Monday, December 11, 2017
Your Accommodation, Your Responsibilities
There are various types of housing that your foreign workers can live in, each with its own set of requirements.
Allowed to house
EP holders, S pass holders, Work Permit holders who are Malaysians or working in the Services sector.
Non-Malaysian Work Permit holders from the manufacturing sector are allowed to rent bedrooms, but not the whole flat from the flat owner.
The number of bedrooms that flat owners can sublet and the maximum number of subtenants and occupants allowed in each flat depends on the flat type as shown below.
First woman to win migrant worker poetry competition
First woman to win migrant worker poetry competition
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| Runner-up Naive L. Gascon from the Philippines recites her poem, And Again, at the annual Migrant Worker Poetry Competition at National Gallery Singapore on Sunday.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG |
Female domestic workers take top three spots at this year's Migrant Worker Poetry Competition
Article from Straits Times, by Olivia Ho, Published 5th December 2017
Women triumphed for the first time in the Migrant Worker Poetry Competition, as female domestic workers came in first, second and third in its fourth edition on Sunday.
The annual contest, which started in 2014 and has been mostly dominated by male Bangladeshi workers, received a record 107 submissions this year, in eight languages from poets of seven nationalities, 80 per cent of whom were women.
Indonesian domestic worker Deni Apriyani, 27, became the first woman to win the $500 top prize with her poem, Further Away, which beat 18 other shortlisted candidates at the competition, held at National Gallery Singapore.
It was based on a chance encounter she had on a minibus in her hometown, Indramayu.
She struck up a conversation with another passenger, who told her to "be careful in finding a husband" as she herself was stuck in an abusive marriage.
"I don't know who she is or where she is now, but she inspired me to write this," says Ms Apriyani.
She chose to write in English instead of Bahasa Indonesia because she felt a translation from her mother tongue would not have the same effect.
It is a far cry from when she came to Singapore four years ago and did not even know enough English to ask for food.
She began writing partly out of loneliness. "I had nobody to talk to, so I wrote funny stories to make myself laugh."
She likes to write comedy, as well as ghost stories and thrillers.
The judges, playwright Haresh Sharma and poets Chow Teck Seng and Amanda Chong, praised the emotional power of Ms Apriyani's poem, as well as her use of metaphor, which ranged from the visceral "you stepped on my lungs" to the cosmic "you took my twenty stars when I wanted to see/all of them lighten my dark side".
They noted that they had not looked at gender during judging, only at the poems.
Chong, 28, adds: "The migrant workers who have published poetry collections here have mostly been male and it would be wonderful to see a female domestic worker come out with a solo collection soon."
The competition's second prize went to Filipina Naive L. Gascon, 30, who wrote in English about swimming - which she loves, yet feels incredibly lonely doing - while the third went to Ms Fitri Diyah, 25, from Indonesia for her poem, Sunday Morning In Paya Lebar, written in Bahasa Indonesia and based on her favourite weekend hangout.
Ms Apriyani's $500 award, as well as the $300 and $200 prizes for the second and third places, were sponsored by the United States Embassy, while National Gallery Singapore provided the venue for free.
It was a day of many firsts for the competition, which also received participants from Myanmar for the first time and put on an inaugural play written, directed and acted by migrant workers.
Sharma, a Cultural Medallion recipient, mentored the 20-minute skit, The Other Side, which the workers spent six weekends conceptualising and rehearsing.
In it, a group of foreign workers hang out on their day off and reveal their talents, such as singing, painting and photography, to a Singaporean passer-by.
Construction supervisor Zakir Hossain Khokan, 39, who co-directed the play, says: "We want to show that migrant workers are not just doing dirty, dangerous work, but that they also have creativity and other talents."
•To see the winning poems, go to www.singaporeworkerpoetry.com
5,000 foreign workers to serve as volunteer ambassadors for migrant welfare group by 2020
5,000 foreign workers to serve as volunteer ambassadors for migrant welfare group by 2020
Article taken from Straits Times, by Yuen Sin, Published on 3rd December 2017
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/5000-foreign-workers-to-serve-as-volunteer-ambassadors-for-migrant-welfare-group
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/5000-foreign-workers-to-serve-as-volunteer-ambassadors-for-migrant-welfare-group
Construction worker Govindasami Venkatesan and safety coordinator H.A. Saeed Abdul Hai Hauladar. Mr Govindasami and 19 other volunteers were awarded for their work in reaching out to their peers to help address issues like salary disputes.ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN
SINGAPORE - In August, construction worker Govindasami Venkatesan, 25, found out that his dormitory roommate's employer owed him $9,800 - or three months' salary, including overtime.
The roommate, whom he knew as Kumar, was the sole breadwinner in his family and was worried about how he was going to take care of his parents in Tamil Nadu, in India, without the money.
"But he was afraid to go to the authorities because he feared that he could get repatriated," said Mr Govindasami, who is also from Tamil Nadu and has been working in Singapore for five years.
But, with three years of experience as a volunteer ambassador with migrant worker welfare group, Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC), under his belt, Mr Govindasami assured Kumar that would not be the case. He referred thecase to MWC, and the company paid the full amount to Kumar last month.
On Sunday (Dec 3), Minister of State for Manpower, Sam Tan, handed out awards to Mr Govindasami and 19 other volunteers for their work in reaching out to their peers to help address issues like salary disputes or unpaid medical claims.
They are among 1,500 ambassadors who are now part of a volunteer scheme that was set up by the MWC in 2013. The ambassadors help bring to the attention of the MWC problems their peers may be facing.
The MWC - which is backed by the Ministry of Manpower, the National Trades Union Congress and employers - hopes to raise this number to 5,000 by 2020, its chairman Yeo Guat Kwang has announced.
At the appreciation dinner for 1,000 workers on Sunday, held to mark International Migrants' Day on Dec 18, Mr Yeo said that such a network of ambassadors can help the MWC "run an extra mile to reach out to foreign workers to make them feel assured that they can get help, and put down their psychological barriers (about going to the authorities)".
There are now more than 700,000 non-domestic foreign workers here.
On top of pairing mentors with newly arrived workers to help them with the integration process, the volunteer network also helps to disseminate information to workers. It also provides on-the-ground updates and feedback on unfair employment practices and potential incidents so MWC can intervene earlier before problems escalate.
Mr Tan, who was guest-of-honour at the dinner, disclosed that the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management had assisted more than 300 foreign workers since its launch in April. The alliance was set up to provide advice and conduct mandatory and voluntary mediation for employment disputes.
The MWC said that it also aims to extend a programme that trains workers in basic employment laws and protection for migrant workers to all its ambassadors in the near future. There are now about 100 ambassadors who have completed the programme.
In October, MWC also began running campaigns to spread the SGSecure message in a series of roadshows at various dormitories and recreational centres.
So far, more than 18,000 workers have been engaged in efforts to teach them to "run, hide, tell" in the event of a terrorist attack, and to stay vigilant in situations that can threaten their safety and well-being while working in Singapore.
On Sunday, a one-minute jingle, which can be shared on social media, was launched to help workers remember the key messages of the SGSecure campaign.
Separately, non-governmental organisation Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) also treated 250 migrant workers - namely male workers facing work injury and salary problems, and members of their affiliate Indonesian and Filipino domestic worker groups - to lunch and a movie screening of Thor: Ragnarok at independent cinema The Projector on Sunday.
TWC2 aims to raise a sum of $60,000 through this annual International Migrants Day celebration by selling movie tickets to donors, some of whom sponsored tickets for the migrant workers.
Mandatory settling-in programme for foreign workers to start in second half of 2018
SINGAPORE - From the second half of next year, new foreign workers will attend a mandatory Settling-in Programme (SIP), similar to that for first-time domestic workers.
This is to help them learn about Singapore's social norms, laws, as well as their employment rights and obligations, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said on Sunday (Nov 26). It will also inform them how and where they can seek help.
The move was welcomed by non-governmental organisations that help foreign workers, saying that employers not paying their employees their salaries or compensating them for work injuries continue to be an issue here and that the new programme will help newcomers know what they are entitled to and where to turn to for assistance.
The programme, to be rolled out in phases, will start with first-time foreign workers in the construction sector, Mr Lim said. Malaysians will be excluded.
He was speaking at a Manpower Ministry (MOM) appreciation dinner for more than 300 partners, including employers, dormitory operators and non-government organisations.
The SIP will be extended progressively to other sectors such as marine, process, as well as manufacturing and services.
About 2,000 foreign workers in the construction sector are expected to attend the SIP each month, according to MOM. Employers will be responsible for registration and course fees.
The ministry conducted a pilot from June to October last year, which involved close to 1,900 workers.
Besides feedback that the course was useful and helped workers understand how MOM can help when they have employment issues, a post-course evaluation found that the workers showed a more positive work attitude after the course.
Of Singapore's one million or so work permit holders, about 700,000 are non-domestic foreign workers, Mr Lim said at Sunday's event.
He stressed the need to take strong action against irresponsible employers and employment agencies, adding that Singapore has strengthened its laws and policies in this area over the years.
In 2011, under the Employment Agencies Act, the fine for those operating without a valid licence was raised from a maximum of $5,000 to $80,000 for first-time offenders.
Last year, itemised pay slips and key employment terms in writing also became compulsary, he said.
In April this year, the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) was set up to strengthen dispute resolution mechanisms here.
"In the first six months of operations, we received 2,500 salary claims from foreign workers. Of the claims that have concluded mediation, about 90 per cent recovered their unpaid salaries in full," said Mr Lim.
"All foreign workers with valid salary claims are also allowed to change employers. In the first six months of 2017, about 600 of such foreign workers indicated that they wished to change employers and of these, about half found new jobs in Singapore," he added.
In the first nine months of this year, over 99.9 per cent of the 11,500 injured workers had their cases successfully resolved, he said.
The remaining cases were not resolved because the employers had failed to buy work injury compensation insurance and were facing financial difficulties, he added.
Maids enjoy a cook-off on their day off
The five women were up as early as 4am yesterday to slice cucumbers, tau kwa and tempeh to prepare gado-gado salad.
The women from Indonesia, aged between 37 and 48, were preparing their entry for the inaugural International Food Fair, a culinary competition between foreign domestic workers from five countries.
Their efforts paid off as the dish emerged the winner out of 12 entries.
Ms Masyitoh, 38, who goes by one name, said: "We did not expect to win this at all, I was just looking forward to a nice Sunday with my friends. Cooking and later, line-dancing."
The entries were judged for presentation, creativity, and overall taste. And the dish submitted had to be a speciality of the respective countries.
One of the four judges, professional chef instructor Mazlan Boyamin, 54, said he was very impressed with the winning dish.
"The gado-gado can be a very simple dish, yet theirs was enriching and made for a complete meal," he said.
Mr Boyamin, who has been in the food industry for almost 20 years, added: "Many of them might cook only to suit their employers' tastes, but today they really showed their hidden talents and the general standard here was really high."
Organised by the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training (Fast), the event at the Fast Befrienders Clubhouse in Bukit Merah attracted more than 300 people, including employers who turned up to support their helpers.
Ms Verdayne Nunis, 49, was at the event to support her employee from Sri Lanka.
"It's important for me to know and support her interests, because a happy worker is one who will work well," said the business manager at tech giant Microsoft.
Ms Nunis added that she liked her helper's cashew curry so much that she will be asking her to cook the dish at home.
Fast executive director William Chew said the food fair was an excellent platform for the workers to showcase their culinary talents, and promote the cuisines of their home country.
"We believe that food is always an excellent conduit for bonding between peoples of diverse backgrounds and culture," he said.
Construction worker's poetry book has English and Chinese translations
Bangladeshi construction worker Md Mukul Hossine's new poetry book Braving Life, which was written in Bengali, has been translated not just into English but also Chinese.
The book, which contains the English and Chinese translations, was launched at Nanyang Girls' High School (NYGH) last Thursday.
The Chinese translation was done by a group of 10 Secondary 3 NYGH students, many of whom had not interacted closely with a migrant worker before.
One of them, 15-year-old Liu Jiahui, first met Mukul at a Migrant Poetry Evening he had organised and was struck by a powerful reading of his work in Bengali despite not understanding it.
Translating his work was not easy, she says. "His emotions are so raw and we needed to keep his voice intact."
But she hopes this can help him find a new audience among not just Singaporean-Chinese readers, but also foreign workers from China. "People like him have stories that deserve to be heard," she adds.
Mukul, 28, the son of farmers from Patgram, Bangladesh, first came to Singapore in 2008 to work in construction after completing the equivalent of secondary school back home.
He shot to fame after his poems, many of which were written late at night in his dormitory or even scribbled on bags on cement, were published last year in the collection Me Migrant by Ethos Books.
He became the first foreign worker to have a poetry collection put out by a local publisher.
Mukul was interviewed by international media such as the BBC and the Economist and had his verse printed in rain-activated stencils on the pavement outside the Arts House, as part of a Sing Lit Station project last year.
Earlier this year, he started Migrant Poetry Evening, a series of readings that showcased other migrant workers, using his own funds.
But his celebrity has brought him little financial gain.
In October, he lost his job at a design company and was repatriated to Bangladesh, where his family's house had been damaged by floods. The proceeds from his latest book will go towards building them a new house.
The book, which cost $5,000 to $7,000 to produce, was sponsored by migrant worker community clinic Healthserve, where Mukul had been volunteering in his spare time for three years.
They printed 2,000 copies, of which 200 have been sold. A few hundred will be sent to English-language colleges in Bangladesh.
Healthserve arranged a tourist visa for Mukul to return for the book launch. "I hope to find another job here," he adds. "But I don't know when I can get it."
The poems in Braving Life are about the dreams and sorrows of migrant life, as well as Mukul's observations of Singapore society: people absorbed in social media on their cellphones, even as they pass old people selling tissue or collecting cardboard.
"Body exhausted by a busy city, I write poems for you/and lose myself in the fold of words," reads one poem.
Says Mukul: "My dream is to work with other migrant workers to promote our cultures, to show Singaporeans and our bosses what our days are like, how hard they are, and to allow for better understanding."
•Braving Life ($10, $5 for students) is available from mukulbravinglife@gmail.com. Me Migrant ($12.84) is available from Books Kinokuniya.
Friday, December 8, 2017
Highlights of Appreciation Dinner 2017
Highlights of Appreciation Dinner 2017
Ministry of Manpower hosted more than 300 partners including employers, dormitory operators and non-government organisations to an appreciation dinner on the 26th November 2017. View the video below to view the highlights of the event!
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
5 foreign workers taken to hospital after lorry they were in skids on PIE
5 foreign workers taken to hospital after lorry they were in skids on PIE
PUBLISHED
OCT 28, 2017, 1:37 PM SGT
Lydia Lam, THE STRAITS TIMES
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| Five men are seen sitting on the side of the road along the Pan-Island Expressway while five others are standing around.PHOTO: FACEBOOK/ MATTHIAS GOHSINGAPORE - At least five people were taken to hospital after a lorry they were in skidded and fell on its side along the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) on Saturday (Oct 28) morning.
A photo of the accident site, uploaded to Facebook by Matthias Goh, shows five men sitting on the side of the road while five others are seen standing around. A lorry is shown on its side in the first lane.
The accident occurred along PIE towards Changi Airport after Jurong Town Hall Road, the police told The Straits Times.
They were alerted to the accident at 7.23am and five passengers aged between 21 and 36 were taken conscious to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
ST understands that at least one of the foreign workers had a fracture, while the others felt dizzy and suffered swelling.
The lorry is believed to have skidded. No other vehicle was involved in the accident.
Police investigations are ongoing.
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Outstanding foreign domestic workers and employers recognised at annual awards
Outstanding foreign domestic workers and employers recognised at annual awards
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| The new Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training (Fast) All-FDW band performs during the 8th Foreign Domestic Worker Day.ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI |
SINGAPORE - Most employers focus on what their foreign domestic workers are to achieve daily, such as cleaning the house, feeding the children and cooking meals.
But business development director Ng Bee Bee, 46, believes in setting and realising long-term goals for Ms Jocylen Abella, 45, her foreign domestic worker of 12 years.
So, on top of bonuses and sponsored annual holidays, Madam Ng has been paying for the private school education of Ms Abella's 17-year-old daughter in Manila, and even encouraging her helper to invest in property.
"Her happiness rests so much on her daughter's future. One day she might have to go back to the Philippines, and her daughter will have to take care of her.
"Long term planning is very important: you have to think of her retirement plan," said Madam Ng, who has also invited Ms Abella's daughter to join them in Singapore on holiday.
Ng was given the top honour - the Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) Employer of the Year award - at the 8th Foreign Domestic Worker Day, held at the Singapore Polytechnic Convention Centre.
The Foreign Domestic Worker Day is organised by the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training (Fast) and the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore).
Madam Ng was one of three employers and eight foreign domestic workers who received awards at the event. Her son Chong Yong Rui collected the award on her behalf as she was travelling.
On her approach towards managing her relationship with Ms Abella, Madam Ng said it is important to maintain open communication to cultivate a happy relationship.
"(Ms Abella's) priorities are to ensure the safety and well-being of my three children. Also, over the years, we have developed this sense of trust. If she needs help financially, she can approach me," she added.
Ms Abella, 45, described her employer as a very kind person who treats her like family.
"Every time I go back to the Philippines, they (Madam Ng's family) give my family gifts too," she added.
The Foreign Domestic Worker of the Year award, which comes with a cash prize of $2,000, went to Jayawardena Mudiyanselage Sittamma Jayawardena, who had been working for the same employer for 20 years.
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| (From left) Ms Ho Hui Min, Ms Irene Chua, Jayawardena Mudiyanselage Sittamma Jayawardena, and Ms Corinne Chua at the 8th Foreign Domestic Worker Day. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI |
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| The Foreign Domestic Worker of the Year award, went to Jayawardena Mudiyanselage Sittamma Jayawardena, who had been working for the same employer for 20 years.
On top of household chores, the 60-year-old Sri Lankan cared for her employer's bedridden wife from 1997 till the latter's death in 2016.
She would bathe her, change her diapers, feed her every few hours through a nose tube, administer medication, and even take the initiative to cut her hair.
Said her 76-year-old employer Chua Choo Hock: "The family is always thankful and appreciative for her dedication to my wife and our family... She has become more of a family member to us now after so many years."
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The event on Sunday drew more than 7,000 people this year, including foreign domestic workers and their employers.
The annual competition saw more than four times the number of entries compared to last year. Most of the entries - 341 of 442 - were for the foreign domestic worker category.
The first and second runners-up in the foreign domestic worker category took home $1,500 and $1,000 respectively, while the five merit winners each received $500. The winning employers received certificates.
The judges this year were Ms Kumeri Vengadasalam, senior manager in the planning and development department at the Ministry of Manpower's Foreign Manpower Management Division; Ms Alexandra Chua, assistant manager of caregiver training development at the Agency for Integrated Care; and Mr Ivan Ng, manager of Econ Careskill Training Centre.
Since its inception in 2005, Fast has provided subsidised training programmes for about 25,000 foreign domestic workers every year. It also runs a helpline and clubhouse for domestic workers and provides avenues for legal aid.
Fast president Seah Seng Choon said: "The objective of recognising the good work of employers and domestic helpers is to show them up as models for others to follow. We would like the numbers to continue to grow over the years."
At the event, Mr Seah also announced plans to look for a bigger space for the Fast clubhouse over the next two years, given the "huge crowds" - about 400 foreign domestic workers every Sunday - that have been flocking to the the existing 7,000 sq ft premises in Jalan Bukit Merah.
Said Mr Seah: "This (new) place should have classrooms, a sizeable function hall and an open space for outdoor activities. For greater efficiency, we are also exploring the possibility of co-locating the clubhouse with a dormitory service provider if the space allows.
"If we can secure a place like this, we will also team up with appropriate service providers, including our existing training providers, to run all training courses and conduct orientation and induction programmes for new FDWs, offer remittance and courier services and at the same time provide clubhouse facilities at the same place."
The club has also formed a Fast All-FDW Band, comprising members from the Philippines and Indonesia, who will perform at the clubhouse's various events.
Sunday's event was attended by Minister for Manpower Lim Swee Say. It featured singing and dance performances by the winners of the We Got Talent... III competition for foreign domestic workers, as well as numbers by celebrities from Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar.
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