http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,175818,00.html?
Graveyard solution to Gardens' housing issue?
Serangoon Gardens residents don't want to have a foreign workers' dormitory there. So is the boondocks, next to Chua Chu Kang cemetery, a better place for a dorm?
By Arul John
September 07, 2008
THAT their neighbours leave them in peace is probably because their neighbours are resting in peace.
This is where there is harmony: A foreign workers' dormitory sitting next door to a cemetery.
It is perhaps the ideal solution to an issue that has been on the boil ever since residents of Serangoon Gardens learnt recently that there were plans to convert a vacant school in the area into a dormitory for foreign workers.
They started a petition, met their Members of Parliament, and voiced concerns over security, transport and social problems.
The National Development Ministry is looking into the issue. But it has said there is no easy fix.
Over at Chua Chu Kang, about 8,000 foreign workers live away from the madding crowd.
Located less than 20m from the Muslim cemetery in Chua Chu Kang, the Murai One and Murai Two dormitories are nearly 5km away from the nearest housing estate and shops at Jurong West.
The dormitories, which can house 12,000 workers, come with a canteen, barber shop, mini-mart, reading rooms, outdoor games courts and even a gym.
One worker said 8,000 workers lived in the dormitories now.
NO BIG DEAL: (From left) Mr Jasin Sheikh Situ Shaikh, Mr Suja Prashad, Mr Ashik Gulam Rasul and Mr Razak Sayed Ali are not spooked by the nearby cemetery. --TNP PICTURES: JONATHAN CHOO
Is it a win-win situation?
The New Paper interviewed about 30workers there and the majority said they were comfortable with living conditions.
Mr Ashik Gulam Rasul from Bangladesh, for example, said he did not mind living far away from busy estates.
The 23-year-old said: 'The facilities are good and there is a place nearby where we can perform our prayers. I am happy here.'
But contractor Min Mau Khaine, 21, said: 'I sometimes feel sad that we live near the cemetery. Sometimes, I get bad smells coming from there.'
Lack of facilities
The only issue is the lack of facilities such as banks and convenience stores.
Myanmar national Win Naing, 32, said: 'I do not mind living far away from other homes and flats but it would be better if there were more banks and shops nearby.'
Mr S Pandiyarajan, 27, an Indian national, said: 'We have to travel a long distance to bank in our money or send money home.
'When we go to Serangoon Road during our days off, aside from the company buses, there are few buses or other transport from the dormitories and back.'
Myanmar national Mya Mint Maung, 27, said he and his fellow countrymen have to travel for nearly an hour during their rest days to shop for their delicacies and other essentials.
He said: 'I hope that there can be more stores and bus services here. Then it will be better for us.'
What of living next door to a cemetery?
When we were there yesterday, workers were mingling among themselves and eating near the fence separating the dormitories from the Muslim cemetery, oblivious to the graves.
All the workers interviewed said living near the cemetery was no big deal.
Mr Razak Sayed Ali, 29, who is from Bangladesh, said: 'What is there to be scared? In the end, everyone, whether Muslim, Hindu or Chinese, will die and land in the same place.'
Mr Siva Subramaniam, 28, an Indian national, said there has been some discomfort over strange noises at night, but most of the workers take it in their stride.
Before the dormitories were completed, Mr John Gee, president of Transient Workers Count Too, an advocacy group for migrant workers, told The Straits Times that foreign workers should not be left to live 'in the wilderness' and that they needed places where they could have access to nearby shops and were free to step out any time.
Mr Gee told The New Paper yesterday that he had not heard any feedback about living conditions in the Murai dormitories so far.
Bangladeshi national Suja Prashad, 21, said: 'We like the things we have here.
'But it would be better if we could live where we do not have to travel so far to buy our food or send our money home.'
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3 things... about the Serangoon Gardens saga
1 Early this week, about 1,400 residents in Serangoon Gardens send a petition to the authorities, objecting to housing foreign workers in a vacant school in the estate.
2 The residents claim the move would cause security and social problems and ruin the ambience of the estate.
Other concerns include noise pollution, traffic congestion and the safety of residents, many of whom are retirees.
3 The site, the former Serangoon Gardens Technical School, is less than 10m from the nearest house along Burghley Drive.
The Ministry of National Development says the school is one of the sites being studied, and there is no decision to proceed.
Graveyard solution to Gardens' housing issue?
Serangoon Gardens residents don't want to have a foreign workers' dormitory there. So is the boondocks, next to Chua Chu Kang cemetery, a better place for a dorm?
By Arul John
September 07, 2008
THAT their neighbours leave them in peace is probably because their neighbours are resting in peace.
This is where there is harmony: A foreign workers' dormitory sitting next door to a cemetery.
It is perhaps the ideal solution to an issue that has been on the boil ever since residents of Serangoon Gardens learnt recently that there were plans to convert a vacant school in the area into a dormitory for foreign workers.
They started a petition, met their Members of Parliament, and voiced concerns over security, transport and social problems.
The National Development Ministry is looking into the issue. But it has said there is no easy fix.
Over at Chua Chu Kang, about 8,000 foreign workers live away from the madding crowd.
Located less than 20m from the Muslim cemetery in Chua Chu Kang, the Murai One and Murai Two dormitories are nearly 5km away from the nearest housing estate and shops at Jurong West.
The dormitories, which can house 12,000 workers, come with a canteen, barber shop, mini-mart, reading rooms, outdoor games courts and even a gym.
One worker said 8,000 workers lived in the dormitories now.
NO BIG DEAL: (From left) Mr Jasin Sheikh Situ Shaikh, Mr Suja Prashad, Mr Ashik Gulam Rasul and Mr Razak Sayed Ali are not spooked by the nearby cemetery. --TNP PICTURES: JONATHAN CHOO
Is it a win-win situation?
The New Paper interviewed about 30workers there and the majority said they were comfortable with living conditions.
Mr Ashik Gulam Rasul from Bangladesh, for example, said he did not mind living far away from busy estates.
The 23-year-old said: 'The facilities are good and there is a place nearby where we can perform our prayers. I am happy here.'
But contractor Min Mau Khaine, 21, said: 'I sometimes feel sad that we live near the cemetery. Sometimes, I get bad smells coming from there.'
Lack of facilities
The only issue is the lack of facilities such as banks and convenience stores.
Myanmar national Win Naing, 32, said: 'I do not mind living far away from other homes and flats but it would be better if there were more banks and shops nearby.'
Mr S Pandiyarajan, 27, an Indian national, said: 'We have to travel a long distance to bank in our money or send money home.
'When we go to Serangoon Road during our days off, aside from the company buses, there are few buses or other transport from the dormitories and back.'
Myanmar national Mya Mint Maung, 27, said he and his fellow countrymen have to travel for nearly an hour during their rest days to shop for their delicacies and other essentials.
He said: 'I hope that there can be more stores and bus services here. Then it will be better for us.'
What of living next door to a cemetery?
When we were there yesterday, workers were mingling among themselves and eating near the fence separating the dormitories from the Muslim cemetery, oblivious to the graves.
All the workers interviewed said living near the cemetery was no big deal.
Mr Razak Sayed Ali, 29, who is from Bangladesh, said: 'What is there to be scared? In the end, everyone, whether Muslim, Hindu or Chinese, will die and land in the same place.'
Mr Siva Subramaniam, 28, an Indian national, said there has been some discomfort over strange noises at night, but most of the workers take it in their stride.
Before the dormitories were completed, Mr John Gee, president of Transient Workers Count Too, an advocacy group for migrant workers, told The Straits Times that foreign workers should not be left to live 'in the wilderness' and that they needed places where they could have access to nearby shops and were free to step out any time.
Mr Gee told The New Paper yesterday that he had not heard any feedback about living conditions in the Murai dormitories so far.
Bangladeshi national Suja Prashad, 21, said: 'We like the things we have here.
'But it would be better if we could live where we do not have to travel so far to buy our food or send our money home.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 things... about the Serangoon Gardens saga
1 Early this week, about 1,400 residents in Serangoon Gardens send a petition to the authorities, objecting to housing foreign workers in a vacant school in the estate.
2 The residents claim the move would cause security and social problems and ruin the ambience of the estate.
Other concerns include noise pollution, traffic congestion and the safety of residents, many of whom are retirees.
3 The site, the former Serangoon Gardens Technical School, is less than 10m from the nearest house along Burghley Drive.
The Ministry of National Development says the school is one of the sites being studied, and there is no decision to proceed.
