Stories about workers’ experiences, the many ways our volunteers help, insights and facts that TWC2 have unearthed

29 05, 2013

“Don’t bother talking to my maid, she’s impossibly lazy”

2019-08-30T16:34:53+08:00May 29th, 2013|Articles, Stories|

By Gerald Lim, Lionel Ong and Marjorie Pang “Don’t bother talking to my maid. She knows absolutely nothing and is impossibly lazy” – the words of a Singapore employer, who wouldn’t allow us to speak to her Indonesian domestic worker as part of our survey. It speaks volumes. You can’t ignore the indifference with which some

25 05, 2013

College mates in Punjab give strength to each other in Singapore

2019-08-30T16:34:53+08:00May 25th, 2013|Articles, Stories|

By Danielle The two make a striking pair – young men with slicked hair, tattoos and ear studs to boot. Pals from Khalsa College in Amritsar, in shirts and jeans, you would have mistaken them for undergraduates anywhere. Except that Manbir Singh (left) and Jhorar Hardeep Singh (right) aren’t in Singapore for leisure. They are migrant

24 05, 2013

The Lives of Others – an investigation into the issues faced by S-Pass holders

2019-08-30T16:34:53+08:00May 24th, 2013|Articles, Facts, research, analysis|

This is an investigative report by Jamie Lin Weirong, based on interviews with five S-Pass holders, originally from the Philippines.  They work in different trades: retail, catering, and project design and management, but together they sketch out the issues faced by S-Pass holders.  These include a difficult-to-understand hiring process, an opaque work pass approval process

20 05, 2013

Not one among 500 workers could read his IPA

2019-08-30T16:34:53+08:00May 20th, 2013|Articles, Happenings|

"How many of you received the Chinese-language version of the letter from your employment agent?" asked TWC2 social worker Kenneth Soh soon after commencing his talk to Chinese workers. He was referring to the Ministry of Manpower's  In-principle Approval for a Work Permit (IPA), a document that a worker had to have in hand upon

15 05, 2013

Chinese workers confused what went in or out of their pay

2019-08-30T16:34:53+08:00May 15th, 2013|Articles, Stories|

Zhang Bo (left), Zhao Shougui (middle) and Wang Qingshan (right) thought they had a simple problem when they came to Transient Workers Count Too. However, when we looked into their case, it became obvious that there were complications. In fact, the men may be luckier than they realised. Things could have turned out much worse

12 05, 2013

Difference in medical leave raises question about standard of care

2019-08-30T16:34:53+08:00May 12th, 2013|Articles, Stories|

By Danielle Despite first-class medical practitioners and technology in Singapore, some injured workers complain that they do not even get a reasonable standard of care. Moniruzzaman's story suggests that employers' desire to limit costs and reduce their exposure to work safety investigation by regulators can trump doing the right thing for another human being.  It also

12 05, 2013

Slow start to male domestic workers

2019-08-30T16:34:53+08:00May 12th, 2013|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, News, News Flash|

The Sunday Times featured a newly-hired male domestic worker from Myanmar on its 12 May 2013 edition. 31-year-old Lum Hkawng comes from Kachin state in northern Myanmar. The former steel welder, who speaks Mandarin, is working for a partially-handicapped man in his 50s who was injured in a traffic accident. The employer lives alone. Journalist

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