"Home packed home - 50 workers in 2 apartments - My Paper Nov 20, 2014
The unit is the size of a typical two-bedroom condominium apartment and could house a family of about four comfortably. But two of these units in a condo along Selegie Road were instead housing about 50 construction workers from Bangladesh and India, a spot check by the Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC) and The Straits Times found yesterday.
Rotting food, soiled clothes and bags were strewn on the grimy floors of the units located in Selegie Centre near Little India.
The men slept shoulder to shoulder on the floor or on wooden boards along the corridors outside the apartments. The walls were stained brown and cabinets were broken, while a damp stench permeated the hallways. When asked if they thought the conditions were bad or unbearable, the men, nervous from the spot check, could only reply: "I don't know."
An MOM spokesman said: "Our initial assessment is that the units were overcrowded and we are investigating several employers for failing to ensure that their foreign employees have acceptable accommodation." The spokesman added that the ministry is also looking into the claims of some workers who said they have been owed salaries.
Mr Nallusamy, a Singapore permanent resident and Indian national, said he moved 14 workers temporarily to the apartments in Selegie Centre this week. He insisted that usually, there are only 15 workers living in each apartment."
Interesting revelation. Is this the iceberg or the tip of the iceberg?
Lessons for me are:
1. overcrowding of workers are KNOWN facts! Just that HOW diligent and serious are our MOM and other enforcement agencies want to 'check' on them GIVEN that we don't really have much leeway to put these workers due to our limited resources!;
2. interesting to note that the 'suspected offending employer', Mr Nallusamy is a Singapore PR and Indian national! It shows that some foreigners are VERY enterprising and street-smart about leveraging, or some critical few would said: 'exploiting', the generosity of Singapore foreign labour legislation and regulations?;
3. the COI for last December Little India Riot concluded that there were NO signs or evidence, or at least the workers interviewed and visited by the Ministers and the COI members in the process of investigating did not show any signs of being 'mistreated'! With this current revelation, I wonder IF the COI would revisit some of its conclusion? Of course, in this report, Mr Nallusamy claimed that some of the ALLEGATIONS made by the workers were NOT TRUE.
So, MOM will really need to dig deeper into this case, among others?, to find out what exactly are the COMPLETE facts so that an in-depth analysis can be performed and some concrete and constructive actions can be recommended for implementation to prevent such disgusting practice of putting the foreign workers in uninhabitable quarters!!
Singapore is a Vibrant Global City State with one of the highest per capita income. Surely this is unbecoming of that image! Yes?
The unit is the size of a typical two-bedroom condominium apartment and could house a family of about four comfortably. But two of these units in a condo along Selegie Road were instead housing about 50 construction workers from Bangladesh and India, a spot check by the Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC) and The Straits Times found yesterday.
Rotting food, soiled clothes and bags were strewn on the grimy floors of the units located in Selegie Centre near Little India.
The men slept shoulder to shoulder on the floor or on wooden boards along the corridors outside the apartments. The walls were stained brown and cabinets were broken, while a damp stench permeated the hallways. When asked if they thought the conditions were bad or unbearable, the men, nervous from the spot check, could only reply: "I don't know."
An MOM spokesman said: "Our initial assessment is that the units were overcrowded and we are investigating several employers for failing to ensure that their foreign employees have acceptable accommodation." The spokesman added that the ministry is also looking into the claims of some workers who said they have been owed salaries.
Mr Nallusamy, a Singapore permanent resident and Indian national, said he moved 14 workers temporarily to the apartments in Selegie Centre this week. He insisted that usually, there are only 15 workers living in each apartment."
Interesting revelation. Is this the iceberg or the tip of the iceberg?
Lessons for me are:
1. overcrowding of workers are KNOWN facts! Just that HOW diligent and serious are our MOM and other enforcement agencies want to 'check' on them GIVEN that we don't really have much leeway to put these workers due to our limited resources!;
2. interesting to note that the 'suspected offending employer', Mr Nallusamy is a Singapore PR and Indian national! It shows that some foreigners are VERY enterprising and street-smart about leveraging, or some critical few would said: 'exploiting', the generosity of Singapore foreign labour legislation and regulations?;
3. the COI for last December Little India Riot concluded that there were NO signs or evidence, or at least the workers interviewed and visited by the Ministers and the COI members in the process of investigating did not show any signs of being 'mistreated'! With this current revelation, I wonder IF the COI would revisit some of its conclusion? Of course, in this report, Mr Nallusamy claimed that some of the ALLEGATIONS made by the workers were NOT TRUE.
So, MOM will really need to dig deeper into this case, among others?, to find out what exactly are the COMPLETE facts so that an in-depth analysis can be performed and some concrete and constructive actions can be recommended for implementation to prevent such disgusting practice of putting the foreign workers in uninhabitable quarters!!
Singapore is a Vibrant Global City State with one of the highest per capita income. Surely this is unbecoming of that image! Yes?
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