1. Singapore in the 21st century
"It is a sprawling former warehouse converted into living quarters for foreign workers. But don't ask to look inside. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Member of Parliament...couldn't get past the gate on Wednesday...
No way. A representative of GoldStrong Technology, which runs the place, told him to get a court order first...'All we want to do is see the living conditions for ourselves,' the astonished MP said afterwards. 'Why deny us entry if they have nothing to hide?'
The hard fact is many of the 350,000 foreign workers here are housed in quarters that may not meet minimum safety and hygiene standards...They (the foreign workers) said the place is so packed that 40 men share one toilet. Eight to 10 men sleep in rooms the size of bus shelters and bed bugs are common...
When The Straits Times went there on Monday and asked to go in, the answer was a flat no. 'If they are not happy with living conditions here, they can get out. We don't care,' shouted a company official who refused to identify himself...Another contractor said...'You give these people a palace and they will turn it into a pig sty.'
Indian and Bangladeshi workers arrive in debt to the tune of $7500 - a small fortune paid to various agents to secure a job here. 'We have no choice but to put up with whatever is offered to us,' said a 30-year-old Bangladeshi..."
Excerpts & picture from The Straits Times, 22 April 2005.
Front page article titled "No entry for MP to see worker's dormitory"
By Radha Basu
2. Singapore in the early post-War era
"...'I (Lim Kim San, head of Singapore Press Holdings, describing housing conditions in a Chinatown shophouse during the post-War colonial era) went into a three-storey shophouse with one lavatory and two bathrooms. We counted 200 tenants living there. It was so dark and damp. It was an inhuman and degrading existence. Underneath the staircase was a single plank. A man was lying on the plank. He had rented it. That was his home!'..."
Excerpts from an article in The Straits Times, 17 October 1997.
By Tan Sai Siong
3. Singapore in the 19th century
"The establishment of British rule and new trade opportunities marked the beginning of a long period of continuous Chinese immigration (to Singapore). The first junk arrived from Xiamen (Amoy) in February 1821. By the mid-19th century, Chinese immigration was well organised. Many immigrants started their new life in debt due to expenses incurred in making the journey. They were often ill-treated and exploited, until the indentured labour system was abolished in 1914."
Wang Gungwu, Director of East Asia Institute, Singapore.
Excerpts of an interview.
Photo from http://homer.pacific.net.sg/~malabar/sources.html
May God forgive our forgetfulness & trespasses...
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