Poverty No More – Episode 19 & 20 (Season 2) – Migrant Workers and The Cuff Road Project
Episodes #19 and #20
(3-4 September 2011)
If a professional turns to a search company for help finding a job, she/he might end up paying one month’s salary for the assistance (or more likely the cost would be covered by the employer). Migrant workers, on the other hand, often spend eighteen months out of a two-year contract working to pay off the debts they incurred to come here (including fees to the employment agency and cost of their plane ticket). If things go well, they earn money to take home in the remaining six months of their contract. However, if things don’t go well, a worker can return home poorer than when he arrived. Find out what happens along the way and how The Cuff Road Project is working to provide assistance.
Audio
Episode 19: Migrant Workers
Episode 20: The Cuff Road Project
THE CUFF ROAD PROJECT
The Cuff Road Project, a joint-initiative by ONE (SINGAPORE) and TWC2, serves free restaurant meals to homeless and jobless migrant workers in safe clean environments where they can eat in dignity. Volunteers monitor the food programme and assist the men with meetings with government agencies and doctors; they also help the men keep in touch with loved ones. TCRP was started in 2008 and has served more than 225,000 meals to date. Project Coordinator Debbie Fordyce has also been named Woman of the Year for her dedication to assisting the project’s participants.
MAKE A DONATION
If you would like to help, you can make a donation online or write a cheque made payable to “Transient Workers Count Too”. Please write “for the Cuff Road Project” on the back. TWC2’s postal address is Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), 5001 Beach Road, Golden Mile Complex #06-27, Singapore 199588. If you would like to volunteer or donate fruit or other in-kind items, please contact TWC2. Corporations please contact ONE (SINGAPORE) to participate in our Corporate Adoption Programme.
Organisations and Initiatives Working to Assist Migrant Workers
Public Correspondence between a NGO Volunteer and the Ministry of Manpower
- “Punish criminal acts but deter errant bosses, too” — Letter to TODAY by Stephanie Chok, 29 July 2011
- “TODAY letter . . published with a new paragraph sender did not write” — Stephanie Chok via The Online Citizen, 29 July 2011
- “MOM to NGOs: It’s critical to be objective” — MOM response to Stephanie Chok’s letter, 2 August 2011
- “Allegations by letter-writer unfounded, says Ministry of Manpower,” — TODAY, 2 August 2011
- “We examine each worker’s claim: HOME” — HOME’s response to MOM, 8 August 2011
- “MOM refutes report on Chinese migrant workers” – TODAY, 26 August 2011
- “Fewer complaints does not equal improved conditions” — Letter from Jolovan Wham, Executive Director, HOME, 30 August 2011
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- The Plight of the Labourers (Lifestyle, January 2012 by Cara Yap)
- Poverty No More (Season 1): The Cuff Road Project
- To learn more about cases of illegal deductions, take a look at TWC2 Treasurer Alex Au’s recent blog article.
- “Missing Migrant Workers Hunted Down in Singapore” (Jakarta Globe, 3 August 2011) discusses how employers use security companies to forcibly detain and repatriate workers.
- Manpower Ministry’s Tan Chuan-Jin Visits The Cuff Road Project (1 Nov 2011)
