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| Mr Veluchamy Muniapparaj, an operations executive at a workers' dormitory, flanked by Mr Munusamy Sugumar (far left) and Mr Vadivel Sakthivel, whom he had advised on how to recover their unpaid wages.ST PHOTO: DAVE LIM |
Yuen Sin, Straits Times
In 2011, Mr Veluchamy Muniapparaj found himself in a bind when the
company he worked for stopped paying his wages for three months.
Fears
familiar to migrant workers came into play: Would he be sent home if he
complained? Would he ever get the $7,800 he was owed?
Then
he read an article in a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) newsletter which provided
advice on wage disputes.
After
getting his money back, Mr Muniapparaj used the experience to help other
workers.
In November 2014, he signed up to be a volunteer with MOM's
Foreign Worker Ambassador programme.
Last
night, the 31-year-old Indian national received the Star Ambassador Award at
the MOM's first appreciation dinner for its Foreign Worker Ambassadors at the
MOM Services Centre in Bendemeer.
REACHING OUT IN MANDARIN
Now I
can say simple things like, 'How are you? I am Raj, I am from India.' When I
speak in Mandarin, they are very happy, the rapport between us is very good.
When my Mandarin improves, I can pass on information from MOM to other Chinese
workers.
MR
VELUCHAMY MUNIAPPARAJ, a volunteer with Ministry of Manpower's Foreign Worker
Ambassador programme who started taking Mandarin classes.
Two
other Indian workers also received the award from Manpower Minister Lim Swee
Say at the event, which was attended by about 300 foreign workers.
Mr
Muniapparaj, who works as an operations executive at a workers' dormitory, has
helped a number of workers since he started.
Recently
he advised fellow Tamil Nadu residents - Mr Munusamy Sugumar, 22, and Mr
Vadivel Sakthivel, 25 - on how they can secure their unpaid wages.
The
pair, who worked as construction site supervisors for a firm in Short Street,
had not been paid for three months and were each owed $6,900.
Said
Mr Sugumar, who arrived here in June last year: "I was told that we could
go to the Ministry of Manpower, but we were scared that they would send us
home.
"My
family was also worried, because it was three months' salary."
Both
men eventually recovered their unpaid wages and can start looking for new jobs
once the case is closed.
About
1,400 workers are now part of the ambassadors programme, a peer adviser scheme
initiated in November 2014.
It
was introduced when the authorities realised most foreign workers sought advice
from their friends before approaching government agencies.
Speaking
at the dinner yesterday, Mr Kevin Teoh, divisional director of MOM's foreign
manpower management division, said there is greater acceptance and trust when
advice is given out by peers.
The
ambassadors, he said, can help newly arrived foreign workers ease into life
here, and advise fellow workers on what they can do when they face
employment-related problems.
"We
understand that working in a foreign country and being away from home can be
stressful.
"If
you see any of your friends showing signs of depression, please advise them to
seek help," he said.
Most
of the volunteers in the programme are either Bangladeshi or Indian nationals,
with a small proportion of Thai and Chinese workers.
Mr
Muniapparaj has recently started taking Mandarin classes to help Chinese
workers with employment-related issues.
"Now
I can say simple things like, 'How are you? I am Raj, I am from India.'
"When
I speak in Mandarin, they are very happy, the rapport between us is very
good," he said.
"When
my Mandarin improves, I can pass on information from MOM to other Chinese
workers."
