By Isabel Chew “Before I always think Singaporean very good but today I see I cannot take it lah. Because salary don’t give.” As I wrap up my interview with Latif, the morose Bangladeshi worker shares with me his feelings about the seemingly hopeless situation. He has not been paid in three months, and is
Veluchamy Duraisamy is a happy worker. On or around 4 August 2014, he (more or less) won his case at the Labour Court. He is extremely grateful to TWC2. It might have turned out very differently without us. Durai had to go to the Labour Court eight times to get his overtime pay, leaving the
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
A letter by Debbie Fordyce of TWC2 was published in the print section of the Straits Times 17 July 2014. It was a follow-on to a letter by Migrant Workers' Centre, which in turn was a response to an article by Radha Basu in the Sunday Times of 6 July. --- Why foreign workers are
Ambulance set ablaze. Photo: Straits Times Media Statement For immediate release, 3 July 2014 TWC2’s response to the COI Report on the Little India Riot TWC2 wishes to make three points in response to the Report on the Little India Riot issued 30 June 2014 by the Committee of Inquiry (COI): I) TWC2
By Nguyen Minh Quan Unlike injury cases, workers' complaints about salary and deductions usually don’t take more than a few months. However, Bangladeshi national Badal, 34, has been in limbo for ten months. His case probably won’t be settled soon. The longer the process is, the more difficult it will be to collect evidence from
By Eitan He's been hobbling around with that boot and a crutch for four months already. Every day he goes up and down three floors to get his free meals provided by Transient Workers Count Too, each step presenting a risk of tumbling down. Unable to put weight on his broken right foot, he largely
By Elizabeth Zhou Cleanly shaven, he is dressed in a tight-fitting dark blue T-shirt that betrays a physique built by hard labour. A pair of trendy earphones is slung around his neck. It is my first time at Transient Workers Count Too's free meals point, known as The Cuff Road Project. I am unsure how
Most men from Bangladesh dress quite conservatively. Compared to his compatriots, Sohel, standing at our front door, flashed a lot of skin. Your writer remarked to himself: This guy is halfway to becoming Singaporean. When Sohel opened his mouth, more proof flowed. He was fluent in Singlish. It turned out that for the better part of
A key plank in Transient Workers Count Too's advocacy is that of untying a work permit holder from his employer, and allowing him (or her) job mobility. Naturally, even as he seeks alternative employment, only employers who have the requisite work permit quota will be able to employ him. We recognise that the quota (known
