As I have posted before, and other forumners have done the same, many owners and operators of these workers dorms have ties with Crassloot Leeders or even ex Ministers like Sidek Saniff. Many companies that build these dorms are also shrouded in ownership secrecy as their major shareholders are all banking or brokerage nominees. What these nominees do is to hold shares in anonymity for the real owners. It will not surprise me to know that many shares in these companies are held by MIWs and PAP cronies under nominees.
But how big is this business? Minister Jo Teo recently stated that there are more then 200,000 workers in 43 dorms. This is the current number. But the max capacity for all dorms added together is in the 300,000-400,000 range. Exactly how many is not stated by the PAP. It depends on the economy and then number of infrastructure projects going on in Singapore.
Dorms are roughly divided in 2 categories. You have the older ones like S11 Dorm which claims to be the cheapest in Singapore. They can make this claim because some of their rooms can hold up to 12 workers, in bunk beads. If you think back on the older days SAF barracks, it something like this. Then you have the newer ones like Westlite Toh Guan, which typically hold 4 to 6 people in a room and are equipped with double toilets, separate living room, and a small kitchen, and even wifi. These newer dorms allow a worker to cook their own food. The larger dorms can hold as many as 22, 000 workers at max capacity. And these dorms provide catering of meals to the workers.
4 years ago, the pricing for one of the older more crowded dorms was $140-$150 per worker per month. This is just for the bed. There is a different price for a meal plan and also different prices for employers who place workers by the volume. The newer better ones were between $280-$300, just for a bed and this was 4 years ago. This price is paid by the company to the dorm operator to house their workers. Because the pricing can vary depending on the number of workers placed, meal plan versus no meal plan, etc. this is my best guess based on today.
For older more crowded dorms - about $250 per worker. For newer dorms about $400. For meal plan, about $7 per person per day. Lets say 225000 workers are in dorms today. Lets say three quarters are in older dorms with a meal plan. The other one quarter in newer dorms with no meal plans.
Older dorms = 168,750 workers X $250 = $42.2 million per month
Catering contracts = $168,750 X $7 = $1.2 million per day X 30 days a month = $35.4 million a month
Newer dorms = 56,250 X $400 = $22.5 million
Total monthly income from workers dorm = $100.1 million a month or $1.2 billion a year. That's big business and it does not include all the money made from commercial washing machines in the buildings and also from rent received from supermarkets located in these dorms. This is extremely good business for PAP cronies and porlumpars.
But how big is this business? Minister Jo Teo recently stated that there are more then 200,000 workers in 43 dorms. This is the current number. But the max capacity for all dorms added together is in the 300,000-400,000 range. Exactly how many is not stated by the PAP. It depends on the economy and then number of infrastructure projects going on in Singapore.
Dorms are roughly divided in 2 categories. You have the older ones like S11 Dorm which claims to be the cheapest in Singapore. They can make this claim because some of their rooms can hold up to 12 workers, in bunk beads. If you think back on the older days SAF barracks, it something like this. Then you have the newer ones like Westlite Toh Guan, which typically hold 4 to 6 people in a room and are equipped with double toilets, separate living room, and a small kitchen, and even wifi. These newer dorms allow a worker to cook their own food. The larger dorms can hold as many as 22, 000 workers at max capacity. And these dorms provide catering of meals to the workers.
4 years ago, the pricing for one of the older more crowded dorms was $140-$150 per worker per month. This is just for the bed. There is a different price for a meal plan and also different prices for employers who place workers by the volume. The newer better ones were between $280-$300, just for a bed and this was 4 years ago. This price is paid by the company to the dorm operator to house their workers. Because the pricing can vary depending on the number of workers placed, meal plan versus no meal plan, etc. this is my best guess based on today.
For older more crowded dorms - about $250 per worker. For newer dorms about $400. For meal plan, about $7 per person per day. Lets say 225000 workers are in dorms today. Lets say three quarters are in older dorms with a meal plan. The other one quarter in newer dorms with no meal plans.
Older dorms = 168,750 workers X $250 = $42.2 million per month
Catering contracts = $168,750 X $7 = $1.2 million per day X 30 days a month = $35.4 million a month
Newer dorms = 56,250 X $400 = $22.5 million
Total monthly income from workers dorm = $100.1 million a month or $1.2 billion a year. That's big business and it does not include all the money made from commercial washing machines in the buildings and also from rent received from supermarkets located in these dorms. This is extremely good business for PAP cronies and porlumpars.
