Have you ever seen anyone spit in public? Have you ever done it yourself? That’s what I thought: most of you have seen people spit and some of you have done it yourself. It’s more common among older people, and more common among men than women. I’ve seen many people spit, but I’ve never known
Our letter published in the Straits Times Forum on 17 June 2015 mentioned that countries in the Middle East have made it mandatory to pay workers' salaries through bank transfers when Singapore has not. This note provides a bit more detail about this point. UAE In the United Arab Emirates, which comprises Dubai, Abu Dhabi
Published in the Straits Times Forum, 17 June 2015: --- FOREIGN WORKERS' WAGE WOES Ensure pay is banked, offer mobility Sunday's report ("More foreign workers seek help over wage woes") mentioned that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will be making it mandatory for employers to issue itemised payslips next year. Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2)
Buried within a news story in the Sunday Times (More foreign workers seek help over wage woes, 14 June 2015) was this sentence: Next year, employers must issue itemised payslips and provide written key employment terms, to prevent salary disputes, MOM said. A check at the ministry's website does not indicate any recent announcement on
The ballroom at the Fort Canning Lodge was filled with excitement as 150 domestic workers filed in to take their seats around the fifteen big round dining tables. The workers wasted no time and started to pose for photographs with the decorations and backdrop for the event as pop music blared in the background. This
Once in four years, each member state of the United Nations is subject to peer review with respect to its human rights record. The Singapore government will appear before this process, known as Universal Periodic Review (UPR), in Geneva, in January 2016. In the lead-up to this process, the UN Office of the High Commissioner
Photo from Straits Times, Desmond Foo A fire destroyed a workers' dormitory in Choa Chu Kang on Thursday 11 June 2015. This was reported in the Straits Times the day after. The fire was extinguished within an hour, but three firefighters were hurt. The newspaper reported: The dormitory houses about 250 workers, but
TWC2's monthly outreach took place on 14 June 2015 at Boon Lay. Two social workers, three interns and eight volunteers participated. Led by social worker Louis Ong, they fanned out to distribute TWC2 flyers and speak to workers to introduce the ways we can help them. We stress that our services are provided free of
Today newspaper devoted a full page to our newly-released research report on weekly day off for domestic workers. Of the 195 respondents surveyed by the non-governmental organisation from July 2013 to October last year, only 41 per cent said they had four rest days each month. Close to a quarter said they got either one
Government legislation has helped improve foreign domestic workers’ access to compensation in lieu of a day off, but 59% of foreign domestic workers in Singapore still do not get a weekly day off. To mark International Domestic Workers’ Day (16 June 2015), Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) publishes a new report: ‘The Right to Rest:
