Neatly dressed and courteously greeting everyone in the office as he made his way to Kenneth's desk, Yang (not his real name) was clearly not your typical construction worker from China. He could even pass as a fashion-conscious Singaporean, which is what happens when a young man has had six or seven years in Singapore.

Following the debate that is swirling around Singapore on the government’s announcement of a day off for foreign domestic workers, I thought it about time someone went into bat for these girls and started talking more about what they do. Sitting here watching May (our maid) take my son off to school today (he’s two

As the events were unfolding, TWC2 posted an update on Facebook. Our Facebook 'friends' responded with outrage. "I think every time the police throw any foreign workers who have just escaped from a fire back into the inferno should be heavily publicise by everyone on the Net," wrote Sing Tay. Gutless added: "Police in Singapore

By Francesca Ummai, a 34-year-old domestic worker from Indonesia remembers a dark stretch of her life when she would cry every night. She was 17-years-old, on her first job as a domestic worker, and her Singaporean employers did not give her a day off. “It was terrible, I had no one to talk to, it

How do you measure compassion online? Or empathy? How do we advocate tolerance towards migrant workers when negative stereotypes are being continually recycled and unchallenged in cyberspace? Civil society is changing shape online but sadly it hasn't brought with it civil discourse. I stumbled upon this article yesterday about the death of two migrant workers

中文翻译 The staff at Transient Workers Count Too are used to hearing female voices with a Filipino accent asking for help over their difficulties, but this call was different. Evangelina (not her real name) was speaking about a "him"  in trouble. "His employer has taken him out of Singapore, to Malaysia," she said. The anxiety

Part II, paragraph 3 of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Regulations says explicitly that employers are responsible for any medical care that foreign workers need: The employer shall be responsible for and bear the costs of the foreign employee’s upkeep and maintenance in Singapore. This includes the provision of medical treatment . . . Yet,

Continued from Part 2. Monday, December 19, 2011, Manik showed up at Alexandra Hospital for his long-delayed knee operation. He was nervous, as anyone would be undergoing his first surgery. An operating theatre was ready and waiting for him. He changed into a gown and was placed in a gurney while surgeons and nurses scrubbed

Abul Kalam thought he had found the perfect job, one that he could arrange directly with the employer and that didn’t require him to deal with an agent or recruiter in Bangladesh. Most Bangladeshi workers are recruited by a friend or acquaintance who takes $8,000 to $10,000 to line up a job in Singapore. That’s

Unlike other stories at this site, 29-year-old Madasamy Muniyandi's story is not one of grievous injustice. He has no major beef with his employer though he suffered a bad accident that has left him with a permanent impairment. But he's tired of waiting. The process is very slow. As an only son, his mother is