News and opinions in the public domain and TWC2’s response
Sunday Times, October 9, 2011, had a full-page feature about an issue that TWC2 has also noticed to be increasing in frequency -- doctors in private practice giving workers who have been injured in workplace accidents just two day's medical leave. The newspaper story headlined 'Lost part of finger, 2 days' MC' begins with Wang
International news network CNN carried a story titled Debts and dreams: Singapore's migrant workers on October 7, 2011. See http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/07/business/singapore-migrants/index.html. Opening with a scene from TWC2's Cuff Road Project -- our daily soup kitchen -- the 1,600-word story focuses on the way male migrant workers are exploited and abused, touching on key issues such as
John Gee responded to a letter in the October 4, 2011 edition of the Straits Times: Dear ST, Madam Chua Lai Keow certainly had a bad experience with her domestic worker who became pregnant, but this should not be seen as a reason for denying domestic workers days off when they can go out. Many
This is the unedited version of a letter sent to the editor of Straits Times Forum on September 30, 2011, in relation to an article that appeared in the paper the same day (see summary): Dear ST, It is good to see that action is being taken against employers who fail to pay workers' salaries
Six persons -- five men and a woman -- were charged in court for failing to pay employees' salaries, reported the Straits Times on September 28, 2011. Jufri Saini, 47, faced the most charges - 136 of them -- among which were 42 for unauthorised deductions of $100 each from foreign workers to prevent them
The Ministry of Manpower announced on October 3, 2011, that charges will be increased for the application and issuing of Work Permits. The changes will effect from December 1, 2011. The new charges will be $20 to apply for a Work Permit, and $20 for the issuing of a Work Permit Currently, the fee for
TWC2 Executive Committee member Debbie Fordyce was featured in a two-page spread in The New Paper, September 30, 2011. The story's focus was on her extending hospitality to injured migrant workers, letting them stay with her in your apartment till they have recovered or their cases resolved. You can read the full story by downloading
By Spiegel The Straits Times reported October 1, 2011 that The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) had meted out fines amounting to more than $150,000 to 16 employment agencies for collectively fixing the pay of new Indonesian maids. Members of the group were each fined between $5,000 and $42,317. The CCS explained that the fines
Only four countries are in the list for now, and Singapore is not among them, reported the Straits Times, September 20, 2011. The four destinations are: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. It was stressed however, that the list is not final and Singapore could be added later. The originating source was Indonesian news
Din Islam, who almost starved to death in the ten days he was trapped in a shipping container, will finally be going home to Bangladesh after six months in Singapore. He had been allowed to stay while waiting for the coroner 's court proceedings inquiring into the death of his friend Mohammad Alamin. The two
