By Sun Han Chen The senior volunteer clenches his fist tightly. “Are you able to do this?” he asks Khalil Ibrahim whom we're interviewing. “Yes, but very pain,” Ibrahim replies softly, repeatedly rubbing his right forearm, which reveals a long scar where not long ago there had been seven stitches. It was a deep wound,
By Namgay Choden Hasan Mohammad Suman’s left thumb was injured December 2016 when it was jammed between steel bars at his worksite. It is late February now as I speak with him. He is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow at Ng Teng Fong Hospital in Jurong East. However, for the surgery to go ahead, he has to present
By Long Yiou As a rookie interviewer, I feel that Hossain Mohammad Alamgir’s injury case is far more complicated than the storyline of the movie Inception. Though he has only been in Singapore for two years -- he came in August 2014 -- Hossain has had two injury disputes with three different companies. The interview hits
We'll call the worker 'Byoghu' in this story. He had worked before in Singapore and quite successfully. But when he returned for a second job, he soon fell ill. In the first two weeks on the job, he had a fever and was given medical leave. The employer decided to cancel his Work Permit on
By Nadira Mohd Iesham Except for the first day, Hosen Mobarak has had to fight to get medical treatment. He has not always succeeded. What began as a broken fingernail ended up requiring surgery -- which, from the sequence of events narrated to me, appears to be a consequence of the employer's obstructive tactics. As
By James Mah “Go back home”. Such remarks can be heard infrequently in Singapore, uttered by locals frustrated at the sight of migrant workers on public transport when buses and trains are jam-packed. Most of the time, these comments would be said from the stress of the moment, without any malicious intent. This was not the
Most interns who spend 6 - 9 weeks with TWC2 are asked to wrap up their internship with an essay on a specific topic. Law student Pranay Arvind Suryavanshi spent his mid-year vacation 2016 with us assisting with casework and the Labour Court Research Project. In the process, he came across many foreign workers who
By Sarah Tong Kashem was employed by one company but was sent to work for another, a scaffolding company. When he was injured, his employer took the position that the accident happened ‘off-site’, and so refused to pay for treatment. This is incorrect, but perhaps the boss didn't know the law. “Yah, he don’t know!”
Islam Saiful speaks with a volunteer while he takes his dinner at TWC2's Cuff Road Project By Yi Ning On 18 March 2016, Islam Saiful fell about three metres at his worksite, landing on his back and leaving him with agonizing pain. This was just the start of his problems. He was told that
By Vivek R It was a rainy day in Jurong Shipyard on Chinese New Year’s eve 2016. The worksite was particularly slippery as rain water coalesced with sand to turn the working grounds into slurry. But with the company falling behind on contract schedule, the work must go on. The day looked ominous but Muthamilselvan
