5.18M of population. Good or bad?

[Strparent]

limlim:

news.. greedy employer.

Don't need the foreign worker but yet bought them in to contribute to the overcrowded trains and buses.. so that he can pocket money from the workers.

The worst kind.. shd impose a severe sentence..

Construction firm boss Kenneth Lim Ong Long padded his list of local employees with bogus workers so as to be eligible to recruit more foreigners. The 73-year-old would then collect $6,000 for each of the 30 Chinese nationals he hired last year.

This scheme of getting obscene payments by importing foreign workers has been in existent since 15 years ago at least. Come on, MOM does not know before, only recently realise ? zzzzzzzz

works like a scam , imho. but the foreign levy income is good enough for some it seems. This levy is presently at $380 per foreign labourer, and some of these labourers sell their land, farm, loan, to pay the agents commission ranging from $4k to $9k , just to come here to work decently with income of abt $650 to $800 per month. Honest hardworking people, but manipulated by unscrupulous agents , many of which are Singaporeans. So, who are the trash ? Why no protection for these genuine workers ? Go figure...... this is the world we are in now.

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/01/a-19th-century-page-from-a-21st-century-draft/

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/01/%E2%80%9Ci-hope-singapore-government-punish-them%E2%80%9D/

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/01/toc-expose-repatriation-companies/

What is the punishment to for those companies that earn commission by bring in workers, and then throwing them aside when there is no more work ? What is the recourse for those workers who paid thousands upfront to get here, only to be forced home without earning enough even to cover their money, against their will ?

first world country, my foot. Now I know why there was a report that USA consider Singapore on the blacklist for human trafficking and slavery.

[verykiasu2010]

Strparent:

This scheme of getting obscene payments by importing foreign workers has been in existent since 15 years ago at least. Come on, MOM does not know before, only recently realise ? zzzzzzzz

works like a scam , imho. but the foreign levy income is good enough for some it seems. This levy is presently at $380 per foreign labourer, and some of these labourers sell their land, farm, loan, to pay the agents commission ranging from $4k to $9k , just to come here to work decently with income of abt $650 to $800 per month. Honest hardworking people, but manipulated by unscrupulous agents , many of which are Singaporeans. So, who are the trash ? Why no protection for these genuine workers ? Go figure...... this is the world we are in now.

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/01/a-19th-century-page-from-a-21st-century-draft/

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/01/%E2%80%9Ci-hope-singapore-government-punish-them%E2%80%9D/

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/01/toc-expose-repatriation-companies/

What is the punishment to for those companies that earn commission by bring in workers, and then throwing them aside when there is no more work ? What is the recourse for those workers who paid thousands upfront to get here, only to be forced home without earning enough even to cover their money, against their will ?

first world country, my foot. Now I know why there was a report that USA consider Singapore on the blacklist for human trafficking and slavery.

not only the above

also the scam on foreign domestic workers

also the scam on foreign students

[limlim]

Strparent:

What is the punishment to for those companies that earn commission by bring in workers, and then throwing them aside when there is no more work ? What is the recourse for those workers who paid thousands upfront to get here, only to be forced home without earning enough even to cover their money, against their will ?

first world country, my foot. Now I know why there was a report that USA consider Singapore on the blacklist for human trafficking and slavery.

That's why need tougher deterrence sentences against those despicable employers/agents..

[verykiasu2010]

special report


Firms feel impact of foreign worker crunch
Businesses protest, but some economists believe the limits are necessary


By Aaron Low, Magdalen Ng & Melissa Tan

Winning a $3 million contract should have been a triumph for Mr Robert Goh's electrical engineering business, but the foreign worker levy is ramping costs up so high that the 15-year-old company's future is in doubt.

SJ Thames Engineering employs about 20 foreigners for technical and basic engineering work, but once-healthy margins are being squeezed hard by the levies.

The cost per foreign worker is about $2,000 to Mr Goh. This cost includes $250 for lodging, salary of about $900 and a levy of $450.

'But even if I offer that amount, I can't get a local to join,' said Mr Goh, who placed an advert recently for an engineering job that attracted just six Singaporeans out of 160 applications.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_727332.html

[Nebbermind]

limlim:

it is precisely bcoz SG is too clean and locals have gotten used to the clean environment and their immune system weakens..

So when there is a threat the immune system cannot cope. It's something like, pple who don't exercise regular cannot run far when they are suddenly required to do so. more likely to get injured/clamps etc..

This is not a fair comments.

The nearest I came across TB was when my foreign colleague came and informed me that one of his flat mate contracted TB and although he was not infected, the whole bunch need to report for checkup regularly for x mths.

The other TB occassion which I remember was some maid who was sent to some home for recup and was later found dead on the road.

So I believe TB did not happen to us SG due to our poor health and immune system.

[verykiasu2010]

Nebbermind:

limlim:

it is precisely bcoz SG is too clean and locals have gotten used to the clean environment and their immune system weakens..

So when there is a threat the immune system cannot cope. It's something like, pple who don't exercise regular cannot run far when they are suddenly required to do so. more likely to get injured/clamps etc..

This is not a fair comments.

The nearest I came across TB was when my foreign colleague came and informed me that one of his flat mate contracted TB and although he was not infected, the whole bunch need to report for checkup regularly for x mths.

The other TB occassion which I remember was some maid who was sent to some home for recup and was later found dead on the road.

So I believe TB did not happen to us SG due to our poor health and immune system.

TB happens all the time, when singaporeans travel overseas and contracted it overseas and brought back to Singapore unknowingly...ask any GP and they will tell you

disease travels when people travels

[david59]

It is more than meets the eyes. How easier for a Singaporean who went overseas and contact TB than a bunch of foreign workers illegally squeeze into a overcrowded accommodation by the unscrupulous employer, living in such unhygienic condition?

Many foreign workers have poor hygience practices back home. When you have such a massive population of them in Singapore, I wonder how thorough r they educated about hygience in clean Singapore? Maybe MOH can reveal what percentage of the TB cases are from the foreign workers?

[Nebbermind]

Believe TB was generally well controlled in SG since the 70s. With more foreigners from lesser developed countries coming in, it will definitely bring in new cases. Donch think you can put all the blames on hygiene level of their accommodation or personal hygiene. Just like HFMD and other common school/childcare diseases, as long as people gather in close proximity regularly, it is easy to get infected when just one person is the 'carrier' coz the germs are 'ranger trained'.... :evil:

[3Boys]

The high rate of TB here vis-a-vis development status is clearly linked to imported labour, no question about it.

[MadScientist]

Similarly for DF.