Articles

26 10, 2013

Ilo Ilo: parts of film don’t reflect life of a domestic worker

GuestContributor2019-08-30T16:34:16+08:00October 26th, 2013|Articles, Our Stand, Stories|

By Marifel Mosquera Teresita (Terry) is the newly hired helper of Lim Family from the Province of Iloilo in the Philippines. Like most of the women who come to Singapore as domestic workers, she is looking to better her life and climb out of poverty. The film is about her relationship and struggle with one

23 10, 2013

Workers turn flash mob at Yale-NUS College

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:34:16+08:00October 23rd, 2013|Articles, Happenings|

By TK “The students had a blast!" said Professor Anju Mary Paul. "Their interactions with the workers both in Little India and today have fundamentally changed their views about migrant workers in Singapore.” Paul is from Yale-NUS College's Division of Social Sciences, and was speaking to TWC2 after the college hosted a visit by migrant

22 10, 2013

Caught doing illegal work — a lucky break for Ramachandran

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:34:16+08:00October 22nd, 2013|Articles, Stories|

By Benjamin Wong Arumugam Ramachandran first came to Singapore four years ago. For three years Ramachandran worked injury free, but seven months ago, during a routine construction job, Ramachandran injured his knee. At first, he was unwilling to report it, and tried to carry on working, hoping the pain would go away eventually. For the

19 10, 2013

‘The sweets were delicious’

alex2019-08-30T16:34:17+08:00October 19th, 2013|Articles, Stories|

Once in a while, Transient Workers Count Too succeeds in helping a worker get everything that is due to him. Not only is the worker happy, so are we. Deliriously. But there was a month in which everything looked very bleak for Hazrat (not his real name). His employer had submitted salary vouchers with forged

16 10, 2013

Thamil borrowed from legal assistant to survive

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:34:17+08:00October 16th, 2013|Articles, Stories|

By Max Ang The modern urban environment is a tough and unrelenting place where the simplest of needs is monetised. Money is needed in the exchange for basic necessities, such as food and shelter. Without it, one can starve amidst plenty. Such is the predicament of Perumal Thamilarasan. Two years into his job as a

14 10, 2013

Television’s a treat

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:34:17+08:00October 14th, 2013|Articles, Happenings|

By T K “Photo photo”, the men called out to the TWC2 volunteers to help take pictures, as they lined up beside the movie director, chests out, shoulders squared and faces to the lens. This was at the screening of "Television (2012)" by Bangladeshi film director Mostofa Sarwar Farooki. The film was among several in the listing

11 10, 2013

Over a year, the difference between $18 and $25 adds up to a lot of money

alex2019-08-30T16:34:17+08:00October 11th, 2013|Articles, News Flash, Stories|

"You see my IPA," says Shipon as he leaves through a whole sheath of papers. "It say here my salary one month $650." The 'IPA' is the In-principle approval for a work permit and contains the terms of employment that the employer declares to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) at the time of applying for

9 10, 2013

65 percent of injured and salary-claim workers threatened with premature repatriation

webmaster2019-08-30T16:34:17+08:00October 9th, 2013|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, Happenings|

For both groups -- those regularly working and those with injury and salary claims-- the threat of premature repatriation creates a lot of stress. It is the most important stress factor among working workers, and the second-most important, after being injured, among injured and salary-claim workers. Having uncleared debts incurred in agents fees also hung

7 10, 2013

Shoriful and Afroza marry by phone

webmaster2019-08-30T16:34:17+08:00October 7th, 2013|Articles, Stories|

Webmaster: Sometimes we need to be reminded that migrant workers may come from very different cultures. Shoriful's story about getting married may sound very strange, but is quite typical for men from Bangladesh. Money concerns also feature prominently, heightened by expectations that workers ought to be remitting large amounts of money when in truth, some

6 10, 2013

Support TWC2 through our Lunch with Heart, 15 December 2013

webmaster2019-08-30T16:34:17+08:00October 6th, 2013|Articles, Happenings|

Update, 29 November 2013: TWC2 wishes to thank donors for buying enough tickets to fill the 140-capacity venue. Of these, 50 tickets (already sold and allocated) will be used by the donors themselves and the remaining 90 are sponsored tickets for workers to enjoy the lunch. In fact another 54 sponsored tickets have been sold