The following article was published in the Straits Times on 23 Sep 2007.
Insurance law for foreign workers welcomed
23 September 2007
Straits Times
Welfare groups say compulsory medical coverage prevents employers from shirking their responsibilities
WHEN Bangladeshi construction worker Shahansha Tafazzol, 37, came down with a massive headache and experienced double-vision in April, he did not bargain for his life savings to be wiped out as well.
The treatment - two brain scans, multiple pills and a seven-night hospital stay - resulted in a $1,187 bill which his company refused to pay because his ailment was not work related.
His plight is all too familiar to the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (H.O.M.E). It said that every month, at least one foreign worker shows up with medical bills that their bosses have refused to foot.
Another welfare group which helps foreign workers, Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), said that from December last year to August this year, it received 16 calls on its hotline from workers in similar situations. Last week's news that, from January, employers are required to buy medical insurance for their foreign workers and maids or risk going to jail and being fined, could not have come soon enough for foreign workers.
Foreign construction workers usually work up to 12 hours a day, earning between $16 and $20. When employers refuse to pay for their medical treatment, they end up draining their savings or having to borrow money.
Mr Tafazzol eventually paid his bill in three instalments.
Most maids, however, do not share his plight. Maid agencies said employers usually spend about $120 on medical insurance for their domestic helpers.
Although employers currently do not have to buy medical insurance for foreign workers, they are still obliged to foot their workers' medical bills.
However, not all employers play by the rules.
Mr Vincent Tan, director of Art & Design Renovation Contractor, said that although his company buys medical insurance for its workers, other construction firms are reluctant to do so because of budget constraints.
Also, some do not trust their workers. 'Sometimes, contractors think their workers sustain injuries because they do not follow safety regulations or that the injuries happened when they are working part-time jobs elsewhere,' he said.
Last December, Bangladeshi worker Zahir Raihan, 34, suffered three fractures in his back. He said he was beaten up by a fellow employee at work.
He was warded in hospital for three days and now has to go for monthly specialist checks and physiotherapy sessions. The sessions cost at least $45 each. But his employer, a company which makes signboards, has refused to foot the bill, saying that the accident was not work-related.
Mr Raihan, whose service has since been terminated by his company, is staying at the H.O.M.E shelter in Little India. The Manpower Ministry is looking into his case.
Volunteers said that in many cases, workers are reluctant to report employers who refuse to pay for their medical bills.
Mr John Gee, president of TWC2, said: 'They fear being blacklisted or sent home, so they would rather suffer in silence.'
In the case of Mr Tafazzol, he managed to recover $800 from his employer. He flew home to Bangladesh on Thursday.
'I'll just forget about the remaining $400,' he said. 'I worked for them for six years and I don't want to end things on a bad note.'
'They fear being blacklisted or sent home. So they would rather suffer in silence.' MR JOHN GEE, president of TWC2, on why workers are reluctant to report employers who refuse to pay for their medical bills.
(c) 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Families with disabled dependants get foreign maid levy concession
The following article was published by Channel NewsAsia on 13 Sep 2007.
Families with disabled dependants get foreign maid levy concession
Channel NewsAsia, 13 September 2007
SINGAPORE : Employers of foreign maids, who have a disabled family member, can now apply for the foreign domestic worker levy concession from September 15.
The Manpower Ministry says eligible employers will enjoy a concessionary levy rate of S$170 per month.
This is to help families with disabled members reduce the cost of hiring a full-time caregiver.
Employers are required to pay a foreign domestic worker levy of S$265 every month.
Those who wish to apply for the levy concession need to get a medical assessment on the disabled family member.
The medical certifications should be conducted by appointed assessors.
Applicants will need to bear the cost of the medical assessment. - CNA /ls
Families with disabled dependants get foreign maid levy concession
Channel NewsAsia, 13 September 2007
SINGAPORE : Employers of foreign maids, who have a disabled family member, can now apply for the foreign domestic worker levy concession from September 15.
The Manpower Ministry says eligible employers will enjoy a concessionary levy rate of S$170 per month.
This is to help families with disabled members reduce the cost of hiring a full-time caregiver.
Employers are required to pay a foreign domestic worker levy of S$265 every month.
Those who wish to apply for the levy concession need to get a medical assessment on the disabled family member.
The medical certifications should be conducted by appointed assessors.
Applicants will need to bear the cost of the medical assessment. - CNA /ls
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Sanctuary for unwanted babies, help for mums
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 11 Sep 2007.
Sanctuary for unwanted babies, help for mums
Theresa Tan
Straits Times, 11 September 2007
A FOREIGN maid here had a baby in the toilet of the home where she was working.
It was a baby she did not want - a baby she denied bearing, even though her employer found her still joined to the infant by the umbilical cord.
A charity, Sanctuary House, stepped in after the employer called for help. Its volunteers looked after the baby for about two months in 2005 until mother and child were repatriated.
Sanctuary House also arranged for the baby to be adopted in Indonesia.
But its programme director Noel Tan, 37, stressed that the charity is not a baby drop, a place to leave unwanted babies.
It cares for babies and puts the mothers in touch with support services while they decide whether to keep them or give them up.
Since it was set up two years ago, the group has cared for about 30 babies, many of whom were eventually adopted.
'We help mums buy time, and journey with them to come to an informed decision,' said Mr Tan.
In the past five years, a number of services and groups have sprung up to support mums caught with unwanted pregnancies.
Their common mission: to prevent desperate mums from dumping their newborns.
Newspaper reports have counted an average of half a dozen babies dumped every year in crates, or rubbish bins, at MRT stations, lift lobbies or along Housing Board corridors. Some of the babies are found dead.
The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) said five abandoned babies, including a stillborn one, were found in 2005. Last year, four turned up, of which three were already dead; so far this year, one baby has been found and it was alive.
The number of abandoned babies found is small when set against the number of terminated pregnancies.
Last year, for example, 12,032 abortions were carried out, with teenagers accounting for 1,391 of them.
But some unwanted babies end up being born because the pregnancies are discovered too late for abortions, social workers say.
In fact, Sanctuary House was started after one of its founders was handed an unwanted baby.
A teenage student had knocked on financial consultant Rose Siow's door in 2004 and asked her to look after the infant for a while.
The young mum never came back.
After three weeks, Ms Siow, herself a mother of two, called the police. The teen mother, a China student, was eventually tracked down and sent home with her baby.
The following year, Ms Siow started Sanctuary House with a few others, including former oil executive Noel Tan, his wife Jenny, and Mr Robert Tan, who runs a travel firm.
About seven in 10 mums referred to Sanctuary House by social workers, doctors and other agencies are single women, including teenagers.
One of them was a 16-year-old student whose mother had committed suicide and whose father was missing.
Dysfunctional family backgrounds have been a common thread among the cases. Mr Tan said many of the single mums were themselves born out of wedlock.
People from a dozen families volunteer by looking after babies while their adoption papers are being processed. This can take a few days to several months.
This arrangement prevents any unnecessary trauma if, for example, the mum changes her mind about giving up the baby, said Mr Tan. One mother changed her mind six times.
Previously, while adoption papers were being processed, the babies were handed over to their adoptive parents, left in hospital or sent home with their biological mothers.
The mother is usually given up to a month to decide and during this time, Sanctuary House may also link her up with other groups offering support.
These include the Babes helpline for teen mums, run by Beyond Social Services, and the National Pregnancy Helpline for all mums who need help and support.
Social worker Chang Ai Ling, who mans the National Pregnancy Helpline, said a 'fair share' of calls come from pregnant married women who do not want their babies.
They may be in financial trouble, have absent husbands or are pregnant with a lover's child, said Madam Chang, from the Tanjong Pagar Family Service Centre, an agency manning the helpline.
Social workers behind the two helplines counsel the women. They also help in other ways, including accompanying pregnant teens to break the news to their parents.
Those who need a place to stay during the pregnancy are referred to shelters such as Rose Villa and the Andrew and Grace Home.
The volunteers at Sanctuary House, on the other hand, are also there to provide 'emergency care' for mums in a difficult spot, such as mums who are ill, in jail or just need someone to care for the child temporarily.
Mr Tan said: 'We are here for them until they find a solution to their problems.'
Sanctuary for unwanted babies, help for mums
Theresa Tan
Straits Times, 11 September 2007
A FOREIGN maid here had a baby in the toilet of the home where she was working.
It was a baby she did not want - a baby she denied bearing, even though her employer found her still joined to the infant by the umbilical cord.
A charity, Sanctuary House, stepped in after the employer called for help. Its volunteers looked after the baby for about two months in 2005 until mother and child were repatriated.
Sanctuary House also arranged for the baby to be adopted in Indonesia.
But its programme director Noel Tan, 37, stressed that the charity is not a baby drop, a place to leave unwanted babies.
It cares for babies and puts the mothers in touch with support services while they decide whether to keep them or give them up.
Since it was set up two years ago, the group has cared for about 30 babies, many of whom were eventually adopted.
'We help mums buy time, and journey with them to come to an informed decision,' said Mr Tan.
In the past five years, a number of services and groups have sprung up to support mums caught with unwanted pregnancies.
Their common mission: to prevent desperate mums from dumping their newborns.
Newspaper reports have counted an average of half a dozen babies dumped every year in crates, or rubbish bins, at MRT stations, lift lobbies or along Housing Board corridors. Some of the babies are found dead.
The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) said five abandoned babies, including a stillborn one, were found in 2005. Last year, four turned up, of which three were already dead; so far this year, one baby has been found and it was alive.
The number of abandoned babies found is small when set against the number of terminated pregnancies.
Last year, for example, 12,032 abortions were carried out, with teenagers accounting for 1,391 of them.
But some unwanted babies end up being born because the pregnancies are discovered too late for abortions, social workers say.
In fact, Sanctuary House was started after one of its founders was handed an unwanted baby.
A teenage student had knocked on financial consultant Rose Siow's door in 2004 and asked her to look after the infant for a while.
The young mum never came back.
After three weeks, Ms Siow, herself a mother of two, called the police. The teen mother, a China student, was eventually tracked down and sent home with her baby.
The following year, Ms Siow started Sanctuary House with a few others, including former oil executive Noel Tan, his wife Jenny, and Mr Robert Tan, who runs a travel firm.
About seven in 10 mums referred to Sanctuary House by social workers, doctors and other agencies are single women, including teenagers.
One of them was a 16-year-old student whose mother had committed suicide and whose father was missing.
Dysfunctional family backgrounds have been a common thread among the cases. Mr Tan said many of the single mums were themselves born out of wedlock.
People from a dozen families volunteer by looking after babies while their adoption papers are being processed. This can take a few days to several months.
This arrangement prevents any unnecessary trauma if, for example, the mum changes her mind about giving up the baby, said Mr Tan. One mother changed her mind six times.
Previously, while adoption papers were being processed, the babies were handed over to their adoptive parents, left in hospital or sent home with their biological mothers.
The mother is usually given up to a month to decide and during this time, Sanctuary House may also link her up with other groups offering support.
These include the Babes helpline for teen mums, run by Beyond Social Services, and the National Pregnancy Helpline for all mums who need help and support.
Social worker Chang Ai Ling, who mans the National Pregnancy Helpline, said a 'fair share' of calls come from pregnant married women who do not want their babies.
They may be in financial trouble, have absent husbands or are pregnant with a lover's child, said Madam Chang, from the Tanjong Pagar Family Service Centre, an agency manning the helpline.
Social workers behind the two helplines counsel the women. They also help in other ways, including accompanying pregnant teens to break the news to their parents.
Those who need a place to stay during the pregnancy are referred to shelters such as Rose Villa and the Andrew and Grace Home.
The volunteers at Sanctuary House, on the other hand, are also there to provide 'emergency care' for mums in a difficult spot, such as mums who are ill, in jail or just need someone to care for the child temporarily.
Mr Tan said: 'We are here for them until they find a solution to their problems.'
Monday, September 10, 2007
More trucks caught with too many workers aboard
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 10 Sep 2007.
More trucks caught with too many workers aboard
Carolyn Quek
10 September 2007
Straits Times
With a construction boom on, contractors are rushing workers from site to site
FOUR years since the tightening of the rules to enhance the safety of workers being ferried in pickup trucks, the situation seems little better.
Last year, almost 300 trucks were caught with too many workers on board, up from 262 in 2005.
And with already 182 caught at the end of July, the numbers look set to hit a fresh high at year's end.
Between 2005 and this year thus far, eight workers have died in accidents while being ferried.
A Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesman said: 'While the LTA and the Traffic Police will conduct strict enforcement against goods vehicle owners who violate safety rules, these owners also have a big role to play in proactively taking measures to enhance the safety of their workers carried at the back of vehicles.'
Industry players said that with the current construction boom, companies were taking on more projects than they had resources for - which has put more workers on the roads as contractors rush them from site to site to complete jobs on schedule.
The 145,000 foreign construction workers here are set to be joined by up to 50,000 more, who will stream in over the next few years for the building of mega projects like the integrated resorts.
Mr Raymond Lim, 50, director of Jackly Engineering, said that to be cost-effective, his lorries had to do double duty - transport both materials and workers.
Putting workers on buses made it safer and more comfortable for them, but buses cannot carry materials, said Mr Lim, who has 70 to 80 foreign workers on his payroll.
Another obstacle to using buses for workers: red tape.
Boon Yang Electrical's general manager, Mr Alex Sim, 35, said sensitive worksites required official clearance for vehicles, so hiring buses to transport workers added to the paperwork.
The issue has come under scrutiny since an accident last month in which a foreign worker was killed and his fellow passengers injured when their pickup truck was hit by a car. The truck spun around, flinging out the men who were on the cargo deck, and then turned turtle.
Tragically for the workers, the truck was not even their usual mode of transport, the vehicle's driver, Mr Chan Guang Quan, told The Straits Times yesterday.
They were usually ferried to their worksite in Bishan in buses, but had been deployed to another building project in Changi that day to lend help there.
Mr Chan, 42, said that while some workers were still on medical leave, most were already back at work.
He added: 'We are trying not to think about the accident so that we can move on with life.'
The accident triggered a debate online and letters to the media, decrying the practice of using pickup trucks to ferry workers around. It was tantamount to treating them no better than animals, these people said.
Back in 2002, following similar accidents, this was exactly the sentiment expressed in letters to The Straits Times Forum pages.
One recent letter writer, Mr Paul Staes, likened the ferrying of workers on cargo decks to transporting cattle.
The LTA put in place regulations in 2003 to set up minimum standards of safety and comfort for workers being transported, but there were still five deaths last year.
Four years on, the suggestions from safety experts, volunteer groups and others on improving safety remain similar. They have called for:
Seats along the sides of the vehicle, just like those in army trucks, which can be folded down when not in use;
Side railings that rise higher than the heads of seated passengers; and
Canopies for all lorries and pickups to shield workers from the elements.
All these features can be dismantled and companies have to pay only once to have them fitted.
Transport analyst K. Raguraman of the National University of Singapore said the system - maintenance of the trucks, alternatives and cost - cried out for a 'proper study'.
To be fair, said construction company bosses, some companies do provide good, safe transport.
United Engineering (UE), Lee Metal Group and Straits Construction, for instance, ferry their workers to and from worksites in buses.
But these companies' spokesmen said they could do this because they were relatively large, had big projects and enjoyed economies of scale, unlike smaller contractors.
For now, if making workers' transport safer remains intractable, calls have gone out to at least make it more comfortable.
Ms Braema Mathi, who chairs research and policy of migrant workers' rights group Transient Workers Count Too, has urged companies to build canopies on their pickups and lorries.
She said: 'I do not know how effective the workers can be if they are wet and ill.'
At least one company is going some way towards keeping its vehicles in good shape so they can run safely.
Stacon, which hires a dozen workers, puts $600 a month into maintaining its four lorries.
Its general manager, Mr Eddie Lim, 44, said: 'This money cannot be saved. If we do, there will be more problems in the future.'
Guidelines to ensure safety THE Road Traffic Act bars goods vehicles from being used as a means of private passenger transport, but it allows the owners of such vehicles to transport their workers to and from their place of work.
The Land Transport Authority laid down the following rules in April 2003 to ensure the safety of these workers:
They must be seated no more than 3.2m off the ground and in such a way that they will not fall off.
Each worker must have at least 0.372sqm of floor space, slightly bigger than a full page of this newspaper.
The goods vehicle must stay within a 60kmh speed limit when carrying workers.
It must not carry more workers than it is licensed to.
If goods are also being transported, they must be secured.
Open lorries with a maximum laden weight of 3,500kg or under must have side railings along the sideboards on the cargo deck.
When these rules came into force, the number of cases of overloading fell by almost half - from 508 in 2003 to 262 in 2005. But the number inched up to 293 last year; in the first seven months of this year alone, the figure has already hit 182.
In 2004, the year after the rules took effect, no deaths were reported in accidents involving workers being transported, although 87 of them were hurt. In 2005, two died and 67 were injured, while last year, five died and 76 were injured.
More trucks caught with too many workers aboard
Carolyn Quek
10 September 2007
Straits Times
With a construction boom on, contractors are rushing workers from site to site
FOUR years since the tightening of the rules to enhance the safety of workers being ferried in pickup trucks, the situation seems little better.
Last year, almost 300 trucks were caught with too many workers on board, up from 262 in 2005.
And with already 182 caught at the end of July, the numbers look set to hit a fresh high at year's end.
Between 2005 and this year thus far, eight workers have died in accidents while being ferried.
A Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesman said: 'While the LTA and the Traffic Police will conduct strict enforcement against goods vehicle owners who violate safety rules, these owners also have a big role to play in proactively taking measures to enhance the safety of their workers carried at the back of vehicles.'
Industry players said that with the current construction boom, companies were taking on more projects than they had resources for - which has put more workers on the roads as contractors rush them from site to site to complete jobs on schedule.
The 145,000 foreign construction workers here are set to be joined by up to 50,000 more, who will stream in over the next few years for the building of mega projects like the integrated resorts.
Mr Raymond Lim, 50, director of Jackly Engineering, said that to be cost-effective, his lorries had to do double duty - transport both materials and workers.
Putting workers on buses made it safer and more comfortable for them, but buses cannot carry materials, said Mr Lim, who has 70 to 80 foreign workers on his payroll.
Another obstacle to using buses for workers: red tape.
Boon Yang Electrical's general manager, Mr Alex Sim, 35, said sensitive worksites required official clearance for vehicles, so hiring buses to transport workers added to the paperwork.
The issue has come under scrutiny since an accident last month in which a foreign worker was killed and his fellow passengers injured when their pickup truck was hit by a car. The truck spun around, flinging out the men who were on the cargo deck, and then turned turtle.
Tragically for the workers, the truck was not even their usual mode of transport, the vehicle's driver, Mr Chan Guang Quan, told The Straits Times yesterday.
They were usually ferried to their worksite in Bishan in buses, but had been deployed to another building project in Changi that day to lend help there.
Mr Chan, 42, said that while some workers were still on medical leave, most were already back at work.
He added: 'We are trying not to think about the accident so that we can move on with life.'
The accident triggered a debate online and letters to the media, decrying the practice of using pickup trucks to ferry workers around. It was tantamount to treating them no better than animals, these people said.
Back in 2002, following similar accidents, this was exactly the sentiment expressed in letters to The Straits Times Forum pages.
One recent letter writer, Mr Paul Staes, likened the ferrying of workers on cargo decks to transporting cattle.
The LTA put in place regulations in 2003 to set up minimum standards of safety and comfort for workers being transported, but there were still five deaths last year.
Four years on, the suggestions from safety experts, volunteer groups and others on improving safety remain similar. They have called for:
Seats along the sides of the vehicle, just like those in army trucks, which can be folded down when not in use;
Side railings that rise higher than the heads of seated passengers; and
Canopies for all lorries and pickups to shield workers from the elements.
All these features can be dismantled and companies have to pay only once to have them fitted.
Transport analyst K. Raguraman of the National University of Singapore said the system - maintenance of the trucks, alternatives and cost - cried out for a 'proper study'.
To be fair, said construction company bosses, some companies do provide good, safe transport.
United Engineering (UE), Lee Metal Group and Straits Construction, for instance, ferry their workers to and from worksites in buses.
But these companies' spokesmen said they could do this because they were relatively large, had big projects and enjoyed economies of scale, unlike smaller contractors.
For now, if making workers' transport safer remains intractable, calls have gone out to at least make it more comfortable.
Ms Braema Mathi, who chairs research and policy of migrant workers' rights group Transient Workers Count Too, has urged companies to build canopies on their pickups and lorries.
She said: 'I do not know how effective the workers can be if they are wet and ill.'
At least one company is going some way towards keeping its vehicles in good shape so they can run safely.
Stacon, which hires a dozen workers, puts $600 a month into maintaining its four lorries.
Its general manager, Mr Eddie Lim, 44, said: 'This money cannot be saved. If we do, there will be more problems in the future.'
Guidelines to ensure safety THE Road Traffic Act bars goods vehicles from being used as a means of private passenger transport, but it allows the owners of such vehicles to transport their workers to and from their place of work.
The Land Transport Authority laid down the following rules in April 2003 to ensure the safety of these workers:
They must be seated no more than 3.2m off the ground and in such a way that they will not fall off.
Each worker must have at least 0.372sqm of floor space, slightly bigger than a full page of this newspaper.
The goods vehicle must stay within a 60kmh speed limit when carrying workers.
It must not carry more workers than it is licensed to.
If goods are also being transported, they must be secured.
Open lorries with a maximum laden weight of 3,500kg or under must have side railings along the sideboards on the cargo deck.
When these rules came into force, the number of cases of overloading fell by almost half - from 508 in 2003 to 262 in 2005. But the number inched up to 293 last year; in the first seven months of this year alone, the figure has already hit 182.
In 2004, the year after the rules took effect, no deaths were reported in accidents involving workers being transported, although 87 of them were hurt. In 2005, two died and 67 were injured, while last year, five died and 76 were injured.
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