Stories

26 04, 2015

Worker offers to pay for own medication, yet employer refuses assistance

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:32+08:00April 26th, 2015|Articles, Stories|

By Lim Shaomin "Four days how to tahan?" says Selim, using a local colloquialism meaning 'withstand'. "Hospital follow boss instructions." I am speaking to Selim Mahmud Babu regarding his most recent injury -- several broken bones in the fourth fingers of his left hand. West Point Hospital gave him four days of medical leave. He

19 04, 2015

Whose interests should doctors look out for?

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:51+08:00April 19th, 2015|Articles, Stories|

By Sabrina Tay He held his index finger out next to mine and the difference was stark. Rubel’s finger was deformed, the nail shorter than what it should have been and the flesh at his fingertip warped. “Can you feel anything?” I asked as I gently touched his finger. “Cannot feel, no pain, no feeling”

15 04, 2015

Safety goes into dumpster along with workers’ rights

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:51+08:00April 15th, 2015|Articles, Stories|

By William Chin The boss wasn't happy to see his employee presenting a medical leave certificate. "Why you go see doctor? No (limb) drop off, no broken," was his reaction. As Humayun Mohammad Enu tells it, he had to get his own medical treatment, and until now has not been reimbursed despite medical care being

11 04, 2015

Guess what’s under the bra

GuestContributor2019-08-30T16:32:52+08:00April 11th, 2015|Articles, Stories|

By Maya Nguyen Three of us from TWC2 were in a ward of a major hospital. The hospital's medical social worker had asked us to come speak with a domestic worker who had been warded; she might have employment problems that medical social workers could not help with. The domestic worker -- let's call her

7 04, 2015

A dormitory is not a home: a place of threat, not security

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:52+08:00April 7th, 2015|Articles, Stories|

By Chang Ya Lan Even in good health, a migrant worker does not enjoy the pleasure of a home in Singapore. Dormitory space is far from equivalent to what we take for granted: a place of rest and relaxation after a long, tiring day at work; a shell of privacy where rude and menacing people

3 04, 2015

Worker wants to see his ill mother, boss says he doesn’t care if worker dies too

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:52+08:00April 3rd, 2015|Articles, Stories|

By Keith Wong Some workers need to hold on to their jobs to support their families, but lose them anyway through no fault of their own. Sikder Gopal needs to quit his job, to go home to be with his extremely ill mother, yet is stymied every step of the way. Oh, the irony! It

31 03, 2015

Work Injury Compensation framework fails smell test

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:52+08:00March 31st, 2015|Articles, Stories|

By Sam Myat San I have always taken my sense of smell for granted. I used to imagine that losing one’s sight or hearing would be debilitating but that the olfactory sense was dispensable. That was until I met with a young man called Pugalenthy Karthikeyan (or Karthi, as he prefers to be called) who

24 03, 2015

Five days of injury cancels out five years of loyalty

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:53+08:00March 24th, 2015|Articles, Stories|

By Lindene Cleary Shabul came to Singapore in 2009 to work for a marine company. During those five years he has dedicated himself to working hard to support himself and his family back home in Bangladesh. He’s never been injured, and has taken only a handful of days off for illness. Earlier this month, he

20 03, 2015

Acting on a tip-off, TWC2 rescues a maid trapped over two years without a day off, part 2

alex2019-08-30T16:32:53+08:00March 20th, 2015|Articles, Media Coverage, News, Stories|

The Ministry of Manpower has accused TWC2 of publishing a "grossly untruthful account" relating to Indonesian domestic worker Wahyuni (see our earlier article here). This quote was contained in a story published in The New Paper on 8 March 2015 and archived on AsiaOne. See here and here. Transient Workers Count Too stands by our story

16 03, 2015

Catch the victim, never mind the syndicate

alex2019-08-30T16:32:53+08:00March 16th, 2015|Articles, Stories|

It was Sadhin who first saw her. She was crying, lost in a foreign country, knowing nobody. All she knew was that her tourist visa was about to expire and she would soon be an illegal overstayer. Broke and with no means to purchase a flight home, she could soon be spending time in prison.