Singapore steps up migrant worker reforms amid calls for deeper change

The life of a migrant worker in Singapore is bittersweet. Ramesh, 29, came to the city state in search of a good job. He hails from Tamil Nadu, India, and earns just over S$600 (US$466) a month working as a technician at a large multinational firm. While this is double what he made in India and has helped put his sisters through college there, it is only about 10 per cent of the S$5,775 nominal median gross monthly income of Singaporeans. Grappling with an ageing population and a low fertility rate, Singapore has stepped up efforts to improve conditions facing its many low-paid migrant workers, also known as work permit holders. But a lack of space and high business costs are obstacles to improving their lives. Ramesh, a pseudonym, shares a dormitory room with 15 others. He commutes in the backs of open lorries, a practice non-governmental organisations want banned due to fatalities and injuries caused by traffic accidents. The government has responded with measures such as requiring lorries to be fitted with speed limiters. Ramesh looks forward to the balmy evenings after work. On Sundays, he brews masala tea to bring to the sprawling compound of a nearby worker recreation centre. It’s a sanctuary from his daily grind, a small world of its own apart from the big city beyond. Ramesh lives a frugal existence, allocating S$150 for meals, S$50 for phone bills and saving S$400 to send to his family in India each month. It’s a lifestyle that thousands of others pursue to improve their lot. Singapore has long relied on foreign workers, who account for about 40 per cent of its total population, but the paid migrant workers who make up most of this group have received little public appreciation until recently. Drawing lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic that paralysed economic activities when the virus spread through overcrowded dorms, the government has rolled out a slew of new initiatives. The first government-built dorm opened last month, part of a plan to set higher standards for safety and living conditions, better healthcare access for migrant workers and improved recreation centres. “We have made significant progress in the areas of housing, healthcare and recreation since we launched the multi-year road map in 2021,” Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said at an event to mark International Migrants Day on December 14, telling migrants, “You build the foundations of where we live, work and play and you keep our towns running every day.” Under Singapore’s pyramidlike, highly managed system of work passes, work permit holders are at the base, as the lowest paid and lowest skilled, while employment pass holders, who are white-collar workers, sit at the apex. “Singaporeans are more tolerant of the low-wage workers because they know that they are doing jobs that Singaporeans do not want to do,” said Ethan Guo, executive director from Transient Workers Count Too, a non-profit working to improve conditions of migrant workers. “They are a necessity because who else is going to take away your garbage? Who else is going to do the construction work in the hot sun?” The employment pass holders, on the other hand, are people who can do the jobs that Singaporeans can also do, according to Guo. “Those kinds of foreigners tend to be seen more in a negative light,” he said. At 1.18 million, work permit holders account for more than 70 per cent of Singapore’s 1.59 million foreign workforce, toiling on construction sites, roadworks and shipyards under the blistering sun, cleaning streets and hauling away trash. Their number has steadily risen, especially in the last three years, while employment pass holders declined slightly towards the end of the same period, according to government data. “If they are not here, our construction work will stop, totally stop, and you cannot see buildings coming up,” said Lee Kay Chai, president of the Singapore Contractors Association, which recently hosted a thank you party for migrants in construction. “The Singapore way of life and economy completely depends on access to large numbers of work permit holders. This is because we cannot meet economic demands without them,” said Walter Theseira, an associate professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. The demand for migrant workers has surged in the post-pandemic economic recovery. To cope with this boom in demand, in July Singapore removed a limit on the number of years work permit holders can work in the city state. “The overall situation has been improving for workers in some ways, but change has been slow and not necessarily in the areas that are meaningful,” Guo said. “In the bigger picture, it is neither sustainable nor desirable for Singapore to continue with a model of progress that is built on cheap labour.” As for Ramesh, he continues to brew his masala tea while dreaming of a better life. With a diploma earned through part-time study during weekends in Singapore and a neatly prepared resume, he is now searching for a better-paying job in his adopted home.

Singapore steps up migrant worker reforms amid calls for deeper change

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The government has rolled out a slew of new initiatives, such as improved safety and living conditions and better healthcare access

The government has rolled out a slew of new initiatives, such as improved safety and living conditions and better healthcare access