Yes,We Can! Petition For Better Housing For Foreign Workers

24 October 2009

Foreign workers often live in deplorable conditions which are dirty, cramped and unhygienic. Two National University of Singapore social work students, Grace and Kah Yoke, have started a petition to improve housing conditions for foreign workers in Singapore.

This is their petition video.

To Mr. Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Manpower, Singapore

Dear Mr. Gan,

We are writing to you as concerned citizens and residents of Singapore who are appalled by the way many foreign workers are housed. It is not uncommon to see workers who are squeezed into unsanitary, poorly ventilated and bug infested living quarters that are not approved by the relevant authorities.

Singapore is admired for its economic progress and for propelling itself into a developed country within a span of just one generation. Yet, the way many foreign workers are housed and treated is hardly befitting of a First World nation with aspirations of becoming a 'global' and 'cosmopolitan' city. It is ironic that many foreign workers, including those that build beautiful homes for us, are housed in slum-like living conditions.

As such, we would like to urge you and your Ministry to:

1) Ensure more dormitories with decent living standards are built. The dormitories should be hygienic, have adequate living space, are well ventilated, and equipped with the necessary amenities to cater to the workers' day to day needs.

2) Step up investigations and checks by conducting a nation wide operation to identify areas where workers are being housed in sub standard living conditions and arrange for their re-settlement.

3) Increase the penalties of employers who house workers poorly.

Visit their petition blog here.

Sign the petition here.