Articles

2 10, 2017

Siddik and Rafique’s lives frozen as Freezeland Aircon & Electrical folds

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:30+08:00October 2nd, 2017|Articles, Stories|

By Jonah Foong, based on interviews in July 2017 In George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, the fictional land of Oceania is ruled by Big Brother, a man of ‘about forty-five’ with a ‘heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features’. While his face is plastered on hoardings, he is never seen in the flesh, and his

28 09, 2017

Unpaid workers find company funds diverted

alex2019-08-30T16:31:30+08:00September 28th, 2017|Articles, Stories|

A boss was apologetic that he was unable to pay his employees their salaries on time. But what is interesting is the reason why he couldn't do so: he had to pay foreign worker levies to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) first. Below are key portions of a transcript of a meeting between the boss (who

24 09, 2017

Raiful paid $8,000, job didn’t exist. Initial attempt to lodge complaint rebuffed

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:30+08:00September 24th, 2017|Articles, Stories|

By Troy Lee based on an interview in July 2017 In the early hours of Friday, 7 July 2017, Md Raiful Islam touched down at Changi airport, looking forward to start on a new job. By midday, he was devastated. The job did not exist. He had paid about 465,000 Bangladeshi taka (about S$8,000) for

20 09, 2017

“Agree to lower salary, or you won’t get your pay,” says company manager

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:30+08:00September 20th, 2017|Articles, Stories|

By Wahid Al Mamun based on an interview late July 2017 A lot of things can happen in two months, and Mollah Showrov has learned this the hard way. His right leg is now in held immobile in an orthopaedic boot. I notice how gingerly he seats himself in the plastic chair beside me. Here

15 09, 2017

Employer proclaims he lied to ministry, then gets away with paying less in salary

alex2019-08-30T16:31:30+08:00September 15th, 2017|Articles, Stories|

Transient Workers Count Too came across a very interesting statement by Mr Tan Khim Long, director of KBC Engineering Pte Ltd. The company was defending a salary claim by a former employee, a Bangladeshi named Showkat, for short-payment of salary. The case was heard by the Manpower Ministry's Labour Court in late 2016 and early

10 09, 2017

Records of accidents are such a nuisance, aren’t they?

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:31+08:00September 10th, 2017|Articles, Stories|

By Namgay Choden, based on an interview in July 2017 With me this evening is Howlader Mohammod Selim, and he tells me about what happened in September 2016. Selim had suffered an accident at work, and was brought to Ng Teng Fong Hospital in Jurong East. After treatment, the doctor asked Selim whether he needed

7 09, 2017

Harri men go home, not everything resolved

webmaster2019-08-30T16:31:31+08:00September 7th, 2017|Articles, News, Our Stand, Stories|

On 23 June 2017, we put up a post on Facebook that said: This is Jafar Ahmmad. He came in 2014 to work for Harri Engineering. His boss, Nallusamy Narayanan accused him and other workers of taking their pay and not showing up for work. As it turns out, his boss was later jailed for

5 09, 2017

A leap of faith goes four metres down

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:31+08:00September 5th, 2017|Articles, Stories|

By Liang Lei, based on an interview in June 2017 What would you do if you think that your job constitutes a breach of safety regulations? For foreign workers, even having a choice of action is regrettably often a luxury. The consequence of disobeying supervisors’ orders, however unsafe, can be the sack. As a result, many

1 09, 2017

Wage theft as it happens

alex2019-08-30T16:31:31+08:00September 1st, 2017|Articles, Stories|

There are many stories on this website about employers arbitrarily reducing migrant workers' salaries soon after the latter have started on their jobs. Employers and their agents promise certain terms of employment while the worker is still in his home country, but once the worker has arrived in Singapore, salaries are lowered and deductions increased. Sometimes, the

1 09, 2017

Research forum report, July 2017

webmaster2019-08-30T16:31:31+08:00September 1st, 2017|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, Happenings|

By Regina Ng and Emily Sugerman TWC2’s July 2017 research forum focused on the impact of migration on children in Indonesian households as well as health meanings for foreign domestic workers. Migrating out of poverty? Khoo Choon Yen’s presentation focused on understanding reasons behind children of migrant parents choosing not to continue with (higher) education,