From nearly a million migrant workers, here are some of their experiences

15 09, 2017

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

2019-08-30T16:31:30+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

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5 09, 2017

A leap of faith goes four metres down

2019-08-30T16:31:31+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

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1 09, 2017

Wage theft as it happens

2019-08-30T16:31:31+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

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27 08, 2017

A profile: Amin stays positive despite setbacks

2019-08-30T16:31:31+08:00August 27th, 2017|Articles, Stories|

By Jonah Foong, based on an interview in June 2017 Across the world, foreign labour is often cheap, and their working conditions abysmal. Tales of starving, overworked, and unpaid workers are not unheard of – a simple google search will turn up stories of ‘modern slavery’ in places like Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Over here

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23 08, 2017

Alam’s one angry, kicking rooster

2019-08-30T16:31:31+08:00August 23rd, 2017|Articles, Stories|

By Beh Jing Yi, based on an interview in June 2017 It has been five months since Alam Md Khorshed received any medical leave wages from his employer. He estimates he is owed about $3,900. He has approached the Ministry of Manpower for help over this, he says, and meetings with his employer have been organised.

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15 08, 2017

Contract substitution made easier by ministry?

2019-08-30T16:31:31+08:00August 15th, 2017|Articles, Stories|

Over the years, Transient Workers Count Too has seen many cases where, after arriving in Singapore to start on their jobs, migrant workers are told by their bosses that the salary stated on the In-Principle Approval (IPA) letter will not be honoured. Instead they are given the choice of accepting a lower salary, or be sent

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