Workers put on Special Passes are not allowed to work; they receive stern warnings and punishment if caught doing so. Yet their employers are able to avoid paying medical leave wages and medical expenses, leaving the workers with no means of survival. A fall at a Tampines construction site on 26 April 2012 left Ashraful
By Fuxiong It's my first interview with a migrant worker and I am feeling like I am thick in the head. After nearly half an hour I still cannot make sense of Mark's story. The company that hired him is not where he worked. The boss was not really the boss, but he was also
Rashedul isn’t typical of the men who leave Bangladesh for Singapore in search of wealth and fortune, and he would be the first to acknowledge that himself. He was in the middle of completing his bachelors degree in English literature at Jagganath University in Dhaka when, following his father’s advice, he left home to find
The above video shows an industrial building converted into a dormitory for Chinese, Indian and Bangladeshi workers. Each room houses about 40 men -- there are at least two rooms -- in extremely crammed and poorly ventilated conditions. The video also pans the shower and toilet facilities. It was produced by the website publichouse.sg and
A horrible accident resulting in death and injury reveals an employer who provided unwavering support for his Bangladeshi worker. An accident between a double-decker bus Service Number 87 and a large tree-pruning vehicle left a 50-year-old male passenger dead and several others injured on Friday. The collision occurred along Chai Chee Street in Bedok. Police
By Benjamin Wong TWC2 volunteer Siva (above at right) is decked out in a black T-shirt, grey bermudas and sandals. On the table next to him sits a stack of boxes. A worker approaches him, and Siva hands him one from the stack. The worker takes the box and looks at Siva with a slightly
Some cases that come to Transient Workers Count Too are very complicated. Others, especially of serious injuries, are heart-breaking. But Zay Lay Tun's request was a simple one: He wants help to resign from his job in an orderly way. He has no idea how. "I want go home see my mother," he says. He's
In response to the labour dispute that erupted between SMRT Corp and its China bus drivers on 26 November 2012, the Singapore government has termed it an “illegal strike” and instituted legal proceedings against five of the drivers. One of them has since pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 6 weeks in jail. Following that,
Transient Workers Count Too celebrated International Migrants Day 2012 with a sports carnival 16 December 2012. Several rounds of men's and women's volleyball and women's futsal were played. We also took the opportunity to do more outreach to inform workers of their rights, and to recognise the long service to Singapore families by domestic workers who
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
