<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>It's no gracious act to mistreat foreign workers
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->HAVE we become so insular about whom we can identify with that there is no outrage when we discover how foreign workers are being mistreated by their Singapore employers?
All of us are in Singapore as our ancestors a mere 100 to 200 years ago decided that life in their motherland was too difficult, so they risked a long ocean journey to look for a better future in unknown lands in the 'south sea' or 'Nanyang'.
Recently, I noticed construction workers who were Chinese. I inquired, and indeed these were men from the People's Republic of China.
Between January and November this year, 1,052 companies were caught for housing their workers in substandard conditions. Of the 1,052 companies, 20 firms were fined between $200 and $2,000, and 1,031 were issued with warning letters. Chang Seng Services, whose employees were housed in a disused bin centre, was fined $20,000 last month, the highest fine ever meted out for the offence.
I suspect the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would have been more vocal and demanded stronger penalties against pet owners who mistreated their pets to the same degree as these foreign workers have been mistreated.
Can we claim to be a gracious and kind society when we allow foreign workers to be treated worse than we treat our pets?
Dr Lee Wei Ling
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->HAVE we become so insular about whom we can identify with that there is no outrage when we discover how foreign workers are being mistreated by their Singapore employers?
All of us are in Singapore as our ancestors a mere 100 to 200 years ago decided that life in their motherland was too difficult, so they risked a long ocean journey to look for a better future in unknown lands in the 'south sea' or 'Nanyang'.
Recently, I noticed construction workers who were Chinese. I inquired, and indeed these were men from the People's Republic of China.
Between January and November this year, 1,052 companies were caught for housing their workers in substandard conditions. Of the 1,052 companies, 20 firms were fined between $200 and $2,000, and 1,031 were issued with warning letters. Chang Seng Services, whose employees were housed in a disused bin centre, was fined $20,000 last month, the highest fine ever meted out for the offence.
I suspect the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would have been more vocal and demanded stronger penalties against pet owners who mistreated their pets to the same degree as these foreign workers have been mistreated.
Can we claim to be a gracious and kind society when we allow foreign workers to be treated worse than we treat our pets?
Dr Lee Wei Ling
