With additional reporting by Lee Kah Ghim (Nur E Alam) and Tan Ruoqi (Nur Mohammad) Some stories we hear from workers come in fragments and it is hard to fully understand what's going on with their cases. The stories are also so divergent that one wonders if there are consistent policies or processes in place
Soon after returning to his quarters after work on the evening of 23 February 2013, Shoriful's supervisor Ujjal showed up with a fellow worker Jakir in tow. With an aggressive tone of voice, Ujjal confronted Shoriful. "He say to me," reports Shoriful, "'Who your father in Singapore? He in MOM? He in police?' like that."
By YC Loh I winced as the young man showed me his mangled left forefinger -- an injury that may cause him and his family much financial hardship in the future. Sooriyamoorthy Senthilkumar arrived in Singapore from Tamil Nadu on 30 May 2012 to work as a gardener. Over the next few months, he worked
By Davina Tham When eighteen workers demanded the four months' salaries that were owed to them, their boss told them that they would only receive the money if they first signed a “condition paper”, says Mohammed Anisuzzaman (striped shirt). "But never show paper," he adds, indicating that they were upset to be asked to agree to
Volunteer Christine Pelly flipped Mahadi's dinner card over and noticed that the date of accident recorded on it was more than one year ago. She directed the young man to your writer, who this evening was interested in the stories of those with prolonged cases. Visibly, there was no obvious injury on Mahadi. "Where are
On 26 November 2012, 171 bus drivers from SMRT Corp did not turn up for work. Many of them did the same again the following day. Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-jin called it an "illegal strike" saying that public transport services had been classed as "essential services". Five drivers were charged with criminal offences
By Suresh When Khairul intervened to pacify two co-workers having an altercation, the boss, who had been watching all this while, suddenly came forward and pushed Khairul flat to the ground. He mounted Khairul’s chest and attempted to strangle him. The poor worker did not have a clue why all this was happening. For days
The law says that if a foreign worker is terminated within six months of starting a job in Singapore, the Singapore agent who placed him or her in that job shall refund 50 percent of the fees to the worker (Employment Agencies Rules 2011, section 13). Two recent cases seen by Transient Workers Count Too
By Lim Wei Zhen The slip of a drill left his right thumb fractured, and the hole in the road unfinished. It also punched a hole in Sivaraju's dream of a Singaporean road to riches. Growing up in the fishing village of Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, his face clouds over as he recalls the time when
By Wendy Mah On the second visit to a doctor, Venkata was told an operation might be needed. In the meantime, a cast was put around his injured left ankle. How many days' medical leave did he get? "The doctor said no MC needed, go to work," recalls Venkata with a mordant note to his
