By Alston Ng, based on an interview in January 2018 In the midst of casual conversations with some usual faces at Alankar Restaurant, Hossen Mohammed Shamim, a 29-year-old Bangladeshi who has not worked for about a year and a half, interjects, “You want interview? Come, I give you interview, you help me.” Evidently not one
This is a long record (approximately 2,800 words) of what two foreign workers told TWC2 about their experiences with the same law firm. They had engaged the law firm following worksite accidents, but were soon unhappy with the relationship. Both workers either experienced or heard that representatives of the law firm made unsolicited and unwelcome contact
By Liang Lei, based on an interview in December 2017 What is the role of a lawyer? While we struggle to form an encompassing definition of the profession, our foreign workers seem to have a fixed perception of them as their all-knowing protector. At TWC2, the vast majority of injured workers would already have engaged
By Aaron Chua, based on an interview in December 2017 Just look at this!”, Alex exclaims, holding up one of the meal cards that are issued by TWC2 to workers in need. The surprise: The date of injury — 20 September 2016. It has been 15 months since. The card belongs to Hossain Muhammad Arif,
Suriakumar Ridgeway Ramaiah, will be serving jailtime for failing to pay injury compensation to a worker. Strictly speaking, the sole proprietor of Ridgeway Marine and Construction, was fined $21,000 on 16 November 2016 for failing to buy work injury insurance for his workers, and for not paying compensation when so ordered, but having defaulted on these, he was
By Liang Lei, based on an interview in October 2017 Running into unexpected trouble overseas is often inconvenient and frustrating – even seasoned travellers among us would readily testify to this. Language barriers, differences in culture and unfamiliarity with foreign administration often confuse us and increase the chances of making mistakes. It must be incomparably
By Janson Chang, based on an interview in September 2017 Remo (not his real name) is one man among many as he sidles forward in the queue to have his meal card stamped. He doesn’t say much, and is about to head off after receiving the stamp – till a closer look at his Special
By Chow Shunqi, based on an interview in September 2017 (27 Sept) He stayed as quiet as he could so others would think he was asleep. When it was 3am, he tiptoed out of the room, walked as far as he could with an injured ankle and found a hiding spot among the bushes. There was
Video by Jonathan Ang, August 2017 Hosen Khalilur's experience is typical of the cases that come to Transient Workers Count Too. After sustaining a back injury at work and being placed on medical leave, company officials make it difficult for him to stay on in company accommodation. In Hosen's case, he tells us in the
https://youtu.be/sJgiTBRV_tM Text by Jean Law, video by Jonathan Ang Hossain Monir believes that compensation for his permanent injury was paid out three months ago, but not to him. He is mistaken, but he is not totally wrong either. Indeed, a compensation sum had been offered to him, but he wasn't informed. His case shows how
