By Suresh At a time when employers are crying for shortage of workers in Singapore, a worrying trend of foreign workers hanging around with no work is seen on the rise. Their employers brought them in with valid work permits, and then disappeared. Two workers from Bangladesh -- Rubel Hazrat Ali, 28, and Abdul Alim
"When I go back to Chennai, I will put fire my passport," Subburaman says, agitatedly. "I not coming back Singapore. In India, I beggar man also can. Don't like working here." He is clearly frustrated. Sokkalingam Subburaman is of the view that his employer owes him over $7,000 in unpaid wages. Even his case officer
By Chow Zhi Ying "At first I saw doctor type fifteen days' MC in his computer," reports Abu Ahasan, but the foreman, who went with him to the hospital, told the doctor: "You give fifteen days' MC, I got problem." The doctor changed it to one month of 'light duty' status. The reality was anything
The night she came screaming into the kitchen was the night the motorbikes took off. Fernando is left nursing his financial wounds. This story sounds a bit of a farce, except that it's real. The events Fernando Wawalege recounted happened only a few weeks earlier. He had come to Singapore from his native Sri Lanka
By Rachel Hui Three months after a lorry collision (see story on AsiaOne) that left twenty-five foreign workers injured and one dead, Pandian, 34, the driver of one of the lorries, still cannot walk without his crutches. His hip and upper legs had been trapped inside the vehicle. “Fifty stitch,” he says, pointing to the
Jaya sits in a park near the TWC2 food project on Rowell Road. We arrive at a black door with no number on it. Jayasurenda (Jaya for short) from Sri Lanka, is about to show me where he has slept for the last 6 months while waiting for his case to be resolved
By Kay Tan The first thing you notice about Aktar is his wide sunny smile. And then your gaze is drawn to the strange stiff glove on his right hand. When you quiz him about it, the sunny smile slowly falls away, and his eyes film with tears. Recounting the accident brings back all the
On the day before his departure, Mohammed Dulal Harunur Rashid brought a little self-made poster to Transient Workers Count Too's office. It said "I and my family never forget TWC.TOO . . . Long live TWC.TOO. Every social worker and associate." It was one of those touching moments when everything we did seemed worthwhile. It
By Nigel Lin I offer Pitchai a handshake – it is my first time interviewing a foreign worker and hey, I thought it’d be polite to do so. He takes it up, albeit rather weakly. That prompts my first question. “Is your right arm okay?” “Very pain when I moving the hand,” is all I
By Chow Zhi Ying Safiulla told the law firm that he wanted to discharge them from representing him. He was shocked to be told in return that he had to pay $1,000 before they would issue a discharge letter. Not having this kind of money, he is now stuck. But why did he need to
