The Ministry of Manpower invited public responses to a consultation paper re amendments to the Employment Act. The closing date was 11 January 2013. Transient Workers Count Too submitted a list of proposals. Click here to see our letter in pdf format. Our letter touches on several points important to migrant workers: We urge inclusion
Uzzal’s injury happened like this. On 9 June 2010, he was working on a project in an HDB flat, hacking away floor and wall tiles in a bathroom. The vibration from the hacking machine caused his safety glasses to slip off allowing a chip of tiling to rocket into his right eye. He experienced immediate
In this video, Today newspaper interviewed two Bangladeshi workers suffering because they are receiving no income, when they have borrowed money to come here. Below is a transcription of what's said in the video that was uploaded onto Youtube on 4 January 2013. The accent can be quite thick and to help viewers, we've added
Researcher Sallie Yea gave a talk on Tuesday, 8 January 2013, launching her preliminary report on human trafficking in the fishing industry. The event was organised by Transient Workers Count Too. To an audience of about 30 persons from embassies, government and media, she spoke about her study of 63 cases of Filipino fishermen who
Jolovan Wham (right), writing in his personal capacity, sent an open letter to Tan Chuan-Jin, acting minister for Manpower on 7 January 2013. The opening paragraph references a defamation suit that the minister is threatening Vincent Wijeysingha of the Singapore Democratic Party with, over a previous Facebook post by the latter. Vincent was previously the
Research by Sallie Yea With contributions by Shelley Thio from TWC2 December 2012 Abstract The report shows that trafficking characterizes a significant proportion of the experiences of the fishermen on the boats that dock in Singapore’s ports. These fishermen suffer various abuses during the recruitment and deployment process (in the Philippines and Singapore), at sea (in
"Singapore will find it difficult to recruit foreign construction workers even from newer markets like Sri Lanka and the Philippines if it does not match salaries that employers elsewhere are offering," reported the Straits Times on 3 Jan 2013. The newspaper was aggregating the reactions of agents, employers and migrant rights activists to news that
[Webmaster: This story first appeared on the Facebook page "A maid's-eye view of Singapore employers". It is a distressing story, but it shows how some domestic workers suffer terribly. The story is said to be from a woman pseudonymed Soe Soe who has since left Singapore. Soe Soe told her story to the webmaster of
Workers put on Special Passes are not allowed to work; they receive stern warnings and punishment if caught doing so. Yet their employers are able to avoid paying medical leave wages and medical expenses, leaving the workers with no means of survival. A fall at a Tampines construction site on 26 April 2012 left Ashraful
Rashedul isn’t typical of the men who leave Bangladesh for Singapore in search of wealth and fortune, and he would be the first to acknowledge that himself. He was in the middle of completing his bachelors degree in English literature at Jagganath University in Dhaka when, following his father’s advice, he left home to find
