‘If you are a media worker or a person whose work involves contact with the media, how do you deal with the issue of trafficking in an ethical way? Trafficking stories often involve such appalling conditions and events that they are real attention grabbers. They can appeal to those working with trafficked people as a
Until February this year Anis worked inside a large coal tanker; he would spend around 10 hours in its guts with five men for company, a power hose and the toxic fumes of anti-corrosive paint with which they coated the walls. Anis’ story isn’t unusual. As a plumber by trade, he was ecstatic to be
By Paul M As a society we can often measure our progress by the attitudes, ambitions and actions of our youth. So one of the more hopeful signs is the increasing interest of youth and educationists in the treatment of migrant workers. Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) has a programmme called 'Day School' in which
His left hand is now a stiff claw; it's not going to help him earn a living ever again. He is only 26 years old, according to his passport. Fifteen months ago, on January 9, 2011, Johir was at work on a construction site switching or attaching some parts to what he called "the mouth"
Vikram (not his real name) came to Transient Workers Count Too regarding an injury for which his boss was reluctant to provide proper medical care. But that's not what this story is about. Just to make sure that at least other aspects of his working life were in order, we asked about the regularity of
In Mohamed and Bilal have gone is the story of two of 56 men laid off because their employer reportedly failed to pay the government's foreign worker levy. When so many workers are affected, several groups of men come to Transient Workers Count Too at different times. They end up speaking to different volunteers. So it was
This senior gentleman is scrutinising the back of Debbie Fordyce's name card. He's probably wondering: What exactly does this woman do? What mischief does she get up to? Meanwhile, she's seated less than two metres away, smiling politely, but silent as a cat on velvet – as the saying goes. The back of the card
Last November, Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-jin involved himself personally in a raid conducted against substandard accommodation for foreign workers. In a Facebook post, the minister described the conditions he saw as “abysmal.” I visited Mohamed’s and Bilal's house before they were sent home to Bangladesh this week – they told me they were crammed there with
We at Transient Workers Count Too spend a lot of time talking and counseling men who are desperate to stay and work in Singapore, trying to find out how their cases are progressing and what can be done to help them come to terms with an often brutal bureaucracy. Regular readers will know how painful this
Be Bangladeshi worker Akash for a little while -- that's the concept behind the interactive video produced by Nanyang Technological University students Avril and Yanling (lower right inset above) for their final year project. It's a documentary with a twist, taking the viewer through the experiences of a fictional character as he leaves his home
