Stories

31 10, 2014

Forced to sign blank salary vouchers as soon as they take up their jobs

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:59+08:00October 31st, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Ashley Frois Salary disputes and unpaid wages are, unfortunately, common issues plaguing our foreign workers, but Shoriful Islam’s case stands out in particular. He and his colleagues are seasoned workers in Singapore, but on arrival earlier this year for their current job, were forced to sign empty salary vouchers. They knew this was irregular,

28 10, 2014

The more we talked the more we discovered

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:32:59+08:00October 28th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Jennifer Parenteau Mohamed Ariful sits down beside me and begins to tell me his story. At first it seems like a simple case of improper calculation of his medical leave wages, but as we talk it reveals much more than that! In June 2014, Ariful was working for the construction company, Calpen Contracters. He

24 10, 2014

Big hole in ground dug with big hole in worker’s pay

webmaster2019-08-30T16:33:00+08:00October 24th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

Yeusof (not his real name) knew there was something wrong with his monthly pay slip from Hyundai Engineering & Construction when he showed up for breakfast at TWC2's Cuff Road Project one morning in September 2014. He was quite sure his employer had underpaid him, showing us his documents so that we might verify his

20 10, 2014

Worker with infectious disease had treatment aborted

alex2019-08-30T16:33:00+08:00October 20th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

In theory, employers are required by law to provide medical treatment for work permit holders they bring into Singapore. In practice, the more unscrupulous employers will try to get the employee out of Singapore before the worker realises he is being deprived of treatment and learns to use official channels to get his employer to

16 10, 2014

Are workers’ troubles due to ignorance or to harsh realities that leave them vulnerable?

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:00+08:00October 16th, 2014|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, Stories|

By Elizabeth Zhou The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) recently printed colourful flyers in four languages – English, Chinese, Bengali and Tamil. Meant to reassure and educate the migrant worker community of the procedures and processes in place to take care of their rights, these flyers paint an image of a benign and helpful ministry, one

12 10, 2014

Company insists Aktar see a doctor he has no faith in

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:00+08:00October 12th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Isabel Chew Aktaruzzaman is intent on telling me his story. His cellphone rings a number of times during our interview but he rejects them because it is more important that people hear his story. On 23 July, Aktar and a co-worker were moving a 6-inch pipe weighing (by his estimate) 60 kg when his

8 10, 2014

MOM orders company to pay MC wages, a month on, worker still waiting

Volunteer Writing Team2019-08-30T16:33:00+08:00October 8th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Jennifer Parenteau As an employer, you are responsible for medical leave wages and medical expenses of your worker injured at work, even if they have been dismissed. When you read this quote from a Work Safety & Health (WSH) bulletin, published in April 2013 by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), you might breath a

4 10, 2014

No salary, no day off for 20 months, part 2

GuestContributor2019-08-30T16:33:01+08:00October 4th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Nissa Mai Continued from Part 1. I have a lot of other questions for Surya [1]. How did such an empowered, decisive young woman get trapped in a clearly illegal and exploitative situation for such long time? Wasn't her contract for only two years? And if she didn't receive her salary, why didn't she

2 10, 2014

No salary, no day off for 20 months, part 1

GuestContributor2019-08-30T16:33:01+08:00October 2nd, 2014|Articles, Stories|

By Nissa Mai “I will kill you ah!” She very angry, angry. She smack me four times. I say, “I'm a human, I'm sorry!” [Then], Amah show me the big knife. She say, “[If] you argue, I cut you with the big knife.” That's when Surya (not her real name) ran away for the first

29 09, 2014

Injured worker taken on grand tour of Singapore

alex2019-08-30T16:33:01+08:00September 29th, 2014|Articles, Stories|

Rahman Md Jaminur found himself at the bottom of a drain, severe pain shooting from his right ankle. His back also hurt. Fortunately, his phone was within reach and he called his friend. Help, I fell. Two co-workers came running. They carried him to the construction site office where the safety supervisor was. The latter said,