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Bangladeshi construction workers Kamal Hossain Amirul, Md Masud Alam Md Osman and Imam Hossan Moslam Uddin found themselves to be strangers in a foreign land, left to fend for themselves.
Made to work without salaries for four months, they were housed in an overcrowded room that already had 30 other migrant workers. To make matters worse, their electricity supply was cut off and they had to live in darkness.
Nevertheless, the workers were determined to stay on in Singapore as they had sold their belongings in order to pay the $5,000 fee to their agent in Bangladesh, and did not intend to return home empty handed.
Out of desperation, they reported the matter to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and were brought to the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) on the evening of 9 February 2012.
Recalling the situation then, MWC’s Executive Director Edwin Pang said: “They came to us with only their clothes and their bags. They didn’t have anything else on them.
“So I bought them toiletries and refreshments, and then we made arrangements with another commercial dormitory to house them.”
As it was late in the day, it was not easy to find a dormitory operator that was willing to make arrangements to house the three workers at such short notice. It took the good relations that MWC had with one particular dormitory operator for this to happen.
Mr Pang then drove the three workers in his car to the dormitory. Throughout the one-hour journey, MWC Staff Specialist Reshma Basu spoke to them in their native language, making them feel right at home.
The next day, MWC staff got to work early to settle the salary arrears of the three workers with MOM. At the same time, the electricity at their previous living quarters was restored, and the workers returned to stay there.
Subsequently, their employer also agreed to look into their salary arrears. The workers were very thankful for the help they had received from MWC staff.
“I think they were grateful because they didn’t expect to find somebody who spoke their native tongue to talk to them and assure them.
“In their own words, they said to Reshma, ‘you are like family to us’, and were very happy and comforted during the stressful situation,” shared Mr Pang.
