Headlined Singapore is keeping an eye on its foreign workers, the BBC did a report (14 April 2015) on Tuas View Dormitory, said to be the largest in Singapore, housing 17,000 migrant workers. While showcasing its facilities, it also discusses the surveillance system incorporated into its design and operations. The question of its location, at
The Guardian newspaper reported that s many as 4,000 fishermen, mostly Burmese with some Cambodians and Thais are being rescued from remote islands of the Indonesian archipelago. A quarter of them are said to be on Benjina, an island in the Aru group south of West Papua. After the Indonesian government imposed a ban on
Jolovan Wham, Executive Director of fellow migrant-worker NGO, the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) posted on his Facebook page the news that the Singapore Medical Council is holding a disciplinary tribunal over two doctors. TWC2's clients have reported very similar experiences: severe injuries, yet given only one or two days' medical leave. Workers
"Foul-smelling curry, rock-solid fish with scales still intact..." -- this was how Today newspaper opened its story (titled "Foreign workers served 'unappetising, stale food'", 19 March 2015) on the poor quality of food that foreign workers get. The story referred primarily to male workers at construction sites. Based on an on-going survey by researchers from
By Russell Heng A line from an old song I know underlines TWC2’s experience when staff at Barclays, Singapore raised $25,670 for us in 2 hours of one afternoon. It goes, “Wider and wider our circle expands”. Let’s start at the very beginning. In September a bank staff Deepak Siddappa wrote to say they are
Alex Au (L) and Pat Meyer (R) discuss setting priorities, while Miguel Pina (C) tests out how to import old data from spreadsheets into the new system The first week of March opened with many fingers crossed. Transient Workers Count Too's new Case Management System (Camans) was going live. The new application would
In 2014, about 88 percent of TWC2's spending went towards charitable activities, benefitting our clients in a relatively direct way. Total expenditure in the year was $463,025, leaving us with a surplus of $108,203 from the year's income of $571,228. About 94 percent of this income came from voluntary donations, with much of the balance
Express Point Engineering Pte Ltd took exception to our article published on 17 December 2014, titled 'Injured Hossian hidden away in locked container'. The employer asserted that this was untrue, though this was possibly later qualified with a further nuance: that they had no knowledge of any such incident. Following an email from Express Point,
"You did Spit onto a Public Place (Drain)" -- this was the awkward and legalistic way Imran’s Notice to Attend Court described his offence. How was he to know that spitting in a drain by the side of the road was wrong? “No person shall spit any substance or expel mucus from the nose upon
This is the opinion piece by John Gee of Transient Workers Count Too, published in the Straits Times, 3 December 2014. ---- A win-win way to help injured foreign workers The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is considering outsourcing the inspection of workplaces to counter the illegal employment of foreign workers, a task that currently involves
