Articles

29 01, 2012

“MOM and the Police will ensure that the worker is not confined against his will,” says Manpower minister Tharman

webmaster2019-08-30T16:36:22+08:00January 29th, 2012|Articles, Facts, research, analysis|

Below is the transcript from the Hansard of a parliamentary question asked by Mr Pritam Singh (Workers' Party - Aljunied) on November 21, 2011. One employee of a repatriation company was jailed for voluntarily causing hurt in 2010, but from the absence of mention, it appears that no one has so far been prosecuted for

26 01, 2012

Time-lapse: a typical evening at our Cuff Road Project

webmaster2019-08-30T16:36:22+08:00January 26th, 2012|Articles, Stories|

TWC2.org.sg from benjamin broekema on Vimeo. Benjamin Broekema spent nearly three hours on his feet making the above time-lapse video at Isthana Restaurant, one of the two places where Transient Workers Count Too operate our daily free meals programme for out-of-work migrant workers. At the start of the video, while the day is still bright,

25 01, 2012

How low can a salary go?

webmaster2019-08-30T16:36:22+08:00January 25th, 2012|Articles, Stories|

Shobus never would have agreed to a job that promised only $9 a day. But of course that’s not what he was promised before he came. He was told that he would earn $800 to $900 a month for working 8:00am to 7:00pm. He dreamed of how much he would earn by adding a few

20 01, 2012

Eighteen men, two windows

alex2019-08-30T16:36:22+08:00January 20th, 2012|Articles, Stories|

By the time a foreign worker comes to Transient Workers Count Too seeking help, he most likely would have been kicked out of company-provided accommodation. For many of the men we help, shelter is a cramped, stuffy room in tenement housing -- that's if they are lucky enough or rich enough to afford bedspace in

18 01, 2012

Street work in Geylang

webmaster2019-08-30T16:36:22+08:00January 18th, 2012|Articles, Happenings|

TWC2 community worker Kenneth Soh together with five volunteers devoted a Sunday afternoon distributing information leaflets in the Geylang area, targeting workers from China. Four of the volunteers are in the header image above (left to right): Chan Weng Hong, Guo Quanzhi, Serena Tan and Chou Yahuei. Chloe and Kenneth are not in the picture.

16 01, 2012

Not sent to a doctor for one month after the accident, further treatment still blocked by employer

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:36:22+08:00January 16th, 2012|Articles, Stories|

By Rahul Advani Even before the start of my interview with Al Amin Kuddus, 24, he looked uncomfortable. “I have a boil under my arm” he tells me. “The pain is so strong I cannot even sleep”. As I ask him to lift his arm, he winces, hissing deeply at the pain. How he developed

16 01, 2012

Are low-wage workers subject to withholding tax?

webmaster2019-08-30T16:36:22+08:00January 16th, 2012|Articles, Facts, research, analysis|

It has recently come to Transient Workers Count Too's attention that a clause in the Income Tax Act that refers to withholding tax may apply to low-wage migrant workers. Workers who are terminated prematurely and who, as a result, have worked and stayed less than 183 days in Singapore would be considered "non-residents". The Income

15 01, 2012

Fact sheet: Correct way to calculate salaries (non-domestic workers)

webmaster2019-08-30T16:36:22+08:00January 15th, 2012|Articles, Facts, research, analysis|

Volunteer case workers are sometimes confused as to how salaries of work permit holders (other than domestic workers) should be calculated. This is understandable because methods used by employers differ widely, and most times, the chosen method violates the law. Yet, because volunteers may see so many incorrect ways to calculate salaries, they begin to

14 01, 2012

Cuff Road Project 2011: ‘Company cases’ and overstayers

webmaster2019-08-30T16:36:22+08:00January 14th, 2012|Articles, Facts, research, analysis|

A worker approaching Transient Workers Count Too for help at our free meals programme would have his case catergorised as a "Company case" if the source of his difficulty is the behaviour of his employer. The most common misdeed would be to delay payment of salaries or to undercalculate. Other misdeeds that we see regularly

13 01, 2012

Lured into $250,000 Canadian ghost job scam

webmaster2019-08-30T16:36:23+08:00January 13th, 2012|Articles, Stories|

Hossain is angry. He is among a group of Bangledeshi workers scammed out of around S$250,000 by an elaborate ruse to lure desperate migrants into overseas jobs that don’t exist. It’s happened many times before. A group of more than 50 Bangledeshi workers – Hossain among them – were duped into handing over instalments of