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
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
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
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
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
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
https://youtu.be/M4VrPkuDZWg Video by Nicole Ng, text by Colin Ng The above video was produced in June 2016, sixteen months after Anowar suffered his injury. Throughout the months following the injury, Anowar did not get much-needed surgery for his shoulder. Some injury cases, like Farid’s, go smoothly and the worker receives the treatment and compensation
By Anthony Chua When I first spot Barai Dipok at TWC2’s Dayspace, he is seated in front of a volunteer case helper, clutching some important looking documents and appearing visibly frustrated. As I approach to shake his hand, he utters a weak ‘hi’ and turns his attention right back to the case helper, who is
Muslem Motalb will always remember Transient Workers Count Too fondly. "I [will] never forget TWC2," he told us in the days before he went home. "Many people in TWC2 help me so much." We'll tell the story here of what we did to help bring his case to a successful conclusion. It took almost a
By Kan Ren Jie For many Singaporean employees, it would be unthinkable for our employers to stop paying our monthly salaries. Many of us are accustomed (and excited!) to see our bank balance increase every month like clockwork. However, this basic confidence is denied to many foreign workers. My conversations with two men, Ali Abbas
