Volume 6

Number 5

September - October 2011

Editorial
Each year, TWC2 provides practical assistance and advice to between 2,000 and 2,500 migrant workers. We have a Helpdesk that has operated since the end of 2006; it has come to the help of abused domestic workers, workers who have not been paid their due salary, who are housed in appalling conditions and whose employers try to send them out of Singapore to cover up their own bad behaviour. For three and a half years, we have raised money for, staffed and coordinated The Cuff Road Project, which provides free meals for more than 200 destitute foreign workers every day. Our research and advocacy work has promoted informed public debate on migrant worker issues in Singapore and on occasion, has contributed to changes in policy, regulation and public attitudes: for example, in countering late payment or non-payment of salaries and illegal contract terms or promoting improved conditions of transport and accommodation for male migrant workers. We have made detailed recommendations on the amendment to the Employment Agencies Act and Employment of Foreign Manpower Act in the past two years. Since TWC2 began, we have never ceased to campaign for all domestic workers to have days off. We regularly provide information to students, members of the public and the media. Our work has been made possible by dedicated volunteers and staff, supported by financial contributions from foundations, the public and members themselves. Now we need to ask for help to sustain TWC2s work. What we have in our general fund at the bank will only allow us to keep operating at our present level until the end of February 2012. Our financial shortfall has had an impact on our activities throughout 2011. We have been unable to carry through half of the projects that we had planned for this year: in previous years, almost all the projects we decided on at our AGMs were carried through. Given the uncertainty over our finances, we are not in a position to appoint a long-term replacement for Dr Vincent Wijeysingha, our Executive Director, who will leave us at the end of October. We have greater resources in The Cuff Road Project and CAREFund accounts, but they are reserved exclusively for feeding workers and providing emergency assistance respectively: administering both will be very difficult if we are not able to maintain a staffed office. So we ask our members and supporters to contribute what they can, but also to assist us in finding donors who can contribute the amounts that would allow TWC2 to plan at least a year ahead without worrying all the time about our own money problems. We need to raise $200,000 a year to maintain our activities at their current level. It will not be easy, but we overcame a similar crisis in 2008 with the help of friends and supporters, and we hope to do so again.
Recently published research report, available at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/58677324/Made-to-WorkEmployers-Attitudes-Towards-Granting-Regular-Days-Offto-Migrant-Domestic-Workers

TWC2 would like to wish its beneficiaries, volunteers, members and donors a happy and meaningful Deepavali.

In this issue
From the secretariat . Page 2 CAREFund ... Page 3 Book reviews . Page 4 Dispatches from the frontline ... Page 5 Charles Hector Fernandez case ends ..... Page 8 Opinion: Communication with Family and Friends a Basic Right .. Page 9
Page 1 of 10

On average, we spend $50 per worker we assist per year. For every dollar that is donated: 33 cents buys meals at our Cuff Road Project in Little India. 34 cents pays for emergency financial support through our CAREFund. 8 cents employs our social worker who engages with 200 workers with problems a month. 20 cents pays our Admin Officer and Executive Directors salaries. 5 cents allows us to carry out research; make submissions; advise the government; talk to people; and provide feedback to government agencies.
A body of expertise and experience such as TWC2 has built up is not easy to recreate; for all the good work the society has done since it was founded, we need to ensure that it continues.
Winner of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centres New Non-Profit Initiative Award 2005 Winner of the American Womens Association Woman of the Year Award 2011 Winner of the Rotary Club of Singapore Good Samaritan 2011 Award

From the Secretariat

This instalment of From the Secretariat, is a personal reflection from Vincent Wijeysingha I come from migrant stock. Several of my great-grandparents came to Malaysia from Sri Lanka in the early part of this century and, subsequently, my grandparents moved to Singapore in the thirties and forties. From another branch of the family, ancestors came from Europe, usually as traders or seamen, to Penang in the early years of that colonys history. When my father moved to Singapore in 1949, the first thing he did was to cycle to Orchard Road with his brother, both in their teens, to gawk at Cathay Building, then the tallest building in the empire. Their parents, on the other hand, were busy getting jobs and setting up home. In 1993, I followed the family tradition and settled in England. Migration is an exciting but arduous business! We are a nation of travellers. So, how did we turn into what we are today where domestic workers regularly run to us in tears because their employers treat them as chattel, or cleaners are sent home thousands of dollars in agency debt because their employer refuses to provide medical attention for skin conditions due to cheap cleaning fluids, or construction workers come to us in despair because they have been cheated of their salary, or sailors clamour to disembark because they have been denied their wages and assaulted by their captain? We regularly use the word owner when we mean employer, although slavery was abolished 179 year ago. We panic when there is talk of a day off for domestic workers and then say that most domestic workers dont deserve a day off even though, for some of us, the very reason why we deny them their day off is so that we can have our own day off on Sundays. Without the women who keep our homes and clean our food courts or staff our shops, without the men who make our roads and raise our buildings or sink our train tracks, who bring our food to port and send our goods (which they make) abroad, who keep our blocks clean and empty our rubbish, the nations economy would grind to a standstill. One in less than six of our homes is run by a domestic worker who is paid less than a tenth of the average wage and in many cases one thirtieth. One worker in every three on the island is a foreigner on a short-term contract with no right of abode. And yet, and yet We treat them with less respect and care and dignity than many of us treat our cars, which domestic workers can be seen washing at all hours of the day. Many of us are content for them to work twelve hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. Our government department allocated to care for them spends more on an office chair then many of them make in their monthly wage. We assign so few officers to solve their problems that they end up getting no service at all. And then each year we post monumental GDP growth without so much as a thank you. TWC2 started because a group of men and women were so thoroughly appalled that an employer could beat his maid to death not five hundred years ago but ten years ago. They were shocked to their core that a neighbour said it was none of his business. They naively believed that one year of conscience building and awareness raising would be enough to change things. They were wrong. Today, in the ninth year of our existence, the society is busier than ever. Our Cuff Road free meals project has served almost 250,000 meals in the last 3 years, our helpline rings daily, and our community worker and volunteers carry caseloads amounting to almost one hundred at any particular time. We have found, through our work, that when most Singaporeans hear about the abuses of migrant workers, their hearts bleeds for them. They will come to volunteer with us, spending thankless early mornings registering men for The Cuff Road Project and accompanying men to their medical appointments since hospitals will refuse to treat a sick and injured worker if he does not produce a letter of guarantee to pay from his boss. They will raise funds for us, make movies to publicise the work, write to the papers, donate clothes. But the problem is endemic and deep-seated and multifaceted and goes beyond the goodwill of individuals. It is a problem of attitude, of our own attitudes to work and the rights of human beings. It is a problem of disenfranchisement, where Singaporeans themselves do not feel they can establish their own rights, let alone call for the rights of others to be protected. It is a problem of economic priority setting that sees nothing wrong with exploitation.

Winner of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centres New Non-Profit Initiative Award 2005 Winner of the American Womens Association Woman of the Year Award 2011 Winner of the Rotary Club of Singapore Good Samaritan 2011 Award

Page 2 of 10

It is a problem of competing departmental interests and departmental KPIs. TWC2 is a small organisation. While this has its own challenges, the society is nimble enough to be able to respond to the uppermost needs of the moment. We respond to crisis calls, we provide food and emergency funding, we research and produce papers to enlighten the government, we use the social media to publicise the cause, and in the final analysis, we try to restore to our guest workers a sense of their own dignity: a sense of their entitlement to be treated fair and square, a sense that they should be paid for their work rather than assaulted, a sense that their injuries and illnesses should be treated whatever their employer might have to say on the matter. I joined TWC2 in 2010 and was shortly joined by Mansura, our Admin Officer, who functions as a (very efficient!) office manager, and Kenneth, our Community Worker, who does just about everything for our beneficiaries. Over this last year and a half we have gradually been shaping the office into a secretariat, by supporting the priorities of the individual workstreams, servicing the Executive Committee, increasing our input to help facilitate the Indonesian and Filipino Family Networks activities, widening our social media presence, streamlining our casework procedures, expanding the management structure, and importantly, improving our volunteer capabilities and functioning. At this stage, I will be leaving our society. As some readers may know, I have been actively involved in politics for about as long as I have been at TWC2 and Ive decided that I should concentrate on my political work. Progressive politics is still young in Singapore, much more so the political party framework and I believe I can contribute in this widening field. TWC2s work, of course, will carry on as usual. The needs are still great. And the organisation is at its strongest with the verve and commitment of individual members and volunteers bringing their expertise, their interests and their knowledge to different projects. As we continue along this road, we will continue to respond to the needs of our migrant friends as they arise but already we are gradually framing our work in a coherent structure with a clear direction and a framework for progress. A key priority for the short-term is our financial health. As the funding landscape has altered, we are focussing on new funding streams and opportunities and are actively seeking funding for our programmes. This is an area that our volunteers and members can contribute much in the coming period and I ask you to do what you can. I hope I have contributed something, however limited, to the cause. As a social worker, I have tried to consider the importance of each collaborators contribution and to create a family atmosphere with a family tradition, images, memories and, well, KPIs. I have helped to develop our policies and to streamline our activities. I have made many friends while Ive been here. I hope to keep them. And I wish the society and our migrant friends every best wish.
Dr Vincent Wijeysingha (far right back row at a lunch for our Hong Kong Uni interns hosted by Mansura and her family) is the inaugural Executive Director of TWC2. He joined the society in June 2010. He leaves us at the end of October to take up a part-time lecturing position at SIM University and to focus on his political work. The Executive Committee will assume responsibility for his duties in the shortterm. We wish him well.

Since 2004, TWC2 has administered an Emergency Fund, funded from donations. This fund helps destitute workers with emergency social and health needs that they are unable to secure from any other source. In April of that year, Wan Soon Construction lost projects worth S$270 million. 400 workers were laid off without being paid for the previous few months. They were left destitute without accommodation, food or health care. Following an article in Today written by Constance Singam, donations to assist the workers poured in. The monies were administered from a fund christened the Wan Soon Emergency Fund. After providing financial assistance to the workers, a small sum was left over this was the genesis of TWC2's Emergency Fund. This year we expanded the fund in recognition of the widespread needs faced by destitute workers whose employers have refused them medical care or other needs (or workers who have had to run away from their dormitory for fear of assault, harassment or kidnap by their employer because they have made a complaint to MOM). Through a generous donation from the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple in Waterloo Street, we have been able to plan for a more efficient system of helping the most destitute of workers The fund has been re-christened CAREFund: Care and relief for Emergencies. A Charter governing the use of the Fund was adopted by the Exco in July this year. The mission of the CAREFund is to provide sustenance, shelter, medical and psychiatric care, repatriation and similar fundamental needs of migrant workers left stranded in Singapore without other sources of support. The categories of support provided by the fund are: (a) Accommodation and subsistence, including items needed to make a space liveable, eg bedding; (b) Medical and dental attention, and intrinsically related expenses, eg subsequent prescription filling, transport to and from medical appointments, equipment necessary for the recovery period such as crutches and commodes; (c) Essential communication expenses to enable the person to remain a connected member of his community for his psycho-social wellbeing, to tap on other sources of help, and to keep in touch with his family through a distressing period; (d) Essential transport expenses to enable the person to make it to appointments at MOM, hospitals, police stations, and similar; (e) Repatriation in emergency situations when the employer cannot be found to honour his legal obligation; and (f) Such other expenses as may be necessary to support the worker in maintaining a modicum of human dignity. Eligibility for the fund extends to workers who have: (a) An emergency or acute need for healthcare or dental attention; (b) Need for follow-up medical attention; (c) Long-term rehabilitation or therapy needs following a non-work-related injury, ie an injury that is not covered by work injury compensation; (d) Short-term psychiatric/psychological/emotional needs; (e) A family emergency and needs to return home urgently or needs to be able to maintain contact with the family, eg needs a mobile phone; or (f) No other means of accommodation and the general circumstances are such that accommodation is necessary. Keep up to date with TWC2happenings: Visit our blog

transientworkerscount2.blogspot.com
and our Facebook page

www.facebook.com/transientworkerscount2

Dont forget to like them!

Winner of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centres New Non-Profit Initiative Award 2005 Winner of the American Womens Association Woman of the Year Award 2011 Winner of the Rotary Club of Singapore Good Samaritan 2011 Award

Page 3 of 10

Book reviews
by John Gee October saw the publication of two books with a migrant focus. The Path to Remittance: Tales of Pains and Gains of Overseas Filipino Workers is a collection of true stories collected by domestic worker, Papias Banados (left), and represents many months of work. The Long Road Home: Journeys of Indonesian Migrant Workers by former Singaporean journalist, Sim Chi Yin (far left), is a coffee table-format volume of photographs tracking the path of Indonesian domestic workers. Chi Yin, a long-time friend of TWC2 and a vocal supporter of migrant worker rights wrote the text and took all the photographs herself. Limited copies of both books are available to members at the TWC2 office at $16 and $35 each. (The $35 price is a discounted rate for members.)

The Path to Remittance This is a collection of 20 stories of Filipino migrant workers (three of whom are men), written by Papias Generale Banados. She worked as a domestic worker in Kuwait for two years and has been employed in Singapore for ten. The great value of Papias book is that it is a migrants eye view of the very varied experiences of migrant workers in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, including generous and mean employers, unplanned pregnancies that push women into taking jobs abroad, tricksters who cheat workers out of money with false offers of help, pompous officials and moonlighting, which has been in the news in Singapore recently. Many of the accounts illustrate the pressure workers come under from relatives to send money home, and some refer to the high cost of the placement process, all of which tend to push workers towards taking on work illegally in an attempt to meet others expectations. As might be expected, bad agency practice is a recurrent experience: Lians agency in the Philippines arranges her placement without first telling her about the 60,000 pesos she will have to pay and Ritas first night in Singapore is spent sleeping on the floor of an agents house with over 20 other women. The write up on the cover comments: There is a need for concerted international action to stop the exploitation of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers-note) by recruitment agencies, and this cannot be done by the Philippines government alone. On the other hand the message needs to go to the grassroots communities that the OFWs are not ATMs. The Path to Remittance is published by Global Eye Media and distributed here by Select Books.

The Long Road Home Sim Chi Yin has worked for both The New Paper and The Straits Times. She often reported on migrant worker issues while in Singapore, and has kept up her interest since going to China. While at Straits Times, she worked on a feature that followed a young Indonesian woman called Sugiyani through the stages of her recruitment and training, until she set out for Singapore. The seven-page feature attracted a lot of reader interest won local and international prizes. Sugiyanis story forms the first chapter of The Long Road Home, launched in Singapore on 26 September. Through the stories of other Indonesian women, Sim Chi Yin follows the experiences of migrant workers in their destination countries and on their return to Indonesia. She also tells of the families left behind and how they miss daughters, wives and mothers. All this is done through a combination of photographs and text. The fact that the author writes vividly and honestly, letting people speak for themselves, and is a good photographer too, makes it an absorbing read.
th

The 25 womens stories are very varied. Theres Dwi Nuraeni, who gets on well with the elderly woman she looks after and compares to her own grandmother; Sri, who worked in an air-conditioned house in Yio Chu Kang and finds it tough to adjust to life back in her village after having a good employer in Singapore; Keni Binte Carda, savagely tortured by her Saudi boss: her husband left her and her three year old son is afraid to look at her. Despite what some go through, theres an overall sense of these being resilient women. The Long Road Home is published by the International Labour Organisation and distributed here by Select Books.

Winner of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centres New Non-Profit Initiative Award 2005 Winner of the American Womens Association Woman of the Year Award 2011 Winner of the Rotary Club of Singapore Good Samaritan 2011 Award

Page 4 of 10

Despatches from the frontline

I am currently working on the case of a worker from the Peoples Republic who was burned in a restaurant kitchen gas leak explosion on the 14 August at Lembu Road. I visited the worker, a 19 year old from the central Henan Province, whose name means South of the *Yellow+ River, although most of the province lies north of it. Henan is the birthplace of Chinese civilization with over 5,000 years of history, and remained China's cultural, economical, and political center until approximately a millennium ago. Numerous historical ruins have been left behind including the remains of Shang Dynasty capital city, Yinxu, and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the Eight Great Ancient Capitals (Luoyang, Anyang, Kaifeng, and Zhengzhou) are located in Henan. Chin (not his real name) sustained 46% total body surface area burns. He developed an infection while in hospital. He also shows signs of emotional distress which could be Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and required emotional support.
Henan Province

His infection has cleared and his wounds have healed well. He is able to walk and perform his daily activities although he still requires a caregiver to remind him to perform his daily activities, such as time to shower and brush his teeth, etc. He has been eating well. He is able to communicate briefly, mostly through basic simple answers; however, he has not been talking much and will usually not reply when asked complicated or long questions. He takes a little time to respond to questions. He was discharged from hospital on 7 October and accommodated at the employers dormitory on the third floor of the shophouse. On Saturday 8 October morning I received a call from Chins fathers friend who is working as a construction worker here in Singapore. He told me that the place where Chin is staying is horrible. Along with Debbie Fordyce, we visited Chin later that afternoon. With the employers permission, we provided alternative accommodation elsewhere. There are several follow-ups for Chin at the hospital, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy and psychiatric treatment. Some of the pressing issues for Chin as of now are: 1) Although Chin is able to perform daily activities on his own, he still requires a full-time caregiver to guide him through the day. It seemed that he is not yet ready to be left on his own and self-care fully. 2) He would also need to return to SGH for frequent follow-ups and physiotherapy. A caregiver would need to accompany him as he would not likely come on his own and would not remember when and where to go. 3) Chin appears to be in a cocoon-state, almost like a child. He is generally guarded and takes times to warm up to people. His sleep is often disturbed, although he is not having any flashbacks or nightmares. However, as he does not speak much, the hospital is not able to fully assess how severe the post-traumatic stress is. As such, he would need a caring, patient and understanding caregiver, which the hospital could train, if necessary. I have spoken to several private nursing homes and they have requested the medical report for Chin before deciding whether to admit him. I have also asked for an estimated costing and most have quoted me within the range of $3000 to $4000 per month. The reason for not admitting Chin to a VWO nursing home is the long waiting time and most admissions to these homes are based on merits. Chin being a foreign might be a minus point. At Saturday lunch at The Cuff Road Project, I spoke to two volunteers who offered to assist in providing financial support if Chin is admitted to a nursing home. They have also contacted some of their nursing home contacts to see whether any homes can admit Chin immediately. The employer has given a Letter of Guarantee (LOG) to the hospitals Business Office regarding payment. They are expecting the $25,000 from Work Injury Compensation, but as Chin has been hospitalised for close to 2 months now, his hospital bill would very easily be in the region $100,000. The hospital thinks the employer might not be able to afford to settle the full hospital bill as he mentioned to the social worker that he is facing some financial difficulties, especially after having to renovate his business after the explosion.
Chins injuries

Winner of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centres New Non-Profit Initiative Award 2005 Winner of the American Womens Association Woman of the Year Award 2011 Winner of the Rotary Club of Singapore Good Samaritan 2011 Award

Page 5 of 10

Among the solutions we are exploring is whether there is the possibility of bringing Chins mother over to care for him. However, the family structure doesnt permit it: Chins father is blind and there is an eight year old, school-going sister; the mother is the sole breadwinner. The Migrant Workers Centre has been approached but cannot offer any help. Chins case raises the stark reality that employment protections are insufficient for the sectors in which the vast majority of our migrant workers are employed. A total of $40,000 mandatory medical coverage (ie $25,000 work injury compensation and $15,000 hospitalisation insurance) are woefully inadequate for serious injuries such as Chin sustained. Without the intervention of our CAREFund, it is likely that Chin would have returned home with long-term injuries and post-trauma disability. Chins case raises urgently the need for the employment legislation in its totality to be reviewed. Kenneth Soh, Community Worker

Recently, Shelley Thio, Head of TWC2s Direct Services Subcommittee, received a Thank You letter from a domestic worker who she had carried out a detailed piece of intervention with and who had returned to the Philippines. Wed like to share part of it with you.

Dear Maam Shelley, Hello maam how are u today? Hope ur fine while reading this letter of mine. Im Sheila M. Eustacio [name altered. Ed.] u remember me?
Shelley Thio

Maam once again a million of thanks for helping me, becoz of ur help Im here now in Philippines. Together with my 2 sons. U know Im soo happy to see them they are big already now I will settle them first, enrol them then after that I apply going to Taiwan. For me I dont want to go but I dont have choice I need money to support them. I will send my 2 sons picture so u can see them. Anyway maam, Jenny [name altered. Ed.] called me this morning she told me that u pay for her. Shes happy but she said she doesnt know when she go back. U help a lot of people not only Chinese like u but also Filipinos like me. Im soo greatful that I meet u. I know so many there outside waiting for ur help. Ill pray to god for ur health so u can help more people in this world. Sorry again for my late email nx this I will send to u my experience in Singapore from the beginning until the day I go back Philippines. I hope my story can help other Filipina like me. Thank u so much and take care always!!!! God Bliss U.... Respectfully Yours, Sheila

TWC2 Helpdesk Training Programme

The TWC2 Helpdesk is the backbone of our work, where we provide advice on the law, guidance on making a work injury or Employment Act violation claim, follow through on a claim, accompany a worker to hospital, or just lend a listening ear to a distressed or confused foreign worker, alone in Singapore and not sure where to turn or whom to trust. The Helpdesk is staffed by our Community Worker and our Admin Officer as well as a group of committed and dedicated volunteers. Each year a new batch of Helpdeskers attend an eight-week course that prepares them for their work. The next training programme will be held on Sundays from 2-5pm, starting on 15 January and ending on 11 March. After the course, Helpdeskers will have the skills to volunteer with the following: Helpline worker Description: Staffing a telephone helpline which reaches out to foreign workers experiencing problems with employment Requirements: Able to speak Bengali, Mandarin, Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia, Tamil, or Sinhala. Social work, counselling or helpline experience Commitment: 2 hours per week. Min 6 months commitment Caseworker Description: Assist workers with their employment claim, support them for medical needs, or provide other assistance on a case-by-case basis Requirements: Enthusiastic, empathetic, and optimistic, you need to be able to follow a case through. Helping or counselling skills are ideal but not a must as training is provided. A plus if you can speak Bangladeshi, Mandarin, Tagalog, or Bahasa Indonesia Commitment: Variable 2-4 hours per week. Min 6 months commitment

Places are limited on the course. If youre interested to attend, send an email together with your CV to Mansura at [email protected] by Thursday 15 December 2011.

Winner of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centres New Non-Profit Initiative Award 2005 Winner of the American Womens Association Woman of the Year Award 2011 Winner of the Rotary Club of Singapore Good Samaritan 2011 Award

Page 6 of 10

Events
7 September Vincent Wijeysingha launched the book, The Path to Remittance: Tales of Pains and Gains of Overseas Filipino Workers, by Filipina domestic worker, Papias Generale Banados. Papias and the editor, Dr Kalinga Seneviratne, also spoke at the launch which was held at Earshot Caf @ Arts House. (See above for review) On the same evening, Migrant Voices held an opening reception at A Curious Teepee, Orchard Link, for this years InsideOut exhibition of photographs by migrant workers. 10 September Immediate Past President, John Gee, attended a public forum on CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) held by AWARE. 13 September John and Vincent, from TWC2, and Jeremy Khoo, newly-appointed Executive Director of the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ACMI) were panelists at Social Leadership 2011, a programme sponsored by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre. Though they hadnt compared notes in advance, their presentations were complementary and participants showed a keen interest. That evening, Channel News Asias Get Real! programme was on Workers in Transit. It featured a number of workers who are waiting injury or legal cases to be settled and who have no legal means of supporting themselves in the meantime. TWC2s cooperation was acknowledged in the end credits. 25 September The Indonesian Family Network held a Halal Bihalal party at Toa Payoh Park. There was plenty of food, plus games and entertainment. 26 September The School of Photography, Tanjong Pagar, hosted the launch of Sim Chi Yins The Long Road Home. 20 of the photographs from the book were displayed and offered for sale. Chi Yin graciously decided to share proceeds from the sale equally among TWC2, HOME and Migrant Voices. (See review of The Long Road Home above) 15 October Should Maids Have a Day Off A Forum for Employers was organised to get feedback from employers on this emotive issue. It was moderated by Dr Lai Ah Eng of the Asia Research Institute and attracted more than 20 employers. The conclusions will be reported in the next newsletter. 19 October Vincent Wijeysingha was one of the panelists at ThinkFest 2011, organized by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation at Singapore Management University. 29 October ONE (SINGAPORE) and FoodXervices will hold an Every ONE Can Charity Grocery Warehouse Sale from 10am 3pm at FoodXervices Inc., 39 Keppel Road, 01-02/04, Tanjong Pagar Distripark (Opposite the old railway station). Groceries will be sold at wholesale prices and proceeds will go to help the hungry, so you can stock up and do some good at the same time. TWC2 will have a table there, with free information and some items for sale. All the money from our own sales will go to TWC2.

Winner of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centres New Non-Profit Initiative Award 2005 Winner of the American Womens Association Woman of the Year Award 2011 Winner of the Rotary Club of Singapore Good Samaritan 2011 Award

Page 7 of 10

International Migrants Day

This year, International Migrants Day (December 18th) falls on a Sunday. TWC2 will be holding a tea dance on the Sunday before (December 11th). We will also take part in the following event, organised by Migrant Voices, on the weekend of IMD. Our participation will include holding a half day school for anyone wanting to know more about the basic issues around migrant workers in Singapore. -----------Migrant Voices will celebrate International Migrants' Day this year with Integrate, a multi-disciplinary 2-day event. Discussions with civil society groups and talks by artists on the topic of community cultural development will take spotlight on the first day. The event ends on Sunday with performances, poetry readings and dance produced by foreign domestic workers. Integrate will also include a special feature on artworks by Chinese migrant workers from their creative workshops. Other highlights include a flea market and art installations by migrant worker participants from their Grass Day Out outreach programme. Come and discover the world through their eyes! INTEGRATE Dates: Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th December 2011 Time: 12pm till 8pm Venue: Group Therapy and Pigeonhole (49, 52 & 53 Duxton Rd) Contact: [email protected] Blog: www.mvintegrate.wordpress.com

Charles Hector Fernandez Case Ends

Defamation case against human rights defender, Charles Hector Fernandez, ended with a settlement. (Charles is a Malaysian human rights activist who speaks up for low-paid Malaysian and migrant workers) Geneva/Paris, August 26, 2011 - The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), expresses its concern about the outcome of the judicial case against human rights defender Charles Hector Fernandez, who was sued by a company for publishing information regarding the violation of the rights of 31 Burmese migrant workers in Malaysia. On August 25, 2011, the case against human rights defender Charles Hector Fernandez before the Shah Alam High Court ended in a settlement between the defender and the company that had sued him for civil defamation. According to the settlement, Mr. Charles Hector Fernandez will pay 1 Malaysian Ringgit (less than one USD) in costs and the same amount in damages to the company, and will publish a half-page apology in the Malaysian daily newspapers The Star and Nanyang Siang Pau. Mr. Charles Hector Fernandez was sued in February 2011 by the Japanese-owned company Asahi Kosei, in Selangor, Malaysia, for publishing information on-line regarding the violation of the rights of 31 Burmese migrant workers by this company management. Asahi Kosei Company was demanding a compensation of USD 3.3 million, in addition to a public apology, with the argument that these 31 Burmese workers have not been under their responsibility, as they were supplied to them by an outsourcing agent*1+. The Observatory sent an international mission to observe the trial against Mr. Charles Hector Fernandez and to investigate the situation of human rights defenders in Malaysia.

The case of Charles Hector Fernandez shows how powerful corporate interests are taking on and silencing a human rights defender by his horns. Using exorbitant civil libel claims against human rights defenders reporting alleged corporate abuse sends a dangerous precedent with a chilling effect on the legitimate work of human rights defenders, said Ms. Sudha Ramalingam, following the observation of the trial.
The Observatory is concerned that the human rights defender in this case was left with little choice other than accepting a settlement having the effect of sanctioning his activities as a defender of the rights of migrant workers. For many years, Mr. Charles Hector Fernandez has provided vital legal assistance to workers and migrants seeking justice. The Observatory calls upon the authorities of Malaysia to put an end to all forms of harassment against human rights

Winner of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centres New Non-Profit Initiative Award 2005 Winner of the American Womens Association Woman of the Year Award 2011 Winner of the Rotary Club of Singapore Good Samaritan 2011 Award

Page 8 of 10

defenders in the country, including through criminal or civil libel laws, and to ensure full conformity with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and other international and regional instruments ratified by Malaysia. The Observatory also reminds private actors including business enterprises of their responsibility of respecting human rights and exercising due diligence to avoid complicity in abusing human rights in countries where they operate.

Opinion
Communication with Family and Friends a Basic Right
In the March-April 2010 newsletter, we carried a short article headed Less Right to Communicate than Convicts? The article pointed out that, while imprisoned criminals have right to send and receive one letter each month and to have monthly visits from friends and relatives, many domestic workers who are denied days off are completely cut off from communication with the outside world by their employers throughout their placement. The Big House, a Straits Times feature on Singapore prisons published on 8 October, notes that ten years ago, (a)n inmates family could see him face to face only once a month for 20 minutes. Now (b)esides face-to-face visits, the family can choose among nine televisit centres to have Skype-like chats for 30 minutes, once a month. From time to time, TWC2 receives calls from distressed relatives who have lost contact with their daughters. In some cases, we have been able to find the household where the daughter is employed, and it turned out that the employer had banned her from writing or telephoning anyone. We have been able to reassure the families that their daughter was alive and well; a couple of times, we persuaded the employer to allow the worker to receive one phone call from her family. Not all such cases were in Singapore: once we helped a Filipino family to find a daughter who had disappeared in Saudi Arabia. It is deeply distressing to any family to lose contact suddenly with a daughter, wife or mother. They dont even know if she is dead or alive. It is very inhumane to cut off a person from contact with a family, which is why prison services worldwide allow visits and other communication. At an international level, it is widely accepted that there is a right to correspond privately without interference, except when legal authorization has been given to law enforcement officers to monitor the communications of suspected criminals. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, says:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 17 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 says:

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Myanmar in Southeast Asia, along with 17 other states worldwide, have not signed or ratified this covenant (five, including China, have signed but not ratified it). Nevertheless, Singaporeans would regard the prevention of communication between individuals and all their families and friends as only being justified by the most extreme criminal behaviour. So why should it ever be seen as acceptable for employers to cut off communication by domestic workers?

TWC2 HAS REVAMPED ITS WEBSITE! IT WILL GO LIVE VERY SOON! PLEASE KEEP AN EYE FOR ANNOUNCEMENTS ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE.

Winner of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centres New Non-Profit Initiative Award 2005 Winner of the American Womens Association Woman of the Year Award 2011 Winner of the Rotary Club of Singapore Good Samaritan 2011 Award

Page 9 of 10

TWC2 letter on the day off in The Straits Times

This letter was published on 10 October, mostly as written, except that domestic worker was changed to maid (almost) throughout. No reason to deny maids a day off Madam Chua Lai Keow certainly had a bad experience with her maid who became pregnant, but this should not be seen as a reason for denying domestic workers days off when they can go out. Many teenagers have boyfriends and girlfriends. If a recent survey is accurate, many also have sexual relations and 80 per cent don't use contraception. But who would seriously suggest that they should all be shut up at home To confine 100,000 women to 365 days a year in order to prevent unwanted employers' homes on the basis that pregnancies? In fact, about half the maids employed in Singapore already have at least one day off each month and 12 per cent have weekly days off, but the percentage who become pregnant is tiny.

To confine 100,000 women to employers' homes on the basis that some get pregnant when they are out is like stopping all motorists from driving because some have crashes. Maids who have regular days off - preferably weekly, when they can meet other maids and build up friendships - have a chance to get good advice on how to look after themselves. Long periods of isolation in employers' houses would leave them lonely, emotionally deprived and more liable to fall into a potentially damaging relationship at some point, than a more normal way of life - with easy access to the outside world. They need time off, like everyone else and nothing justifies taking that from them. John Gee Immediate Past President Transient Workers Count Too

some get pregnant when they are out is like stopping all motorists from driving because some have crashes.

Images from the TWC2 Enrichment Programme Jewellery-Making Class that began in September...

Winner of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centres New Non-Profit Initiative Award 2005 Winner of the American Womens Association Woman of the Year Award 2011 Winner of the Rotary Club of Singapore Good Samaritan 2011 Award

Page 10 of 10