Our Stand

16 06, 2015

TWC2 submits UPR shadow report to UN Human Rights

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:29+08:00June 16th, 2015|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, News, Our Stand|

Once in four years, each member state of the United Nations is subject to peer review with respect to its human rights record. The Singapore government will appear before this process, known as Universal Periodic Review (UPR), in Geneva, in January 2016. In the lead-up to this process, the UN Office of the High Commissioner

11 06, 2015

The Right to Rest: The effectiveness of the ‘day off’ legislation for foreign domestic workers

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:30+08:00June 11th, 2015|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, News, Our Stand, Press Releases|

Government legislation has helped improve foreign domestic workers’ access to compensation in lieu of a day off, but 59% of foreign domestic workers in Singapore still do not get a weekly day off. To mark International Domestic Workers’ Day (16 June 2015), Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) publishes a new report: ‘The Right to Rest:

13 05, 2015

To solve salary non-payments, underlying factors must be addressed too

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:32+08:00May 13th, 2015|News, Our Stand, Press Releases|

A typical day in TWC2's office. Foreground: six workers owed 4 months' pay, calculating their owed amounts including overtime. Rear: five workers from a different company waiting to consult with TWC2's social worker. They had come to Singapore with MOM's approval for a job, only to be told by the boss that there's no

21 04, 2015

Kickbacks in the news: MWC urges workers to complain; reader retorts: “unlikely to work”

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:33+08:00April 21st, 2015|Media Coverage, News, Our Stand|

In the wake of the sentencing of a construction company boss for demanding kickbacks from his employees (see news story in Today newspaper, thumbnail at right), the Straits Times had a story about his unsavoury practice on 13 April 2015. The Straits Times noted that extortionate demands are typically made when the worker is most

21 04, 2015

Letter to Straits Times: Lower debt, raise job security

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:33+08:00April 21st, 2015|Media Coverage, News, Our Stand|

Following the deaths of two Bangladeshi workers in a fire , and a commentary article by Straits Times journalist Toh Yong Chuan (7 April 2015), TWC2 president Noorashikin Abdul Rahman wrote to the editor to better focus the root causes of poor housing. The letter was published on 17 April 2015. Lower debt, raise job

28 12, 2014

Genius Engineering, part 3: nearly 100 skilled electricians lost

alex2019-08-30T16:32:54+08:00December 28th, 2014|Articles, News, Our Stand, Stories|

Four months after employees of Genius Engineering and related companies lodged salary complaints with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Mouazzam Hossin (pictured above) is still in Singapore, struggling to get something out of what he is owed. Mouazzam is among the last of the workers still here. Nearly all the rest -- there were altogether

15 12, 2014

John Gee in Straits Times: A win-win way to help injured foreign workers

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:55+08:00December 15th, 2014|Media Coverage, News, Our Stand|

This is the opinion piece by John Gee of Transient Workers Count Too, published in the Straits Times, 3 December 2014. ---- A win-win way to help injured foreign workers The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is considering outsourcing the inspection of workplaces to counter the illegal employment of foreign workers, a task that currently involves

4 12, 2014

Allow injured workers waiting for compensation to work, e.g. in services sector

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:56+08:00December 4th, 2014|Articles, Facts, research, analysis, Media Coverage, News, Our Stand|

Here's is an op-ed by TWC2's John Gee that was published in the Straits Times on Wednesday 3 December 2014: A win-win way to help injured foreign workers By John Gee. Straits Times, 3 December 2014 The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is considering outsourcing the inspection of workplaces to counter the illegal employment of foreign

1 12, 2014

Over the years, migrant workers have faced ‘deteriorating conditions’ — John Gee

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:56+08:00December 1st, 2014|Articles, Happenings, News, Our Stand|

At a symposium organised by the Asia Research Institute, TWC2 head of research John Gee said that whilst globally, there had never been better protection in law for migrants' rights, yet in many respects, their actual position was going backwards. Even in Singapore, he felt there has been progress, but placement costs represent one area in which

14 11, 2014

Convert levy into workers’ deferred savings, suggests Ho Kwon Ping

webmaster2019-08-30T16:32:58+08:00November 14th, 2014|News, Our Stand|

In a lecture delivered at the Institute of Policy Studies, National University of Singapore, on 12 November 2014, Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings and IPS-Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore, made a few proposals with respect to migrant workers in Singapore. The relevant part is here: First, we can perhaps