twc2 newsletter jan-feb 2011

8/3/2019 TWC2 Newsletter Jan-Feb 2011

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Editorial

TWC2 is a membership-based society, so its Annual General Meeting(AGM) is not simply a formality. It is an occasion to take decisionsthat shape the organisations policies and plans.

This year, were getting proposals f or our work in the coming yearout early, so that members have more time to think about thembefore the meeting day. What we have in this issue of the newsletter

covers many aspects of our work, but that should not put anyone off proposing other ideas.

The whole Executive Committee is due to stand down at this AGMand there will be elections for a new committee. The societydefinitely needs more members to stand for the committee, eventhough most current members are willing to stand. Having an activeand diverse committee matters and is one of the keys to theeffectiveness of our society.

So if you have ideas to propose or if you wish to stand for thecommittee, please contact the TWC2 office and let the society know.We hope that as many members as possib le will come to this yearsAGM and help ensure it is a success.

One issue that we will have to consider is TWC2s finances. In 2005,at our first AGM, we reported spending of $4,729.25 in the firstseven months of our existence. This year our budget (excluding TheCuff Road Project fund, which is not used to cover any TWC2operating costs) ought to be a little over $260,000. Thats a measureof the growth in our work, but its also a problem, as it has to beraised. The committee had been hoping to come to the AGM withnews that we had received financial support that would see TWC2over the next year, but regrettably, it is not able to do so. This means

A HAPPY AND PROSPEROU

YEAR OF THE RABBIT

2011TO ALL OUR CHINESE FRIE

AND COLLABORATORS

N e w s l e t t e rVolume 6, Issue 1 January-February 2011

I, Wang Eng Eng, Secretary, hereby give notice, pursuant to Clause 7.5 of our Constitution, thatthe Annual General Meeting of Transient Workers Count Too will be held as follows:

Date: Sunday 20 March 2011

Time: 1.30pm to 5.30pm (Members reception until 6pm)

Venue: SCWO, 96 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187967.

The documentation for the AGM is attached to this Newsletter.

Pursuant to Clause 7.8 of our Constitution, any member may place an item on the agendaprovided s/he gives 1 weeks notice to me. Please send me your items via the office [email protected].

Pursuant to Clause 8.2, proposers and seconders for prospective Executive Committeemembers should be made at the meeting itself.


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that we will need to put greater efforts into raising the money thesociety needs to sustain its operations at their current level.

Were not on the verge of running out of money yet, and we need todo our utmost to see that we dont get there. So the society wouldcertainly value help in solving this problem. Donations and suggestionsof foundations that could help would be welcome; we also help toestablish a fundraising committee that would give focused attention tothis problem.

This comes after a very fruitful year, in which weve been able toassist thousands of workers through our direct services and haveseen successes in our advocacy work that will have an impact on thelives of many others but more on that at the AGM!

In March, we will be introducing a new monthly eventfor new and experienced volunteers alike. Volunteersare at the centre of TWC2 and we know that none of

our services and programmes could run without you.So the monthly event will be called Heartbeat. It will bein 2 halves with the first hour dedicated to a refreshertrainer for current volunteers and the second hour willbe an open house for new volunteers and interestedothers. Theyll get a chance to talk to currentvolunteers, Exco members and staf f, find out whatsavailable and how they can sign up. We hope that asmany volunteers and new ones will attend. Feel free topass the world around to your friends and to remindour current volunteers. Details are:

Date: Thursday 10 March (and every secondThursday subsequently)

Time: 7.30-8.30pm - Refresher training8.30-9.30pm Open house

Venue: TWC2 office.

STOP PRESS!TWC2 WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE

OUR CUFF ROAD COORDINATOR, DEBBIEFORDYCE, WHO WAS AWARDED THEAMERICAN WOMENS ASSOCIATIONS

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF THE YEARAWARD 2011. THE AWARDPRESENTATION TOOK PLACE AT THERESIDENCE OF THE US AMBASSADOR.


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Tushers Diary

Our family had money troubles. Two men in our village, brothersnamed Raju and Nirmal, came one day and said, With a famil ysituation like yours, why dont you send Tusher to work in Singapore?

I was then studying for my higher secondary school certificate (HSC).My older brother asked Nirmal what type of job I could find in

Singapore. Nirmal said he had a friend named Delowar who could helpwith an in-principal approval (IPA, required to enter Singapore beforeapplying for a work permit) for work in a shipyard.

Some days later, Nirmals brother Raju came to our house and said hewould need 50,000 Taka (S$1,016) in order to arrange work for me inSingapore, and that he would need the money within a week. If wearent able to provide the money, he couldnt help us, he said.

We mortgaged the family paddy field and raised the money. Six monthspassed and there was no news of the job. I continued my studies. Afteranother three months Raju came and said that hed secured work forme in a shipyard, but for that Id have to learn welding. My exams were

approaching soon, so I had to decide whether to continue with mystudies or to begin training as a welder.

I compromised by studying three days a week, and working in a weldingshop the other four days. In this way I was able to complete my studiesfor the school exam. The exam results came three months later, butthere was still no news of the job.

After another month had gone by, Raju came to our house and told myolder brother that the IPA was ready. My flight could be arrangedwithin one month, but I would have to give one hundred thousand (onelak) Taka (S$2,023) within one week.

That time we had no way of collecting the money; we had nothingmore to sell. Luckily the husband of my middle sister offered to lend usthe money. One month later Raju traveled to Singapore, and Nirmalreturned from Singapore. We went to Nirmals house and asked aboutthe situation. Nimal told us that the IPA that he had arranged wouldntwork, we would have to try with another company.

Two more months dragged by with no news. Every day we went totheir house to ask for news. Yet another two months passed with noword about the job.

By then I was working at the training centre workshop from 8:00 am to10:00 pm. I worked there for a total of eight months, but they never

paid me anything. 2006 ended and 2007 came. I worked there untilMarch 2007. Nirmal informed my family that it was difficult to get workin a shipyard, so I should upgrade my skills while I wait. He promisedthat if I have the proper skills I could work up to 18 years in Singapore.

On 26 April 2007 I was taken to Ashulia Weltech Testing (Training)Centre at Dhaka Mirpur Section 1. I paid 40,000 Taka (S$813) to beadmitted at this centre. Raju said the training would be finished in onemonth. One month is a long enough time to wait, but it was fourmonths before I was able to take the skills exam. 2,200 candidates werethere competing for positions.

From the Secretariat

Following the brief lull of Christmas, we arrived in2011 with renewed purpose to focus on buildingthe capacity of the society through improvementsin our office procedures and in our planning for theAGM which will take place on 20 March.

Mansura has been working extra hard to get all ourpaperwork together for our annual audit. She hasalso been putting all our various databases (donors,members, volunteers) into a more coherentframework to help us in our public facing work withour partners.

Sadly, we said farewell to our longest serving staff member, Sha Najak, who is now clearing herannual leave. She will have fully left TWC2 on 15March. We wish her well. The Exco has decided tofreeze her position for a time while we set ourpriorities for the year and work out how we canbetter utilise the remaining staff team. This willmean some reorganising of our work as well asmaking regular calls for volunteers with specialexpertise and skills in communications anddesigning graphics and peripherals. Our advocacyand public education work will continue but with amore raitonalised team running things.

Rationalising our core of volunteers will be a keyfocus for the year. In December we ran anadvertising campaign for new volunteers which hasresulted in almost 20 people keen to give of their

time. They will join an already dedicated bunch of people working hard on our mission to work forbetter conditions and rights of migrant workers.This is separate from The Cuff Road Project which isale to attract people through work of mouth,although we are always on the lookout for morepeople to join in, especially those who can take onsome level of casework.

A part of this is our new monthly volunteer event,Heartbeat, which will commence on 10 March andthen every second Thursday thereafter. The eventwill give current volunteers a change to meet up

and socialise as well as refresh their skills and fornew and prospective volunteers to learn moreabout the society, talk to the more experiencedand plunge in.

Preparing for the AGM has begun and we havedeveloped a range of proposals that will be foundelsewhere in this Newsletter. We hope to see asmany members as possible at the AGM and tocome up with a coherent and workable plan for theyear, as well as examining our fundamental vision


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The owner of the training centre is a Singaporean named Victor Lee. Hehas many training centres in Bangladesh: Weltech Testing Center,C.T.Testing Centre, Barsagi Centre, Progressive Testing Centre, Purkurparh, and so on. Barsagi is the name of Victor lees daughter.

Victor Lee has destroyed thousands of Bangladeshi families, but theSingapore government is not aware of this. I think Victor Lee should bepunished, He has enriched himself with crores and crores (tens andtens of millions) from these training centres.

I would like to request the Singapore Government arrange punishmentfor those who create such hardship for migrant workers.

I completed the training centre exam on 27 August 2008, and on 6September I received the passing result. Raju told me that now that Idpassed, I could go to Singapore.

Four months passed nothing. Raju collected the IPA from DamusTechnology on 6 January 2009, but said that another sum of 220,000Taka (S$4,470) was needed to arrange the flight. He told us that therewould be further delays if we couldnt produce the money within threedays.

One uncle provided 70,000 Taka, and we managed the rest by sellingour cattle and our land. In the end we had to mortgage our house aswell. We paid the full amount on 9 January 2009.

The flight was supposed to be on 12 January, but my seat wasntbooked on that day. Raju told us to wait until 22 January. Raju wasstaying in Dhaka Mirpur Section 11 at his uncles house. I stayed ther ewith him during that time, but even on 22 January there was nobooking for me.

Raju called the agents in Singapore, Hasan, Rubel, Jewel, and Sukantoto find out what happened, but they didnt answer their phones. Ireturned home from Dhaka.

More and more delays. Finally my flight was confirmed on 25 February2009. When I arrived in Singapore airport I called Sukanto. He told meto wait in the airport and call the others, Hasan, Rubel, and Jewel. Ididnt have their numbers so he gave them to me. I called Hasan butthere was no answer. The same with Rubel and Jewel: no answer. Icalled Sukanto again but this time he didnt answer either. Nobodycame to the airport to collect me and I lost hope.

I felt like crying. Finally Sukanto answered his phone and told me towait there. I was so depressed with all the delays. Nothing was workingout as it should have. Finally after many hours Sukanto came to theairport.

By that time Hasans driver, Rasu Tamil, had also arrived. Rasu Tamiltook me to Chai Chee Drive, Block 56 in Bedok. After I had dinner,Hasan arrived and said to me Tusher bhai, youve arrived! Therell beno more problems. Ill talk to you in the morning. But in the morninghe didnt come.

The next morning at 10:00 they took me to Express Medical Clinic onRowell Road for my medical examination. This only took an hour, butthey picked me up at 8:00 in the evening.

and beliefs.

A key change we are proposing is in ourmembership renewal. In the past, membershipwas renewed on a termly basis, ie when your yearof membership was up, you would be reminded torenew it. This year we are proposing thatmembership should be renewable on an annualbasis, ie that all membership renewals wouldcome due on a specific date of the year.

Were suggesting that that date should be theAGM. Many members will be physically presentand will be able to renew their membershipconveniently. For those who dont attend, we willissue reminders by mail in the week following.

However, to take account of new members who joined within six months of the next AGM, yourmembership will not be due for renewal until thefollowing AGM. Example: if you joined between21 September 2010 and 20 March 2011, you willonly need to renew your membership at the 2012AGM.

A friendly reminder from the Secretariat: TWC2 isyour society and the staff team are here to serveyou. Please feel free to call on us to support you inthinking about new projects or provide the back-up to help on work youre already doing. Theoffice continues to be open Mondays to Fridays10am to 5 pm and thefreephone helpline formigrant workers operates

during that time.

We look forward to welcoming you to the AGM.

Opinion

Domestic Worker Salaries Rising

Domestic workers are paid less than any otherworkers in Singapore and most of them work longerhours for that pay. Thats true even of those in the

most favourable situations. Until recently, pay levelsrose more slowly than placement costs. In 1997, whenthe Asian financial crisis occurred and the practice of making workers pay the costs of their placementthemselves became the norm, it generally took threemonths for a worker to repay her loan through salarydeductions made to her employer. By 2002, this hadrisen to six months. In 2008, it was eight to ninemonths and in 2010, Indonesian domestic workerswere increasingly faced with ten-eleven months of repayments.


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From there they took me to a hotel near Jalan Besar Plaza where Istayed. I asked Jewel when I would take the safety exam and have mythumb print taken because I knew that it is a problem to remain on theIPA for more than 14 days. Only four days were left and I was veryscared.

Jewel told me to give him my passport so that he could arrange thesafety exam. Three days passed and he made no more mention of thesafety exam. Whenever I tried to ask him about it, he acted like hewould beat me.

On the morning of 14 March, Jewel came to my room. He said hewasnt able to sleep because of all my demands and told me to get outof the place. I left but he kept my passport.

I had no place to go and no money. Where could I go? What could I do?I starved for five days and survived by drinking water and sleeping inthe MRT station. After five days I went to the mini mart and someonesuggested that I see Mohsin (editor and CEO of Bangla Kantha) to askhim to help me. Maybe he could arrange food and a place to stay.

I went with this man but we couldnt find Mohsin. I thought I would die,that I would never see my mother and father, my brothers and sistersagain.

Then I met Shahabuddin (foreign worker familiar with TWC2 -Transient Workers Count Too) and told him about my problem. He took me to seeShelly (executive committee member of TWC2).

I went to MOM (Ministry of Manpower) about my problem. Theychecked my case and made an inquiry into my company, DamusTechnology. But Damus Technology had already closed down so MOMsaid they couldnt help me.

The Damus Technology boss is a Singapore citizen, Imran Hasan, fromBangladesh. Damus has no worksite. They bring workers in but offerthem no work. After one or two months they send the workers back toBangladesh. This is the way they do business. By making money thisway, Imran Hasan has already set up two discos in Singapore, onenamed Rajanigandha. He has ruined at least 60 families fromBangladesh.

Shelly arranged for me to stay at HOME (Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics) shelter and arranged for my food. I asked ImranHasan to send me back to Bangladesh because the company has somany problems. For many days I pestered him to send me back. I askedhim to give me my passport and a return ticket. He told me to askShelly, and said that she would arrange my ticket and send me back.Another ten days went past and still he hadnt given me my passpor t. Iwent back to MOM but got no response from them.

Finally I went to Yasmin Sultana at the Bangladeshi High Commission,but nothing came of that. Yasmin Sultana said that its not that simpleto go back to Bangladesh.

Together with 32 other men from Damus Technology we went again toMOM on 20 Apt 09. At 2:00 in the afternoon, MOM forced us all out of the building. Then Imran Hassan told us that on 22 April a flight wouldtake all 43 of us from Damus Technology back to Bangladesh.

This is appalling. In practically every other aspect of migrant workers experience in Singapore, there havebeen improvements over this time, even if they havebeen much less than wed wish, but this is one respectin which their position has been deteriorating. Theproblem can be countered by reducing costs and byraising salaries.

The great appeal of trying to reduce costs is that itcould leave workers and employers better off at theexpense of the middlemen. We have argued forgreater transparency in the recruitment andplacement process both in home countries and inSingapore, in order to empower workers to asserttheir rights, which includes the right to say no if theythink that the costs of going abroad are too highcompared to the possible benefits. We hope that therecent amendments to the Employment Agencies Actwill curb charges in Singapore and we look forward toaction to counter more effectively the accumulationof costs in workers countries of origin.

Salaries have risen slowly until recently, but nowthere are pressures pushing them up. The Philippinesis trying to shut down labour migration throughirregular channels and to promote a worldwideminimum pay of US$400 (S$500) for Filipino workers,along with at least four days off for domestic workers.Indonesia is making a similar effort to improve payand conditions for its nationals abroad. It hasconcluded an agreement that the workers should bepaid at least S$450 a month with 17 agencies that areon its list of those approved to place Indonesianworkers.

At the same time, domestic workers are voting withtheir feet by heading for countries that pay highersalaries, including Hongkong, Taiwan, Canada andSpain. This has left women who are considering takinga job in Singapore and workers whose standard twoyear contracts are coming to an end in a betterposition to bargain for higher pay. They can hardly beblamed for doing so.

It is common for TWC2 to hear the argument thatdomestic workers should not complain about howmuch they are paid when it is much more than theywould receive at home. It is easy to imagine whattheyd say if a family member taken on by an overseasfirm was paid a lower salary than locals according tothat very same reasoning. One way to estimate thevalue of a domestic workers labour would be toassess how much the familys earnings would come toif she wasnt there, enabling the family to have twoincome earners. Another would be to tot up what itwould cost to hire locals to do all the jobs a domesticworker does, for all the hours she does them and thenask what that would come to. That would put a salary


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Finally I want to say that a boss like Imran hassan should be punished.He is a criminal of the lowest order.

On 22 April I returned to Bangladesh on Indian Airlines.

Tusher arrived in Singapore in January 2009 with an IPA (In-principle Approval to work). His diary was translated by TWC2 volunteers.

China Labour Bulletins new research report, Hired on Sufferance:Chinas migrant workers in Singapore , systematically examines theentire process by which mainland Chinese workers are recruited,employed and, when no longer needed in Singapore, repatriated. Manyhave to endure abuse, discrimination and violations of their rights butfew can obtain legal redress. Their movements, behaviour and eventhei r moral conduct, are tightly controlled by their boss, who canterminate their employment and send them back to China at anytimeand without any justification.

of S$450 or S$500 into perspective.

MESSAGE FROM JOHNWith this issue of the newsletter, Sha Najak,TWC2s Communications Manager, leaves us. I firstmet her when she was volunteering with MigrantVoices. Shortly after, we decided to take her on asa part-time fund-raising and events coordinator,but we soon had to ask her to assume a differentrole, when we were unable to take on the helplinemanager we had planned to employ. We intendedto launch our helpline at an Int ernational MigrantsDay event at the end of 2006. We asked Shawhether she could work on the volunteer trainingprogramme and the helpline launch. She agreed.Since then, she has taken on the outreach andcommunications work. She is known to many

TWC2 members through her work and the variousinitiatives in which she played a part, including thefirst steps in launching The Cuff Road Project andour last two International Migrants Day events.She was also actively involved in helping tocoordinate the Cuff Road volunteer schedule andin organising their training programme. Id like tothank her for contribution to TWC2 and wish herwell for the future.

********

This January was one of the rainiest on record.Returning home from Jurong one day during adownpour, I saw workers traveling in the backs of trucks under canopies and thought, Well, its notwhat we wanted, but at least theyre not gettingdrenched like they used to be. Suddenly the smallimprovements won in worker transportation lastyear seemed worthwhile. We progress by smallsteps.

When TWC2 raised the issue of low domestic workerpay in the past, we suggested that a minimum wagemight be set to raise pay levels possibly a minimumwage for domestic workers alone. In response, weheard that s alary levels were best left to marketforces. Now those forces are operating to thedisadvantage of employers and many arecomplaining. A reduction of the levy could ease theburden on employers, as some have suggested, butmaybe in the longer run, Singapore may need to lookagain at social policy and how citizens can be helpedto cope with holding down jobs, raising children andcaring for the elderly at the same time.

In Brief Runaway domestic workers

At least 4,000 migrant domestic workers ran away from theiremployers homes in 2010, according to figures colle cted fromembassies and shelters by Radha Basu, a Senior Correspondent atStraits Times (Number of runaway maids rises to 4,000,11/2/2011). Most complained they were homesick or stressed outby tough work conditions. Most had also been here for under sixmonths and had yet to earn a single months pay as they were stillrepaying hefty loans - of up to 11 months salary to employers.

Where Are They?

Concerns about domestic workers throwing away their hard earnedpay at the casinos seem to be largely unwarranted. TWC2 took arecent opportunity to ask embassy officials from their countries of origin if theyd heard of any cases among their own nationals, andthey said No. The same answer came in response when we spokewith domestic worker contacts and our helpline has had no calls

from workers who have gambled away money.The Bare Necessities of Life

When Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown as president of Tunisia in January, he is reported to have flown into exile with hiswife, son, daughter, her fiance plus a butler and two domesticworkers.
http://www.clb.org.hk/en/files/File/research_reports/Singapore.pdfhttp://www.clb.org.hk/en/files/File/research_reports/Singapore.pdfhttp://www.clb.org.hk/en/files/File/research_reports/Singapore.pdfhttp://www.clb.org.hk/en/files/File/research_reports/Singapore.pdfhttp://www.clb.org.hk/en/files/File/research_reports/Singapore.pdf


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Days Off Can Save Lives

There was an exchange of letters about the reasons behind domestic workers being killed in falls from high buildings. The firstthree letters appeared on the Straits Times Forum Page. The last one responds to the two letters critical of the first. It waspublished in Forum Online. The use of the term maid in the first letter is due to editing; the term FDW was not edited tomaid in the response from the Ministry of Manpower.

WHY MORE INDONESIAN MAIDS FALL Blame poor employers, and no day off Straits Times, Jan 27, 2011

The report ('Maid agencies, bosses can help prevent high-rise falls'; Monday) noted that two in three maids treated at Tan Tock Seng Hospital following high-impact falls were Indonesians.

It was suggested that as they came from villages, they were unaware of the dangers of working in high-rise buildings. Our experience is that more than 95 per cent of maids who died from such falls were Indonesians. Filipino maids also come fromvillages, but few suffer such falls. We also found that large numbers of Indonesians were employed in high-rise flats in Hong Kongand they were also mostly from villages. However, the death rate from falls there is significantly lower than that in Singapore.

Our conclusion: A significant number of the maids fell because they were trying to escape their employers' homes or commit suicide as they could not endure the working conditions. More Indonesian maids than Filipinas work for employers who wish to pay as little as possible. These owners are more likely to be under financial stress, which is sometimes reflected in their treatment of their maids. The difference between the record of falls in Hong Kong and Singapore might be largely ascribed to one factor. InHong Kong, maids have a regular day off by law whereas in Singapore, there is no such legal entitlement. We reckon that half theIndonesian maids here still do not have days off. Workers who can regularly seek advice and leave their employers generally would not climb out of windows or throw themselves to their deaths.

The Manpower Ministry has made a concerted and consistent effort since 2004 to prevent accidental high-rise falls of maids, withsome success. A more substantial reduction might be achieved by introducing a mandatory weekly day off for maids and theenforcement of law against involuntary confinement, which ought to apply to employers or agents who lock their workers in their residences or premises owned by them.

John GeePresidentTransient Workers Count Too

Jan 29, 2011Is Hong Kong really maid in heaven?Mr John Gee, president of Transient Workers Count Too, made several references to the treatment of maids in Hong Kong and compared their employment favourably to the situation in Singapore ('Blame poor employers, and no day off'; Thursday).

Perhaps he could address the following about maids employed in Hong Kong:

First, the entry barrier. Maids intending to work in Hong Kong must have cash in hand to pay all expenses themselves upfront.

Maids who head to Singapore to work arrive empty-handed and have their prospective employer repay their loan in friendlier installments.

Second, the difference in quality and skills. Maids who head to Hong Kong are experienced and not fresh from the villages,untrained and unskilled in domestic work such as the many who apply to work in Singapore. Hong Kong-bound maids haveusually had two to four years' experience working as maids in Singapore or Malaysia.

Finally, and notwithstanding the better quality of maids who work in Hong Kong, Mr Gee may have missed an account by aFilipino maid who worked in Hong Kong in the Saturday Special report ('Inside Manila's slums'; Jan 15). The maid, Roselyn,recalled her working experience in Hong Kong: 'Every night, I cried before I slept. I cried a lot.'

Perhaps Mr Gee has a view about Roselyn's experience, suggesting as he did, a maid's working experience there as a mini heaven


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compared to Singapore.

Aloysius Koh

05 February 2011 Most maids are happy with working in Singapore

The letter by Transient Workers Count Too (Why more Indonesian maids fall: Blame poor employers, and no day off; Jan 27)does not accurately reflect the employment conditions of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore.

It is overly simplistic to conclude that they fell from a height because they tried to escape their employers homes or com mitted suicide because they did not have a weekly rest day. There are many causes for high-rise falls. Last year, the vast majority of them fell as a result of work accidents, rather than due to suicides or attempted escapes from their employers.

The lett ers assertion that FDW suicides are due to the lack of rest days is also highly tenuous. Suicides, whether by FDWs or local residents, occur for a multitude of reasons such as personal or family difficulties. Among FDWs who committed suicide, many alsoenjoyed rest days. In fact, all local residents have rest days. Yet, the suicide rate per 100,000 local residents is higher than that for FDWs. Based on the Ministry of Manpowers (MOM) interviews with FDWs in 2010, FDWs in general were satisfied with worki ngin Singapore.

Over the past few years, MOM has taken various steps to improve their employment conditions and ensure their well-being.These include a compulsory orientation course for first-time employers, a safety-awareness course (focused on high-rise falls) for first-time FDWs in their native language, and a dedicated FDW hotline for FDWs who are in distress.

MOM also conducts random interviews with first-time FDWs, to ensure they are being treated fairly and are adjusting well. Thesemeasures have been effective in bringing down the annual number of FDW fatalities per 100,000 FDWs by 30 per cent since 2007.Workers facing difficulties at work are encouraged to approach MOM for assistance.

Farah Abdul RahimDirector, Corporate CommunicationsMinistry of Manpower

The letter below was sent on 7th

February 2011:

Dear ST Forum,

I would like to respond briefly to the letters from Mr Aloysius Koh ('Is Hong Kong really maid in heaven?', 29/1/11) and Ms Farah Abdul Rahim ('Most maids are happy with working in Singapore' 5/2/11).

Mr Koh refers to the story of the unhappiness of a Filipino maid who worked in Hong Kong and asks whether I have a view about her experience 'suggesting as he did a maid's working experience there as a mini heaven compared to Singapore.'

The only claim that I made in my letter concerning more favourable conditions for maids in Hong Kong than in Singapore wasthat they were entitled under law to a regular day off, and Mr Koh does not appear to contest that.

For the record, I don't think that the working life of a maid is a 'mini heaven' anywhere in the world, and believe that efforts areneeded to raise their status globally. A Domestic Workers Convention, such as the International Labour Conference will discuss in June, should help, but much depends on what we do country by country, family by family.

In response to Ms Abdul Rahim, I certainly accept that the MOM's efforts have done much to bring down the fatality rate amongdomestic workers, but I would like to clarify one point. In raising the question of suicides by domestic workers who did not have aday off, I was certainly mindful that having no day off can contribute to an individual's unhappiness, but I didn't argue that they killed themselves solely for that reason. My contention is that when an individual comes under acute stress and is desperately unhappy for any reason (not necessarily work-related), she will normally be able to seek help by talking to friends, family members and, if need be, a professional who can help her. This is normally enough to enable her to cope. Workers who do not have any time off experience isolation from these channels of assistance (including those offered by the MOM); this is where the


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danger arises that their condition may deteriorate and suicide becomes a more likely outcome.

John GeePresident Transient Workers Count Too

A point that was not made in the exchange concerned the figure provided in the MOM letter comparing the suicide rate amongdomestic workers to that among locals, which is higher per 100,000 persons. This is true, but since it was the position of Indonesian domestic workers that was being highlighted, a better comparison would have been between the suicide rate amongIndonesian domestic workers and that among Singaporeans.

We do not have reliable recent figures, but on 3 rd April 2006, Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister of Manpower, had this to say in writtenanswer to a parliamentary question from Mdm Halima Yacob:

Currently, there are about 670,000 foreign workers in Singapore, of which 160,000 are foreign domestic workers (FDWs). In2004, there were a total of 23 suicides involving foreign workers, of which 15 were FDWs. In 2005, the figures fell slightly to 18and 13 respectively. As a comparison, the suicide rate amongst FDWs in 2005 was 8.6 per 100,000, which is close to Singaporesoverall suicide rate of 8 per 100,000 in the same year. FDWs from the two largest source countries, i.e. Indonesia andPhilippines, are also not over- represented.

Dr Chia Boon Hock, a psychiatrist who monitors suicides in Singapore, said that between 1995 and 2003, a total of 77 domesticworkers took their own lives. 51 were Indonesians, 11 Filipinas, nine Indians, four Sri Lankans and two of other nationalities. (NgHui Hui, Maids Stories of Sacrifice , Straits Times 5 th March 2005) If these proportions were reflected in later suicide statistics,then roughly two-thirds of domestic worker suicides would be by Indonesians, which would surely make it rather higher thanthat for locals.

twc2 newsletter jan-feb 2011

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