Discussion: laws and regulations
By Alex Au Many stories on the website of Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) tell of the abuses inflicted on migrant workers in Singapore. TWC2 holds the view that the regulatory system governing the recruitment and control of foreign labour lies at the root of these abuses. Fortunately, many employers refrain from taking full advantage
A new survey of nearly three hundred male migrant workers found that 26 to 40 percent of them suffered a pay deduction commonly known as 'savings money' -- roughly one in three workers. The deduction averaged $50 a month. An earlier survey (see: One third of male migrant workers aren't paid what they are due)
By Stéphanie Psarski This testimony is a very good and heart warming example of how, to workers, Transient Workers Count Too makes a difference even in the tiniest thing. Injured on his back in July 2012, Kamal Mostafa has been waiting in Singapore for his case to be settled by MOM for two years. Not
With permission from The Legal Agenda, TWC2 is pleased to reproduce an article from their English website discussing an important court ruling, recently announced in Beirut, Lebanon. The ruling discusses major issues: challenging the widespread practice of withholding passports the problematic nature of the sponsorship system violation of fundamental right to freedom of movement debunk the
On 27 August 2014, The Straits Times published an opinion article by John Gee, immediate past president of TWC2, which the paper titled 'Ensuring better protection for migrant workers'. Here, John has revised the article slightly, elaborating on some points at the same time. By John Gee At the end of this year, Singapore seems
Tay Li Nah, 39, an employer of a domestic worker, was sentenced to four weeks' imprisonment after pleading guilty to kicking Saedatun Fandilah repeatedly on her buttocks, thighs and abdomen at about 12.30am on 5 Feb 2013. This was reported in the Straits Times, 27 August 2014. Five hours later, Saedatun, in a bid to escape, removed
By Lucas Ho Just as Zahir is getting to the part about MC money halfway through the interview, TWC2 vice-president Alex Au walks by. He overhears Zahir mention a few numbers -- numbers which don't quite make sense to me, but whose significance Alex grasps straight away. In case we have been mistaken, Alex asks
The Straits Times recently carried a story about foreign worker accommodation. Unfortunately, it didn't get to the heart of the matter: the way government policies affect cost and affordability considerations. The newspaper's 19 August 2014 story spoke about the rising number of vacancies at purpose-built dormitories. There are about 5,000 vacancies, said the story, though
By Danielle Hong Mohammed Gafur is here at the TWC2 office with a friend to deal with his injury compensation. He has kept all his bills and time cards, a practice of storing evidence learnt in the eleven years he has been living in Singapore. Though calm and rational, he is anxious, having witnessed too many
Buried within a press release by the Ministry of Manpower dated 19 June 2014, and titled Computer firm director charged for false declaration of salaries, was a paragraph pertaining to the Woolim case that TWC2 highlighted in earlier articles. The paragraph provides a conclusion to the case, saying: More recently on 17 June 2014, Woolim
