A drive to reach out to Singapore’s foreign workers
Foreign workers at a dormitory in Mandai flocking the Forward Response, Engagement & Intel Deployment Asset vehicle, or FREIDA. (Yahoo Singapore photo Safhras Khan)
On a sweltering night, a white lorry showed up at a dormitory in Mandai where foreign workers were winding down after work.
After parking near the entrance, the Nissan Cabstar lorry started to transform itself into a mobile office, as lights, chairs and two tables were set up next to the vehicle. A standing fan was turned on and placed near the tables.
Manning the tables were the officers from the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC), who were conducting their weekly outreach to foreign workers in Singapore recently. The officers began to discuss with the workers at the Mandai dormitory about issues such as working conditions and salary.
Foreign workers mingled as they gazed at the set-up, with some whipping out their mobile phones to take pictures of their colleagues airing their problems to the officers of the MWC, which was set by the National Trades Union Congress.
Reaching out to workers with FREIDA
In addition to the Mandai dormitory, MWC officers also visit other dormitories in areas such as Kaki Bukit and Tuas regularly. Besides visits to the purpose-built dormitories, the officers also drop by at the factory-converted dormitories and other premises in these areas.
The lorry, known as the ‘Forward Response, Engagement & Intel Deployment Asset’ (FREIDA), is key to the centre’s outreach efforts as the dormitories that the migrant workers stay in are in the more remote areas of Singapore.
Senior manager of MWC, Joshua Sham, was hard at work, talking to the foreign workers and explaining to them about the centre’s services.
“With FREIDA, we can drive the lorry to the workers and provide our services to them. We are also able to overcome minor issues of getting access to the workers while employers are able to see the benefits of us helping their workers,” said Joshua.
Joshua, in blue, setting up the MWC vehicle during one of his visits at the dormitory in Mandai. (Yahoo Singapore photo Safhras Khan)
Workers facing pay and other issues
Joshua, who has been with MWC for a year and a half, and his team have lent a listening ear to the problems faced by foreign workers. The workers regularly highlight housing and meal provision issues to MWC but pay tends to dominate discussion.
“When we go for our outreach, the main issues highlighted by the workers are late payment or non-payment for several months. That is where we come in to mediate with their employers,” Joshua said.
During each session, about five to 10 workers would approach his team to highlight the salary problems that they are facing.
One such worker is Sheik Milon, a construction worker who is currently staying in the Kranji area.
The 25-year-old Bangladeshi informed Yahoo Singapore that his salary had been delayed for a month.
“The company would not tell us why there is a delay and I also have been getting my salary deducted. The company said that the money is being deducted for utilities and food,” he said. When Yahoo Singapore asked Milon if the deductions were justified, he replied that he was not sure.
C. Sundaram, a 36-year-old worker with a renovation company from India, said that he is generally happy with his working conditions. But he expressed concerned about the safety aspects of his job.
“I have carried heavy things without any safety equipment before and sometimes I have to carry heavy things up the stairs. It could be dangerous but I am lucky as I have not been injured before,” he said.
When asked about MWC’s commitment to helping foreign workers in Singapore, Joshua said that the centre appreciates the contributions of the workers to the country. MWC will continue to help the workers tackle the problems that they are facing, he added.
“This may sound far-fetched but we believe that our ultimate goal is to work ourselves out of a job. Which means that there is no need for a migrant workers NGO (non-government organisation) anymore and there is no issues to be taken care of,” he said.
