We have a lot of pictures like the one above, showing a volunteer doing something for a worker, in this case, registering him for our free meals programme (Cuff Road Project). Indeed, our volunteers are often very busy. Without them, much of our work simply couldn't be done. But this photo was unusual because the
By J Wen In a recession, should a company prioritise cutting costs over the health of its employees? One engineering firm in Aljunied seems to think so, after leaving one of their injured workers with a twisted, bloodied finger for more than five hours before he was sent to the hospital for treatment. All in
By Seah Bei Ying A heavy steel rod smashed into Razibozzaman's right foot Saturday night, fracturing a bone within. Pain shot up, and would stay with him for over a week till he made his way, against his boss' wishes, to a proper hospital. This was the same boss who told him that he would
One of the most striking facts coming out of the currently ongoing zika virus outbreak in Singapore is that the initial cases seemed to have been concentrated at one construction site in the Sims Drive area. Of the first 41 confirmed cases, 36 were workers at the Sims Oasis project (pictured above). Within a week
Not often do we get to interview a worker who has only walked out of his company the same day. Ranjana got this chance, and she takes us into his moment of anxiety and bewilderment. In the process, she explains why we need Little India as Little India. By Ranjana Raghunathan I meet Ayyan Chinnasamy
By De Sheng Poh “So many pain, so many blood.” remarked Juyel as he recounted his harrowing experience immediately following a serious injury sustained in the line of work. Earning an average of $1,200 a month, Md Juyel Hossain Md Abdul Hai, a Bangladeshi national, is the sole breadwinner of his extended family, which consists of
By Saw Suhui Though armed with a set of court papers that ruled in their favour, Debnath Prantush and Islam Mohammed Shafiqul still could not see the light at the end of the tunnel, and had to approach TWC2 for help. They were colleagues a few months ago but together they left the company because they
By Natalie Choy An unsightly line stretches along Bangladeshi national Sujel's left forearm. The 12-stitch surgical scar is large enough to be distracting. “Inside have long metal rod,”Broken he explains, as he gently presses on the stitched area to show me where the rod was surgically inserted. The 25-year-old, who came to Singapore in 2013,
Of over 500 Indian and Bangladeshi workers surveyed recently by Transient Workers Count Too, one in three reported that they were not getting itemised payslips from their employers. This represents quite a high degree of non-compliance with the Ministry of Manpower's new rule that took effect 1 April 2016. The survey reached a total of
By Kan Ren Jie Traffic jams are indeed a major source of irritation for many Singapore commuters. However, when I talk with two workers from Bangladesh, Pandit Rubel Chandra and Sofikul, they tell me that the jams that we have here are really nothing compared to the crazy traffic in Dhaka! Pandit tells me that
