Continued from part 2. Part 1 narrated what happened when Monir Bhuiyan, Titu, Mahi Uddin and Shahjahan came to Singapore for their jobs at JS Metal Pte Ltd. They had each been offered $550 a month as basic salary. This was documented in the In-Principle Approval letters (IPA) issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM)
Continued from part 3. TWC2 stayed in contact off and on with the four men from JS Metal Pte Ltd through the months following the lodging of their claims at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). For a while they had some work, all at temporary jobs "make furniture" with Delco Art Interior Decoration, located at Kallang
By Ashley Frois Salary disputes and unpaid wages are, unfortunately, common issues plaguing our foreign workers, but Shoriful Islam’s case stands out in particular. He and his colleagues are seasoned workers in Singapore, but on arrival earlier this year for their current job, were forced to sign empty salary vouchers. They knew this was irregular,
By Jennifer Parenteau Mohamed Ariful sits down beside me and begins to tell me his story. At first it seems like a simple case of improper calculation of his medical leave wages, but as we talk it reveals much more than that! In June 2014, Ariful was working for the construction company, Calpen Contracters. He
This is the talk TWC2 vice-president Alex Au gave at the National University of Singapore to a large class (about 300 - 400) of students from various faculties on 15 October 2014. The text here is a somewhat fuller version of the talk itself, which wasn't entirely read from script, and which was constrained by
Yeusof (not his real name) knew there was something wrong with his monthly pay slip from Hyundai Engineering & Construction when he showed up for breakfast at TWC2's Cuff Road Project one morning in September 2014. He was quite sure his employer had underpaid him, showing us his documents so that we might verify his
By Nissa Mai Continued from Part 1. I have a lot of other questions for Surya [1]. How did such an empowered, decisive young woman get trapped in a clearly illegal and exploitative situation for such long time? Wasn't her contract for only two years? And if she didn't receive her salary, why didn't she
By Nissa Mai “I will kill you ah!” She very angry, angry. She smack me four times. I say, “I'm a human, I'm sorry!” [Then], Amah show me the big knife. She say, “[If] you argue, I cut you with the big knife.” That's when Surya (not her real name) ran away for the first
By Meera Rajah “Why Singapore?” – Ishwar Singh and Pardeep Kumar appear slightly perplexed as to how to answer this direct question, somewhat aware of the vague implications surrounding it. Ishwar (above, right) has now been in Singapore for five years. Pardeep (above left) has been here for slightly longer. Having arrived in 2007, this
By Fuxiong Many stories on this website have documented the difficulties workers face in the period following a work accident. Denial of medical treatment, efforts by employers to repatriate them against their will, or attempts to deny that the accident even occurred (thus foreclosing any chance of compensation for the resulting permanent incapacity) are common
