Foreign workers: Have a heart
I REFER to yesterday's article, 'Jobless, unpaid, hungry, abandoned'. It was mentioned that 180 Bangladeshi workers in Tagore Lane have been left in the lurch without proper meals and housing after being deserted by their employer, Tipper Corporation. Not only are these unsung heroes without food, shelter and a job, but a number of them are also awaiting their wages that have been delayed for up to two months. There was one line in this article that particularly affected me, and that was when one of the workers, Mr Md Monir Hossain Abdul Jabbar, said: 'Today there is food, but I don't know what will happen tomorrow.'
This got me thinking: Have the long tentacles of the global fiscal crisis reached out and left us in such bad shape that even in a country like Singapore, foreign workers now have to worry about daily meals? Or are they suffering here simply because they are what most people refer to as 'odd-job labourers' and hence automatically second class? I do not think the economic crisis gives us any reason to abandon our respect for humanity. Retrenching workers in such times is understandable, but even then, as suggested countless times by the Government, the first and most ideal option is a pay cut. Should that fail, retrenchment is in order. However, denying workers their wages is tantamount to a crime, even more where these foreign workers are concerned (at least in my eyes), because they do not have the same laws to protect them as we do, nor do they have access to legal or financial aid, should the need arise.
When we think of these workers, it is easy to imagine their Singapore bosses comfortably holed up in their comparatively expensive homes, worrying about whether to sell one of their two cars, but not whether there will be food on the table at dinner.
As an undergraduate in the National University of Singapore, I meet people from various walks of life on campus. Many hail from places like Cambodia, Vietnam, the Indian Subcontinent and even Western China. Many have shared with me stories of the lives of people in their villages, who work primarily in agriculture. About 80 to 90 per cent of these people survive on less than US$1 (S$1.40) a day, below the accepted poverty line. The 'lucky ones' venture overseas as menial workers, with every risk of being scammed and exploited, but, at the same time, with lots of hope that they can improve the lives of their families, whom they leave behind with heavy hearts. There are language barriers, the inevitable culture shock and racial discrimination.
I saw this myself in Warsaw, Poland, about three months ago. Poland employs Kazakhstani labourers by the thousands at low cost. They work as construction workers and cleaners, like many foreign workers in Singapore. These workers cannot speak Polish, nor do they look anything like a typical Pole, and they were subject to all kinds of discrimination. Rude stares, unkind comments, obnoxious orders and so on. It was a sad sight, but Singapore is guilty of the same thing. One has to call a spade a spade, and discrimination, as much as we sugar-coat and deny it, still exists here to a large degree.
How many of us would be willing to take a pay cut, if the money went to provide these workers with shelter and food, and perhaps even help them get their jobs back? We may sympathise with them, but how many of us actually empathise? Probably less than a handful. No matter how much we pity them, none of us fully grasps the concept of having to leave home with no education and survive for years in a foreign land, subject to possible mistreatment and abuse, just to provide for our families.
It is time to reflect on how lucky we are here, despite the failing economy. Yes, some of us may lose our jobs and have to eat at Kopitiam instead of Billy Bombers, but how much of a problem is that, really? Christmas is just around the corner, and decorating the house and exchanging presents is probably everyone's priority right now. On our way to Orchard, we will bypass these workers sitting along the roadside, hearts in their mouths, and think nothing of them. We will skip along to the nearest department store, blow $100 on a bag, and then complain about the rising cost of living and how hard it is to make ends meet. We will think nothing of spending $200 on a lavish meal, unaware that, perhaps a few kilometres from home, there walks a Bangladeshi man who has not even seen yesterday's dinner yet.
Priya Christie (Miss)
I REFER to yesterday's article, 'Jobless, unpaid, hungry, abandoned'. It was mentioned that 180 Bangladeshi workers in Tagore Lane have been left in the lurch without proper meals and housing after being deserted by their employer, Tipper Corporation. Not only are these unsung heroes without food, shelter and a job, but a number of them are also awaiting their wages that have been delayed for up to two months. There was one line in this article that particularly affected me, and that was when one of the workers, Mr Md Monir Hossain Abdul Jabbar, said: 'Today there is food, but I don't know what will happen tomorrow.'
This got me thinking: Have the long tentacles of the global fiscal crisis reached out and left us in such bad shape that even in a country like Singapore, foreign workers now have to worry about daily meals? Or are they suffering here simply because they are what most people refer to as 'odd-job labourers' and hence automatically second class? I do not think the economic crisis gives us any reason to abandon our respect for humanity. Retrenching workers in such times is understandable, but even then, as suggested countless times by the Government, the first and most ideal option is a pay cut. Should that fail, retrenchment is in order. However, denying workers their wages is tantamount to a crime, even more where these foreign workers are concerned (at least in my eyes), because they do not have the same laws to protect them as we do, nor do they have access to legal or financial aid, should the need arise.
When we think of these workers, it is easy to imagine their Singapore bosses comfortably holed up in their comparatively expensive homes, worrying about whether to sell one of their two cars, but not whether there will be food on the table at dinner.
As an undergraduate in the National University of Singapore, I meet people from various walks of life on campus. Many hail from places like Cambodia, Vietnam, the Indian Subcontinent and even Western China. Many have shared with me stories of the lives of people in their villages, who work primarily in agriculture. About 80 to 90 per cent of these people survive on less than US$1 (S$1.40) a day, below the accepted poverty line. The 'lucky ones' venture overseas as menial workers, with every risk of being scammed and exploited, but, at the same time, with lots of hope that they can improve the lives of their families, whom they leave behind with heavy hearts. There are language barriers, the inevitable culture shock and racial discrimination.
I saw this myself in Warsaw, Poland, about three months ago. Poland employs Kazakhstani labourers by the thousands at low cost. They work as construction workers and cleaners, like many foreign workers in Singapore. These workers cannot speak Polish, nor do they look anything like a typical Pole, and they were subject to all kinds of discrimination. Rude stares, unkind comments, obnoxious orders and so on. It was a sad sight, but Singapore is guilty of the same thing. One has to call a spade a spade, and discrimination, as much as we sugar-coat and deny it, still exists here to a large degree.
How many of us would be willing to take a pay cut, if the money went to provide these workers with shelter and food, and perhaps even help them get their jobs back? We may sympathise with them, but how many of us actually empathise? Probably less than a handful. No matter how much we pity them, none of us fully grasps the concept of having to leave home with no education and survive for years in a foreign land, subject to possible mistreatment and abuse, just to provide for our families.
It is time to reflect on how lucky we are here, despite the failing economy. Yes, some of us may lose our jobs and have to eat at Kopitiam instead of Billy Bombers, but how much of a problem is that, really? Christmas is just around the corner, and decorating the house and exchanging presents is probably everyone's priority right now. On our way to Orchard, we will bypass these workers sitting along the roadside, hearts in their mouths, and think nothing of them. We will skip along to the nearest department store, blow $100 on a bag, and then complain about the rising cost of living and how hard it is to make ends meet. We will think nothing of spending $200 on a lavish meal, unaware that, perhaps a few kilometres from home, there walks a Bangladeshi man who has not even seen yesterday's dinner yet.
Priya Christie (Miss)
