Articles

26 12, 2016

MOM’s Labour Court skirted with enforcing an illegal ‘contract’

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:35+08:00December 26th, 2016|Articles, News, Our Stand, Stories|

Volunteers at TWC2 were alarmed to hear from Sohel Rana, in mid July 2016, that the Assistant Commissioner of Labour presiding over his Labour Court case might be planning to rule in a manner contrary to written law. It would seriously undermine his claim and set an extremely bad precedent. Md Sohel Rana's case had

24 12, 2016

This season of giving

webmaster2019-08-30T16:31:35+08:00December 24th, 2016|Articles, Happenings|

Transient Workers Count Too was happily surprised when two unexpected donations came in in the days leading up to Christmas. Vidula (below, at left) brought a cheque for $10,000 -- money she raised by baking 200 cakes and selling them to her friends and contacts. It must have been a hectic few weeks for her.

22 12, 2016

Father injured, son’s college hopes in peril

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:36+08:00December 22nd, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By Poh De Sheng Perhaps the chief reason foreign workers come to Singapore is the comparatively higher salaries on offer. Men will endure the hardship of separation, crowded living conditions and abominable hours of physical labour in the hope, not just of helping their families at home get by, but of helping their children and siblings

18 12, 2016

Held in windowless room, Shahjahan faced forced repatriation. TWC2 rescues him

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:36+08:00December 18th, 2016|Articles, Stories|

800 By Kimberley Ng Kept in a windowless room with three company representatives patrolling outside and the imminent threat of forced deportation looming over his head, Molla Shahjahan called TWC2 for help. At 11 on the morning of 7 June 2016, Shahjahan had just been discharged after three nights’ stay at Alexandra Hospital following a debilitating

15 12, 2016

Dr Strange, Indian food, lots of heart and money raised.

webmaster2019-08-30T16:31:36+08:00December 15th, 2016|Articles, Happenings|

Beginning in 2012, TWC2 treated foreign workers to a nice meal at its annual fund raising event. This year, for a change, we took them to a movie. So Lunch With Heart becomes @theMovie on Sunday 4 December 2016. The film: superhero blockbuster Dr Strange. The venue: The Projector, an independent cinema that TWC2 rented

13 12, 2016

By being obstructive over initial treatment, Hosen’s employer may end up paying more medical costs

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:36+08:00December 13th, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By Nadira Mohd Iesham Except for the first day, Hosen Mobarak has had to fight to get medical treatment. He has not always succeeded. What began as a broken fingernail ended up requiring surgery -- which, from the sequence of events narrated to me, appears to be a consequence of the employer's obstructive tactics. As

11 12, 2016

TWC2 networks with regional NGOs at Dhaka conference

webmaster2019-08-30T16:31:57+08:00December 11th, 2016|Articles, Happenings|

Alex Au, Treasurer of TWC2, represented Transient Workers Count Too at a back-to-back series of meetings and conferences in Dhaka, Bangladesh, first week of December 2016. First in the series was the General Forum of Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), a network of NGOs working on migration-related issues in the region. TWC2 is a full

9 12, 2016

Smart phones: status symbol and social divider

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:57+08:00December 9th, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By Grigor Barseghyan Bangladesh is a country located in South Asia with a population of 156 million people. The capital city of Bangladesh is Dhaka. From the city and around is where lots of workers come to Singapore. They are not the ones at the bottom of Bangladesh society, they are the people who are more or

5 12, 2016

Cornered, Ahammed was told to “go back home”

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:57+08:00December 5th, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By James Mah “Go back home”. Such remarks can be heard infrequently in Singapore, uttered by locals frustrated at the sight of migrant workers on public transport when buses and trains are jam-packed. Most of the time, these comments would be said from the stress of the moment, without any malicious intent. This was not the

1 12, 2016

The artist in Parthiban blooms amidst injury and loss of a hand

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:31:57+08:00December 1st, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By Katia Barthelemy Photos by Dipti Nagpaul-D'Souza, a journalist with The Indian Express One of the nice aspects of volunteering with TWC2 is the reward you feel contributing a bit to restoring migrant workers’ faith in Singapore. The tougher side is that more often than not, you are only confronted with real bad stories and cases. That makes