By Sabrina Tay Amid the buzz of TWC2's free meals programme, Kamrol Sarker lays out his documents asking what they mean. There are papers showing medical leave and his work injury claim. TWC2 treasurer Alex Au patiently explains to him what each is for and what it says. His explanation sort of confirms what Kamrol
Sadhin worked for a small roofing company. He was, in fact, the only worker and he and his boss were often the only two on the job. On 17 October 2013 Sadhin was working on the roof of a private home, tasked with cleaning the roof before the repairs could begin. In the process
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
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”
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
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
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
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
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
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
