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http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2008/yax-962.htm
Thursday, 4 December: Chen was soon transferred to the Central Police Station. When Stephanie went there, she found Xue Chengming too. The police told her that they had been arrested for illegal overstaying, though they were not "arrested" in the normal sense, but handed over by the security agents to the police. One would also conclude that it would have been either the security agents or the employer who told the police they were overstayers.
However, this could not be so, because Xue Chengming, for one, had a letter from the Ministry of Manpower setting an appointment date of 4 December, and it was only 3 December when the police took him in.
The way things are supposed to work in Singapore is that when employees are in a dispute with en employer, the Ministry of Manpower issues them with special passes so that they can remain in Singapore until the issues have been resolved. Having a letter from the Ministry of Manpower setting up an appointment is a good sign that these people had been put on special passes.
Moreover, a certain Nigel, an officer with the Ministry of Manpower, would later confirm that these men had been issued with special passes, but he also said that these passes were handed over to the employer at the time of issuance. However, according to what Stephanie heard from TWC2, Nigel added that the "employer did not want to renew the special passes." This does not make any sense, so the information that Stephanie got may be wrong. How can Manpower entrust the special passes to the employer when the employer and workers are locked in a dispute? How can the employer have the discretion to cancel or "not renew" the special passes?
Whatever it is, it's quite evident that the men are not overstayers -– and based on usual procedure, they would not be -– but the police were just not interested in finding out. Effectively, therefore, the police were holding people unlawfully.
At about this point, Xue Hanming had his near miss with security agents in the lobby of the Ministry of Manpower, as recounted at the start of this story.
Thursday, 4 December: Chen was soon transferred to the Central Police Station. When Stephanie went there, she found Xue Chengming too. The police told her that they had been arrested for illegal overstaying, though they were not "arrested" in the normal sense, but handed over by the security agents to the police. One would also conclude that it would have been either the security agents or the employer who told the police they were overstayers.
However, this could not be so, because Xue Chengming, for one, had a letter from the Ministry of Manpower setting an appointment date of 4 December, and it was only 3 December when the police took him in.
The way things are supposed to work in Singapore is that when employees are in a dispute with en employer, the Ministry of Manpower issues them with special passes so that they can remain in Singapore until the issues have been resolved. Having a letter from the Ministry of Manpower setting up an appointment is a good sign that these people had been put on special passes.
Moreover, a certain Nigel, an officer with the Ministry of Manpower, would later confirm that these men had been issued with special passes, but he also said that these passes were handed over to the employer at the time of issuance. However, according to what Stephanie heard from TWC2, Nigel added that the "employer did not want to renew the special passes." This does not make any sense, so the information that Stephanie got may be wrong. How can Manpower entrust the special passes to the employer when the employer and workers are locked in a dispute? How can the employer have the discretion to cancel or "not renew" the special passes?
Whatever it is, it's quite evident that the men are not overstayers -– and based on usual procedure, they would not be -– but the police were just not interested in finding out. Effectively, therefore, the police were holding people unlawfully.
At about this point, Xue Hanming had his near miss with security agents in the lobby of the Ministry of Manpower, as recounted at the start of this story.
