29 April 2009
Migrant worker problems must be tackled at roots
Another 200 workers from China demonstrated at the Manpower ministry on Monday. Our government's response is merely reactive and never addresses underlying problems; that's why they keep resurfacing. Singapore denies there's human trafficking here, but we're just toying with words. Full essay.
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5 comments:
Great comment YB.
It has been a miracle, given the enormity of the explotiation of these migrant workers,that they have shown rather strong restrains.
But, the government should better wake up and provide a more fairer employment culture for our migrant workers before they reach a situation where they have nothing to lose but their chains.
Kai Khiun
I am just wondering, how come these 200 workers are not arrested under our "illegal assembly" laws, whereas if a group of Singaporeans dared to even gather they will be throw behind bars.
"Another 200 workers from China demonstrated at the Manpower ministry on Monday."Move on powers can only be applied on singaporeans? =)))
The Singapore Government doesn't care because it really doesn't believe that humans have any inherent worth at all. To them, these foreigners from backward countries are nothing more than animals to be sacrificed at the altar of Singapore's economic efficiency.
After all, who cares about the misery of some lowly, uneducated, faceless foreigner? Getting that number one rank for "Most Open Economy" is more important. This means giving employers all the power.
Dag is right. The Singapore government is the most pro-business government in the world, probably because it has its hand in so many business itself.
Singapore often win accolades from right-wing organizations for being the best place to conduct business, having the most competitive economy, the highest economic freedom index, etc. These are euphemisms saying that Singapore has minimal corporate taxes and that Singapore workers have absolutely no rights. Big corporations are free to exploit their workers and keep most of the profits for themselves at the end of the day.
The sad thing is that most Singaporeans are not well informed enough to understand this. They think that getting all these most competitive/free/open economy awards means that the PAP is doing a good job. Hardly anyone realize that this just says that they are getting screwed.
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