A hopeful guy from India contacted TWC2 by WhatsApp to ask if the job offer he had in hand was real. It didn't take us long to tell him the bad news.
Workers' experiences during the lock-down: about anxiety, life in a temporary hospital, vanishing salaries, financial disaster. Also about the things going on at TWC2: donations pouring in and volunteers running around.
Actions and demands by the government strongly impact the economics of dormitories. Improving minimum standards from 4.5 to 7.5 sq metres per head does not have to mean substantial cost increases.
The current minimum of 4.5 sq metres per person is too low a standard. It should be 7.5 sq metres. There shouldn't be barracks-style dorms anymore, but apartment-type accommodation with a max of 8 persons per apartment.
We laid out $85,000 to help some migrant workers keep a roof over their heads. These workers, having lost their jobs, are in more difficult situations than those in dorms. Includes video story from TRT World.
Workers tell us of their experiences during the lock-down. Here is a miscellaneous collection of their direct experiences -- about insufficient toilets, insufficient food and all sorts of inconveniences due to the lockdown.
Here's a figure: There are 66,000 employers of S-Pass and Work Permit holders as at April 2020. And workers with bank accounts now number 521,000, which seems to be 77.5%. Numbers exclude FDWs.
In a media statement dated 13 April 2020 (links to short version and long version) we pointed out that an entire section of the Ministry of Manpower's Advisory on salary and leave arrangements during Circuit Breaker was not only unclear, but seemed to bless salary reductions for foreign workers. "Circuit Breaker" is the
An essay based on a talk given by Alex Au at a Labour Day webinar organised by Maruah in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic that badly affected migrant workers in Singapore.
Medical needs for non-Covid situations risk being neglected. Two stories from two workers stuck in dorms. The hospitals are fine, but seeing a doctor in the dorm or filling a prescription... facepalm!
