By Low Guan Hong Having to work without safety equipment is a common problem faced by migrant workers. And when one decided to speak up for his basic right, he paid a hefty price for it. Md Shobuj Mia Md Sulaiman started work in a tentage company as a signalman for the crane operator on
By Teo Yi Hui Many people who have not heard Shobuj’s story would be forgiven for assuming that he is just like another of the many young Bangladeshi men in Singapore earning a living and getting on with life. His youthful appearance and smiling countenance betray nothing of the fact that not only has life
Medical emergencies require immediate attention, but this shipyard worker endured 31 hours of pain before getting the help that he required. By Cara The first thing you might notice about Thirumoorthi is his serious, almost harsh gaze with an intensity that's emphasised by asymmetrical, bloodshot eyes. I soon learn that this is the result of
Amran Hossain returned to Bangladesh on 4 Oct 2012, still with a limp, but empty-handed. He did not receive the work injury compensation that was due to him. His experience in Singapore almost broke his spirit. He had come in January 2009 as a construction worker, worked 23 months, but fractured his lower right leg
"Every day I coming," says Liton Hossain, describing how he has to travel after work each evening from his company's dormitory in Sungei Kadut to Desker Road in Little India. It's a journey of some 20 kilometres. "If I no coming, how he shower, how he makan [eat]?" The 'he' is his nephew. Like so
By Fuxiong Five days after the three of them lodged a salary complaint with the Ministry of Manpower on 1 March 2013, they were summoned to the company office. They were each handed their passports and an airticket back to Bangladesh. Rowshan (at left in picture) protested to the foreman, "Only passport and ticket give,
By Joyce Law and Geng Zhaochong We undertook some outreach for TWC2 recently, which involved talking to foreign domestic workers and finding out more about the challenges they face working in Singapore. Domestic workers play an increasingly important role in Singaporean households today due to the rise in dual-income families: when neither spouse is around
By Davina Tham Imagine sleeping ten hours a night, watching TV and movies all day, and getting friends to pay for all your meals. Most people would call this heaven. But for Mahmudul Hasan, this was a lifestyle wracked with anxiety and frustration, waiting for the work and the salary he was promised but never
By Gerald Lim, Lionel Ong and Marjorie Pang “Don’t bother talking to my maid. She knows absolutely nothing and is impossibly lazy” – the words of a Singapore employer, who wouldn’t allow us to speak to her Indonesian domestic worker as part of our survey. It speaks volumes. You can’t ignore the indifference with which some
By Danielle The two make a striking pair – young men with slicked hair, tattoos and ear studs to boot. Pals from Khalsa College in Amritsar, in shirts and jeans, you would have mistaken them for undergraduates anywhere. Except that Manbir Singh (left) and Jhorar Hardeep Singh (right) aren’t in Singapore for leisure. They are migrant
