Broken Promises

By Amelia Chew & Isaac Tay During our internship at HealthServe, we came across a worrying new “trend” after interviewing 10 workers* for a legal research paper. We found that an increasing number of workers are being brought to Singapore with the promise of work, only to find themselves out of work after […]

Wei’s Story

A TRANSFORMED LIFE I came to Singapore with hopes of paying off my debts. I worked hard for 2 months and unfortunately suffered from a work injury. I was hospitalized for 30 days as I injured my head and legs, even my hearing and vision were affected. I was unable to get my […]

Yuan’s Story

Zhu Fu Lin’s Story

More Than Broken Bones

At HealthServe’s Geylang office, it is a common sight to see men, primarily construction workers, on crutches, awkwardly navigating their way through our cramped office. We see arms in slings, fingers deformed, scars that tattoo the skin long after stitches have been removed. There are also many ‘invisible’ injuries – necks, shoulders, legs […]

Going Home Empty-Handed

Sometime in August this year, Liu, a Chinese worker, walked into HealthServe looking lost and perplexed. He had just come from his first conciliation session at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) during which his employer’s representative fished out a document written in English which claimed his pay to be $4.50 per hour. A […]

Life in a Bin Centre

When I first met Akash* a few months ago, I couldn’t help but spy a slightly tarnished ring on his finger and a worn-out Blackberry in his hand. Before I could ask him how he had acquired these items, he cheerily announced that he had picked them up from the rubbish bins at […]

When a Company Folds, Who Suffers?

In August, a group of workers from Yong Yi Lin Construction (2000) Pte Ltd had a dispute with their employer over delayed remuneration and went to MOM to seek recourse. To their horror, they discovered that their work permits had actually been cancelled a month earlier and so they had been working “illegally” […]

Burn Victim’s Road to Recovery

The night before Chun Ming left for China, he packed only one set of clothes. The rest of his luggage was filled with music books, muffin trays, filters and coffee powder. In 2011, the 19-year-old from Henan province, China came to Singapore to work as a kitchen helper in a restaurant in Little […]

The Window

I was brought up in a rural area in Southern Taiwan. When I was in senior high school, Philippine migrant workers were the first foreigners to find work in Taiwan. My classmates and I were always keen to “spot” a migrant worker so that we could practise our English with him. For us, […]

Humility Through Art

I have facilitated creative art classes for youth and young women, but never for a group of middle-aged men, specifically Chinese migrant workers, most of whom are now jobless because of a work injury or a salary dispute. The men were reluctant to draw initially, citing reasons like they’ve not held a colour […]