Reporting on yet another successful year helping 1,908 migrant workers, the Executive Committee of Transient Workers Count Too described an organisation that is in steady hands, very focussed on its mission, at the Annual General Meeting held on March 25, 2012. Of these 1,908 workers, 1,458 came through the helpdesk of our Cuff Road Project,
In a statement issued March 26, 2012, the Ministry of Manpower announced that work permit holders from "non-traditional sources" such as Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand, as well as from China, can be employed for a maximum of ten years, up from six years previously. The statement can be seen at http://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/Pages/PressReleasesDetail.aspx?listid=415 The ministry
Shokkanarayanan Ramakrishnan, 43, was sentenced to four weeks' jail for abetting a false declaration as part of an S-Pass scam. The Permanent Resident was then an employment agent with Islets Solutions Pte Ltd, and had helped an employer (not named in the Channel NewsAsia story, March 26, 2012) "to falsely over-declare the monthly salaries of
In a brief presentation made at the Annual General Meeting held on March 25, 2011, Transient Workers Count Too treasurer Alex Au gave a cautious assessment of TWC2's financial health. Recalling how at the start of 2011, the previous (interim) treasurer Russell Heng predicted a cash crunch in 2011, Alex spoke about how TWC2 tightened
Desperate Cambodians, recruited into the Thai fishing fleet, have been jumping off their boats to escape life-threatening work conditions. They are often not paid either, reported Nirmal Ghosh , Straits Times' correspondent in Thailand. The feature story (Straits Times, 24 March 2012, Thai fishing trade under fire for human trafficking) detailed that about 30 Cambodians
Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Wanbao and the Straits Times reported that a domestic worker from Indonesia fell to her death on Saturday afternoon, March 17, 2012. She fell from her employer's home on the 13th floor of a flat in Pasir Ris Street 71. From the bamboo clothes pole found next to her, it probably happened
In a side panel to an article in the Straits Times story on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 (Retire on CPF savings? Think again, by Radha Basu), associate professor Hui Weng Tat cautioned about the possibility of employers attempting to recover higher levy rates by lowering foreign worker wages, and urged greater attention to raising productivity. Straits
46 men this week join a long list of foreign workers penalised by officialdom for being duped by local companies looking to make a quick buck. Yes, you read that right: They were penalised for being victims. Each has received a letter from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) banning them for working in Singapore for
Shuma supports herself and her two children by taking in sewing, for which she receives about 300 Bangladeshi taka (less than $5) a week. While her husband was alive, he sent home an average of about 20,000 taka a month ($300 - $350 at the rate at that time). This would have been enough to
Following the debate that is swirling around Singapore on the government’s announcement of a day off for foreign domestic workers, I thought it about time someone went into bat for these girls and started talking more about what they do. Sitting here watching May (our maid) take my son off to school today (he’s two
