By Wahid Al Mamun, based on an interview in May 2017 Dipangka (not his real name) is of slight frame and voice. He shifts around gingerly on the plastic seat at TWC2's free meals programme. As I endeavour to coax the story of his injury out of him, I come to learn of a mutual misunderstanding
By Jacinta Leow "When they saw the bungalow," recalled Irene Ong, the co-leader of TWC2's Discover Singapore team, "they were delighted, saying 'Wow, it's just like home.'" 'Home' was Discover Singapore's overnight field trip to St John’s Island. It was logistically a lot of work, Irene added, "but seeing how happy they were made it all
Transient Workers Count Too is deeply appreciative of the US State Department's efforts at drawing attention to the evil of trafficking in persons, through its annual Trafficking in Persons Report. The 2017 segment relating to Singapore can be found here: https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2017/271276.htm Singapore was classed as Tier 2. TWC2 notes in particular these comments in the report:
By Troy Lee, based on an interview in May 2017 On the Ministry of Manpower’s website, it is stated that most work injury claims take “3 to 6 months for most cases. Some injuries may need more time to stabilise before a doctor can assess for permanent incapacity.” However, many of the cases that come to
Our earlier story on the Everglory Construction case (The Everglory scam: productivity incentive shot to pieces) caught the attention of the press. Today Weekend (a newspaper) carried a story titled "Efforts to raise quality of construction workforce hamstrung by dishonest firms" on 8 July 2017, based on our exposé. The newspaper article can be found at this link: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/efforts-raise-quality-construction-workforce-hamstrung-dishonest-firms
By Sun Hanchen Every day, tens of thousands of foreign workers begin their day in the wee hours of the morning. They are employed to do blue-collar work shunned by Singaporeans – construction, maintenance and transport amongst others – and are often treated as faceless economic factors. But they have families, and it is in
By Bill Poorman All he needs is some more time. Not forever. “One week, two week, three week,” Mollah Sharif Hossain says. Instead, he got only three days. Three days to save his life. It’s a Monday evening at TWC2's free meals programme. Just yesterday, Mollah Sharif and his co-worker, Rafique (who goes by one name),
By Sun Hanchen Hasan Kamroul was a marine trades worker, working at Benoi Shipyard. 7 December 2016 was supposed to be just another normal work night for him, but all changed several hours into his shift. Having been tasked to move some 26-inch pipes with two of his fellow workers, Kamroul set about doing his
A new study released by Transient Workers Count Too on 29 June 2017 reveals challenges faced by low-wage migrant workers with unpaid salaries and workplace injuries in obtaining compensation and recourse. The study, conducted by researchers at the Singapore Management University (“SMU”) and Transient Workers Count Too (“TWC2”), reveals that significant numbers of workers face
Bikas (left) and Mazibar (right) were two highly experienced workers from the group of five This is a story of how one branch of the government undermines what another branch is trying to do. Low productivity in the construction industry has been a concern for years. Among the measures being tried is a push
