Articles

31 07, 2016

MOM’s groundless case takes two years out of Shahidulla’s life, part 2

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:01+08:00July 31st, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By Seema Punwani Continued from part 1. When truth wins, you hear drum rolls. You do mental cartwheels. Your faith in justice is restored. And you heave a sigh of relief that after all the obstacles and the insurmountable tension, you emerged victorious. Because truth prevailed. As Part 1 explained, Shahidulla Md Anser Ali was

31 07, 2016

MOM’s groundless case takes two years out of Shahidulla’s life, part 3

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:01+08:00July 31st, 2016|Articles, Stories|

Continued from part 2. Soon after his acquittal on the first of three charges, Shahidulla got another shock. His key witness, crane operator Hassan, was called up by the case officer at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for an interview, and the next thing Shahidulla's lawyer heard was that Hassan had become a prosecution witness

27 07, 2016

Meherul barred from working while his employer stonewalls his injury claim

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:01+08:00July 27th, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By Seema Punwani Workplace injuries are not uncommon. But while for many of us in office jobs it is restricted to the occasional paper cut or stubbed toe, for workers in the shipping ad construction field, injuries can be life threatening. And after the injury, comes the trauma of dealing with the claims process. So what

19 07, 2016

Jahidul says manager took away all his medical documents

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:01+08:00July 19th, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By Eugene Teo Islam Mohammad Jahidul was a machine operator at a marine company’s workshop. On 5 November 2015, Jahidul’s index finger suffered a deep cut while he was operating a metal cutting machine, sending blood spurting in all directions. An agonizingly long wait ensued; it was only three hours later that the gash was

15 07, 2016

Boss brazenly asked Hasan to pay for job

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:01+08:00July 15th, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By Aruj Shukla It has long been a well-known fact that migrant workers in Singapore need to pay an exorbitant amount of money as agent fees to the middlemen based in their respective home countries. Stories about the possibility of the employers colluding with the agent and taking a sizeable cut from the agent fees

10 07, 2016

Monir says he liked the dorm where his company put him up, so we ask him to describe it

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:01+08:00July 10th, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By Gek Han It doesn't occur to me to ask Hussain Monir if his bed came with a mattress until a senior volunteer does (beds and mattresses go together, right?). Nothing, Monir says. Not quite believing my ears, I tap the table to ask if his bed was as hard, and he says yes. To

6 07, 2016

Foreign domestic workers’ living conditions survey – full results

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:01+08:00July 6th, 2016|Articles, Facts, research, analysis|

Transient Workers Count Too found that 5% of foreign domestic workers had to share their sleeping space with a male teenager or adult. This is against written law, with a possible fine of up to $10,000. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) confirmed this when the ministry responded to a query by the Straits Times.

2 07, 2016

Another source of trouble for workers: their own lawyers

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:01+08:00July 2nd, 2016|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, Stories|

https://youtu.be/E9XzomE5SlE In the above video, Rashid Harun explains why he discharged his lawyer. He had suffered a workplace injury and engaged a lawyer for his WICA compensation claim. His employer argued that the accident did not take place at work but that he fell while he was in a lavatory (at the worksite). His

29 06, 2016

Father of two finds savings depleted in long wait for case resolution

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:01+08:00June 29th, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By Li Zi Xin Hossain Billal, 33, has been without work and income for almost a year. He has a wife and two children to support. He may never fully recover from his workplace injury and may never be able to do heavy work again. There is nothing dramatic about his story, only a slow

26 06, 2016

Govindarasu, though injured, says his employer did their best for him

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:01+08:00June 26th, 2016|Articles, Stories|

By Vivek R “They tell me Singapore is very good,” says Muthusamy Govindarasu. “But cannot throw rubbish and must behave well. If not police fine you.” Govindarasu hails from a small town in Tamil Nadu, India. Having only had a secondary school education, for Govindarasu and many foreign workers like him, Singapore is seen as