By Samantha Ege Information is what opens the door to knowing our rights, exploring our options and making conscious decisions. Yet, information is something that we do not always have. In the absence of information, our rights can seem invalidated, our options unclear and our decisions not so concrete. In the absence of information, we
Early indications were encouraging. Maybe it's a sign that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is at last taking kickback complaints seriously. But at the time of the interview, it's too early to say how this case will turn out. What is clear though is that Anwar Hossain Abdur Rab is happy. And very fortunate compared
For a payment of $3,000, Ahmead Rubel, 28, found a job for fellow Bangladeshi, Jabed, to work as a construction worker in Nanjing Minglu Construction Engineering Co. Ltd. For conducting employment agency activities without a valid employment agency licence, Rubel -- himself a construction worker -- was fined $40,000 in default four months' imprisonment, reported
When an employer in South Korea needs to fill a position with a foreign worker, he has to apply to the central government's Job Center. This state body will provide the employer with three shortlisted workers and the employer has to choose from among them. When Kim Misun, executive director of We Friends, an NGO
By Lindene Cleary His first job didn't even last a year, losing out on unpaid salaries. His second job lasted barely a week, with him having to foot hospital bills. His personal finances are awash in red ink. We all suffer from accidents and bad luck from time to time. We miss the bus, we
By Ashley Frois We're barely under the eaves. Rain, like troubles, pours down mere inches from our seats. Everything is damp. Two seats away and drier, a fellow volunteer is interviewing another construction worker, Rahman Sadequr. That worker is speaking morosely of his money problems. My interviewee, Musfiqur (pictured above), is strangely upbeat. He too
By Seema Punwani "I cannot go back! If I go back I die. I die". Rahman keeps repeating in his broken English. His friend who is kindly acting as a translator tries to calm him down and entreats him to explain his predicament in detail. And so begins Rahman's story -- sadly not very unlike
This is the opinion piece by John Gee of Transient Workers Count Too, published in the Straits Times, 3 December 2014. ---- A win-win way to help injured foreign workers The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is considering outsourcing the inspection of workplaces to counter the illegal employment of foreign workers, a task that currently involves
By Lauri When she came down to meet us for the first time, "she had only a small bag containing her documents," Karno recalls. "She didn't even have her clothes and things." TWC2 social worker Karno and a volunteer were waiting at the foot of an HDB block of flats to rescue Indonesian domestic worker
At a symposium organised by the Asia Research Institute, TWC2 head of research John Gee said that whilst globally, there had never been better protection in law for migrants' rights, yet in many respects, their actual position was going backwards. Even in Singapore, he felt there has been progress, but placement costs represent one area in which
