks volumes. You can’t ignore the indifference with which some
By Rob Irene joins the queue to get her height measured. She is in a group of about 10 new arrivals from the Philippines packed into a training room to take the Ministry of Manpower’s mandatory Settling In Programme for domestic maids. Irene arrived from Manila last night and joins a group of about 20
By Russell Heng A year ago, TWC2 had a financial crisis where funds were so low, we were faced with closing up in less than five months. Around that time, journalist and editorial consultant Irene Hoe was planning to celebrate her birthday. Hearing of our plight, she had a simple answer when her friends asked
By Rachel Hui. Photos by Alex Tay. On 26 August 2012, TSMP Law Corporation sponsored a trip to the zoo for a hundred Bangladeshi and Indian migrant workers receiving assistance from TWC2, along with ten TWC2 volunteers. Arriving early at the designated pick-up location on a Sunday morning to ensure their registration, many of the
Commentary by Jamie Lin Weirong Humanitarian organisations such as TWC2 have long been advocating for the proper treatment of foreign workers in Singapore. The appeals against the abuse of foreign labour often revolve around notions of ‘justice’, ‘fairness’ and ‘dignity’, principles with an obvious enough value. Though these workers might not look like us or speak like
By Paul M As a society we can often measure our progress by the attitudes, ambitions and actions of our youth. So one of the more hopeful signs is the increasing interest of youth and educationists in the treatment of migrant workers. Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) has a programmme called 'Day School' in which
By Anita Mehay “Good here if Singaporean – not if Bangladeshi man” – Mr Olm Mr Olm, a 22 year old Bangladeshi man came to Singapore to work. Just 4 months in, he suffered a workplace injury when his fingers no longer bend, after a heavy object landed on his hand. This means he cannot
By Jason Shut the blog down; it's illegal – so went opponents of SingaporeMaid.blogspot.com. The controversy erupted when the Straits Times reported on the blog, run by a full-time mother who goes by the online moniker ‘Tamarind’. The blog was meant for netizens to share negative experiences they have had with their domestic helpers. Argued
Merry Maids from NJCPW075 on Vimeo. By KS Touched by the plight of foreign domestic helpers, a group of teenagers from the National Junior College decided to produce an animation video related to this issue. “Merry maids”, a two-minute video, was an idea suggested by group mate, Serena Khoo, who is half-Indonesian. Hearing stories from
