Articles

12 05, 2013

Slow start to male domestic workers

webmaster2019-08-30T16:34:53+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

11 05, 2013

Employer claims our article contains ‘too many . . . untruthfulness’

webmaster2019-08-30T16:34:53+08:00May 11th, 2013|Articles, Our Stand, Stories|

On 26 March 2013, we received an email from Wang Fatt Oil & Gas Construction Pte Ltd (a member of E S Goup Holdings), the former employer of Pastula Venkata Ramana, saying that several statements in our article about his case (link here) were incorrect. The company said in the email that the Ministry of Manpower "have

8 05, 2013

Worker claims breathing difficulties from dusty work environment, MOM says illness not work-related

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:34:53+08:00May 8th, 2013|Articles, Stories|

By YC Loh Picture your workplace being five to seven metres underground and just a few metres wide, inside a one-and-a-half kilometre long drain under a road. The only source of ventilation is via mechanical means which prove inadequate. The air you breathe is saturated with dust particles, which is so stifling that after every ten

6 05, 2013

Response to complaint about our ‘demonise’ article

webmaster2019-08-30T16:34:53+08:00May 6th, 2013|Articles, Our Stand, Stories|

Transient Workers Count Too received a complaint about a post on this website about Singapore mums using blogs to vent about their maids. The blogger, Expat Bostonians, has written a rebuttal here. Her point was that she never intended to demonise domestic helpers and that it was unfair to her to be quoting from her

5 05, 2013

Minimum wage will reduce temptation of illegal work

webmaster2019-08-30T16:34:54+08:00May 5th, 2013|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, Stories|

We usually write about the situations that bring workers to Transient Workers Count Too's Cuff Road Food Programme — injury, salary dispute, etc — but seldom about what they do to sustain themselves once their work permits are cancelled and they're put on special passes. A condition of the special pass issued by the Ministry

2 05, 2013

Video: a day in Sudha’s life

webmaster2019-08-30T16:34:54+08:00May 2nd, 2013|Articles, Happenings, Stories|

The above video was created by a group of students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University. Introducing themselves to TWC2 at the start of their project and seeking our endorsement, they wrote: "We have chosen to do our project on construction worker and how they are human too

30 04, 2013

Why are Singapore mums demonising maids online?

webmaster2019-08-30T16:34:54+08:00April 30th, 2013|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, Stories|

All it takes is one bad experience and an internet connection to start venting your spleen against a maid. Or eight in the case of one blogger. ‘Employing a Maid in Singapore’ was conceived to offer support to "employers who have suffered at the hands of bad maids". It is one of a number of

20 04, 2013

Three cases — as different as night, day and the twilight zone

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:34:54+08:00April 20th, 2013|Articles, Stories|

With additional reporting by Lee Kah Ghim (Nur E Alam) and Tan Ruoqi (Nur Mohammad) Some stories we hear from workers come in fragments and it is hard to fully understand what's going on with their cases. The stories are also so divergent that one wonders if there are consistent policies or processes in place

16 04, 2013

Give a kickback or get a kick

alex2019-08-30T16:34:54+08:00April 16th, 2013|Articles, Stories|

Soon after returning to his quarters after work on the evening of 23 February 2013, Shoriful's supervisor Ujjal showed up with a fellow worker Jakir in tow. With an aggressive tone of voice, Ujjal confronted Shoriful. "He say to me," reports Shoriful, "'Who your father in Singapore? He in MOM? He in police?' like that."

12 04, 2013

Unpaid, injured gardener says MOM “hopeless”

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:34:54+08:00April 12th, 2013|Articles, Stories|

By YC Loh I winced as the young man showed me his mangled left forefinger -- an injury that may cause him and his family much financial hardship in the future. Sooriyamoorthy Senthilkumar arrived in Singapore from Tamil Nadu on 30 May 2012 to work as a gardener. Over the next few months, he worked