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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Funny that Wong Cunt Sing can tell u crime rate has never been lower. He should do a career transition to being a creative accountant!
Fights in foreign worker dorms common
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Nur Dianah Suhaimi
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
Workers getting ready for work yesterday morning at Blue Stars Dormitory in Kian Teck Lane. Each unit there has two toilets, two shower rooms and a small sitting area, and is shared by 12 to 14 men. Dormitories like Blue Stars provide more space and better facilities to reduce causes of friction among workers. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->There is little room for patience, it seems.
A group of Vietnamese and Chinese foreign workers created panic in Geylang last Tuesday evening when they got into a fight in a dormitory. The cause is not known.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>CLASHES IN THE PAST
2000
The body of Bangladeshi worker Farhad Hossain was found near a construction site in Tuas View Circuit with the head cut off and dumped in a muddy trench 300m away.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Wooden poles and kitchen knives were used in the attack which lasted some 10 minutes and left three injured. The police have arrested three people.
While the incident may have left many residents in the area ruffled, dormitory operators are not batting an eyelid.
Those interviewed by The Sunday Times said dormitory scuffles and squabbles among foreign workers are very common. Their most frequent bone of contention? Living space.
Said Mr Andreas Chan, former director of a Kranji dormitory: 'Quarrels are an everyday affair. Fights take place at least once a week.
'When so many people live together in such a small space, there is bound to be friction. Even extended families living in the same house have their quarrels. What more strangers from different countries with different habits and cultures?'
Not being able to communicate in a common language adds to the problem.
Mr Lim Teck Ho, who operates four foreign-worker dormitories, cited an example: 'Chinese nationals like to speak very loudly. This gives others the impression that they want to start a fight.'
Dormitory operators said arguments usually erupt when workers rush to use the common toilets during peak periods - before work in the morning and after work in the evening. Patience runs thin and tempers flare when they have to wait to shower or use the loo.
Said a dormitory manager who declined to be named: 'Sometimes the morning toilet queues are so long that the workers have to brush their teeth in the lorry taking them to work.'
Mr Chan has heard of a case in a Tuas dormitory where a group of foreign workers stormed a shower cubicle and beat up a fellow worker because he was taking a leisurely shower during the peak period.
The television set can also be a channel of friction.
When workers of various nationalities have to share a TV set, and all want to watch different channels at the same time, there will be arguments. Turning on the volume too loud while others are sleeping can also lead to scuffles.
One dormitory in the north had to confiscate the TV set for a month when its residents got into fisticuffs over channel control.
Mr Lim said the more cramped the dormitory is, and the higher the ratio of residents to facilities, the greater the chance of fights breaking out.
'This is why I allocate each worker at my dormitory at least 5 sq m of space,' he said.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) guidelines require each worker to have room space of at least 3 sq m with a separate space for cupboards, or 4 sq m if there is no separate space.
Operators are not taking chances.
Most workers' dormitories have at least two burly, specially trained guards on duty at any one time. They will conduct spot checks every hour when there are workers around.
Said Mr Liew Kok Seng, dormitory manager at View Road Lodge in Admiralty: 'You cannot employ any normal general worker to be a security guard at a workers' dormitory. You need someone who is fierce and can take control of difficult situations.'
When fights break out and cannot be stopped, the guards will first threaten to call the workers' employers. This tactic is usually successful as workers are most afraid of being repatriated. But if the fight continues, the police will be called in.
Stopping a fight is not easy when there are so many men involved. Which is why efforts are made to prevent one from happening.
The Seletar Flats dormitory in Seletar West Farmway imposes a stiff $200 fine on residents who fight, said its property manager Kelvin Low. This is a quarter of the salary of the average foreign worker.
The dormitory, which houses 3,000 workers, has never had a fight since it started operating three years ago.
Other dormitories prefer a simpler method of keeping peace: providing more space and better facilities.
The View Road Lodge, for example, allows residents to install their own TV sets in their rooms so that they will not have to share the common set.
At the Blue Stars Dormitory in Kian Teck Lane, near Boon Lay, workers are housed in self-equipped units that resemble HDB flats. Each unit has two toilets, two shower rooms and a small sitting area, and is shared by 12 to 14 men.
Residents get to choose who they want to live with to ensure they get along well with their roommates.
Said its property manager Raymond Mak: 'We may have 4,000 workers of many different nationalities in our dormitory. But all of them live in harmony.' <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start --><!-- vbbintegration : end --><!-- dennis change request 20070424 : start --><!---Google ad - Start : Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:47:29:61---><!-- AdSpace STI Google ad tag --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/site=tsti&pagepos=20&size=10X10"> </SCRIPT>
Fights in foreign worker dorms common
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Nur Dianah Suhaimi
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Workers getting ready for work yesterday morning at Blue Stars Dormitory in Kian Teck Lane. Each unit there has two toilets, two shower rooms and a small sitting area, and is shared by 12 to 14 men. Dormitories like Blue Stars provide more space and better facilities to reduce causes of friction among workers. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->There is little room for patience, it seems.
A group of Vietnamese and Chinese foreign workers created panic in Geylang last Tuesday evening when they got into a fight in a dormitory. The cause is not known.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>CLASHES IN THE PAST
2000
The body of Bangladeshi worker Farhad Hossain was found near a construction site in Tuas View Circuit with the head cut off and dumped in a muddy trench 300m away.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Wooden poles and kitchen knives were used in the attack which lasted some 10 minutes and left three injured. The police have arrested three people.
While the incident may have left many residents in the area ruffled, dormitory operators are not batting an eyelid.
Those interviewed by The Sunday Times said dormitory scuffles and squabbles among foreign workers are very common. Their most frequent bone of contention? Living space.
Said Mr Andreas Chan, former director of a Kranji dormitory: 'Quarrels are an everyday affair. Fights take place at least once a week.
'When so many people live together in such a small space, there is bound to be friction. Even extended families living in the same house have their quarrels. What more strangers from different countries with different habits and cultures?'
Not being able to communicate in a common language adds to the problem.
Mr Lim Teck Ho, who operates four foreign-worker dormitories, cited an example: 'Chinese nationals like to speak very loudly. This gives others the impression that they want to start a fight.'
Dormitory operators said arguments usually erupt when workers rush to use the common toilets during peak periods - before work in the morning and after work in the evening. Patience runs thin and tempers flare when they have to wait to shower or use the loo.
Said a dormitory manager who declined to be named: 'Sometimes the morning toilet queues are so long that the workers have to brush their teeth in the lorry taking them to work.'
Mr Chan has heard of a case in a Tuas dormitory where a group of foreign workers stormed a shower cubicle and beat up a fellow worker because he was taking a leisurely shower during the peak period.
The television set can also be a channel of friction.
When workers of various nationalities have to share a TV set, and all want to watch different channels at the same time, there will be arguments. Turning on the volume too loud while others are sleeping can also lead to scuffles.
One dormitory in the north had to confiscate the TV set for a month when its residents got into fisticuffs over channel control.
Mr Lim said the more cramped the dormitory is, and the higher the ratio of residents to facilities, the greater the chance of fights breaking out.
'This is why I allocate each worker at my dormitory at least 5 sq m of space,' he said.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) guidelines require each worker to have room space of at least 3 sq m with a separate space for cupboards, or 4 sq m if there is no separate space.
Operators are not taking chances.
Most workers' dormitories have at least two burly, specially trained guards on duty at any one time. They will conduct spot checks every hour when there are workers around.
Said Mr Liew Kok Seng, dormitory manager at View Road Lodge in Admiralty: 'You cannot employ any normal general worker to be a security guard at a workers' dormitory. You need someone who is fierce and can take control of difficult situations.'
When fights break out and cannot be stopped, the guards will first threaten to call the workers' employers. This tactic is usually successful as workers are most afraid of being repatriated. But if the fight continues, the police will be called in.
Stopping a fight is not easy when there are so many men involved. Which is why efforts are made to prevent one from happening.
The Seletar Flats dormitory in Seletar West Farmway imposes a stiff $200 fine on residents who fight, said its property manager Kelvin Low. This is a quarter of the salary of the average foreign worker.
The dormitory, which houses 3,000 workers, has never had a fight since it started operating three years ago.
Other dormitories prefer a simpler method of keeping peace: providing more space and better facilities.
The View Road Lodge, for example, allows residents to install their own TV sets in their rooms so that they will not have to share the common set.
At the Blue Stars Dormitory in Kian Teck Lane, near Boon Lay, workers are housed in self-equipped units that resemble HDB flats. Each unit has two toilets, two shower rooms and a small sitting area, and is shared by 12 to 14 men.
Residents get to choose who they want to live with to ensure they get along well with their roommates.
Said its property manager Raymond Mak: 'We may have 4,000 workers of many different nationalities in our dormitory. But all of them live in harmony.' <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start --><!-- vbbintegration : end --><!-- dennis change request 20070424 : start --><!---Google ad - Start : Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:47:29:61---><!-- AdSpace STI Google ad tag --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/site=tsti&pagepos=20&size=10X10"> </SCRIPT>
