GO TO PART 2 December 2013, Monday Two designated contact persons from the Toh Guan group of ex-Menton staff come to the office to update and discuss the case with social workers Kenneth and Karno. Quite a few things have happened over the weekend. Twenty workers have been paid $1,500 to $2,000 each, received air
By Wajihah Hamid Watching what happened on Sunday in Singapore’s Little India made my heart sink. At one end of the line of fire were fellow Singaporeans while at the other end were Indian migrant workers – a group whom I followed closely for about 3 months, going to Little India every other day, doing
By Eitan "One day, boss face change," says Abdul Khaium. "Somebody senior talk to boss, then boss become like angry me." Abdul Khaium does not know the reason even now, but his story is one of an employer who seems to have been patient and understanding until that day. Once the attitude changed, however, it
By Shri Devvi Elangovan “Many pain...I cried because a lot in pain”, describes Miah Mohammad Soman of the moments following his accident. He looks uncomfortable, as he sits in front of us with his left shoulder slouched lower and seemingly stiff. He was rushed to a private clinic in the Soon Lee area, but he
By Benjamin Wong In part 1 was the story of two workers who were worried that their medical records did not correctly capture the circumstances surrounding their workplace accidents. In both cases, the doctors didn't ask the patients how the injury occurred; representatives of the company spoke to the doctors instead. But employers have vested
Several stories on our website tell of workers who complain that their employers deny that their injuries were caused by workplace accidents. A recent study by Transient Workers Count Too and Healthserve found that a significant percentage of them worry about what their employers told doctors about the circumstances of the accident. But why? Why
By Benjamin Wong Injuries are the most common type of case Transient Workers Count Too encounters. For workers as with anyone, getting injured is far from a pleasant experience, to put it euphemistically. But as the many stories published have documented, the accident itself is often only the start of a worker's problems and difficulties
About one in three injured workers, when brought to medical attention after an accident, find that it is the boss or company representative who tells the doctor what caused the injury. The worker doesn't get a chance to speak. Yet, it is rare that the boss or company representative witnessed the accident. Another one-third of
By Joyce Wong Where is next month’s money going to come from? Sitting in front of me is a very young, clean-shaven man. He is neatly dressed with his hair slightly touching his collar. Some would call him good-looking. He is here for his dinner at TWC2's soup kitchen when we ask to interview him.
By Gabriel Liong After working a long shift plus an additional four hours of overtime, Sahajan was looking forward to a restful night. It was 9.15pm. His day at the shipyard had begun at 7.30am. Climbing into the back of his company’s lorry, Sahajan made himself comfortable for the ride back to the dormitory. Little
