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.
Outstanding foreign domestic workers and employers recognised at annual awards
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.
(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
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."
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.
NOV 10, 2017, 5:00 AM SGT , THE STRAITS TIMES Joanna Seow
High Court judge rules migrant worker entitled to salary stated in official letter
Justice Lee Seiu Kin ordered department store company Haniffa to pay $6,500 in owed salary and payment in-lieu of notice to China national Liu Huaixi.PHOTO: ST FILE
A High Court judge has ruled that a migrant worker should be paid the basic salary stated in the in-principle approval (IPA) letter he got before coming to Singapore.
Justice Lee Seiu Kin said without any other written agreement by both employer and employee, the letter was the document to follow. He made the point in written grounds for his decision against department store company Haniffa, which was ordered to pay $6,500 in owed salary and payment in-lieu of notice to China national Liu Huaixi.
Mr Liu, 43, worked as a warehouse assistant and supermarket storekeeper at Haniffa from April 2014 to March last year.
The judge gave his order to Haniffa in February this year. The written grounds for his decision was released on the Supreme Court website last Wednesday.
Companies receive an IPA letter from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) after their work permit application is approved. They must send it to the foreign worker before he departs for Singapore.
Mr Liu's letter had stated he would receive a basic monthly salary of $1,100. Instead, he was given a basic salary of $680.
He appealed to the High Court after the claim he lodged with the Commissioner for Labour last year was dismissed.
Mr Melvin Chan, head of litigation and dispute resolution at TSMP Law Corporation - which represented Mr Liu pro bono - said the decision is important as it shows that without a written contract agreed on by both parties, the amount in the IPA letter is what the worker should get.
"It establishes a certain enforcible right for the worker."
By law, an employer can reduce a worker's basic monthly salary to a sum lower than that stated in the letter only with the written consent of the worker. The employer then has to inform MOM's Controller of Work Passes in writing.
Mr Liu, who is now a driver at cement company Holcim, told The Straits Times he had received the $6,500 from Haniffa, and is satisfied with the decision.
Haniffa's lawyer Mirza Mohamed Namazie said the two parties had reached an oral contract, during an online interview, in which Mr Liu would be paid $1,300 a month: $680 in basic pay, $200 in housing allowance and the rest as overtime pay.
Mr Namazie also presented a payslip of a Chinese worker in a similar role which showed his basic monthly salary was $680.
Justice Lee said that since there was no documented version of the contract, the only objective evidence available was the IPA letter.
Referring to its purpose, as set out in parliamentary debates, he said it is to ensure foreign workers are informed of their salary components in clear terms, and to place a greater part of the responsibility of hiring foreign workers on employers, reducing the reliance on middlemen.
Based on this, Justice Lee said, the court would take the declaration of the basic monthly salary in the IPA letter as factual.
"I would go so far as to state that even if there was a written contract of employment which provides for a monthly basic salary of less than the sum stated in the IPA, the burden would lie on the employer to show why the IPA figure does not reflect the true salary," he said.
The decision was cheered by NGOs helping migrant workers.
Mr John Gee, head of research at Transient Workers Count Too, said: "The IPA letter should be the new standard when there is no written contract."
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 10, 2017, with the headline 'MOM letter serves as evidence of worker's pay'
Construction firm staff charged with housing 18 foreign workers in overcrowded premises
PUBLISHED
NOV 8, 2017, 10:15 AM SGT, THE STRAITS TIMES
SINGAPORE - A Singaporean man is facing 18 charges for housing 18 foreign workers from his company in overcrowded premises, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Wednesday (Nov 8).
Li Dan's company, Shuang Lin Construction Pte Ltd, has also been charged with submitting false information in the Online Foreign Worker Address Service (OFWAS).
Li, 34, was charged on Oct 31 in the State Courts.
According to MOM, Li, the firm's officer in charge of accommodation for its foreign workers, arranged for them to be housed in overcrowded premises at Upper Paya Lebar, MacPherson and Changi between October 2015 and July 2016.
The premises had exceeded the then-allowed occupancy load of eight occupants under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's guidelines.
Shuang Lin was ordered to relocate the affected workers to other approved accommodation.
Separately, between March and April last year, the company provided false addresses of 22 foreign workers to the Controller of Work Passes in the OFWAS.
It declared that the workers were staying at Tuas South Avenue when they were not.
If convicted, Li faces a fine of up to $10,000 and/or jailed up to 12 months per charge. The company could be fined up $20,000 on each of the 22 charges it is facing.
In its press release, MOM urged foreign workers who have issues with their accommodation to first raise the matter with their employer before seeking advice and assistance from the Migrant Workers' Centre on 6536 2692.
They can also report the matter to MOM on 6438 5122.
Members of the public can report cases to MOM on the same number or email mom_fmmd@mom.gov.sg. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
Adrian LimTransport Correspondent,
The Straits Times
Before starting work here two months ago as a maid, Filipina
Michelle Arangote, 32, was put through a two-day orientation programme.
Conducted
by the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support & Training
(Fast), the training included how to communicate effectively with her
Singaporean employer, cooking simple and healthy dishes, and commuting on
public transport.
According
to Fast, the Onboarding and Integration Programme (OIP), which was launched in
July, has helped to reduce the rate of maids leaving the job. Fast's executive
director William Chew said employment agency Best Home, for instance, reported
that 80 per cent of maids who attended the OIP from July have continued with
the same employers since starting work.
Fast
is now speaking to the labour ministries in the Philippines and Myanmar to
possibly legislate this as a training requirement in the maids' home countries,
Fast told The Straits Times yesterday.
Mr
Chew said: "It's better to train the foreign domestic workers at the
source country and prepare them for what they are going to do in Singapore.
"Over
here, I have to cajole the employment agencies to send them for the
programme," he said, adding that agencies are usually pressed by employers
to release maids as soon as they arrive in Singapore. The two-day programme,
which is subsidised, costs about $35 per person.
He
spoke on the sidelines of a safety awareness seminar held for domestic workers
at the Fast clubhouse in Bukit Merah organised by the Singapore Police Force
and the Philippine Embassy.
TRAINING AT SOURCE COUNTRY
It's better to train the
foreign domestic workers at the source country and prepare them for what they
are going to do in Singapore.
MR WILLIAM CHEW, executive
director of Fast.
The OIP will supplement the one-day settling-in programme
mandated by the Ministry of Manpower, which covers safety precautions and
living in Singapore.
Ms
Arangote, who previously worked in Hong Kong, said: "The OIP has been very
helpful. I learnt to cook healthier dishes with less oil, which is what my
employers in Singapore want."
