The following article was published in the Straits Times on 30 Dec 2009.
2 firms fined for safety lapses
Straits Times
30/12/2009
TWO construction companies have been fined a total of $96,000 for worksite safety violations, which, in one case, resulted in one worker being injured.
The more severe of the two incidents happened on Oct 13 last year, when construction worker Ji Zhi Li fell while taking measurements at a staircase landing at a Sentosa Cove worksite.
Xuyi Building Engineering was yesterday fined $60,000 for not taking adequate measures to prevent falls at the worksite.
Investigations showed that while the worker was equipped with a safety belt, there were no anchor points or lifelines provided to secure the belt. There were also no barriers to prevent falls.
The company was charged under the Workplace Safety and Health Act for inadequate supervision and failing to provide proper fall protection measures, among other offences.
In a separate case, construction company Ho Pak Kim Realty was fined $36,000 last week for safety violations found during inspections by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) at a Braddell Road worksite.
The firm had failed to barricade the open sides of a building to prevent falls. The walkways were also not cleared of obstacles that could have tripped workers.
Access to the site was not clearly designated and neither was it adequately covered.
Details of the two convictions were released yesterday by the MOM as part of stepped-up efforts to reduce falls from heights, the top cause of deaths and injuries at worksites here.
Since the Workplace Safety and Health Act came into force in March 2006, at least 56 companies have been taken to court and fined $3.9 million in total.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Two firms fined for safety violations
The following article was published in the Business Times
The Business Times
SINGAPORE ROUNDUP
30/12/2009
MOM fines 2 firms for safety violations
THE Ministry of Manpower has convicted two construction companies for safety violations relating to work at heights. Ho Pak Kim Realty was fined $36,000 for violations relating a building project in Braddell Road. Xuyi Building Engineering was fined $60,000 for failing to take adequate measures to prevent falls at construction site at Sentosa Cove, after a worker was injured in a fall.
The Business Times
SINGAPORE ROUNDUP
30/12/2009
MOM fines 2 firms for safety violations
THE Ministry of Manpower has convicted two construction companies for safety violations relating to work at heights. Ho Pak Kim Realty was fined $36,000 for violations relating a building project in Braddell Road. Xuyi Building Engineering was fined $60,000 for failing to take adequate measures to prevent falls at construction site at Sentosa Cove, after a worker was injured in a fall.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
11 year-old writes book on migrant workers' hardships
The following article was published in the New Paper on 29 Dec 2009.
A Xmas wish for the migrant workers
The New Paper
29/12/2009
From the dot com crash to terror attacks to Sars to the recent financial crisis, the last decade has been challenging. As it comes to an end, we begin a series featuring ordinary people and their wishes for the next 10 years
THERE are about 1.1 million migrant workers here, toiling at building sites, hospitals or in our homes.
On a rainy day earlier this year, Anya Lee Kitt, 11, saw a group of construction workers huddled in the back of a lorry, a pitiful sight which inspired her to write a book.
Anya, who was just a toddler at the beginning of the decade, ended up winning the first prize in the Budding Writers programme, which aims to promote writing for children by children.
Her book, The Crying Dream, tells the story of a foreign construction worker in Singapore and the challenges he faces while eking out a living in Singapore.
But Anya has never spoken to a foreign worker before. Over Christmas, The New Paper and the group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) took her and her family on a tour of foreign workers' shelters.
This is what she wrote afterwards:
Seeing things in a new light
WHAT is Christmas? Is it about feasting on turkey and log cakes? Or more "importantly", receiving presents and cards from relatives and friends, all nicely wrapped up?
To me, it is a time for sharing God's love.
The sharing of God's love I had during this Christmas season was unlike what I have ever had before.
My experiences at Sutha's restaurant on Cuff Road in Little India and dormitories for jobless migrant workers made me see some things in a new light, and appreciate the things that I have in my life.
During these trips, I learnt numerous things.
At Sutha's restaurant, the jobless migrant workers gathered there for free meals every day.
It was comforting to know that TWC2 paid for their meals.
The hard work of packing bags containing fruits, titbits, cookies and curry noodles paid off.
Seeing the appreciative faces when I passed each of them a bag was priceless.
I was amazed that a simple token of love could uplift their emotions in the blink of an eye.
I also visited two workers' dormitories, a cramped room which housed a few double-decker beds.
Seeing this pitiful scene, I feel that most of us are so fortunate.
We are so privileged to have proper houses to live in, food to eat and luxurious beds to sleep on.
When these workers find themselves without jobs because of irresponsible agents or employers, with no money and nowhere to stay, they sometimes end up on the streets.
Some have slept in carparks and on concrete pavements because the dormitories were full.
I am appalled that some workers were tricked into signing away their rights, and that some of them end up here.
This trip not only added to what I learned about the "outside" world, but it is also about self-discovery.
While I used to cringe at the thought of approaching a migrant worker, I learned that this is due to the fact that I do not know anything about them.
The more I'm around them, the better my understanding is of them.
They come to Singapore in the hope of breaking out of the poverty cycle in their countries and to support their families.
They had to borrow thousands of dollars to get work here.
Bear the pain
They are willing to bear the pain of leaving their loved ones to come to an unfamiliar country for work.
Some of the workers I met had sustained injuries which prevented them from returning to the construction site.
Nevertheless, they do not lose hope and continue looking for employment.
They are keen to take on any job that pays, regardless of the risks, it seems.
They are optimistic, taking on challenges that could, with a bit of luck, help improve their families' condition.
One example is a 27-year-old Bangladeshi, who came to Singapore to work seven years ago.
One year after he arrived, an unfortunate accident happened.
While he was working at a construction site, a 500kg load dropped onto his foot from above.
I was horrified to learn that someone who attended to his case took away 40 per cent of his medical claim.
Jobless and homeless, he is still waiting for justice to be done.
I am dismayed that some of these migrant workers who contribute to Singapore's economy are helpless. They take on the jobs that many of us shun but are treated with disrespect.
Migrant workers are also human beings who have feelings and needs. It is time to make them feel welcome and to value their contributions.
It is heartwarming to know that non-profit organisations such as TWC2 and Home (Humanitarian Organisation for Migrant Economics) and other volunteers are around to lend a listening ear and help to ease their woes.
I am encouraged by their selfless contributions to share my resources too. I believe a little effort from each of us will help them in a big way.
We are responsible for every migrant worker, able-bodied or not.
A Xmas wish for the migrant workers
The New Paper
29/12/2009
From the dot com crash to terror attacks to Sars to the recent financial crisis, the last decade has been challenging. As it comes to an end, we begin a series featuring ordinary people and their wishes for the next 10 years
THERE are about 1.1 million migrant workers here, toiling at building sites, hospitals or in our homes.
On a rainy day earlier this year, Anya Lee Kitt, 11, saw a group of construction workers huddled in the back of a lorry, a pitiful sight which inspired her to write a book.
Anya, who was just a toddler at the beginning of the decade, ended up winning the first prize in the Budding Writers programme, which aims to promote writing for children by children.
Her book, The Crying Dream, tells the story of a foreign construction worker in Singapore and the challenges he faces while eking out a living in Singapore.
But Anya has never spoken to a foreign worker before. Over Christmas, The New Paper and the group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) took her and her family on a tour of foreign workers' shelters.
This is what she wrote afterwards:
Seeing things in a new light
WHAT is Christmas? Is it about feasting on turkey and log cakes? Or more "importantly", receiving presents and cards from relatives and friends, all nicely wrapped up?
To me, it is a time for sharing God's love.
The sharing of God's love I had during this Christmas season was unlike what I have ever had before.
My experiences at Sutha's restaurant on Cuff Road in Little India and dormitories for jobless migrant workers made me see some things in a new light, and appreciate the things that I have in my life.
During these trips, I learnt numerous things.
At Sutha's restaurant, the jobless migrant workers gathered there for free meals every day.
It was comforting to know that TWC2 paid for their meals.
The hard work of packing bags containing fruits, titbits, cookies and curry noodles paid off.
Seeing the appreciative faces when I passed each of them a bag was priceless.
I was amazed that a simple token of love could uplift their emotions in the blink of an eye.
I also visited two workers' dormitories, a cramped room which housed a few double-decker beds.
Seeing this pitiful scene, I feel that most of us are so fortunate.
We are so privileged to have proper houses to live in, food to eat and luxurious beds to sleep on.
When these workers find themselves without jobs because of irresponsible agents or employers, with no money and nowhere to stay, they sometimes end up on the streets.
Some have slept in carparks and on concrete pavements because the dormitories were full.
I am appalled that some workers were tricked into signing away their rights, and that some of them end up here.
This trip not only added to what I learned about the "outside" world, but it is also about self-discovery.
While I used to cringe at the thought of approaching a migrant worker, I learned that this is due to the fact that I do not know anything about them.
The more I'm around them, the better my understanding is of them.
They come to Singapore in the hope of breaking out of the poverty cycle in their countries and to support their families.
They had to borrow thousands of dollars to get work here.
Bear the pain
They are willing to bear the pain of leaving their loved ones to come to an unfamiliar country for work.
Some of the workers I met had sustained injuries which prevented them from returning to the construction site.
Nevertheless, they do not lose hope and continue looking for employment.
They are keen to take on any job that pays, regardless of the risks, it seems.
They are optimistic, taking on challenges that could, with a bit of luck, help improve their families' condition.
One example is a 27-year-old Bangladeshi, who came to Singapore to work seven years ago.
One year after he arrived, an unfortunate accident happened.
While he was working at a construction site, a 500kg load dropped onto his foot from above.
I was horrified to learn that someone who attended to his case took away 40 per cent of his medical claim.
Jobless and homeless, he is still waiting for justice to be done.
I am dismayed that some of these migrant workers who contribute to Singapore's economy are helpless. They take on the jobs that many of us shun but are treated with disrespect.
Migrant workers are also human beings who have feelings and needs. It is time to make them feel welcome and to value their contributions.
It is heartwarming to know that non-profit organisations such as TWC2 and Home (Humanitarian Organisation for Migrant Economics) and other volunteers are around to lend a listening ear and help to ease their woes.
I am encouraged by their selfless contributions to share my resources too. I believe a little effort from each of us will help them in a big way.
We are responsible for every migrant worker, able-bodied or not.
11-year old child sees unjust system clearly
The following article was published in The New Paper on 29 Dec 2009.
Just child's view but it provokes thought
By NG TZE YONG
The New Paper
29/12/2009
SOME may dismiss this 11-year-old's feelings, however beautifully expressed.
For there's nothing like an outspoken child to bring out the cynic in adults.
The issue of migrant labour is complex, say adults. It's beyond the understanding of a Primary Five girl.
But consider what Anya saw:
Shock. Injustice. A system that exploits the unskilled and desperate.
A child can't see the larger context or the complexity, for her mind is clearer, her eyes sharper. She can't see how things are; she sees how things should be.
So she can't comprehend the deviousness of a business mind and the desperation of a life of poverty.
She forgets that every one of these workers came here willingly and that, for the most part, their lives here are better than in other countries with large numbers of migrant workers, and even in the villages and cities where they came from.
She may not know that in Saudi Arabia, for example, migrant workers labour under conditions some label as "modern-day slavery".
Or that for every worker stranded in Singapore, crippled and homeless, many more return home to buy land, tractors, motorbikes, get married and drag their families out of poverty.
Relatively speaking, they are better off. But the bigger question we, as a society, need to ask is:
Is this the kind of benchmark we want to set for ourselves? Is this the kind of feudalism we want to practise?
Or do we prefer not to think about this because we want to fulfil our hunger for development?
A First World standard of living brings with it a First World hunger – for consumption, for speed, for more.
And the cheap, convenient fuel in the engine of a First World economy is a flood of migrant workers.
Driven by hunger, albeit of a different kind, foreign workers are vulnerable to exploitation.
Their saviour may not come in the form of tougher legislation. It may only come with the denial of our desire for progress and growth.
Are we prepared to wait longer and pay more for what foreign workers build, such as flats?
Will we settle for poorer roads? Be content with more stay-at-home mums?
If not, we are merely sitting on a wagon, flogging the horses and complaining that the horses aren't treated better.
It is true that working here provides migrant workers with the opportunity to better their lives.
But let's not blind ourselves with the merits of development, until we get our house in order.
For beneath the grand economic theories, something just doesn't sit right.
Someone is suffering to make our lives more comfortable.
It's a truth that's obvious to children, but less so to adults.
As we end a year which has taught us an unforgettable lesson in the dangers of excessive consumption, let us reflect on the merits that denial can bring to us at a personal level, even before we try to tackle the problem on a larger scale.
If we remain clouded by our own priorities, then perhaps it will only take a child to help us see clearly.
Just child's view but it provokes thought
By NG TZE YONG
The New Paper
29/12/2009
SOME may dismiss this 11-year-old's feelings, however beautifully expressed.
For there's nothing like an outspoken child to bring out the cynic in adults.
The issue of migrant labour is complex, say adults. It's beyond the understanding of a Primary Five girl.
But consider what Anya saw:
Shock. Injustice. A system that exploits the unskilled and desperate.
A child can't see the larger context or the complexity, for her mind is clearer, her eyes sharper. She can't see how things are; she sees how things should be.
So she can't comprehend the deviousness of a business mind and the desperation of a life of poverty.
She forgets that every one of these workers came here willingly and that, for the most part, their lives here are better than in other countries with large numbers of migrant workers, and even in the villages and cities where they came from.
She may not know that in Saudi Arabia, for example, migrant workers labour under conditions some label as "modern-day slavery".
Or that for every worker stranded in Singapore, crippled and homeless, many more return home to buy land, tractors, motorbikes, get married and drag their families out of poverty.
Relatively speaking, they are better off. But the bigger question we, as a society, need to ask is:
Is this the kind of benchmark we want to set for ourselves? Is this the kind of feudalism we want to practise?
Or do we prefer not to think about this because we want to fulfil our hunger for development?
A First World standard of living brings with it a First World hunger – for consumption, for speed, for more.
And the cheap, convenient fuel in the engine of a First World economy is a flood of migrant workers.
Driven by hunger, albeit of a different kind, foreign workers are vulnerable to exploitation.
Their saviour may not come in the form of tougher legislation. It may only come with the denial of our desire for progress and growth.
Are we prepared to wait longer and pay more for what foreign workers build, such as flats?
Will we settle for poorer roads? Be content with more stay-at-home mums?
If not, we are merely sitting on a wagon, flogging the horses and complaining that the horses aren't treated better.
It is true that working here provides migrant workers with the opportunity to better their lives.
But let's not blind ourselves with the merits of development, until we get our house in order.
For beneath the grand economic theories, something just doesn't sit right.
Someone is suffering to make our lives more comfortable.
It's a truth that's obvious to children, but less so to adults.
As we end a year which has taught us an unforgettable lesson in the dangers of excessive consumption, let us reflect on the merits that denial can bring to us at a personal level, even before we try to tackle the problem on a larger scale.
If we remain clouded by our own priorities, then perhaps it will only take a child to help us see clearly.
Monday, December 28, 2009
We’re bride brokers, not human traffickers
This article was published in the New Paper on 28 Dec 2009.
We’re bride brokers, not human traffickers
by Crystal Chan
The New Paper
Mon, Dec 28, 2009
ONCE, Vietnamese girls lined up in their village to meet groups of Singaporean bride hunters, led there by matchmakers.
The women were dressed to charm. The men would gaze at them, occasionally exchanging notes with each other.
Now, the men go just one at a time, discreetly, and there is no parade.
Said Mr Loi Eng Tuang, owner of Ideal Marriage Centre: “I take a client to see only the girl he is interested in, picked from the photos we show him in Singapore.
“If you have a village full of girls waiting for your clients, you’d invite attention and thus, trouble.”
However, in Singapore, groups of Vietnamese girls can still be seen sitting in these matchmaking agency offices.
The trouble for the matchmakers is that what they do might be deemed human trafficking.
Is parading women for suitors matchmaking or exploitation of the poor?
Brokers claim they’re providing a mutually beneficial service. But welfare workers say the women are treated like goods.
Vietnamese authorities also disapprove and have been taking tough action. They have jailed some middlemen based there.
Such moves have hit the family of Mr Francis Toh, 54, who owns the First Overseas International Matchmaker in Katong Shopping Centre.
His wife of eight years, Madam Rachel Nguyen, 28, is from Vietnam. In September, her brother, Nguyen Van Phat, 35, was arrested for taking two Malaysian men on a matchmaking trip to villages in Tay Ninh province, near Ho Chi Minh City.
Phat had arranged for scores of prospective brides to be lined up for the inspection of his Malaysian clients. He was convicted of human trafficking and jailed 12 years.
Mr Toh’s one-time middleman has also been jailed, for nine years, for the same offence.
Madam Nguyen said her brother first went into the business in 2005 wanting to help local women.
Getting pointers
She said in Mandarin: “He got some pointers from my husband about how to get Malaysian contacts and from there, he began taking men on matchmaking tours.”
She said Phat would bring two or three girls to agencies in Singapore and Malaysia. When they couldn’t find husbands, they would be sent home, but at a cost to the agency.
Mr Toh said: “Nobody realises that we actually make a loss if the girls return to Vietnam, because we have to cover their living expenses and air fare.”
Madam Nguyen said that although matchmakers charge anything from $6,800 to $8,000 for a marriage, they don’t make much money after deducting overheads such as the girls’ living expenses and air fare.
She said: “We have to pay more for utilities, and we also have to buy food for the girls. That alone is over $2,000 for each girl as their social visit pass lasts a month.”
Phat’s Malaysian customers were jailed six months each, a lighter sentence than that imposed on the marriage broker.
Mr Toh said: “Previously, I could take as many as eight Singaporean men on trips to Vietnam where there could be many girls in the villages for their choosing.
“But because the Vietnamese authorities have started cracking down on marriage brokers, we have to be wary. The number of girls available has also dwindled to less than 10 as they’d be arrested if there’s a raid.”
Now, the women who wait at Mr Toh’s marriage agency, and the other agencies, are mostly introduced to him through their relatives who married Singaporean men.
Mr Loi of Ideal Marriage Centre adopts a one-on-one approach to introductions.
“That’s the way I’ve been doing things in my four years in the business,” he said.
“This is because Vietnam has never made it legal for foreign marriage brokers to operate.”
The matchmakers make it clear that they do not force the women into marriage. Mr Mark Lin, owner of Vietnam Brides International, said: “Marriage has to be an agreement between two parties. Even if the client is keen, but the girl isn’t, I can’t force them to get married.”
Last month, AFP reported that Chinese police rescued 18 Vietnamese women who had been kidnapped and sold into marriages in south-east China.
Syndicate uncovered
Malaysia’s The Star also reported on 19 Dec that a syndicate had been uncovered by Vietnamese police after sending 400 women to Malaysia, with some allegedly taken to Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.
About 80 women found husbands in Malaysia and 223 others returned to Vietnam.
Some 100 other women are unaccounted for, sparking fears they could have been sold into prostitution, reported The Star.
Cases of abused Vietnamese wives in South Korea and Taiwan as well as fears that the marriage agency could be a cover for prostitution rings have led to the Vietnamese government’s crackdown, reported Thanh Nien News, a Vietnamese newspaper.
Mr Toh said there are happy endings too, pointing to his own marriage. He has a daughter, 6, from the marriage.
He said: “There are girls who are happily married and who settled into life here, but the Vietnamese media doesn’t focus on these. And if we can’t marry the girls off and they have to be returned to Vietnam, we’re accused of human trafficking.”
We’re bride brokers, not human traffickers
by Crystal Chan
The New Paper
Mon, Dec 28, 2009
ONCE, Vietnamese girls lined up in their village to meet groups of Singaporean bride hunters, led there by matchmakers.
The women were dressed to charm. The men would gaze at them, occasionally exchanging notes with each other.
Now, the men go just one at a time, discreetly, and there is no parade.
Said Mr Loi Eng Tuang, owner of Ideal Marriage Centre: “I take a client to see only the girl he is interested in, picked from the photos we show him in Singapore.
“If you have a village full of girls waiting for your clients, you’d invite attention and thus, trouble.”
However, in Singapore, groups of Vietnamese girls can still be seen sitting in these matchmaking agency offices.
The trouble for the matchmakers is that what they do might be deemed human trafficking.
Is parading women for suitors matchmaking or exploitation of the poor?
Brokers claim they’re providing a mutually beneficial service. But welfare workers say the women are treated like goods.
Vietnamese authorities also disapprove and have been taking tough action. They have jailed some middlemen based there.
Such moves have hit the family of Mr Francis Toh, 54, who owns the First Overseas International Matchmaker in Katong Shopping Centre.
His wife of eight years, Madam Rachel Nguyen, 28, is from Vietnam. In September, her brother, Nguyen Van Phat, 35, was arrested for taking two Malaysian men on a matchmaking trip to villages in Tay Ninh province, near Ho Chi Minh City.
Phat had arranged for scores of prospective brides to be lined up for the inspection of his Malaysian clients. He was convicted of human trafficking and jailed 12 years.
Mr Toh’s one-time middleman has also been jailed, for nine years, for the same offence.
Madam Nguyen said her brother first went into the business in 2005 wanting to help local women.
Getting pointers
She said in Mandarin: “He got some pointers from my husband about how to get Malaysian contacts and from there, he began taking men on matchmaking tours.”
She said Phat would bring two or three girls to agencies in Singapore and Malaysia. When they couldn’t find husbands, they would be sent home, but at a cost to the agency.
Mr Toh said: “Nobody realises that we actually make a loss if the girls return to Vietnam, because we have to cover their living expenses and air fare.”
Madam Nguyen said that although matchmakers charge anything from $6,800 to $8,000 for a marriage, they don’t make much money after deducting overheads such as the girls’ living expenses and air fare.
She said: “We have to pay more for utilities, and we also have to buy food for the girls. That alone is over $2,000 for each girl as their social visit pass lasts a month.”
Phat’s Malaysian customers were jailed six months each, a lighter sentence than that imposed on the marriage broker.
Mr Toh said: “Previously, I could take as many as eight Singaporean men on trips to Vietnam where there could be many girls in the villages for their choosing.
“But because the Vietnamese authorities have started cracking down on marriage brokers, we have to be wary. The number of girls available has also dwindled to less than 10 as they’d be arrested if there’s a raid.”
Now, the women who wait at Mr Toh’s marriage agency, and the other agencies, are mostly introduced to him through their relatives who married Singaporean men.
Mr Loi of Ideal Marriage Centre adopts a one-on-one approach to introductions.
“That’s the way I’ve been doing things in my four years in the business,” he said.
“This is because Vietnam has never made it legal for foreign marriage brokers to operate.”
The matchmakers make it clear that they do not force the women into marriage. Mr Mark Lin, owner of Vietnam Brides International, said: “Marriage has to be an agreement between two parties. Even if the client is keen, but the girl isn’t, I can’t force them to get married.”
Last month, AFP reported that Chinese police rescued 18 Vietnamese women who had been kidnapped and sold into marriages in south-east China.
Syndicate uncovered
Malaysia’s The Star also reported on 19 Dec that a syndicate had been uncovered by Vietnamese police after sending 400 women to Malaysia, with some allegedly taken to Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.
About 80 women found husbands in Malaysia and 223 others returned to Vietnam.
Some 100 other women are unaccounted for, sparking fears they could have been sold into prostitution, reported The Star.
Cases of abused Vietnamese wives in South Korea and Taiwan as well as fears that the marriage agency could be a cover for prostitution rings have led to the Vietnamese government’s crackdown, reported Thanh Nien News, a Vietnamese newspaper.
Mr Toh said there are happy endings too, pointing to his own marriage. He has a daughter, 6, from the marriage.
He said: “There are girls who are happily married and who settled into life here, but the Vietnamese media doesn’t focus on these. And if we can’t marry the girls off and they have to be returned to Vietnam, we’re accused of human trafficking.”
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Six dangerous sites ordered to stop work
The following article was published in The Straits Times on 24 Dec 2009.
Six dangerous sites ordered to stop work
By JERMYN CHOW
The Straits Times
24/12/2009
Inspectors checked 29 construction sites and found safety lapses at all
REPEATED warnings and reminders to keep worksites safe have gone unheeded – the latest check on 29 construction sites found safety lapses at all of them.
In a three-day blitz across the island last week, the Manpower Ministry (MOM) also ordered work to stop at six sites which were found to be too dangerous.
Tying for the most violations – 18 – at any site were two projects, by Conquer Construction and Matronic Roofing & Builders respectively.
Over the three days, contractors were given 72 warnings and served summons for 107 fines – the amounts have yet to be fixed, but the maximum fine for each violation is $5,000.
Dangerous worksites that were put on notice have up to three weeks to shape up before they are checked again.
MOM inspectors were looking for just one thing – safety lapses that could result in a worker falling from a height, which is the No. 1 cause of death at worksites here.
The three most common hazards found:
No barriers or railings to prevent falls;
Unstable scaffolds that were built on weak foundations;
No proper walkways, or ladders that were not secured.
Other faults uncovered include poor housekeeping, unsafe or exposed power lines running and untrained workers.
The blitz was part of the authorities' efforts to halve the fatality and injury rates at worksites. There were 19 deaths last year and 1,482 injuries.
A national taskforce was formed in August and announced its recommendations earlier this month on how to prevent fatal falls at worksites.
The taskforce identified smaller worksites, with projects worth $5 million or less, as being more at risk as they usually devote fewer resources to ensure worker safety. Inspectors zoomed in on them in their checks last week.
Taskforce chairman Wong Weng Sun, the chief executive of Sembcorp Marine, said it was a timely wake-up call for bosses of these worksites.
"They must step up efforts to keep workers safe," said Mr Wong, who added that bosses should send their workers and on-the-ground supervisors for safety training.
Mr Silas Sng, who heads MOM's Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate, said smaller worksites cannot afford to dismiss workplace safety.
"We will not hesitate to take stern action against errant contractors who do not improve on their safety practices," he said.
Last week's inspection is the latest in a series of moves made over the last three years to improve worker safety.
From March 2006 – when a more comprehensive workplace safety law was put in place – to August this year, 56 companies were convicted and fined a total of $3.8 million.
Of these, 33 were in the construction industry. Some of their bosses and safety officials were also taken to task.
But the stepped-up enforcement has not made worksites safer.
In the first half of this year, 36 workers died in workplace mishaps. This was up from 31 in the same period last year.
The last reported death from a fall involved a construction worker who lost his balance and fell off a work platform at the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort site on Sept 17.
Chinese national Ji Shibiau, 40, fell 14m to his death after the ladder he was standing on wobbled while he was dismantling the wooden scaffolding for a concrete wall, said his co-workers. He was working on the resort's four-storey high theatre.
Overall, the workplace fatality rate increased slightly, from 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people employed in the first half of last year to 1.5 this year.
If there is no improvement, the full year's death rate might well hit three per 100,000.
Singapore hopes to bring down the rate to 1.8 deaths per 100,000 workers by 2018.
Six dangerous sites ordered to stop work
By JERMYN CHOW
The Straits Times
24/12/2009
Inspectors checked 29 construction sites and found safety lapses at all
REPEATED warnings and reminders to keep worksites safe have gone unheeded – the latest check on 29 construction sites found safety lapses at all of them.
In a three-day blitz across the island last week, the Manpower Ministry (MOM) also ordered work to stop at six sites which were found to be too dangerous.
Tying for the most violations – 18 – at any site were two projects, by Conquer Construction and Matronic Roofing & Builders respectively.
Over the three days, contractors were given 72 warnings and served summons for 107 fines – the amounts have yet to be fixed, but the maximum fine for each violation is $5,000.
Dangerous worksites that were put on notice have up to three weeks to shape up before they are checked again.
MOM inspectors were looking for just one thing – safety lapses that could result in a worker falling from a height, which is the No. 1 cause of death at worksites here.
The three most common hazards found:
No barriers or railings to prevent falls;
Unstable scaffolds that were built on weak foundations;
No proper walkways, or ladders that were not secured.
Other faults uncovered include poor housekeeping, unsafe or exposed power lines running and untrained workers.
The blitz was part of the authorities' efforts to halve the fatality and injury rates at worksites. There were 19 deaths last year and 1,482 injuries.
A national taskforce was formed in August and announced its recommendations earlier this month on how to prevent fatal falls at worksites.
The taskforce identified smaller worksites, with projects worth $5 million or less, as being more at risk as they usually devote fewer resources to ensure worker safety. Inspectors zoomed in on them in their checks last week.
Taskforce chairman Wong Weng Sun, the chief executive of Sembcorp Marine, said it was a timely wake-up call for bosses of these worksites.
"They must step up efforts to keep workers safe," said Mr Wong, who added that bosses should send their workers and on-the-ground supervisors for safety training.
Mr Silas Sng, who heads MOM's Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate, said smaller worksites cannot afford to dismiss workplace safety.
"We will not hesitate to take stern action against errant contractors who do not improve on their safety practices," he said.
Last week's inspection is the latest in a series of moves made over the last three years to improve worker safety.
From March 2006 – when a more comprehensive workplace safety law was put in place – to August this year, 56 companies were convicted and fined a total of $3.8 million.
Of these, 33 were in the construction industry. Some of their bosses and safety officials were also taken to task.
But the stepped-up enforcement has not made worksites safer.
In the first half of this year, 36 workers died in workplace mishaps. This was up from 31 in the same period last year.
The last reported death from a fall involved a construction worker who lost his balance and fell off a work platform at the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort site on Sept 17.
Chinese national Ji Shibiau, 40, fell 14m to his death after the ladder he was standing on wobbled while he was dismantling the wooden scaffolding for a concrete wall, said his co-workers. He was working on the resort's four-storey high theatre.
Overall, the workplace fatality rate increased slightly, from 1.4 deaths per 100,000 people employed in the first half of last year to 1.5 this year.
If there is no improvement, the full year's death rate might well hit three per 100,000.
Singapore hopes to bring down the rate to 1.8 deaths per 100,000 workers by 2018.
Monday, December 21, 2009
True nature of the boss-maid relationship
The following article was published in The Straits Times on 21 Dec 2009.
True nature of the boss-maid relationship
By THERESA TAN
The Straits Times
21/12/2009
Ties can improve if more employers see maids as helpers, not servants
DURING an orientation course for first-time employers, the trainer asked the class what ingredients were needed to make the maid-employer relationship work.
Respect and trust were among the qualities cited by expatriates working here. The locals, by comparison, mostly kept mum. But their silence was telling.
I suspect many Singaporeans have never given the relationship with their maids much thought.
For them, the relationship can be reduced to its starkest elements: I am the boss, and you just follow my instructions.
A series of measures by the Manpower Ministry (MOM) to protect maids here – such as orientation classes for first-time maids and employers – appears to have brought down the number of maid abuse cases substantially.
In the first 11 months of this year, nine maids died of unnatural causes such as accidents or suicides, down sharply from the 40 in 2004.
The police said there were 53 substantiated cases of maid abuse last year – just a third of the 157 cases in 1997.
Non-profit groups say the improvements could be due to several factors.
Maids are now more aware of their rights and where to go for help. Newspapers splashing the faces of employers who have abused their maids have also served to rein in abusive bosses.
As Ms Bridget Lew, founder of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, puts it: "It is such a shame to be in the papers for abusing their maids."
But the Government – and the law – can only do so much. Mindsets also have to change. The way we perceive our maids will also affect the way we treat them.
I suspect that many Singaporeans view maids as only a source of cheap labour. And many will only be too ready to cite a litany of complaints against their maids: Unintelligent, lazy or, worse, steals from them.
I am not saying that all maids are saints or that stealing or lying should be condoned. But Singaporeans should bear in mind the obstacles their maids have to overcome just to work for them before they fly into a rage when their maids make slight mistakes.
Your maid is already deep in debt before she steps into your house. In fact, you can say she is subsidising you to hire her.
In the late 1990s, maid agencies charged around $1,500 to find Singaporeans a maid, according to industry sources. Today, the average fee is between $400 and $600, thanks to fierce undercutting by some agencies.
The agencies realised that local employers were not willing to pay more than this to find a maid, so they transferred their service fees to the maids instead, many of whom are desperate to work in the Lion City.
Previously, most maids owed their agents about four months of pay to cover the cost of finding them a job in Singapore. These days, the debt has doubled to about eight months even before they start work here.
Debt aside, there is also the fierce culture shock and homesickness that many new maids experience here.
At a safety awareness course for new maids which I recently sat in on, I found that the maids I interviewed had never lived in high-rise buildings before – nor lived apart from their families, for that matter.
And some had never seen, much less used, certain electrical appliances that Singaporeans take for granted such as rice cookers and microwave ovens.
Take, for example, Ms Bernadith Aba-a, 35, who has a phobia of electricity after a lightning strike caused her house in the Philippines to go up in flames.
She told me: "My first night in Singapore, I couldn't sleep and spent the night crying. I have never been away from my family before."
Ms Chjiraporm Oringa Vathanasin, who conducts the orientation programme for new bosses, said: "I think locals make more demanding bosses than expats.
"In the West, maids don't come cheap, and generally, expats are more appreciative of their maids."
But mindsets are slowly changing here, she said.
Ms Chjiraporm observed that younger Singaporeans are more understanding of their maids than older Singaporeans.
This is an encouraging sign.
If more employers can see their maids as their helpers, instead of servants, I am sure the relationship will get better.
True nature of the boss-maid relationship
By THERESA TAN
The Straits Times
21/12/2009
Ties can improve if more employers see maids as helpers, not servants
DURING an orientation course for first-time employers, the trainer asked the class what ingredients were needed to make the maid-employer relationship work.
Respect and trust were among the qualities cited by expatriates working here. The locals, by comparison, mostly kept mum. But their silence was telling.
I suspect many Singaporeans have never given the relationship with their maids much thought.
For them, the relationship can be reduced to its starkest elements: I am the boss, and you just follow my instructions.
A series of measures by the Manpower Ministry (MOM) to protect maids here – such as orientation classes for first-time maids and employers – appears to have brought down the number of maid abuse cases substantially.
In the first 11 months of this year, nine maids died of unnatural causes such as accidents or suicides, down sharply from the 40 in 2004.
The police said there were 53 substantiated cases of maid abuse last year – just a third of the 157 cases in 1997.
Non-profit groups say the improvements could be due to several factors.
Maids are now more aware of their rights and where to go for help. Newspapers splashing the faces of employers who have abused their maids have also served to rein in abusive bosses.
As Ms Bridget Lew, founder of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, puts it: "It is such a shame to be in the papers for abusing their maids."
But the Government – and the law – can only do so much. Mindsets also have to change. The way we perceive our maids will also affect the way we treat them.
I suspect that many Singaporeans view maids as only a source of cheap labour. And many will only be too ready to cite a litany of complaints against their maids: Unintelligent, lazy or, worse, steals from them.
I am not saying that all maids are saints or that stealing or lying should be condoned. But Singaporeans should bear in mind the obstacles their maids have to overcome just to work for them before they fly into a rage when their maids make slight mistakes.
Your maid is already deep in debt before she steps into your house. In fact, you can say she is subsidising you to hire her.
In the late 1990s, maid agencies charged around $1,500 to find Singaporeans a maid, according to industry sources. Today, the average fee is between $400 and $600, thanks to fierce undercutting by some agencies.
The agencies realised that local employers were not willing to pay more than this to find a maid, so they transferred their service fees to the maids instead, many of whom are desperate to work in the Lion City.
Previously, most maids owed their agents about four months of pay to cover the cost of finding them a job in Singapore. These days, the debt has doubled to about eight months even before they start work here.
Debt aside, there is also the fierce culture shock and homesickness that many new maids experience here.
At a safety awareness course for new maids which I recently sat in on, I found that the maids I interviewed had never lived in high-rise buildings before – nor lived apart from their families, for that matter.
And some had never seen, much less used, certain electrical appliances that Singaporeans take for granted such as rice cookers and microwave ovens.
Take, for example, Ms Bernadith Aba-a, 35, who has a phobia of electricity after a lightning strike caused her house in the Philippines to go up in flames.
She told me: "My first night in Singapore, I couldn't sleep and spent the night crying. I have never been away from my family before."
Ms Chjiraporm Oringa Vathanasin, who conducts the orientation programme for new bosses, said: "I think locals make more demanding bosses than expats.
"In the West, maids don't come cheap, and generally, expats are more appreciative of their maids."
But mindsets are slowly changing here, she said.
Ms Chjiraporm observed that younger Singaporeans are more understanding of their maids than older Singaporeans.
This is an encouraging sign.
If more employers can see their maids as their helpers, instead of servants, I am sure the relationship will get better.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Serangoon Gardens dorm has self-contained facilities
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 19 Dec 2009.
Serangoon Gardens dorm has self-contained facilities
By Melissa Sim
The Straits Times
19/12/2009
ABOUT 100 foreign workers have moved into the new Serangoon Gardens dormitory, now known as Central Staff Apartments, and the numbers should rise to a maximum of 600 by the middle of next year .
The residents come from countries such as China, India, Malaysia and Bangladesh. There are about 30 women and 70 men living in the dorm at the moment.
It can house up to 1,000 residents – 350 women and 650 men – but the number is capped at 600 for at least a year, to prevent the area from becoming overcrowded.
The Ministry of National Development will consider increasing the capacity if there is a need and after future consultations.
The dorm, which was open to the media yesterday, boasts facilities such as a provision shop, a canteen and a barber shop.
In the future, there will also be a basketball court and table tennis facilities, said dorm manger Jimmy Ng.
Each of the rooms houses six workers and lockers are provided for each resident.
Plans to convert the former Serangoon Garden Technical School along Burghley Drive into a workers' dorm last year had upset residents, who raised several concerns, including traffic congestion, security and safety.
In view of the concerns, some guidelines were drawn up.
For example, the exit leading to the Serangoon Gardens estate has been sealed, and there is also a demerit point system for dorm residents. Those who chalk up too many points for offences, such as littering or puffing away in non-smoking areas, will be asked to leave.
Dorm resident Wang Zhen, 27, who works in an electronics factory, said he was happy with the facilities and found it a convenient place to stay.
There is a shuttle bus that takes dorm residents to Ang Mo Kio or Bishan on weekends.
Mr Wang, who used to live in Geylang and moved to the Central Staff Apartments four days ago, said he had been told not to loiter around the Serangoon Gardens estate.
"Anyway, there is nothing to do or see in the estate. I usually go to Ang Mo Kio, " said the Chinese national who has lived in Singapore for half a year.
Serangoon Gardens dorm has self-contained facilities
By Melissa Sim
The Straits Times
19/12/2009
ABOUT 100 foreign workers have moved into the new Serangoon Gardens dormitory, now known as Central Staff Apartments, and the numbers should rise to a maximum of 600 by the middle of next year .
The residents come from countries such as China, India, Malaysia and Bangladesh. There are about 30 women and 70 men living in the dorm at the moment.
It can house up to 1,000 residents – 350 women and 650 men – but the number is capped at 600 for at least a year, to prevent the area from becoming overcrowded.
The Ministry of National Development will consider increasing the capacity if there is a need and after future consultations.
The dorm, which was open to the media yesterday, boasts facilities such as a provision shop, a canteen and a barber shop.
In the future, there will also be a basketball court and table tennis facilities, said dorm manger Jimmy Ng.
Each of the rooms houses six workers and lockers are provided for each resident.
Plans to convert the former Serangoon Garden Technical School along Burghley Drive into a workers' dorm last year had upset residents, who raised several concerns, including traffic congestion, security and safety.
In view of the concerns, some guidelines were drawn up.
For example, the exit leading to the Serangoon Gardens estate has been sealed, and there is also a demerit point system for dorm residents. Those who chalk up too many points for offences, such as littering or puffing away in non-smoking areas, will be asked to leave.
Dorm resident Wang Zhen, 27, who works in an electronics factory, said he was happy with the facilities and found it a convenient place to stay.
There is a shuttle bus that takes dorm residents to Ang Mo Kio or Bishan on weekends.
Mr Wang, who used to live in Geylang and moved to the Central Staff Apartments four days ago, said he had been told not to loiter around the Serangoon Gardens estate.
"Anyway, there is nothing to do or see in the estate. I usually go to Ang Mo Kio, " said the Chinese national who has lived in Singapore for half a year.
Two Toa Payoh blocks converted to foreign worker dorms
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 19 Dec 2009.
Two Toa Payoh blocks converted to dorms
By TESSA WONG
The Straits Times
19/12/2009
More than 300 units used to house Resorts World Sentosa's foreign staff
TWO Housing Board blocks in Toa Payoh have been converted into dormitories for foreign employees at Resorts World Sentosa.
Blocks 32 and 33 in Toa Payoh Lorong 6 were to be demolished as part of redevelopment plans until a few months ago, when dozens of croupiers, hotel service staff and casino pit supervisors started moving in.
It is estimated that there are more than 300 units in the two blocks. According to interviews with tenants, each flat houses four to six people who each pay between $140 and $260.
When asked about the length of the leases, the HDB would only say it is a private short-term arrangement between Resorts World and its managing agent, EM Services.
Resorts World said it provides accommodation to its foreign employees working and training in preparation for the integrated resort's opening next year "to help reduce their stress and anxiety of relocating overseas". It also ensures that its foreign staff enjoy a similar lifestyle to their Singaporean colleagues'. It did not state the total number of foreign employees who have moved in so far.
When The Straits Times visited the blocks yesterday, the flats were clean and had been given a fresh coat of paint.
Current tenants said the flats came with basic furniture, such as dining tables and beds, as well as appliances like washing machines and refrigerators. The bedrooms are air-conditioned.
Many found the accommodation comfortable, and the central location convenient. They each pay about $100 per month for a round-trip bus service that ferries them to and from their workplace in Sentosa.
"It's not bad. We like it. It's easy to get to work from here," said croupier Low Chui Leng, 25, from Kuala Lumpur.
The employees hail from South-east Asian countries as well as China.
On one floor, Filipinos chatted in Tagalog as they got ready to start their shifts, while on another floor, Malaysian staff were cooking lunch.
To minimise friction with local residents, the workers said they keep their noise levels down after 9pm. At least one corridor wall has a sign reminding tenants to be quiet.
Resorts World said it chose a location that "facilitates good interaction between the local community and foreign talent". When asked if they mingle with local residents, tenants said they keep mostly to themselves as most of them work odd hours. Some leave for work around noon and return only at midnight.
Their situation – a foreign worker dorm in a local neighbourhood – is similar to that in Serangoon Gardens, which has a hostel housing 100 foreign workers. Unlike residents there who kicked up a fuss, however, most Toa Payoh residents interviewed said they do not mind their new neighbours, and there has been no conflict.
A few who live in neighbouring blocks had gripes though.
Madam Xu, a 49-year-old housewife, has seen some of the women walking around in just their underwear.
"It's not nice when you have kids living around here," she said.
However, most residents share the views of cleaner Rose Laini, 53. "Generally, they behave themselves and they don't cause any trouble. I'm okay with them," she said.
Mr Jolovan Wham, executive director of migrant worker rights group Home, said the residents' acceptance is a good sign. "It shows that Singaporeans can be tolerant of foreign workers living in their midst."
Two Toa Payoh blocks converted to dorms
By TESSA WONG
The Straits Times
19/12/2009
More than 300 units used to house Resorts World Sentosa's foreign staff
TWO Housing Board blocks in Toa Payoh have been converted into dormitories for foreign employees at Resorts World Sentosa.
Blocks 32 and 33 in Toa Payoh Lorong 6 were to be demolished as part of redevelopment plans until a few months ago, when dozens of croupiers, hotel service staff and casino pit supervisors started moving in.
It is estimated that there are more than 300 units in the two blocks. According to interviews with tenants, each flat houses four to six people who each pay between $140 and $260.
When asked about the length of the leases, the HDB would only say it is a private short-term arrangement between Resorts World and its managing agent, EM Services.
Resorts World said it provides accommodation to its foreign employees working and training in preparation for the integrated resort's opening next year "to help reduce their stress and anxiety of relocating overseas". It also ensures that its foreign staff enjoy a similar lifestyle to their Singaporean colleagues'. It did not state the total number of foreign employees who have moved in so far.
When The Straits Times visited the blocks yesterday, the flats were clean and had been given a fresh coat of paint.
Current tenants said the flats came with basic furniture, such as dining tables and beds, as well as appliances like washing machines and refrigerators. The bedrooms are air-conditioned.
Many found the accommodation comfortable, and the central location convenient. They each pay about $100 per month for a round-trip bus service that ferries them to and from their workplace in Sentosa.
"It's not bad. We like it. It's easy to get to work from here," said croupier Low Chui Leng, 25, from Kuala Lumpur.
The employees hail from South-east Asian countries as well as China.
On one floor, Filipinos chatted in Tagalog as they got ready to start their shifts, while on another floor, Malaysian staff were cooking lunch.
To minimise friction with local residents, the workers said they keep their noise levels down after 9pm. At least one corridor wall has a sign reminding tenants to be quiet.
Resorts World said it chose a location that "facilitates good interaction between the local community and foreign talent". When asked if they mingle with local residents, tenants said they keep mostly to themselves as most of them work odd hours. Some leave for work around noon and return only at midnight.
Their situation – a foreign worker dorm in a local neighbourhood – is similar to that in Serangoon Gardens, which has a hostel housing 100 foreign workers. Unlike residents there who kicked up a fuss, however, most Toa Payoh residents interviewed said they do not mind their new neighbours, and there has been no conflict.
A few who live in neighbouring blocks had gripes though.
Madam Xu, a 49-year-old housewife, has seen some of the women walking around in just their underwear.
"It's not nice when you have kids living around here," she said.
However, most residents share the views of cleaner Rose Laini, 53. "Generally, they behave themselves and they don't cause any trouble. I'm okay with them," she said.
Mr Jolovan Wham, executive director of migrant worker rights group Home, said the residents' acceptance is a good sign. "It shows that Singaporeans can be tolerant of foreign workers living in their midst."
Toa Payoh flats to house Resorts World workers
The following article was published in The New Paper on 19 Dec 2010.
Toa Payoh flats to house Resorts World workers
The New Paper
19/12/2009
TWO blocks of Housing Board flats – blocks 32 and 33 – along Toa Payoh Lorong 6 have been converted into worker dorms for foreign employees of integrated resort Resorts World at Sentosa.
It is estimated there are more than 300 units in the two blocks. Each flat houses four to six workers, who pay monthly rents ranging from $140 to $260 each.
Resorts World said it is providing accommodation for foreign employees "to help reduce their stress and anxiety of relocating overseas" and to ensure they enjoy a similar lifestyle to their Singaporean staff.
Toa Payoh flats to house Resorts World workers
The New Paper
19/12/2009
TWO blocks of Housing Board flats – blocks 32 and 33 – along Toa Payoh Lorong 6 have been converted into worker dorms for foreign employees of integrated resort Resorts World at Sentosa.
It is estimated there are more than 300 units in the two blocks. Each flat houses four to six workers, who pay monthly rents ranging from $140 to $260 each.
Resorts World said it is providing accommodation for foreign employees "to help reduce their stress and anxiety of relocating overseas" and to ensure they enjoy a similar lifestyle to their Singaporean staff.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Foreign workers' day in the sun
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 14 Dec 2009.
Foreign workers' day in the sun
By LESTER KOK
The Straits Times
14/12/2009
Carnival to mark International Migrants' Day sees 10,000 having a splashing good time
MORE used to toiling in anonymity, about 10,000 foreign workers yesterday found the spotlight on them at a carnival to recognise their contributions.
Free food and drink, games, performances and free entry to Wild Wild Wet at Downtown East were laid on for the participants, who included about 5,000 Singaporeans – the colleagues of the foreign workers – and members of the public.
It was an event to mark International Migrants' Day on Dec 18, organised by the Migrant Workers Centre (MWC).
There are more activities lined up, such as an outdoor picnic on Dec 20, organised by Transient Workers Count Too.
The MWC, a bipartite initiative between the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation, hopes that closer interaction with locals through these events would foster understanding of Singapore's culture and norms and allow migrant workers to integrate better.
Guest of honour Halimah Yacob, NTUC deputy secretary-general and MP for Jurong GRC, said one of MWC's key objectives is to improve the welfare of foreign workers in Singapore.
She said that while they are critical to economic development, a fact that many Singaporeans accept, they cannot be seen as only an economic workforce.
"They are also human beings, and they deserve to be treated like human beings," she said.
"What we wish to do is to increase the touch points, for contact with locals and foreigners, and increase the touch points of care and concern among Singaporeans."
Singapore has about one million foreign workers, who make up 36 per cent of the total workforce.
Nearly three-quarters of those at the carnival yesterday were men, mainly foreign work permit holders engaged in manual labour. Among the women were domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia and Chinese workers on their day off.
The event was publicised through advertorials in the Chinese and Tamil newspapers, and internal communications from employers and dormitory operators.
Aside from providing games and food, some booths gave away gifts, offered union memberships and information about employment rights.
Madam Halimah noted that Downtown East had been set up by the labour movement for the enjoyment of workers.
"While it is open to everybody, we realise that there are workers, particularly migrant workers, who may not find it so accessible to them," she said.
Mr B. Arularasan, an electrician from India who has worked here for 13 years, said it was his first visit to the leisure attraction.
The 38-year-old said: "If they have another event like this again, I will definitely support it."
Another migrant worker, Ms Dong Feng Ying, 46, a coffee shop attendant, said she was enjoying herself.
She said in Mandarin: "I think it is good of the Government to organise activities for us to get to know Singapore better."
International Migrants' Day, proclaimed by the United Nations in 2000, is a day when countries disseminate information on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants.
Foreign workers' day in the sun
By LESTER KOK
The Straits Times
14/12/2009
Carnival to mark International Migrants' Day sees 10,000 having a splashing good time
MORE used to toiling in anonymity, about 10,000 foreign workers yesterday found the spotlight on them at a carnival to recognise their contributions.
Free food and drink, games, performances and free entry to Wild Wild Wet at Downtown East were laid on for the participants, who included about 5,000 Singaporeans – the colleagues of the foreign workers – and members of the public.
It was an event to mark International Migrants' Day on Dec 18, organised by the Migrant Workers Centre (MWC).
There are more activities lined up, such as an outdoor picnic on Dec 20, organised by Transient Workers Count Too.
The MWC, a bipartite initiative between the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore National Employers Federation, hopes that closer interaction with locals through these events would foster understanding of Singapore's culture and norms and allow migrant workers to integrate better.
Guest of honour Halimah Yacob, NTUC deputy secretary-general and MP for Jurong GRC, said one of MWC's key objectives is to improve the welfare of foreign workers in Singapore.
She said that while they are critical to economic development, a fact that many Singaporeans accept, they cannot be seen as only an economic workforce.
"They are also human beings, and they deserve to be treated like human beings," she said.
"What we wish to do is to increase the touch points, for contact with locals and foreigners, and increase the touch points of care and concern among Singaporeans."
Singapore has about one million foreign workers, who make up 36 per cent of the total workforce.
Nearly three-quarters of those at the carnival yesterday were men, mainly foreign work permit holders engaged in manual labour. Among the women were domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia and Chinese workers on their day off.
The event was publicised through advertorials in the Chinese and Tamil newspapers, and internal communications from employers and dormitory operators.
Aside from providing games and food, some booths gave away gifts, offered union memberships and information about employment rights.
Madam Halimah noted that Downtown East had been set up by the labour movement for the enjoyment of workers.
"While it is open to everybody, we realise that there are workers, particularly migrant workers, who may not find it so accessible to them," she said.
Mr B. Arularasan, an electrician from India who has worked here for 13 years, said it was his first visit to the leisure attraction.
The 38-year-old said: "If they have another event like this again, I will definitely support it."
Another migrant worker, Ms Dong Feng Ying, 46, a coffee shop attendant, said she was enjoying herself.
She said in Mandarin: "I think it is good of the Government to organise activities for us to get to know Singapore better."
International Migrants' Day, proclaimed by the United Nations in 2000, is a day when countries disseminate information on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Training the boss as well as the maid
The following article was first published in the Straits Times on 12 Dec 2009.
Training the boss as well as the maid
Orientation programmes help employers and maids meet expectations
By Theresa Tan
ASK Jimmy Tay about maid problems and the technician will give you a litany of woes. After all, he has gone through five maids this year.
The first two asked to leave after just one month, claiming they had 'nothing to do'.
The third maid stole from the family, so 45-year-old Mr Tay, who lives with his elderly mother and two brothers, sent her packing.
Maid No. 4 said after three days that she was unhappy and wanted to go home.
The fifth threw a knife on the floor in irritation after his mother asked her to pick some pandan leaves from their garden. She, too, worked for the Tays for just a month.
Said the bachelor, who lives in a landed property: 'We are not fussy or controlling people. I don't know why we had no luck getting good maids.'
Maid trouble is not unique to Mr Tay.
In the first 11 months of the year, 2,812 employers changed their maids four or more times in a year. Last year, 3,007 employers did likewise.
In 2005, the first full year in which the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) started keeping such statistics, 3,483 bosses were classified as employers who changed their maids 'frequently'.
The MOM says the situation is improving. From October 2004, it started making it compulsory for employers who applied to hire their fifth maid in a year to attend its employers' orientation programme.
But merely attending the programme does not guarantee such employers a clean record.
Subsequent applications to employ a new maid can result in an interview with the MOM.
The ministry also blacklists problematic employers - among them abusers and those who fail to pay maids' salaries.
On average, some 300 to 400 are blacklisted every year and are barred from hiring another maid for periods of time.
MOM director of well-being management Phua Boon Leng told The Straits Times its orientation course aimed to help employers be more aware of various problems they can face - for example, in communicating with their maid.
It also tries to get them to moderate their expectations and to see things from the maid's point of view.
The three-hour course is compulsory for all first-time employers - they can choose either to take it online and go through a quiz afterwards to make sure they have absorbed the material, or to take it in a classroom.
But employers who change maids frequently are required to sit through the classroom session.
Madam Chjiraporn Oringa Vathanasin, who has conducted the orientation course for the past four years, tries to impress on employers the need to be more tolerant and patient with their maids.
The main reasons cited by employers for wanting a different maid include: slowness and trouble following instructions, boyfriends, homesickness and poor hygiene.
In order to create better understanding, she often gives employers insights into the maids' lives.
Aside from dealing with homesickness and culture shock, carrying out activities that Singaporeans take for granted - such as using electrical appliances - can be daunting for someone who has never handled an electrical gadget.
Using case studies of employers who were fined or jailed for abusing their maids, she reminds bosses of their legal responsibilities and how they can be taken to task in various situations.
A case cited by MOM as one of the more serious ones regarding errant bosses is that of Zubaidah Sanluan, an employer who failed to pay her Indonesian maid a single cent for six years and two months.
She was fined $4,500 last year and was also barred from hiring another maid, on top of having to pay $19,398 in unpaid wages.
Said Ms Nashidah Begum, a manager at MOM's employment standards branch: 'Zubaidah kept telling the maid she would pay her next month, but never made good on it. The maid's family thought she was dead, as they had not heard from her in six years.'
Madam Sharon Tan, a 36-year-old mother of two, said the orientation course was informative.
However, the manager, who has had four maids this year, felt that some employers can be 'played out' by maids, and MOM should be more understanding towards these bosses.
Madam Vathanasin said that while no one has walked out of her class yet, some employers are clearly resistant to the idea of changing the way they treat their maids.
She added: 'Some people feel they have every right to do whatever they want with their maids. But with the news coverage of maid abuse cases, I feel bosses are less demanding now than before.'
Training the boss as well as the maid
Orientation programmes help employers and maids meet expectations
By Theresa Tan
ASK Jimmy Tay about maid problems and the technician will give you a litany of woes. After all, he has gone through five maids this year.
The first two asked to leave after just one month, claiming they had 'nothing to do'.
The third maid stole from the family, so 45-year-old Mr Tay, who lives with his elderly mother and two brothers, sent her packing.
Maid No. 4 said after three days that she was unhappy and wanted to go home.
The fifth threw a knife on the floor in irritation after his mother asked her to pick some pandan leaves from their garden. She, too, worked for the Tays for just a month.
Said the bachelor, who lives in a landed property: 'We are not fussy or controlling people. I don't know why we had no luck getting good maids.'
Maid trouble is not unique to Mr Tay.
In the first 11 months of the year, 2,812 employers changed their maids four or more times in a year. Last year, 3,007 employers did likewise.
In 2005, the first full year in which the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) started keeping such statistics, 3,483 bosses were classified as employers who changed their maids 'frequently'.
The MOM says the situation is improving. From October 2004, it started making it compulsory for employers who applied to hire their fifth maid in a year to attend its employers' orientation programme.
But merely attending the programme does not guarantee such employers a clean record.
Subsequent applications to employ a new maid can result in an interview with the MOM.
The ministry also blacklists problematic employers - among them abusers and those who fail to pay maids' salaries.
On average, some 300 to 400 are blacklisted every year and are barred from hiring another maid for periods of time.
MOM director of well-being management Phua Boon Leng told The Straits Times its orientation course aimed to help employers be more aware of various problems they can face - for example, in communicating with their maid.
It also tries to get them to moderate their expectations and to see things from the maid's point of view.
The three-hour course is compulsory for all first-time employers - they can choose either to take it online and go through a quiz afterwards to make sure they have absorbed the material, or to take it in a classroom.
But employers who change maids frequently are required to sit through the classroom session.
Madam Chjiraporn Oringa Vathanasin, who has conducted the orientation course for the past four years, tries to impress on employers the need to be more tolerant and patient with their maids.
The main reasons cited by employers for wanting a different maid include: slowness and trouble following instructions, boyfriends, homesickness and poor hygiene.
In order to create better understanding, she often gives employers insights into the maids' lives.
Aside from dealing with homesickness and culture shock, carrying out activities that Singaporeans take for granted - such as using electrical appliances - can be daunting for someone who has never handled an electrical gadget.
Using case studies of employers who were fined or jailed for abusing their maids, she reminds bosses of their legal responsibilities and how they can be taken to task in various situations.
A case cited by MOM as one of the more serious ones regarding errant bosses is that of Zubaidah Sanluan, an employer who failed to pay her Indonesian maid a single cent for six years and two months.
She was fined $4,500 last year and was also barred from hiring another maid, on top of having to pay $19,398 in unpaid wages.
Said Ms Nashidah Begum, a manager at MOM's employment standards branch: 'Zubaidah kept telling the maid she would pay her next month, but never made good on it. The maid's family thought she was dead, as they had not heard from her in six years.'
Madam Sharon Tan, a 36-year-old mother of two, said the orientation course was informative.
However, the manager, who has had four maids this year, felt that some employers can be 'played out' by maids, and MOM should be more understanding towards these bosses.
Madam Vathanasin said that while no one has walked out of her class yet, some employers are clearly resistant to the idea of changing the way they treat their maids.
She added: 'Some people feel they have every right to do whatever they want with their maids. But with the news coverage of maid abuse cases, I feel bosses are less demanding now than before.'
Manpower Ministry says foreign maids faring better today than 5 years ago
The following article was first published in the Straits Times on 12 Dec 2009.
Life looking better for foreign maids
More maids here now but fewer deaths, abuse cases and pay disputes
By Theresa Tan
Dec 12, 2009
Straits Times
FOREIGN maids are faring better here today than they did five years ago, according to statistics from the Manpower Ministry (MOM) and interviews with advocacy groups and embassy officials.
The number of maid abuse cases and deaths in accidents or by suicide has come down.
The declines are significant because the number of maids has risen from about 160,000 in 2005 to 190,000 now.
In the first 11 months of this year, nine maids died of unnatural causes such as accidents or suicides, sharply down from 40 who died in 2004.
Two of those who died this year fell accidentally while cleaning windows or hanging out the laundry, down from eight such cases in 2004.
Complaints against employers who fail to pay their maids are also down. There have been 219 complaints up to last month this year, compared with 347 in 2005 and 234 last year.
MOM's director of well-being management, Mr Phua Boon Leng, said the statistics showed that the ministry's efforts to protect maids were working.
His department was set up in 2004 to look into the welfare of foreign workers. Since then, several measures have been introduced related to the working conditions of maids and the unrealistic expectations of some employers.
Since 2004, all new maids and first-time employers have to attend a mandatory orientation course, during which the women are told about safety issues and where to go for help, and employers are reminded to be patient and understanding when dealing with the foreigners in their homes.
The minimum age for new maids was raised from 18 to 23 in 2005, bringing in more mature women to work here. Maids also have to pass a basic literacy and numeracy test and have at least eight years of formal education.
Non-profit advocacy groups for migrant workers and embassies say maids are now more aware of their rights and where to seek help.
Ms Bridget Lew, founder of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, observed that the abuse cases her groups sees these days are not as bad as before.
The consul-general of the Philippine Embassy, Mr Neal Imperial, said that last year, 119 Filipinas, mostly maids, complained that they had been ill-treated. There were 169 such complaints in 2007.
In tackling the abuse problem, MOM decided to give all new maids a pre-paid envelope which they could mail to the ministry if they were ill-treated.
Mr Phua said: 'We know that some maids can't use the phone. We have had cases of maids who wrote about their ill-treatment on pieces of paper which they threw out of their employer's house and members of the public brought the notes to us.'
The police said there were 53 substantiated cases of maid abuse last year - just a third of the 157 cases in 1997.
Stricter penalties for maid abuse were introduced in 1998.
While those interviewed cheered the ministry's efforts to fix the more serious problems, they felt that more needed to be done to improve the welfare of maids.
Top of their list is giving maids a day off, to meet friends or go to their places of worship.
But, reiterating the ministry's position not to legislate compulsory rest days, Mr Phua said MOM preferred to leave employers and maids to work out these arrangements, as agreed upon in their contracts.
Life looking better for foreign maids
More maids here now but fewer deaths, abuse cases and pay disputes
By Theresa Tan
Dec 12, 2009
Straits Times
FOREIGN maids are faring better here today than they did five years ago, according to statistics from the Manpower Ministry (MOM) and interviews with advocacy groups and embassy officials.
The number of maid abuse cases and deaths in accidents or by suicide has come down.
The declines are significant because the number of maids has risen from about 160,000 in 2005 to 190,000 now.
In the first 11 months of this year, nine maids died of unnatural causes such as accidents or suicides, sharply down from 40 who died in 2004.
Two of those who died this year fell accidentally while cleaning windows or hanging out the laundry, down from eight such cases in 2004.
Complaints against employers who fail to pay their maids are also down. There have been 219 complaints up to last month this year, compared with 347 in 2005 and 234 last year.
MOM's director of well-being management, Mr Phua Boon Leng, said the statistics showed that the ministry's efforts to protect maids were working.
His department was set up in 2004 to look into the welfare of foreign workers. Since then, several measures have been introduced related to the working conditions of maids and the unrealistic expectations of some employers.
Since 2004, all new maids and first-time employers have to attend a mandatory orientation course, during which the women are told about safety issues and where to go for help, and employers are reminded to be patient and understanding when dealing with the foreigners in their homes.
The minimum age for new maids was raised from 18 to 23 in 2005, bringing in more mature women to work here. Maids also have to pass a basic literacy and numeracy test and have at least eight years of formal education.
Non-profit advocacy groups for migrant workers and embassies say maids are now more aware of their rights and where to seek help.
Ms Bridget Lew, founder of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, observed that the abuse cases her groups sees these days are not as bad as before.
The consul-general of the Philippine Embassy, Mr Neal Imperial, said that last year, 119 Filipinas, mostly maids, complained that they had been ill-treated. There were 169 such complaints in 2007.
In tackling the abuse problem, MOM decided to give all new maids a pre-paid envelope which they could mail to the ministry if they were ill-treated.
Mr Phua said: 'We know that some maids can't use the phone. We have had cases of maids who wrote about their ill-treatment on pieces of paper which they threw out of their employer's house and members of the public brought the notes to us.'
The police said there were 53 substantiated cases of maid abuse last year - just a third of the 157 cases in 1997.
Stricter penalties for maid abuse were introduced in 1998.
While those interviewed cheered the ministry's efforts to fix the more serious problems, they felt that more needed to be done to improve the welfare of maids.
Top of their list is giving maids a day off, to meet friends or go to their places of worship.
But, reiterating the ministry's position not to legislate compulsory rest days, Mr Phua said MOM preferred to leave employers and maids to work out these arrangements, as agreed upon in their contracts.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Boss in phantom worker scam jailed 30 months
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 12 Nov 2009.
Boss in phantom worker scam jailed 30 months
By ELENA CHONG
COURTS CORRESPONDENT
The Straits Times
12/11/2009
LIM Chye Cheng decided to hoof it when he knew he was in trouble.
The former boss of the SME group of companies, which provides cleaning services, was staring at 101 criminal charges accusing him of masterminding a phantom worker scam.
The 53-year-old skipped town with his brother's passport and made his way to Malaysia, and then eventually to China, where he was caught and eventually repatriated to Singapore.
Yesterday, Lim was jailed 30 months – including a 12-month jail term for having his brother's passport without a reasonable excuse.
The prosecution described him as the "de facto boss" who was running the whole operation.
Under his instructions, six companies under the SME group had applied for work permits for 153 foreign workers, after inflating the number of Singaporean workers on their payrolls.
The inflated figure allowed the companies to hire more foreign workers – beyond the number to which they were entitled – and thus save on labour costs. The list of phantom workers included the names of dead people and the elderly.
District Judge Liew Thiam Leng heard how Lim left for Malaysia on a boat from Punggol beach on March 23.
Lim had help from a Chinese national, Li Honglin, who arranged for the vessel to take him to a nearby kelong, where Lim took another boat to Johor Baru.
There, he asked Li to replace the photograph on his brother's passport with his own, but Li told him it could not be done.
Lim managed to make his way to China before he was sent back here on Aug 20. Details of how he travelled to China, or what happened to Li, were not mentioned in court.
Lim was convicted on 60 charges of conspiring with Steven Lee Kong Weng and Tay Hian Chye in the scam.
Lee, 60, then a director of nine companies within the SME group, has been jailed for 12 months while Tay, 47, the group's administration manager, received six months' jail.
To date, more than 30 people have been prosecuted over phantom worker scams.
Lim is the 18th person to be convicted.
All but one were jailed. Toh Eng Hock, 69, was fined $42,000 and spared a jail term by the court because of his ill health.
Lim could have been fined up to $15,000 and/or jailed for up to 12 months on each of the 60 charges.
For the passport offence, he could have been fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed for up to 10 years.
Boss in phantom worker scam jailed 30 months
By ELENA CHONG
COURTS CORRESPONDENT
The Straits Times
12/11/2009
LIM Chye Cheng decided to hoof it when he knew he was in trouble.
The former boss of the SME group of companies, which provides cleaning services, was staring at 101 criminal charges accusing him of masterminding a phantom worker scam.
The 53-year-old skipped town with his brother's passport and made his way to Malaysia, and then eventually to China, where he was caught and eventually repatriated to Singapore.
Yesterday, Lim was jailed 30 months – including a 12-month jail term for having his brother's passport without a reasonable excuse.
The prosecution described him as the "de facto boss" who was running the whole operation.
Under his instructions, six companies under the SME group had applied for work permits for 153 foreign workers, after inflating the number of Singaporean workers on their payrolls.
The inflated figure allowed the companies to hire more foreign workers – beyond the number to which they were entitled – and thus save on labour costs. The list of phantom workers included the names of dead people and the elderly.
District Judge Liew Thiam Leng heard how Lim left for Malaysia on a boat from Punggol beach on March 23.
Lim had help from a Chinese national, Li Honglin, who arranged for the vessel to take him to a nearby kelong, where Lim took another boat to Johor Baru.
There, he asked Li to replace the photograph on his brother's passport with his own, but Li told him it could not be done.
Lim managed to make his way to China before he was sent back here on Aug 20. Details of how he travelled to China, or what happened to Li, were not mentioned in court.
Lim was convicted on 60 charges of conspiring with Steven Lee Kong Weng and Tay Hian Chye in the scam.
Lee, 60, then a director of nine companies within the SME group, has been jailed for 12 months while Tay, 47, the group's administration manager, received six months' jail.
To date, more than 30 people have been prosecuted over phantom worker scams.
Lim is the 18th person to be convicted.
All but one were jailed. Toh Eng Hock, 69, was fined $42,000 and spared a jail term by the court because of his ill health.
Lim could have been fined up to $15,000 and/or jailed for up to 12 months on each of the 60 charges.
For the passport offence, he could have been fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed for up to 10 years.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Employers want more foreign workers
The following article was first published by the Straits Times on 9 Dec 2009.
Employers want more foreign workers: Survey
Almost half in SCCCI poll say business growth hit by quota on such workers
By Cassandra Chew
Dec 9, 2009
Straits Times
Key Findings
COMPANIES that rely on foreign workers want the Government to let them hire more of them, according to a survey.
The call is particularly intense from contractors and manufacturers, who feel the quota should be adjusted for specific sectors. Foreign workers form up to 70 per cent of the workforce in these two sectors.
Overall, almost half of the businesses surveyed are unhappy with the foreign worker quota policy.
They want it raised in order for them to meet orders, which have been increasing in the past few months as Singapore's economy claws its way out of the red.
But such a move could hurt Singapore's competitive edge, said economics professor Davin Chor from Singapore Management University.
'Long-run growth depends on the capacity of our economy to consistently improve on our productivity and the way we tap into cutting-edge technologies,' he said.
'Relying on inexpensive foreign labour would have the reverse effect of discouraging investments in productivity-enhancing innovation.'
The survey, released yesterday, was done by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) in October after its members complained that labour shortages were curbing their business growth.
Most of the survey participants were from the manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail sectors.
However, their call for more foreign labour comes up against the Government's plan to slow the pace of such workers entering the country, as growing dependence on them is not sustainable.
In June, the policy on hiring foreigners in the services sector was changed to make it more difficult to employ Chinese nationals. It was part of the Government's move to raise the skills bar to stop employers from looking to foreigners as an easier and cheaper option.
Latest official figures show there are 1.1 million foreign workers here, who make up about one-third of the 2.93 million workers in Singapore.
Many are employed by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which form the bulk of the 328 companies that responded to the survey. Of these, 173 say they have a total of 4,210 job vacancies, mostly for skilled and unskilled workers.
Collectively, these companies hire 21,598 foreign workers, who make up 58.2 per cent of their total workforce.
However, in construction, the proportion is 70 per cent, and in manufacturing, 51 per cent - far higher than the national 37.6 per cent reliance rate.
Although foreign workers help reduce business costs, this is not the main reason employers hire them. Rather, it is the working attitude of locals, said the survey report.
Locals tend to shun shift work and jobs in the more remote areas, said Mr Teo Siong Seng, SCCCI's president and a Nominated MP. As a result, employers hesitate to take new orders, he added.
'Their concern is, what will happen if they cannot hire the workers? This is a concern of all SMEs, not just our members,' he said.
Mr Yeow Kian Seng, 54, managing director of Lucky Joint Construction, suggests introducing hiring quotas based on how labour-intensive the job at hand is, rather than the value of the project.
Employers want more foreign workers: Survey
Almost half in SCCCI poll say business growth hit by quota on such workers
By Cassandra Chew
Dec 9, 2009
Straits Times
Key Findings
COMPANIES that rely on foreign workers want the Government to let them hire more of them, according to a survey.
The call is particularly intense from contractors and manufacturers, who feel the quota should be adjusted for specific sectors. Foreign workers form up to 70 per cent of the workforce in these two sectors.
Overall, almost half of the businesses surveyed are unhappy with the foreign worker quota policy.
They want it raised in order for them to meet orders, which have been increasing in the past few months as Singapore's economy claws its way out of the red.
But such a move could hurt Singapore's competitive edge, said economics professor Davin Chor from Singapore Management University.
'Long-run growth depends on the capacity of our economy to consistently improve on our productivity and the way we tap into cutting-edge technologies,' he said.
'Relying on inexpensive foreign labour would have the reverse effect of discouraging investments in productivity-enhancing innovation.'
The survey, released yesterday, was done by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) in October after its members complained that labour shortages were curbing their business growth.
Most of the survey participants were from the manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail sectors.
However, their call for more foreign labour comes up against the Government's plan to slow the pace of such workers entering the country, as growing dependence on them is not sustainable.
In June, the policy on hiring foreigners in the services sector was changed to make it more difficult to employ Chinese nationals. It was part of the Government's move to raise the skills bar to stop employers from looking to foreigners as an easier and cheaper option.
Latest official figures show there are 1.1 million foreign workers here, who make up about one-third of the 2.93 million workers in Singapore.
Many are employed by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which form the bulk of the 328 companies that responded to the survey. Of these, 173 say they have a total of 4,210 job vacancies, mostly for skilled and unskilled workers.
Collectively, these companies hire 21,598 foreign workers, who make up 58.2 per cent of their total workforce.
However, in construction, the proportion is 70 per cent, and in manufacturing, 51 per cent - far higher than the national 37.6 per cent reliance rate.
Although foreign workers help reduce business costs, this is not the main reason employers hire them. Rather, it is the working attitude of locals, said the survey report.
Locals tend to shun shift work and jobs in the more remote areas, said Mr Teo Siong Seng, SCCCI's president and a Nominated MP. As a result, employers hesitate to take new orders, he added.
'Their concern is, what will happen if they cannot hire the workers? This is a concern of all SMEs, not just our members,' he said.
Mr Yeow Kian Seng, 54, managing director of Lucky Joint Construction, suggests introducing hiring quotas based on how labour-intensive the job at hand is, rather than the value of the project.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Dorm residents to help patrol Serangoon Gardens
The following article was published in My Paper on 8 Dec 2009.
Dorm residents to help patrol Serangoon Gardens
By Dawn Tay
NEW "rangers" may soon patrol the neighbourhood of Serangoon Gardens as more workers move into the new foreign workers' dormitory located there.
Dormitory residents, together with the residents of the estate, will team up to carry out these patrols.
The new measure is being proposed by a committee comprising representatives of the area's residents, police and dormitory operator Maxi Consultancy, which was formed last year to look into the issues raised by the opening of the dormitory.
The patrol is meant to allay the fears of residents of Serangoon Gardens. More than 1,400 of them had petitioned last year against the opening of the dormitory, citing concerns that it would increase crime rates and lower property values.
The dormitory, which started taking in workers this month, is being run on a five-year lease and can house about 600 male and female workers from the services and manufacturing sector.
The Ministry of National Development will consider increasing this figure to up to 1,000 workers.
Foreign workers involved in the programme will be taught basic security procedures and engagement skills with the residents, said Mr Yong Hua Yong, Serangoon Constituency Office's acting senior constituency manager.
"It will also provide a platform for contact between residents and dormitory residents, and create opportunities for them to get to know one another. If any issue crops up, this group of workers can assist," he said.
It is not known how many workers and residents will be roped into the programme.
Residents and community leaders have formed four sub-committees to oversee security, traffic, environment and community-engagement issues.
Residents whom my paper spoke to yesterday did not seem worried about security.
Madam Quek Chek Joon, 62, a housewife whose family initially protested against the dormitory's opening, said: "I don't think security patrols are necessary. The foreign workers have come from far away to work – they won't cause trouble."
Another resident, student Basil Chen, 23, agreed that the patrols were unnecessary.
But if they were to be carried out, "the (patrollers) should wear uniforms or tags, so that they can be easily identified", he said.
Dorm residents to help patrol Serangoon Gardens
By Dawn Tay
NEW "rangers" may soon patrol the neighbourhood of Serangoon Gardens as more workers move into the new foreign workers' dormitory located there.
Dormitory residents, together with the residents of the estate, will team up to carry out these patrols.
The new measure is being proposed by a committee comprising representatives of the area's residents, police and dormitory operator Maxi Consultancy, which was formed last year to look into the issues raised by the opening of the dormitory.
The patrol is meant to allay the fears of residents of Serangoon Gardens. More than 1,400 of them had petitioned last year against the opening of the dormitory, citing concerns that it would increase crime rates and lower property values.
The dormitory, which started taking in workers this month, is being run on a five-year lease and can house about 600 male and female workers from the services and manufacturing sector.
The Ministry of National Development will consider increasing this figure to up to 1,000 workers.
Foreign workers involved in the programme will be taught basic security procedures and engagement skills with the residents, said Mr Yong Hua Yong, Serangoon Constituency Office's acting senior constituency manager.
"It will also provide a platform for contact between residents and dormitory residents, and create opportunities for them to get to know one another. If any issue crops up, this group of workers can assist," he said.
It is not known how many workers and residents will be roped into the programme.
Residents and community leaders have formed four sub-committees to oversee security, traffic, environment and community-engagement issues.
Residents whom my paper spoke to yesterday did not seem worried about security.
Madam Quek Chek Joon, 62, a housewife whose family initially protested against the dormitory's opening, said: "I don't think security patrols are necessary. The foreign workers have come from far away to work – they won't cause trouble."
Another resident, student Basil Chen, 23, agreed that the patrols were unnecessary.
But if they were to be carried out, "the (patrollers) should wear uniforms or tags, so that they can be easily identified", he said.
Patrols of Serangoon Gardens from next week
The following article was published in The New Paper on 8 Dec 2009.
Patrols of Serangoon Gardens from next week
A NEWCOMER to Serangoon Gardents, a foreign worker dormitory, will take in occupants next week.
That is when teams of residents and foreign workers will start patrolling the neighbourhood.
MP for Serangoon Gardens, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, said the joint effort by the police, residents and the dormitory operator, Maxi Consultancy, will ensure that the estate remains safe.
Plans to convert the former Serangoon Garden Technical School along Burghley Drive into a foreign worker dormitory last year upset residents who raised concerns over traffic congestion, security and safety.
Patrols of Serangoon Gardens from next week
A NEWCOMER to Serangoon Gardents, a foreign worker dormitory, will take in occupants next week.
That is when teams of residents and foreign workers will start patrolling the neighbourhood.
MP for Serangoon Gardens, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, said the joint effort by the police, residents and the dormitory operator, Maxi Consultancy, will ensure that the estate remains safe.
Plans to convert the former Serangoon Garden Technical School along Burghley Drive into a foreign worker dormitory last year upset residents who raised concerns over traffic congestion, security and safety.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Trainee teachers volunteer to teach English to foreign workers
The following article was first published by Channel News Asia on 7 Dec 2009.
Trainee teachers volunteer to teach English to foreign workers
7 December 2009
Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : A group of trainee teachers from the National Institute of Education wants to equip foreign workers with basic English in just one lesson.
They plan to teach twice weekly at a foreign workers' dormitory on Pulau Brani.
20-year-old Xian Yaping, a foreign worker from China, and 30 other construction workers from Resorts World Sentosa eagerly signed up for the one-and-a-half hour English lessons.
The lessons were initiated by 23 first-year trainee teachers as part of their community service project.
Jenny Tan is one of the trainee teachers involved in the project called ' Project Bridge'. She said the aim is to equip foreign workers with basic English to express common health- and work-related issues.
Ms Tan said: "We hope that through this project, the workers will be able to apply what we have taught them in their daily lives. Through this project...we will be able to...teach them so that they will learn and the teachers will be able to learn their culture and befriend them. "
The teachers employ what they call the translation method.
Ms Tan explained: "In every lesson, we (have) Chinese and Tamil translators (on standby); anytime the participants do not understand the vocabulary or sentence structure we are teaching them, we have a translator to translate it into their language."
The teachers will conduct lessons over a period of three weeks, reaching out to 180 of these workers.
Although the numbers may not seem significant for a dormitory with 4,000 workers, the trainee teachers said it is a first step that will allow some workers to be able to interact with Singaporeans. - CNA/ms
(c) 2009 MediaCorp News Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Trainee teachers volunteer to teach English to foreign workers
7 December 2009
Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : A group of trainee teachers from the National Institute of Education wants to equip foreign workers with basic English in just one lesson.
They plan to teach twice weekly at a foreign workers' dormitory on Pulau Brani.
20-year-old Xian Yaping, a foreign worker from China, and 30 other construction workers from Resorts World Sentosa eagerly signed up for the one-and-a-half hour English lessons.
The lessons were initiated by 23 first-year trainee teachers as part of their community service project.
Jenny Tan is one of the trainee teachers involved in the project called ' Project Bridge'. She said the aim is to equip foreign workers with basic English to express common health- and work-related issues.
Ms Tan said: "We hope that through this project, the workers will be able to apply what we have taught them in their daily lives. Through this project...we will be able to...teach them so that they will learn and the teachers will be able to learn their culture and befriend them. "
The teachers employ what they call the translation method.
Ms Tan explained: "In every lesson, we (have) Chinese and Tamil translators (on standby); anytime the participants do not understand the vocabulary or sentence structure we are teaching them, we have a translator to translate it into their language."
The teachers will conduct lessons over a period of three weeks, reaching out to 180 of these workers.
Although the numbers may not seem significant for a dormitory with 4,000 workers, the trainee teachers said it is a first step that will allow some workers to be able to interact with Singaporeans. - CNA/ms
(c) 2009 MediaCorp News Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Foreign domestic workers pay more to come to S'pore despite regulations
The following article was first published by Channel NewsAsia on 6 Dec 2009.
Foreign domestic workers pay more to come to S'pore despite regulations
6 December 2009
Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE: Despite better regulations introduced three years ago, foreign domestic workers are still bearing more of the cost to come to Singapore to work.
They are also suffering from fatigue due to long work hours.
At a news conference, to mark the UN Human Rights Day and International Migrants' Day later this month, foreign worker NGOs noted that many workers are still paying off the costs of coming here - by going without pay for six to ten months.
To hire a maid, employers are charged between S$2,500 and S$3,000. It is common practice for agencies and employers to deduct that amount - not just the commission - from workers' salaries.
The NGOs are advocating for changes in agency practices, such as lowering the cost of coming to work in Singapore, and making the breakdown of charges more transparent to the workers.
- CNA/sc
(c) 2009 MediaCorp News Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Foreign domestic workers pay more to come to S'pore despite regulations
6 December 2009
Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE: Despite better regulations introduced three years ago, foreign domestic workers are still bearing more of the cost to come to Singapore to work.
They are also suffering from fatigue due to long work hours.
At a news conference, to mark the UN Human Rights Day and International Migrants' Day later this month, foreign worker NGOs noted that many workers are still paying off the costs of coming here - by going without pay for six to ten months.
To hire a maid, employers are charged between S$2,500 and S$3,000. It is common practice for agencies and employers to deduct that amount - not just the commission - from workers' salaries.
The NGOs are advocating for changes in agency practices, such as lowering the cost of coming to work in Singapore, and making the breakdown of charges more transparent to the workers.
- CNA/sc
(c) 2009 MediaCorp News Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Maids are not free to change jobs at will
The following letter was published in the Straits Times on 5 Dec 2009.
Maids are not free to change jobs at will
Dec 5, 2009
THERE have been several letters recently from employers of maids who have complained about their behaviour and suggested they are too free to decide their conditions of work and who they will work for ('Are errant maids, agencies misusing free ride home?', Nov 23; 'Strike a balance to protect interests of maids' employers', last Saturday; and 'Transfer - the new mantra of street- smart maids', Tuesday).
We disagree. Maids are not free to change jobs at will.
They are tied to a specific workplace and employer by the terms of their work permit, and can leave them and take work with another employer only with the consent of their existing employer.
Workers do not seek to change employers for frivolous reasons; usually, there are charges attached to their transfer by their agency that mean they may work from one to four months more before they receive any benefit at all from their labour. There is no legal restriction on the hours a maid may be required to work, nor any mandatory day off.
Two Sundays ago, we heard women from the shelter operated by the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) talk about their experiences at the hands of employers. The beatings, insults, sexual molestation, inadequate food and rest these still distressed women described may be the experiences of a small minority among the nearly 200,000 maids here, but they testified to the great inequality in the relationship between employers and maids.
These women were not just the victims of bad employers; they suffered from disempowerment. Some were afraid to seek help or refuse to do dangerous or illegal work out of fear that their employer would send them home, before they had paid off their debt. Most were not allowed to go out and were cut off from the outside world. Their passports and other documentation were taken away from them by agents and employers in order to control them.
It should be unacceptable for any employer to be allowed so much power over workers. Maids should benefit from all the protections contained in the Employment Act and such others as may be necessary to ensure they are treated with respect and consideration, asked to work reasonable hours and at duties they may fairly be asked to undertake, and have the freedom to come and go that other adults in Singapore take for granted.
A more equitable relationship needs to be established, and we need to hear the voices of maids as we work towards that.
John Gee
President
Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2)
Dana Lam (Ms)
President
Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware)
Maids are not free to change jobs at will
Dec 5, 2009
THERE have been several letters recently from employers of maids who have complained about their behaviour and suggested they are too free to decide their conditions of work and who they will work for ('Are errant maids, agencies misusing free ride home?', Nov 23; 'Strike a balance to protect interests of maids' employers', last Saturday; and 'Transfer - the new mantra of street- smart maids', Tuesday).
We disagree. Maids are not free to change jobs at will.
They are tied to a specific workplace and employer by the terms of their work permit, and can leave them and take work with another employer only with the consent of their existing employer.
Workers do not seek to change employers for frivolous reasons; usually, there are charges attached to their transfer by their agency that mean they may work from one to four months more before they receive any benefit at all from their labour. There is no legal restriction on the hours a maid may be required to work, nor any mandatory day off.
Two Sundays ago, we heard women from the shelter operated by the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) talk about their experiences at the hands of employers. The beatings, insults, sexual molestation, inadequate food and rest these still distressed women described may be the experiences of a small minority among the nearly 200,000 maids here, but they testified to the great inequality in the relationship between employers and maids.
These women were not just the victims of bad employers; they suffered from disempowerment. Some were afraid to seek help or refuse to do dangerous or illegal work out of fear that their employer would send them home, before they had paid off their debt. Most were not allowed to go out and were cut off from the outside world. Their passports and other documentation were taken away from them by agents and employers in order to control them.
It should be unacceptable for any employer to be allowed so much power over workers. Maids should benefit from all the protections contained in the Employment Act and such others as may be necessary to ensure they are treated with respect and consideration, asked to work reasonable hours and at duties they may fairly be asked to undertake, and have the freedom to come and go that other adults in Singapore take for granted.
A more equitable relationship needs to be established, and we need to hear the voices of maids as we work towards that.
John Gee
President
Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2)
Dana Lam (Ms)
President
Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware)
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Foreigners for skilled service jobs must clear English test
The following article was first published in the Straits Times on 3 Dec 09.
Foreigners for skilled service jobs must clear English test
Cassandra Chew
3 December 2009
Straits Times
SINGAPOREANS know too well the frustrations of not being understood by service staff from foreign lands when out for a meal or shopping in Orchard Road.
New rules, however, are going to be introduced to help resolve the problem.
From the third quarter of next year, new foreign workers have to clear an English proficiency test before they can get a work permit as a skilled worker.
This will also lower their foreign worker levy, saving an employer $90 a month for each hire.
The new requirement is part of a government move to raise standards in three industries where speaking English is key to delivering good service: retail, food and beverage (F&B), and hotels.
Employers are delighted with the change, which was announced yesterday by the Minister of State for Manpower as well as Trade and Industry, Mr Lee Yi Shyan.
Said Mr Lee: 'English is the working language in Singapore. This is particularly important in industries such as hotels, retail and F&B, where workers interact regularly with customers.'
He made the point at the graduation ceremony of a basic conversational English course for foreign workers. It was held at the NTUC LearningHub's campus in Mountbatten.
The course was initiated by the NTUC LearningHub and the Migrant Workers Centre, a non-profit organisation that offers aid to foreign workers here.
It came about after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said recently that the Government was looking into ways to address the problem of foreigners in service jobs who cannot understand basic English.
PM Lee gave the assurance after Singaporeans had complained long and loud about foreigners who do not understand even simple phrases like 'chilli' or 'no chilli'.
To encourage the learning of English, Mr Lee Yi Shyan said employers who hire foreigners proficient in the language will pay $150 a month for the skilled worker, who must also possess relevant skills certification.
Otherwise, the employer will pay $240, the levy for an unskilled worker.
More details on the proficiency test, and how the rule will affect existing foreign workers, will be released next month.
The three sectors hire a total of 320,000 workers. Of these, up to half could be foreigners.
Minister of State Lee said the new rule is propelled by the need to boost productivity in the service sector, which has been on the decline.
Last year, productivity among hotels and restaurants fell by 9 per cent, and continues to drop further this year.
He said: 'There is a lot of room for productivity improvement in the service sector. And if you want to improve the productivity of service workers, apart from functional skills, the ability to communicate is also very important.'
He also urged employers to view the cost of training staff to meet the language requirement as an investment towards staying competitive.
Employers in the three sectors hailed the language rule.
Said managing director Hensley Teh of womenswear retailer M)phosis: 'There is a need for both locals and foreigners in the service line to have a command of English, but the requirement may be more essential for foreign workers.'
Singapore Retailers Association executive director Lau Chuen Wei suggests that the tests focus on service-related communication skills, rather than generic English proficiency.
She said: 'The kind of communication required of someone working in a fashion store would be quite different from that required of someone working in an electronics store, and this must be reflected in the assessment process.'
The human resource director of Royal Plaza on Scotts hotel, Ms Eileen Ang, however, is worried that the shortage of English-speaking workers will worsen with the opening of the integrated resorts.
But Mr Raj Giri, training and operations manager for cinema operator Golden Village, believes it is a matter of looking in the right places.
'In China, a lot of people are progressing, upgrading and I'm sure if we knock on the right doors, we will be able to find workers who can speak English.'
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Foreigners for skilled service jobs must clear English test
Cassandra Chew
3 December 2009
Straits Times
SINGAPOREANS know too well the frustrations of not being understood by service staff from foreign lands when out for a meal or shopping in Orchard Road.
New rules, however, are going to be introduced to help resolve the problem.
From the third quarter of next year, new foreign workers have to clear an English proficiency test before they can get a work permit as a skilled worker.
This will also lower their foreign worker levy, saving an employer $90 a month for each hire.
The new requirement is part of a government move to raise standards in three industries where speaking English is key to delivering good service: retail, food and beverage (F&B), and hotels.
Employers are delighted with the change, which was announced yesterday by the Minister of State for Manpower as well as Trade and Industry, Mr Lee Yi Shyan.
Said Mr Lee: 'English is the working language in Singapore. This is particularly important in industries such as hotels, retail and F&B, where workers interact regularly with customers.'
He made the point at the graduation ceremony of a basic conversational English course for foreign workers. It was held at the NTUC LearningHub's campus in Mountbatten.
The course was initiated by the NTUC LearningHub and the Migrant Workers Centre, a non-profit organisation that offers aid to foreign workers here.
It came about after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said recently that the Government was looking into ways to address the problem of foreigners in service jobs who cannot understand basic English.
PM Lee gave the assurance after Singaporeans had complained long and loud about foreigners who do not understand even simple phrases like 'chilli' or 'no chilli'.
To encourage the learning of English, Mr Lee Yi Shyan said employers who hire foreigners proficient in the language will pay $150 a month for the skilled worker, who must also possess relevant skills certification.
Otherwise, the employer will pay $240, the levy for an unskilled worker.
More details on the proficiency test, and how the rule will affect existing foreign workers, will be released next month.
The three sectors hire a total of 320,000 workers. Of these, up to half could be foreigners.
Minister of State Lee said the new rule is propelled by the need to boost productivity in the service sector, which has been on the decline.
Last year, productivity among hotels and restaurants fell by 9 per cent, and continues to drop further this year.
He said: 'There is a lot of room for productivity improvement in the service sector. And if you want to improve the productivity of service workers, apart from functional skills, the ability to communicate is also very important.'
He also urged employers to view the cost of training staff to meet the language requirement as an investment towards staying competitive.
Employers in the three sectors hailed the language rule.
Said managing director Hensley Teh of womenswear retailer M)phosis: 'There is a need for both locals and foreigners in the service line to have a command of English, but the requirement may be more essential for foreign workers.'
Singapore Retailers Association executive director Lau Chuen Wei suggests that the tests focus on service-related communication skills, rather than generic English proficiency.
She said: 'The kind of communication required of someone working in a fashion store would be quite different from that required of someone working in an electronics store, and this must be reflected in the assessment process.'
The human resource director of Royal Plaza on Scotts hotel, Ms Eileen Ang, however, is worried that the shortage of English-speaking workers will worsen with the opening of the integrated resorts.
But Mr Raj Giri, training and operations manager for cinema operator Golden Village, believes it is a matter of looking in the right places.
'In China, a lot of people are progressing, upgrading and I'm sure if we knock on the right doors, we will be able to find workers who can speak English.'
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Brain damage worker wins a big payout
The following article was first published in the Straits Times on 3 Dec 09.
Brain damage worker wins a big payout
K.C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent
3 December 2009
Straits Times
Court says bosses are liable for safety even at third-party sites
A FOREIGN worker who saw his claim for workmen's compensation rejected can now expect to net a payout of at least $250,000 - almost double what he had initially hoped for.
Mr Chandran Subbiah, 45, had suffered brain damage after a 10m fall inside a container vessel hatch in 2005.
After he failed to get workmen's compensation, the Malaysian turned to the High Court. But the court put paid to his hopes when his claims were rejected in May. Through lawyers P. Kamala Devi and A. Perumal, however, the case was taken to the country's highest court, the Court of Appeal, which overturned the decision and granted his claim on Tuesday.
Now, after being jobless for four years, the father of three's payout is expected to be least $250,000 - the minimum sum for suits heard in the High Court. The payout will be assessed at a separate hearing. Under workmen's compensation, he could have got up to $140,000 at best.
Mr Perumal explained yesterday that no award was made for Mr Chandran under the workmen's compensation scheme when he applied in 2006, as he had suffered skull fracture. The injury was not listed in the assessment guide category unlike broken bones in the arms and legs.
'So we had to sue in court as it is difficult to measure the disabilities arising from this particular kind of injury under the workmen's scheme,' he added.
In the grounds for its decision, the Court of Appeal also weighed in on worker safety and made clear that bosses are duty-bound to assess worksite risks and minimise the dangers before sending in their workers.
The three-judge court presided by Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong said 'an employer simply cannot wash his hands of all responsibility for worker safety simply because their employees are sent to work at a site controlled by others'.
Mr Subbiah, a freelance stevedore, was working for Dockers Marine at the PSA's Pasir Panjang Wharves on Oct 18, 2005, when the mishap occurred. He was part of a team tasked with aligning 24 containers which were then to be loaded into a cargo hold area within a vessel. He had not been using any safety equipment.
He fell when the ladder he was on detached suddenly from the hull of the vessel. He plunged some 10m, first hitting the top of the single deck container and then rolling off upon impact, before dropping to the vessel floor.
He suffered severe head, eye and hand injuries which have affected his eyesight and cognitive abilities till today. Since the accident, the former sole breadwinner has been living in Johor with his three children but has remained jobless.
In the judgment, the Court of Appeal showed that employers continue to be liable for the safety of their workers even if their accidents had taken place on third-party premises. The court held that the employer had a duty to inspect the premises which could have spotted the fault in the defective ladder. The firm also failed to take reasonable steps to provide for the worker's safety by providing safety belts and harnesses.
Wrote Justice V.K. Rajah on the court's behalf: 'This accident illustrates...the importance of observing safety requirements in all cases where employees work at heights. Basic safety precautions...and above all the establishment of a work safety culture will go a long way towards lowering the risk quotient for the occurrence of such avoidable accidents.'
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Brain damage worker wins a big payout
K.C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent
3 December 2009
Straits Times
Court says bosses are liable for safety even at third-party sites
A FOREIGN worker who saw his claim for workmen's compensation rejected can now expect to net a payout of at least $250,000 - almost double what he had initially hoped for.
Mr Chandran Subbiah, 45, had suffered brain damage after a 10m fall inside a container vessel hatch in 2005.
After he failed to get workmen's compensation, the Malaysian turned to the High Court. But the court put paid to his hopes when his claims were rejected in May. Through lawyers P. Kamala Devi and A. Perumal, however, the case was taken to the country's highest court, the Court of Appeal, which overturned the decision and granted his claim on Tuesday.
Now, after being jobless for four years, the father of three's payout is expected to be least $250,000 - the minimum sum for suits heard in the High Court. The payout will be assessed at a separate hearing. Under workmen's compensation, he could have got up to $140,000 at best.
Mr Perumal explained yesterday that no award was made for Mr Chandran under the workmen's compensation scheme when he applied in 2006, as he had suffered skull fracture. The injury was not listed in the assessment guide category unlike broken bones in the arms and legs.
'So we had to sue in court as it is difficult to measure the disabilities arising from this particular kind of injury under the workmen's scheme,' he added.
In the grounds for its decision, the Court of Appeal also weighed in on worker safety and made clear that bosses are duty-bound to assess worksite risks and minimise the dangers before sending in their workers.
The three-judge court presided by Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong said 'an employer simply cannot wash his hands of all responsibility for worker safety simply because their employees are sent to work at a site controlled by others'.
Mr Subbiah, a freelance stevedore, was working for Dockers Marine at the PSA's Pasir Panjang Wharves on Oct 18, 2005, when the mishap occurred. He was part of a team tasked with aligning 24 containers which were then to be loaded into a cargo hold area within a vessel. He had not been using any safety equipment.
He fell when the ladder he was on detached suddenly from the hull of the vessel. He plunged some 10m, first hitting the top of the single deck container and then rolling off upon impact, before dropping to the vessel floor.
He suffered severe head, eye and hand injuries which have affected his eyesight and cognitive abilities till today. Since the accident, the former sole breadwinner has been living in Johor with his three children but has remained jobless.
In the judgment, the Court of Appeal showed that employers continue to be liable for the safety of their workers even if their accidents had taken place on third-party premises. The court held that the employer had a duty to inspect the premises which could have spotted the fault in the defective ladder. The firm also failed to take reasonable steps to provide for the worker's safety by providing safety belts and harnesses.
Wrote Justice V.K. Rajah on the court's behalf: 'This accident illustrates...the importance of observing safety requirements in all cases where employees work at heights. Basic safety precautions...and above all the establishment of a work safety culture will go a long way towards lowering the risk quotient for the occurrence of such avoidable accidents.'
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Split judgment in maid abuse case
The following article was first published in TODAY on 2 Dec 2009.
Split judgment in maid abuse case
By Zul Othman, TODAY
SINGAPORE: Should the court follow sentencing norms based on the severity of an assault, or can judges consider, in a maid abuse case, the position of authority held by the employer and the vulnerability of the maid as an aggravating factor?
This poser has split the Court of Appeal in a case involving an Indonesian maid who was abused repeatedly by her employer.
The 37-year-old accused, Lawrence Lim Hwang Ngin, is a police officer who was found guilty of kicking the maid, hitting her on the head and rapping her forehead with his knuckles on five occasions between January and May 2006. The maid was 23 at the time.
Now, the appellate court - the highest court in the Singapore justice system - in a 2-1 judgment has opted to not only let his conviction stand, it has doubled his jail term to 24 months.
While the signal from Justices Andrew Phang, V K Rajah and Woo Bih Li is clear - that maid abuse cannot be tolerated - the three Court of Appeal judges were split in their individual conclusions.
Justice Woo, the dissenting judge, felt that the positions of maid and employer ought not to be viewed as an aggravating factor.
He also argued that "there is a current sentencing norm of one to six weeks imprisonment in cases where there is no serious physical injury".
But in the 114-page written judgment, Justice Rajah opined: "Surely, it cannot be said that an abusive employer who persistently mistreats and humiliates a maid and then later physically injures her should be sentenced similarly with one who ordinarily treats a maid well but then on a solitary occasion loses control of himself and then inflicts a similar injury?"
"Does that mean that anything short of a grievous or permanent injury is not a serious injury?" he wrote.
Justice Phang, who agreed with this conclusion, added that "the sentencing process is not - and ought not to be - a mechanistic one".
This case was unique, as the accused had admitted that he wanted to wage "psychological warfare" on his victim, added the judge.
Justice Kan Ting Chiu, who presided over the trial last year, had also noted a pattern of assault, which took place at regular intervals.
Lim had initially faced 13 charges for sexual and physical assault on the maid, who cannot be named, but was acquitted on all allegations of sexual offence, including rape, because of reasonable doubt.
He then appealed against the sentences for his five convictions and the verdict for three of those, while the prosecution had appealed against the length of the jail terms for all five charges.
Justice Phang noted: "When the severe physical injuries inflicted on the victim are coupled with the mental abuse which she was subjected to (all in a systematic and patterned fashion), it can be seen immediately that the sentence meted out by the Judge in the court below is, with the deepest respect, manifestly inadequate."
Split judgment in maid abuse case
By Zul Othman, TODAY
SINGAPORE: Should the court follow sentencing norms based on the severity of an assault, or can judges consider, in a maid abuse case, the position of authority held by the employer and the vulnerability of the maid as an aggravating factor?
This poser has split the Court of Appeal in a case involving an Indonesian maid who was abused repeatedly by her employer.
The 37-year-old accused, Lawrence Lim Hwang Ngin, is a police officer who was found guilty of kicking the maid, hitting her on the head and rapping her forehead with his knuckles on five occasions between January and May 2006. The maid was 23 at the time.
Now, the appellate court - the highest court in the Singapore justice system - in a 2-1 judgment has opted to not only let his conviction stand, it has doubled his jail term to 24 months.
While the signal from Justices Andrew Phang, V K Rajah and Woo Bih Li is clear - that maid abuse cannot be tolerated - the three Court of Appeal judges were split in their individual conclusions.
Justice Woo, the dissenting judge, felt that the positions of maid and employer ought not to be viewed as an aggravating factor.
He also argued that "there is a current sentencing norm of one to six weeks imprisonment in cases where there is no serious physical injury".
But in the 114-page written judgment, Justice Rajah opined: "Surely, it cannot be said that an abusive employer who persistently mistreats and humiliates a maid and then later physically injures her should be sentenced similarly with one who ordinarily treats a maid well but then on a solitary occasion loses control of himself and then inflicts a similar injury?"
"Does that mean that anything short of a grievous or permanent injury is not a serious injury?" he wrote.
Justice Phang, who agreed with this conclusion, added that "the sentencing process is not - and ought not to be - a mechanistic one".
This case was unique, as the accused had admitted that he wanted to wage "psychological warfare" on his victim, added the judge.
Justice Kan Ting Chiu, who presided over the trial last year, had also noted a pattern of assault, which took place at regular intervals.
Lim had initially faced 13 charges for sexual and physical assault on the maid, who cannot be named, but was acquitted on all allegations of sexual offence, including rape, because of reasonable doubt.
He then appealed against the sentences for his five convictions and the verdict for three of those, while the prosecution had appealed against the length of the jail terms for all five charges.
Justice Phang noted: "When the severe physical injuries inflicted on the victim are coupled with the mental abuse which she was subjected to (all in a systematic and patterned fashion), it can be seen immediately that the sentence meted out by the Judge in the court below is, with the deepest respect, manifestly inadequate."
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Open verdict on worker’s water tank death
The following article was first published in TODAY on 26 Nov 09.
Open verdict on worker’s water tank death
By Shaffiq Alkhatib
TODAY
26 November 2009
TODAY (Singapore)
SINGAPORE — A State Coroner has recorded an open verdict on the death of a foreign worker found lying at the bottom of a water tank of a tanker berthed at Keppel Shipyard on the Aug 15 last year.
This was because of insufficient evidence of where and how the 21-year old Indian national, Mr Sathiyamoorthy Siva, fell into it that morning.
Mr Siva and his colleagues arrived at the shipyard around 7.20am to clean two water tanks on the Panama-registered tanker, Eneos Breeze. After a safety briefing, he was asked to go to an opening on the main deck of the ship to retrieve an air hose.
But around 8am, two workers in one of the tanks heard someone falling into it. Mr Siva was subsequently found lying motionless at the bottom of the tank, directly below the main deck opening.
A Ministry of Manpower investigation report showed that Mr Siva had clocked over 78 hours of work for five days prior to the incident.
The long working hours could have caused fatigue which impaired Mr Siva’s ability to assess risks accurately, it said.
He also failed to use the personal protective equipment provided to him.
(c) 2009. MediaCorp Press Ltd.
Open verdict on worker’s water tank death
By Shaffiq Alkhatib
TODAY
26 November 2009
TODAY (Singapore)
SINGAPORE — A State Coroner has recorded an open verdict on the death of a foreign worker found lying at the bottom of a water tank of a tanker berthed at Keppel Shipyard on the Aug 15 last year.
This was because of insufficient evidence of where and how the 21-year old Indian national, Mr Sathiyamoorthy Siva, fell into it that morning.
Mr Siva and his colleagues arrived at the shipyard around 7.20am to clean two water tanks on the Panama-registered tanker, Eneos Breeze. After a safety briefing, he was asked to go to an opening on the main deck of the ship to retrieve an air hose.
But around 8am, two workers in one of the tanks heard someone falling into it. Mr Siva was subsequently found lying motionless at the bottom of the tank, directly below the main deck opening.
A Ministry of Manpower investigation report showed that Mr Siva had clocked over 78 hours of work for five days prior to the incident.
The long working hours could have caused fatigue which impaired Mr Siva’s ability to assess risks accurately, it said.
He also failed to use the personal protective equipment provided to him.
(c) 2009. MediaCorp Press Ltd.
Friday, November 20, 2009
No cap on liability
The following article was published in TODAY on 20 October 2009.
No cap on liability
By Imelda Saad
TODAY, 20 October 2009
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has said “no” to placing a cap on the maximum medical liability of an employer for foreign maids brought here to work.
In Parliament yesterday, as the issue of the impending higher medical insurance coverage for foreign domestic workers was discussed, Member of Parliament Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar GRC) asked why employers were required to shoulder unlimited liability for their maids’ hospital bills.
From January, the minimum medical insurance coverage for foreign maids will be raised to $15,000 a year, from the current $5,000, so as to reduce an employer’s exposure to potentially large hospital bills. But beyond what that insurance covers, an employer would have to foot any excess.
Mr Baey was concerned that maid employers were “unlikely to have the (same) resources as companies to take care of, in some cases, the extremely high medical bills of their foreign domestic workers”.
In reply, Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Manpower) Hawazi Daipi, said: “Employers who make the decision to bring foreign workers in would bear the cost of their care. Otherwise, hospitals will run deficits which are ultimately paid for by the taxpayer.”
Those who face difficulties may approach the hospital to discuss options such as instalment payments, he added.
But if a maximum liability cap were to be set, asked Mr Baey, what about allowing a part of the foreign maid levies collected to be used to fund any excess in medical bills? Mr Hawazi replied that like other taxes collected, the levy is part of government revenue and not earmarked for specific expenditure.
Last year, according to MOM, one in 10 hospital bills for foreign workers and foreign domestic workers exceeded $5,000. Channel NewsAsia
No cap on liability
By Imelda Saad
TODAY, 20 October 2009
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has said “no” to placing a cap on the maximum medical liability of an employer for foreign maids brought here to work.
In Parliament yesterday, as the issue of the impending higher medical insurance coverage for foreign domestic workers was discussed, Member of Parliament Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar GRC) asked why employers were required to shoulder unlimited liability for their maids’ hospital bills.
From January, the minimum medical insurance coverage for foreign maids will be raised to $15,000 a year, from the current $5,000, so as to reduce an employer’s exposure to potentially large hospital bills. But beyond what that insurance covers, an employer would have to foot any excess.
Mr Baey was concerned that maid employers were “unlikely to have the (same) resources as companies to take care of, in some cases, the extremely high medical bills of their foreign domestic workers”.
In reply, Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Manpower) Hawazi Daipi, said: “Employers who make the decision to bring foreign workers in would bear the cost of their care. Otherwise, hospitals will run deficits which are ultimately paid for by the taxpayer.”
Those who face difficulties may approach the hospital to discuss options such as instalment payments, he added.
But if a maximum liability cap were to be set, asked Mr Baey, what about allowing a part of the foreign maid levies collected to be used to fund any excess in medical bills? Mr Hawazi replied that like other taxes collected, the levy is part of government revenue and not earmarked for specific expenditure.
Last year, according to MOM, one in 10 hospital bills for foreign workers and foreign domestic workers exceeded $5,000. Channel NewsAsia
Foreign Service Staff - English Proficiency Test a Future Pre-requisite?
The following article was first published in TODAY on 20 Nov 09.
Satisfaction not guaranteed ... yet
TODAY
20 November 2009
TODAY (Singapore)
FOR years, poor service standards in Singapore have been a bugbear for consumers here. And of late, grouses have largely centred around the growing numbers of foreign service staff here who have trouble communicating in English.
The hunt for solutions to the language gap among foreign service staff and local consumers has led to some urging the Government to consider implementing an English language proficiency test — much like what foreign domestic helpers have to go through — as a prerequisite for companies looking to hire foreigners.
It is a move businesses are resisting. The justification from employers: Such requirements are too “painful” for businesses to bear and would also dramatically shrink the manpower pool further in an industry where they are having to look beyond our shores because few locals are willing to take the jobs up.
Already, sourcing for manpower is proving a bigger challenge in the aftermath of foreign worker quotas in the service industry being lowered as of June this year, they add.
But as the Government, over the years, continues to stress to Singaporeans the importance of maintaining a high level of English proficiency, why should service firms be allowed to bring in workers who are not equipped with a basic grasp of the language?
The situation is even more befuddling considering these foreign workers’ poor language skills could tarnish the reputation of the tourism industry — a significant sector of Singapore’s economy.
That something has to be done about the standoff between local consumers and foreign staff over the language issue is evident.
The question, though, is what could answer consumers’ increasingly louder calls for the service industry to up their game without forcing companies to adopt the “painful” suggestions that have been raised.
The solution — at least in the food and beverage sector — could lie in getting companies to scrap service charges in favour of a tipping system.
At the end of your meal in a restaurant, your bill, in most cases, includes a 10 per cent service charge ‑ regardless of whether the services rendered are worthy of reward.
Having to pay for services that are found wanting is one reason why brickbats continue to fly at foreign service staff.
With tips, the equation becomes much simpler.
For employees, it is a straightforward motivation to up their game.
Having communication problems with customers would inevitably mean they will not get tipped.
As a result, more of them could take the initiative to upgrade their language skills to deliver better service.
Although it is no panacea for the conundrum — considering the lack of a tipping culture among locals — it could at least take the heat away from service industry players who have argued that service standards have not dipped, but rather, consumer expectations have risen.
In addition, tipping could even solve — in the long run — the perennial problem service companies face in attracting locals to the workforce.
Since some have argued previously that service is a two-way street and nightmare customers have played a part in unsatisfactory service delivery from staff, it is then time for consumers to put their money where their mouths are.
You have a duty to tip when services rendered are commendable, but you also have the option to walk away if services levels are wanting.
For businesses, now is the time to make a choice.
With reports highlighting that only a small proportion of service charges go to employees’ pockets, many companies are unwilling to forego the revenue from service charge receipts.
But pit this against accepting “painful” measures — such as the language proficiency prerequisite tests, or forking out money to send existing staff for unsubsidised language classes — employers, what’s your call?
(c) 2009. MediaCorp Press Ltd.
Satisfaction not guaranteed ... yet
TODAY
20 November 2009
TODAY (Singapore)
FOR years, poor service standards in Singapore have been a bugbear for consumers here. And of late, grouses have largely centred around the growing numbers of foreign service staff here who have trouble communicating in English.
The hunt for solutions to the language gap among foreign service staff and local consumers has led to some urging the Government to consider implementing an English language proficiency test — much like what foreign domestic helpers have to go through — as a prerequisite for companies looking to hire foreigners.
It is a move businesses are resisting. The justification from employers: Such requirements are too “painful” for businesses to bear and would also dramatically shrink the manpower pool further in an industry where they are having to look beyond our shores because few locals are willing to take the jobs up.
Already, sourcing for manpower is proving a bigger challenge in the aftermath of foreign worker quotas in the service industry being lowered as of June this year, they add.
But as the Government, over the years, continues to stress to Singaporeans the importance of maintaining a high level of English proficiency, why should service firms be allowed to bring in workers who are not equipped with a basic grasp of the language?
The situation is even more befuddling considering these foreign workers’ poor language skills could tarnish the reputation of the tourism industry — a significant sector of Singapore’s economy.
That something has to be done about the standoff between local consumers and foreign staff over the language issue is evident.
The question, though, is what could answer consumers’ increasingly louder calls for the service industry to up their game without forcing companies to adopt the “painful” suggestions that have been raised.
The solution — at least in the food and beverage sector — could lie in getting companies to scrap service charges in favour of a tipping system.
At the end of your meal in a restaurant, your bill, in most cases, includes a 10 per cent service charge ‑ regardless of whether the services rendered are worthy of reward.
Having to pay for services that are found wanting is one reason why brickbats continue to fly at foreign service staff.
With tips, the equation becomes much simpler.
For employees, it is a straightforward motivation to up their game.
Having communication problems with customers would inevitably mean they will not get tipped.
As a result, more of them could take the initiative to upgrade their language skills to deliver better service.
Although it is no panacea for the conundrum — considering the lack of a tipping culture among locals — it could at least take the heat away from service industry players who have argued that service standards have not dipped, but rather, consumer expectations have risen.
In addition, tipping could even solve — in the long run — the perennial problem service companies face in attracting locals to the workforce.
Since some have argued previously that service is a two-way street and nightmare customers have played a part in unsatisfactory service delivery from staff, it is then time for consumers to put their money where their mouths are.
You have a duty to tip when services rendered are commendable, but you also have the option to walk away if services levels are wanting.
For businesses, now is the time to make a choice.
With reports highlighting that only a small proportion of service charges go to employees’ pockets, many companies are unwilling to forego the revenue from service charge receipts.
But pit this against accepting “painful” measures — such as the language proficiency prerequisite tests, or forking out money to send existing staff for unsubsidised language classes — employers, what’s your call?
(c) 2009. MediaCorp Press Ltd.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Worksite deaths: Supervisors, firm fined over lapses
The following article was first published in the Straits Times on 18 November 2009.
Worksite deaths: Supervisors, firm fined over lapses
By Elena Chong
THE owner and foreman of a lift engineering company were each fined $50,000 yesterday over a fatal accident at a Collyer Quay worksite two years ago.
Chua Kwak Swee, 52, the de facto owner of Yew Tee Lift Engineering, and his younger brother Chua Tian Lok, 43, pleaded guilty to their respective charges earlier this month.
The older Chua failed to take measures to ensure the safety and health of his employees, which led to lift installer Chua Yew Meng falling 13 floors to his death in a lift shaft at the Ocean Building worksite in August 2007. Chua Tian Lok admitted to failing to ensure that a rope, damaged by a fire previously, was not used to lift the components of the lift. He also allowed the deceased to work in the lift shaft without providing lifelines and safety barricades.
Mr Chua Yew Meng, 47, together with a colleague, had tried to avoid a falling load that was being lowered with the damaged rope.
But as the victim moved, he fell from the top of the lift car and plummeted to the ground below.
In a separate case yesterday, AVA Global – a building, construction and engineering company – was fined $80,000 after its representative admitted to breaching the Workplace Safety and Health Act during works at Tampines 1 shopping mall. The breach resulted in the death of a 26-year-old Indian construction worker, who, in April, fell more than 10m to the ground and died four days later.
Its site supervisor, Lin Tin Fook, 48, was also sentenced to a maximum fine of $1,000 for failing to ensure that a metal mesh on the upper-level catwalk of the mall's outdoor advertisement area was replaced after it was removed for modifications, and for failing to have warning signs and barricades installed to stop anyone from going near it.
Mr Silas Sng, director of the Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate at the Ministry of Manpower, said in those two cases, the companies and supervisors blatantly disregarded basic and simple safety measures, which should have been in place before any work at height was undertaken. "The loss of these two lives could have easily been avoided."
The Chua brothers could have been fined up to $200,000 and/or jailed for up to two years each, while AVA Global could have been fined up to $500,000.
Worksite deaths: Supervisors, firm fined over lapses
By Elena Chong
THE owner and foreman of a lift engineering company were each fined $50,000 yesterday over a fatal accident at a Collyer Quay worksite two years ago.
Chua Kwak Swee, 52, the de facto owner of Yew Tee Lift Engineering, and his younger brother Chua Tian Lok, 43, pleaded guilty to their respective charges earlier this month.
The older Chua failed to take measures to ensure the safety and health of his employees, which led to lift installer Chua Yew Meng falling 13 floors to his death in a lift shaft at the Ocean Building worksite in August 2007. Chua Tian Lok admitted to failing to ensure that a rope, damaged by a fire previously, was not used to lift the components of the lift. He also allowed the deceased to work in the lift shaft without providing lifelines and safety barricades.
Mr Chua Yew Meng, 47, together with a colleague, had tried to avoid a falling load that was being lowered with the damaged rope.
But as the victim moved, he fell from the top of the lift car and plummeted to the ground below.
In a separate case yesterday, AVA Global – a building, construction and engineering company – was fined $80,000 after its representative admitted to breaching the Workplace Safety and Health Act during works at Tampines 1 shopping mall. The breach resulted in the death of a 26-year-old Indian construction worker, who, in April, fell more than 10m to the ground and died four days later.
Its site supervisor, Lin Tin Fook, 48, was also sentenced to a maximum fine of $1,000 for failing to ensure that a metal mesh on the upper-level catwalk of the mall's outdoor advertisement area was replaced after it was removed for modifications, and for failing to have warning signs and barricades installed to stop anyone from going near it.
Mr Silas Sng, director of the Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate at the Ministry of Manpower, said in those two cases, the companies and supervisors blatantly disregarded basic and simple safety measures, which should have been in place before any work at height was undertaken. "The loss of these two lives could have easily been avoided."
The Chua brothers could have been fined up to $200,000 and/or jailed for up to two years each, while AVA Global could have been fined up to $500,000.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Hotels losing employees to ‘big boys coming to town’
The following article was published in TODAY on 13 Nov 09.
The exodus has started ... ; Hotels losing employees to ‘big boys coming to town’
By Teo Xuanwei
TODAY
13 November 2009
SINGAPORE — Within the span of one month, Sally (not her real name) saw five of her colleagues pack up and leave for “greener pastures”.
“All of them told me they’re going to work in the integrated resorts (IRs) because the pay there is higher,” said the Chinese national who works as a chambermaid in one of the hotels along the Orchard shopping belt.
In recent months, hotels here have lost a “significant” number of rank-and-file workers — especially in back-end departments like laundry, housekeeping and engineering — to the “big boys coming to town”, Marina Bay Sands or Resorts World at Sentosa, industry players told MediaCorp.
While hotels declined to disclose exact numbers of workers who have left, a check with several hotels revealed that as much as 80 per cent of their former employees were headed for jobs at the IRs.
And while high turnover rates in the services sector has been a perennial problem for industry players, the situation is more dire now because of the lowered foreign worker quotas as of June this year.
In a bid to prevent Singapore companies from becoming over-reliant on foreign workers, and to boost local employment numbers, the Government tightened conditions for hiring foreign workers on work permits.
Before the changes, businesses in the services sector could hire one China worker for every five locals it had on its payroll. Now, only one of out 10 can be a China worker. At least five must be locals while the other four can be foreigners from “traditional sources” like Malaysia.
Coupled with the fact that locals are continuing to shun service jobs, the outflow of manpower to the IRs is manifesting into a manpower crunch businesses had anticipated after the Government tweaked the rules.
It is not just the reportedly fatter pay cheques on offer at the IRs that are proving a draw. Working for one of the “big boys”, as one hotelier puts it, is an enticing prospect few would resist.
“Many workers would seek the thrill of working in these essentially ‘new’ sectors in the local hospitality industry,” she said. “You’ve got to admit it’s hard to turn down because it’ll be such an eye-opener.”
Luckily for the hotels, those making the move are not from the middle or senior management, for now.
A hotel human resource manager, who declined to be named, noted that retaining existing staff and replacing those who have left is becoming trickier.
“Adjusting the wages doesn’t necessarily solve the problem. Even if it’s high enough to attract locals, not everyone is able to withstand the really tough work or long hours,” she said.
“In essence, an existing problem has been worsened because there are not enough available workers to go around.”
Even if there’s an unexpected influx of locals into the industry, industry players say it could be some time — after workers undergo the relevant training — before they are ready to do the jobs.
As a result, hotels are now “placing more attention than ever” on succession planning and career development.
Workers are briefed on how they can move up the ranks, and suitable candidates are more quickly made to understudy their supervisors.
“The market will correct itself eventually, but we’re hoping we can cope with the situation till then,” said a hotel human resource manager.
(c) 2009. MediaCorp Press Ltd.
The exodus has started ... ; Hotels losing employees to ‘big boys coming to town’
By Teo Xuanwei
TODAY
13 November 2009
SINGAPORE — Within the span of one month, Sally (not her real name) saw five of her colleagues pack up and leave for “greener pastures”.
“All of them told me they’re going to work in the integrated resorts (IRs) because the pay there is higher,” said the Chinese national who works as a chambermaid in one of the hotels along the Orchard shopping belt.
In recent months, hotels here have lost a “significant” number of rank-and-file workers — especially in back-end departments like laundry, housekeeping and engineering — to the “big boys coming to town”, Marina Bay Sands or Resorts World at Sentosa, industry players told MediaCorp.
While hotels declined to disclose exact numbers of workers who have left, a check with several hotels revealed that as much as 80 per cent of their former employees were headed for jobs at the IRs.
And while high turnover rates in the services sector has been a perennial problem for industry players, the situation is more dire now because of the lowered foreign worker quotas as of June this year.
In a bid to prevent Singapore companies from becoming over-reliant on foreign workers, and to boost local employment numbers, the Government tightened conditions for hiring foreign workers on work permits.
Before the changes, businesses in the services sector could hire one China worker for every five locals it had on its payroll. Now, only one of out 10 can be a China worker. At least five must be locals while the other four can be foreigners from “traditional sources” like Malaysia.
Coupled with the fact that locals are continuing to shun service jobs, the outflow of manpower to the IRs is manifesting into a manpower crunch businesses had anticipated after the Government tweaked the rules.
It is not just the reportedly fatter pay cheques on offer at the IRs that are proving a draw. Working for one of the “big boys”, as one hotelier puts it, is an enticing prospect few would resist.
“Many workers would seek the thrill of working in these essentially ‘new’ sectors in the local hospitality industry,” she said. “You’ve got to admit it’s hard to turn down because it’ll be such an eye-opener.”
Luckily for the hotels, those making the move are not from the middle or senior management, for now.
A hotel human resource manager, who declined to be named, noted that retaining existing staff and replacing those who have left is becoming trickier.
“Adjusting the wages doesn’t necessarily solve the problem. Even if it’s high enough to attract locals, not everyone is able to withstand the really tough work or long hours,” she said.
“In essence, an existing problem has been worsened because there are not enough available workers to go around.”
Even if there’s an unexpected influx of locals into the industry, industry players say it could be some time — after workers undergo the relevant training — before they are ready to do the jobs.
As a result, hotels are now “placing more attention than ever” on succession planning and career development.
Workers are briefed on how they can move up the ranks, and suitable candidates are more quickly made to understudy their supervisors.
“The market will correct itself eventually, but we’re hoping we can cope with the situation till then,” said a hotel human resource manager.
(c) 2009. MediaCorp Press Ltd.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Stop whining and start serving the customer
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 10 Nov 2009.
Stop whining and start serving the customer
Commentary By LIM WEI CHEAN
The Straits Times
10/11/2009
Standards have improved but consumers know they are better elsewhere
IT WOULD be funny if it weren't so worrying. Since Singapore began taking an interest in service standards several years ago and began spending a great deal of money in an attempt to solve the problem, one measure of how "well" we've done keeps telling us the same thing: We're getting worse.
Last month, for the second year in a row since it was developed by the Singapore Management University's (SMU's) Institute of Service Excellence, the country's Customer Satisfaction Index fell a few notches.
Talk to people who should be worried – businesses themselves – however, and you come away with the impression that nothing is wrong.
The reason the index has slid, they say, is that customers these days – that's you and me, folks – are becoming more demanding.
Sit down with them and they'll trot out the Customer From Hell, the one person out of the hundreds they get each day who is absolutely off the charts: the chap who insists that his meal took 20 minutes to get to his table when the clock shows five; the self-professed gourmand who is sure that the ingredients in his dish are cheap when the chef tells him otherwise; the guy who insists on redeeming a gift voucher that expired three years ago and makes a fuss when the request is denied.
All true examples, by the way.
Most customers, however, are not like that at all. All they want is pleasant service, a listening ear, someone who knows a lot about what he or she is selling, and, if possible, to be treated as a person rather than a walking credit card.
The three factors which make up customer satisfaction in SMU's index are: perceived value, which is how much a customer deems a product or service to be worth; perceived quality, or how customers judge service and product quality; and customer expectations.
The director of SMU's Institute of Service Excellence, Ms Caroline Lim, says the biggest factor responsible for this year's fall is the widening gap between what a customer expects and what he actually gets.
Further analysis of the decline in six sectors – food and beverage, education, retail, information communications, tourism, hotels and accommodation services, and transport and logistics – shows a drop in perceived value and quality.
To Ms Lim, the results do not mean quality has fallen. Fact is, many have improved on that count.
What many companies fail to realise, though, is that though service might have improved by leaps and bounds from the bad days, it is still some way from what customers have experienced elsewhere, and have come to expect.
Many customers, like bank officer Denise Tan, are blunt about what they encounter here.
"Service here, especially in high-end designer boutiques, stinks," the 26-year-old says.
She recalls walking into a store here recently and being ignored: The sales staff subjected her to an eyeball test, made a snap decision that she probably didn't have enough money to buy anything, and that was that.
When she was in Hong Kong recently, on the other hand, staff at another boutique store took time to explain price ranges and even showed her all the colours available. Though nothing caught her fancy, she was treated to a megawatt smile and a "please come back again" chorus on her way out.
Instead of trotting out the lame "higher expectations" line, the service sector needs to get cracking on meeting them. As SMU's Ms Lim said: "A business exists for a reason, and that is the customer."
Instead of whining about how we demand too much, businesses should take heed of the feedback and strive to improve.
Perhaps they would find the example of retailer F.J. Benjamin instructive. When asked about customer expectations, chief executive officer Douglas Benjamin, said: "We don't make excuses for not meeting customers' expectations.
"Our view is that we are here to serve our customers, and if we can't deliver on the standard of service they desire, we, and not our customers, are at fault."
F.J. Benjamin has been increasing its expenditure on staff training. For those hired in Singapore, it spent $320 per employee in 2007. This figure rose to $420 per employee last year, and hit $540 per worker this year. All employees, Singaporean or foreign, receive the same training.
The last point is worth emphasising, for some companies have complained that the money the Government has pumped in to raise service standards through programmes like Gems (Go the Extra Mile for Service) goes towards training only Singaporeans and permanent residents. Foreigners do not qualify. These companies say that given the rising number of foreigners in the service sector, this has to change.
It's precisely that kind of attitude that has Singapore service in the state it is in. Surely businesses ought to take more responsibility in ensuring that the service they provide is beyond reproach?
So here's some advice for the service sector: Take customer expectations seriously. It's valuable feedback that tells you how well you are doing, and how much more you need to do. Dismiss it at your peril.
Remember that when the rest of us return from our year-end holidays abroad, flush with memories of good service elsewhere, those expectations are going to become even greater.
And remember, too, that next year, two new tourist attractions called the integrated resorts will open, sending millions more people our way, pockets bulging, eyes a-gleaming, all ready to have a great time and spend a buck or three.
Boy, will their expectations be high too.
Stop whining and start serving the customer
Commentary By LIM WEI CHEAN
The Straits Times
10/11/2009
Standards have improved but consumers know they are better elsewhere
IT WOULD be funny if it weren't so worrying. Since Singapore began taking an interest in service standards several years ago and began spending a great deal of money in an attempt to solve the problem, one measure of how "well" we've done keeps telling us the same thing: We're getting worse.
Last month, for the second year in a row since it was developed by the Singapore Management University's (SMU's) Institute of Service Excellence, the country's Customer Satisfaction Index fell a few notches.
Talk to people who should be worried – businesses themselves – however, and you come away with the impression that nothing is wrong.
The reason the index has slid, they say, is that customers these days – that's you and me, folks – are becoming more demanding.
Sit down with them and they'll trot out the Customer From Hell, the one person out of the hundreds they get each day who is absolutely off the charts: the chap who insists that his meal took 20 minutes to get to his table when the clock shows five; the self-professed gourmand who is sure that the ingredients in his dish are cheap when the chef tells him otherwise; the guy who insists on redeeming a gift voucher that expired three years ago and makes a fuss when the request is denied.
All true examples, by the way.
Most customers, however, are not like that at all. All they want is pleasant service, a listening ear, someone who knows a lot about what he or she is selling, and, if possible, to be treated as a person rather than a walking credit card.
The three factors which make up customer satisfaction in SMU's index are: perceived value, which is how much a customer deems a product or service to be worth; perceived quality, or how customers judge service and product quality; and customer expectations.
The director of SMU's Institute of Service Excellence, Ms Caroline Lim, says the biggest factor responsible for this year's fall is the widening gap between what a customer expects and what he actually gets.
Further analysis of the decline in six sectors – food and beverage, education, retail, information communications, tourism, hotels and accommodation services, and transport and logistics – shows a drop in perceived value and quality.
To Ms Lim, the results do not mean quality has fallen. Fact is, many have improved on that count.
What many companies fail to realise, though, is that though service might have improved by leaps and bounds from the bad days, it is still some way from what customers have experienced elsewhere, and have come to expect.
Many customers, like bank officer Denise Tan, are blunt about what they encounter here.
"Service here, especially in high-end designer boutiques, stinks," the 26-year-old says.
She recalls walking into a store here recently and being ignored: The sales staff subjected her to an eyeball test, made a snap decision that she probably didn't have enough money to buy anything, and that was that.
When she was in Hong Kong recently, on the other hand, staff at another boutique store took time to explain price ranges and even showed her all the colours available. Though nothing caught her fancy, she was treated to a megawatt smile and a "please come back again" chorus on her way out.
Instead of trotting out the lame "higher expectations" line, the service sector needs to get cracking on meeting them. As SMU's Ms Lim said: "A business exists for a reason, and that is the customer."
Instead of whining about how we demand too much, businesses should take heed of the feedback and strive to improve.
Perhaps they would find the example of retailer F.J. Benjamin instructive. When asked about customer expectations, chief executive officer Douglas Benjamin, said: "We don't make excuses for not meeting customers' expectations.
"Our view is that we are here to serve our customers, and if we can't deliver on the standard of service they desire, we, and not our customers, are at fault."
F.J. Benjamin has been increasing its expenditure on staff training. For those hired in Singapore, it spent $320 per employee in 2007. This figure rose to $420 per employee last year, and hit $540 per worker this year. All employees, Singaporean or foreign, receive the same training.
The last point is worth emphasising, for some companies have complained that the money the Government has pumped in to raise service standards through programmes like Gems (Go the Extra Mile for Service) goes towards training only Singaporeans and permanent residents. Foreigners do not qualify. These companies say that given the rising number of foreigners in the service sector, this has to change.
It's precisely that kind of attitude that has Singapore service in the state it is in. Surely businesses ought to take more responsibility in ensuring that the service they provide is beyond reproach?
So here's some advice for the service sector: Take customer expectations seriously. It's valuable feedback that tells you how well you are doing, and how much more you need to do. Dismiss it at your peril.
Remember that when the rest of us return from our year-end holidays abroad, flush with memories of good service elsewhere, those expectations are going to become even greater.
And remember, too, that next year, two new tourist attractions called the integrated resorts will open, sending millions more people our way, pockets bulging, eyes a-gleaming, all ready to have a great time and spend a buck or three.
Boy, will their expectations be high too.
Phantom-worker scam: Firm and founder fined
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 10 Nov 2009.
Phantom-worker scam: Firm and founder fined
By ELENA CHONG
The Straits Times
10/11/2009
ILL health has saved the founder of a leading landscape company from a jail term over a phantom- worker scam.
Toh Eng Hock, 69 and suffering from ailments including high blood pressure and heart disease, was instead fined $42,000. The company, Toh Eng Hock Construction, was fined $48,000.
District Judge Jill Tan told the former company chairman, also known as Toh Ah Hook, that a jail term was the norm in cases in which the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) had been deceived into granting work passes.
But she agreed with Toh's lawyers Shashi Nathan and Tania Chin that imprisonment might endanger his life, given his illness; a letter from the Singapore Prisons Service submitted in court said its medical services would be unable to manage his medical conditions.
Toh pleaded guilty to 14 of 28 counts of lying to the Controller of Work Passes in his application for work passes for 14 foreign workers in September 2007.
The company was ineligible to hire that many foreign workers based on the number of local workers on its payroll, so he had inflated the number of locals employed by the company.
Investigations showed that the company had hired – and was paying Central Provident Fund contributions for – an average of 257 Singaporeans between April and June 2007. In truth, however, an average of 99 of those 257 were phantom workers, never hired at all.
MOM prosecutor Lin Yixin said that, had the ministry's Work Pass Division known then that not all the local workers were in fact actively employed, it would never have approved the 14 applications for work permits for foreign workers.
A representative of the company pleaded guilty on its behalf to 16 similar charges; another 16 were considered during sentencing.
Mr Nathan said Toh, who built up the company from scratch, has turned over management of the company to his sons. He also gave up all his posts in the company recently.
Toh and the company could have been fined up to $15,000 on each charge, and he could have been jailed up to 12 months on each charge.
Phantom-worker scam: Firm and founder fined
By ELENA CHONG
The Straits Times
10/11/2009
ILL health has saved the founder of a leading landscape company from a jail term over a phantom- worker scam.
Toh Eng Hock, 69 and suffering from ailments including high blood pressure and heart disease, was instead fined $42,000. The company, Toh Eng Hock Construction, was fined $48,000.
District Judge Jill Tan told the former company chairman, also known as Toh Ah Hook, that a jail term was the norm in cases in which the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) had been deceived into granting work passes.
But she agreed with Toh's lawyers Shashi Nathan and Tania Chin that imprisonment might endanger his life, given his illness; a letter from the Singapore Prisons Service submitted in court said its medical services would be unable to manage his medical conditions.
Toh pleaded guilty to 14 of 28 counts of lying to the Controller of Work Passes in his application for work passes for 14 foreign workers in September 2007.
The company was ineligible to hire that many foreign workers based on the number of local workers on its payroll, so he had inflated the number of locals employed by the company.
Investigations showed that the company had hired – and was paying Central Provident Fund contributions for – an average of 257 Singaporeans between April and June 2007. In truth, however, an average of 99 of those 257 were phantom workers, never hired at all.
MOM prosecutor Lin Yixin said that, had the ministry's Work Pass Division known then that not all the local workers were in fact actively employed, it would never have approved the 14 applications for work permits for foreign workers.
A representative of the company pleaded guilty on its behalf to 16 similar charges; another 16 were considered during sentencing.
Mr Nathan said Toh, who built up the company from scratch, has turned over management of the company to his sons. He also gave up all his posts in the company recently.
Toh and the company could have been fined up to $15,000 on each charge, and he could have been jailed up to 12 months on each charge.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Worker pulled to safety from gondola
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 8 Nov 2009.
Worker pulled to safety from gondola
By SHULI SUDDERUDDIN
The Straits Times
08/11/2009
For 15 minutes yesterday, a construction worker dangled precariously from a gondola seven storeys up. One of the cables holding it up had gone slack.
Rescuers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) worked above and below him to get him to safety at Block 4 in Sago Lane in Chinatown. The worker was fixing windows as part of upgrading works.
One team pitched a ladder to reach him from the fourth-floor concourse. They secured him to a rescue rope, which was lowered by another team working out of an eighth-floor apartment.
He was pulled into that flat through the kitchen window.
The China worker, in his 30s and who wanted to be known only as Mr Zhang, said he was fine.
"The cable didn't break. The gondola just tilted to one side. I stayed on it for a few minutes, then I was rescued," he recalled.
He was pulled into the flat of Mrs Esther Ho, a retiree in her 50s.
She was having a drink at a hawker centre below her block when the gondola gave way. Waiting outside her flat when she returned were some SCDF officers.
Said Mrs Ho: "They were relieved to see me. When I let them in, they asked me to open the kitchen grilles, so they could rescue the worker."
From her bedroom window, she saw the frightened-looking worker hanging between the two floors.
She added: "They pulled him into my kitchen quite quickly, and he looked pale but didn't seem to be injured."
Mrs Ho said upgrading works at her block had been going on since July, and workers had been working on the windows for more than a month.
Worker pulled to safety from gondola
By SHULI SUDDERUDDIN
The Straits Times
08/11/2009
For 15 minutes yesterday, a construction worker dangled precariously from a gondola seven storeys up. One of the cables holding it up had gone slack.
Rescuers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) worked above and below him to get him to safety at Block 4 in Sago Lane in Chinatown. The worker was fixing windows as part of upgrading works.
One team pitched a ladder to reach him from the fourth-floor concourse. They secured him to a rescue rope, which was lowered by another team working out of an eighth-floor apartment.
He was pulled into that flat through the kitchen window.
The China worker, in his 30s and who wanted to be known only as Mr Zhang, said he was fine.
"The cable didn't break. The gondola just tilted to one side. I stayed on it for a few minutes, then I was rescued," he recalled.
He was pulled into the flat of Mrs Esther Ho, a retiree in her 50s.
She was having a drink at a hawker centre below her block when the gondola gave way. Waiting outside her flat when she returned were some SCDF officers.
Said Mrs Ho: "They were relieved to see me. When I let them in, they asked me to open the kitchen grilles, so they could rescue the worker."
From her bedroom window, she saw the frightened-looking worker hanging between the two floors.
She added: "They pulled him into my kitchen quite quickly, and he looked pale but didn't seem to be injured."
Mrs Ho said upgrading works at her block had been going on since July, and workers had been working on the windows for more than a month.
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