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Coffee Shop Talk - Singapore - NO MORE SLAVES! </TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">BREAKlNGNEWS <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">6:37 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 3) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>15343.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Singapore - NO MORE SLAVES!
The Asian Pacific Post
Chanting “No more slaves! No more slaves!,” a group of protesters assembled on the doorstep of the Singapore Consulate in downtown Vancouver this week to turn a spotlight on the drastic plight of domestic maids in Singapore, a country with the fifth highest per capita income in the world, higher even than Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.
Bound in heavy chains and electrical cords, their mouths sealed with black electrical-tape X's, six female members of the Vancouver-based Creative World Justice human rights group stood stone faced outside the Consulate carrying irons and vacuum cleaners for a protest that coincided with World Abolition of Slavery Day on Tuesday.
Other members of the Christian advocacy group chanted and waved placards, some of which read: 'Imagine working 16 hrs a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.'
“Singapore is an extremely affluent country with an extremely low rate of corruption,” said CWJ spokesman Steven Rathjen. “With that kind of government, and that kind of money, there is no excuse for this sort of behaviour.”
According to the Singapore-based rights group, Transient Workers Count Too, there are approximately 170,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore. Most are from The Philippines. Almost 70,000 are from Indonesia while a smaller pool of workers comes from Sri Lanka, India and Burma.
These women leave their homes and families in search of a better life in the economic hub of Southeast Asia. What they invariably find, according to rights watchers, is a living hell of physical and psychological abuse.
Singapore's maids are not entitled to legal protections afforded other foreign workers in Singapore. Nor are they protected by the country's Employment Act.
They are not entitled to weekly day off, and often survive on eight hours daily “rest time” and a monthly income of $10 to $20.
According to a recent Transient Workers Count Too report, these women arrive in Singapore with heavy debt burdens arising from employment agency fees. With six to nine months of salary deductions from the agencies – placement fees can be as high as $2,640 – and arbitrary deductions from employees for everything from bottled water to laundry soap, these household workers find themselves in an inescapable spiral of poverty and depression.
Rathjen says the effect of overwork on Singapore’s foreign maids is “catastrophic,” pointing to many cases of maid abuse and suicide. Between 1995 and 2005 at least 147 migrant workers were documented as dying from workplace “accidents” or suicide.
“We're looking for Singapore to include foreign domestic workers in their Employment Act,” said Rathjen, during this week's dramatic protest.
“The Act already covers foreign skilled and unskilled workers, but not domestic workers. Singapore seems to be comfortable with this arrangement, so we're here to put a little pressure on them.”
A similar protest action was carried out on the same day at the Singaporean Embassy in Washington, DC.
While prosperous Singapore was the target of this week's protest, abusive and exploitative treatment of maids is a problem that plagues much of Asia.
Millions of women from countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, The Philippines, India, Burma and Nepal are imported as cooks, cleaners and caregivers in the homes of Asia's affluent.
These domestic workers still face beatings, rape and sometimes even murder because laws in Asian nations do not protect them from abusive employers, the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in a report released just last week.
“There are countless cases of employers threatening, humiliating, beating, raping and sometimes killing domestic workers,” said Nisha Varia, deputy director of the women's rights division of HRW in New York.
The report said few domestic workers can utilise the justice system in the countries they work in and even those who manage to successfully complain rarely receive compensation.
One reason why housemaids' are at increased risk of abuse is because employers often control a worker's immigration status and ability to change jobs.
“Many employers exploit this power to confine domestic workers to the house, without pay, and commit other abuses,” HRW said in a statement.
“Governments need to punish abusive employers through the justice system, and prevent violence by reforming labour and immigration policies that leave these workers at their employers' mercy.”
HRW also said governments should train law enforcement officials on how to appropriately investigate and collect evidence in response to housemaids' complaints.
“2008 marked a year of missed opportunities,” Varia lamented.
Creative World Justice hopes Singapore will lead the way in guaranteeing basic human rights and dignity to its “enslaved” domestic workers.
While Singapore did introduce a “Standard Employment Contract between Foreign Domestic Worker and Employer” in September of 2006, critics charge that the standard contracts are seldom applied and rarely enforced.
Creative World Justice, and similar advocacy groups, say the rights of domestic maids should be protected under solid, enforceable legislation.
“Surrounded by other less developed countries with comparatively worse domestic labour situations such as Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore has the potential to be a leader by reforming their labour practice,” said Rathjen.
Added protester Craig, who asked that his last name not be published in order to protect his work on the ground with domestic workers in Singapore: “Would you want someone who hadn't had a day off in months looking after your children, or your parents?
“These are the last remnants of slavery going on. We really need to crack down on this issue. It's really a no brainer.”
The Consulate of the Republic of Singapore in Vancouver did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
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The Asian Pacific Post
Chanting “No more slaves! No more slaves!,” a group of protesters assembled on the doorstep of the Singapore Consulate in downtown Vancouver this week to turn a spotlight on the drastic plight of domestic maids in Singapore, a country with the fifth highest per capita income in the world, higher even than Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.
Bound in heavy chains and electrical cords, their mouths sealed with black electrical-tape X's, six female members of the Vancouver-based Creative World Justice human rights group stood stone faced outside the Consulate carrying irons and vacuum cleaners for a protest that coincided with World Abolition of Slavery Day on Tuesday.
Other members of the Christian advocacy group chanted and waved placards, some of which read: 'Imagine working 16 hrs a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.'
“Singapore is an extremely affluent country with an extremely low rate of corruption,” said CWJ spokesman Steven Rathjen. “With that kind of government, and that kind of money, there is no excuse for this sort of behaviour.”
According to the Singapore-based rights group, Transient Workers Count Too, there are approximately 170,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore. Most are from The Philippines. Almost 70,000 are from Indonesia while a smaller pool of workers comes from Sri Lanka, India and Burma.
These women leave their homes and families in search of a better life in the economic hub of Southeast Asia. What they invariably find, according to rights watchers, is a living hell of physical and psychological abuse.
Singapore's maids are not entitled to legal protections afforded other foreign workers in Singapore. Nor are they protected by the country's Employment Act.
They are not entitled to weekly day off, and often survive on eight hours daily “rest time” and a monthly income of $10 to $20.
According to a recent Transient Workers Count Too report, these women arrive in Singapore with heavy debt burdens arising from employment agency fees. With six to nine months of salary deductions from the agencies – placement fees can be as high as $2,640 – and arbitrary deductions from employees for everything from bottled water to laundry soap, these household workers find themselves in an inescapable spiral of poverty and depression.
Rathjen says the effect of overwork on Singapore’s foreign maids is “catastrophic,” pointing to many cases of maid abuse and suicide. Between 1995 and 2005 at least 147 migrant workers were documented as dying from workplace “accidents” or suicide.
“We're looking for Singapore to include foreign domestic workers in their Employment Act,” said Rathjen, during this week's dramatic protest.
“The Act already covers foreign skilled and unskilled workers, but not domestic workers. Singapore seems to be comfortable with this arrangement, so we're here to put a little pressure on them.”
A similar protest action was carried out on the same day at the Singaporean Embassy in Washington, DC.
While prosperous Singapore was the target of this week's protest, abusive and exploitative treatment of maids is a problem that plagues much of Asia.
Millions of women from countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, The Philippines, India, Burma and Nepal are imported as cooks, cleaners and caregivers in the homes of Asia's affluent.
These domestic workers still face beatings, rape and sometimes even murder because laws in Asian nations do not protect them from abusive employers, the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in a report released just last week.
“There are countless cases of employers threatening, humiliating, beating, raping and sometimes killing domestic workers,” said Nisha Varia, deputy director of the women's rights division of HRW in New York.
The report said few domestic workers can utilise the justice system in the countries they work in and even those who manage to successfully complain rarely receive compensation.
One reason why housemaids' are at increased risk of abuse is because employers often control a worker's immigration status and ability to change jobs.
“Many employers exploit this power to confine domestic workers to the house, without pay, and commit other abuses,” HRW said in a statement.
“Governments need to punish abusive employers through the justice system, and prevent violence by reforming labour and immigration policies that leave these workers at their employers' mercy.”
HRW also said governments should train law enforcement officials on how to appropriately investigate and collect evidence in response to housemaids' complaints.
“2008 marked a year of missed opportunities,” Varia lamented.
Creative World Justice hopes Singapore will lead the way in guaranteeing basic human rights and dignity to its “enslaved” domestic workers.
While Singapore did introduce a “Standard Employment Contract between Foreign Domestic Worker and Employer” in September of 2006, critics charge that the standard contracts are seldom applied and rarely enforced.
Creative World Justice, and similar advocacy groups, say the rights of domestic maids should be protected under solid, enforceable legislation.
“Surrounded by other less developed countries with comparatively worse domestic labour situations such as Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore has the potential to be a leader by reforming their labour practice,” said Rathjen.
Added protester Craig, who asked that his last name not be published in order to protect his work on the ground with domestic workers in Singapore: “Would you want someone who hadn't had a day off in months looking after your children, or your parents?
“These are the last remnants of slavery going on. We really need to crack down on this issue. It's really a no brainer.”
The Consulate of the Republic of Singapore in Vancouver did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
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