Student volunteers from the National Institute of Education, assisting TWC2 in preparing for this year's International Migrants Day produced the above video. Looks like fun! International Migrants Day is a United Nations-endorsed event to mark the contributions of migrant workers to society everywhere. Transient Workers Count Too will be celebrating with a sports day in
"When I go back to Chennai, I will put fire my passport," Subburaman says, agitatedly. "I not coming back Singapore. In India, I beggar man also can. Don't like working here." He is clearly frustrated. Sokkalingam Subburaman is of the view that his employer owes him over $7,000 in unpaid wages. Even his case officer
By Chow Zhi Ying "At first I saw doctor type fifteen days' MC in his computer," reports Abu Ahasan, but the foreman, who went with him to the hospital, told the doctor: "You give fifteen days' MC, I got problem." The doctor changed it to one month of 'light duty' status. The reality was anything
The night she came screaming into the kitchen was the night the motorbikes took off. Fernando is left nursing his financial wounds. This story sounds a bit of a farce, except that it's real. The events Fernando Wawalege recounted happened only a few weeks earlier. He had come to Singapore from his native Sri Lanka
By Rachel Hui Three months after a lorry collision (see story on AsiaOne) that left twenty-five foreign workers injured and one dead, Pandian, 34, the driver of one of the lorries, still cannot walk without his crutches. His hip and upper legs had been trapped inside the vehicle. “Fifty stitch,” he says, pointing to the
Jaya sits in a park near the TWC2 food project on Rowell Road. We arrive at a black door with no number on it. Jayasurenda (Jaya for short) from Sri Lanka, is about to show me where he has slept for the last 6 months while waiting for his case to be resolved
By Kay Tan The first thing you notice about Aktar is his wide sunny smile. And then your gaze is drawn to the strange stiff glove on his right hand. When you quiz him about it, the sunny smile slowly falls away, and his eyes film with tears. Recounting the accident brings back all the
On the day before his departure, Mohammed Dulal Harunur Rashid brought a little self-made poster to Transient Workers Count Too's office. It said "I and my family never forget TWC.TOO . . . Long live TWC.TOO. Every social worker and associate." It was one of those touching moments when everything we did seemed worthwhile. It
How do migrant workers see the spaces, people and activities around them? What is significant to them? A fascinating exhibition will let you in on the secret. Migrant Encounters is the brainchild of Ye Junjia ("Jia"), and brought to fruition with the help of her friends Tai Shuxia and Jessie Koh. Supported by the Max
By Nigel Lin I offer Pitchai a handshake – it is my first time interviewing a foreign worker and hey, I thought it’d be polite to do so. He takes it up, albeit rather weakly. That prompts my first question. “Is your right arm okay?” “Very pain when I moving the hand,” is all I
