In Phase 2, Migrant Workers Battle Financial Fears And A Mental Health Crisis

[noobcarbuyer]

Shared by a friend in the industry. Please read and if you can, donate to or volunteer at NGOs that help foreign workers such as TWC2, HealthServe or Migrant Workers' Centre. They are quite severely stretched now so all help are welcome!

Source :

https://www.ricemedia.co/current-affairs-features-migrant-workers-phase-2-financial-fears-mental-health/

In Phase 2, Migrant Workers Battle Financial Fears And A Mental Health Crisis

Published 4 August 2020

Selected quotes reproduced below

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The last time Feroz* set foot outside his dormitory was in early April. For nearly four months, he has not been to Little India, the shipyard where he works, or even the other end of his dormitory compound.

After the circuit breaker kicked in on April 7, Feroz, a Bangladeshi migrant worker, watched as chaos descended on his Tuas dormitory and the place went into lockdown. With cases climbing day by day, he was moved to a room in another block in mid-April, meant for residents who had been exposed to the virus.

He has been there ever since.

For the last four months, he and his roommates have left their room only to collect their meals and use the bathroom. From his window, they can see barricades lining the compound; the blocks have been separated into red, green, and yellow zones depending on residents’ status. Optimism is in short supply.

 

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Since April, NGOs and aid groups have seen a rise in migrant worker suicides, suicide attempts and ideation, and self-harm. Reports of such incidents have also been circulating in the press and on social media.

Sharif*, a migrant worker who is actively involved in volunteering within the community, and has helped counsel many fellow migrants, put it this way: “The situation is getting more normal day by day, but mental health is getting worse.”

(The morning of our interview, a video began circulating on social media of a migrant worker, allegedly from the Leo dormitory in Kaki Bukit, attempting to jump from his block. Two nights later, while I was working on this piece, a source closely involved in aid efforts informed me that another man attempted suicide on Sunday morning.)

Representatives from Healthserve told me they had observed a spike in anxiety amongst workers in June. While there was a slight drop in case numbers going into July, the intensity of the cases increased. The NGO has counselled around 700 migrant workers between mid-April to July.

They cited various reasons for this, including financial woes, worrying for their families back home in Bangladesh and India (where Covid-19 cases have ballooned), and the lack of information. However, what many have found most distressing is the absence of a clear timeline, causing a growing sense of helplessness—even abandonment—as the wait drags on, and on, and on.

 

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Confinement has been particularly brutal for men in isolation in hotel rooms or cruise ships, where an endless wait— with no company but their own thoughts—wears away at even the strongest. Sharif described it as ‘worse than jail’. 

Men in these facilities were mostly moved out there on account of being over 45 and high-risk. Those who tested positive were later moved out for treatment, but those who were negative were kept there—largely because, Sharif suspects, there might not have been anywhere for them to go. “If their dorm is still not clear, then they can’t go back. But where to put them?” 

He described an attempted suicide case he had helped with just a few nights before, involving a man who had been isolated in a hotel room for nearly three months.

“I was very worried. When I talk to him he is not balanced, it’s like his brain can twist in a few seconds and he will jump,” he said.

“He told me, I’ve been living 3 months alone in a single room, I cannot tahan any more, I cannot sleep. If someone doesn’t bring me out tonight, I would rather die than stay here.”

 

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Despite months of intense community lobbying, it is unclear how, or when, the government plans to increase support for migrants’ mental health.

To date, there has been no explicit governmental action plan or timeline for one. When contacted for comment, an MOM representative referred me to their response to a Parliamentary Question from ex-NMP Anthea Ong from June 5, which mostly mentions NGO-led efforts.

 

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On top of all this, there is a consensus that the full brunt of Covid-19 has yet to be felt. Beneath the desire to get back to work are deeper, more disquieting fears: will we be paid? Will there even be jobs to go back to?

Of the four migrant workers I spoke to for this piece, two had received their basic pay for April to July, while the other two had pay cuts of 25%—50%. Although the latter felt the reductions were understandable, given that they had not been to work—and all of them were glad to have been paid at all—they were extremely anxious that things would deteriorate.

HOME shared that they had seen cases of unpaid wages over the circuit breaker, on top of workers who had had their permits cancelled shortly before and were left destitute. Similarly, both Ms Lee and the anonymous director, while stressing that they took their salary payment commitments seriously, were worried about the sustainability of the situation.

 

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The bitter upshot of all this is that job losses are inevitable. When flights to India and Bangladesh resume, he anticipates that many companies will send workers back. NGOs fear that after months of anxiety and desperation, this could prove the tipping point for even more men.

“The construction sector was always headed for a meltdown, but Covid brought it forward,” the director said. “I would assume that most employers want to treat their workers well, though not all do. But in this climate, I think a lot of good employers are going to be forced to do things they’re not proud of.”

The worst part, he added, is that recently-arrived workers with little experience are likely to suffer most.

“Migrant workers are often the breadwinners for their families, but as a boss, if you have to let someone go, of course it’s the new guy rather than the one with 8 years’ experience,” he said.  

“And you know how much they have to pay in agent fees to come here. The new guy probably won’t even have paid off his debts.”

 

[Atrecord]

1 hour ago, noobcarbuyer said:

Shared by a friend in the industry. Please read and if you can, donate to or volunteer at NGOs that help foreign workers such as TWC2, HealthServe or Migrant Workers' Centre. They are quite severely stretched now so all help are welcome!

Source :

https://www.ricemedia.co/current-affairs-features-migrant-workers-phase-2-financial-fears-mental-health/

In Phase 2, Migrant Workers Battle Financial Fears And A Mental Health Crisis

Published 4 August 2020

Selected quotes reproduced below

What is our powderful govt doing about this very difficult situation???

[Kb27]

should have provided netflix for them to watch for free.

[Sosaria]

Just ship them home. It's better for them, their mental health, and our safety too.

Industries are too reliant on this cheap labour, and will never improve productivity unless "cold turkey" is administered, i.e. send a large proportion of the FW home and thereafter limit the numbers drastically.

It's just like our education sysyem, for years have been talking about online learning, but implementation move at glacial pace, until covid forced a 100% conversion in mere weeks!

Same for WFH and telecommuting too. Instant adoption.

Imagine if given a choice , things would still progress very slowly.

[Dleodleo]

17 hours ago, noobcarbuyer said:

Shared by a friend in the industry. Please read and if you can, donate to or volunteer at NGOs that help foreign workers such as TWC2, HealthServe or Migrant Workers' Centre. They are quite severely stretched now so all help are welcome!

Source :

https://www.ricemedia.co/current-affairs-features-migrant-workers-phase-2-financial-fears-mental-health/

In Phase 2, Migrant Workers Battle Financial Fears And A Mental Health Crisis

Published 4 August 2020

Selected quotes reproduced below

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poor thing.    No wonder so many suicide cases.  

Thanks for sharing.   I used to think that how nice of them not to work and get paid for months.   Now then I know how bad they are feeling inside. 

[Wt_know]

this will be the tipping point

1. they have debts to repay

2. they have fear to return home to face their family where all their hopes put on him

3. they blame themself

 

“And you know how much they have to pay in agent fees to come here. The new guy probably won’t even have paid off his debts.”

[Sosaria]

45 minutes ago, Dleodleo said:

Poor thing.    No wonder so many suicide cases.  

Thanks for sharing.   I used to think that how nice of them not to work and get paid for months.   Now then I know how bad they are feeling inside. 

Is a lot of stress cooped in a room for months with no certain end date.

But I thought if they do get paid couple hundred a month, at least they can still send money home. In fact, possibly they can save up more during this period, as food/lodging provided and they are prevented from going out and spending unnecesarily.

[conybrwn]

everyone is struggling

[Hamburger]

I only know none of them complained to JT as far as she is concerned. 

[inlinesix]

2 minutes ago, Hamburger said:

I only know none of them complained to JT as far as she is concerned. 

Who dare to complain?  At a stroke of pen, bye bye!

[Wt_know]

5 hours ago, Sosaria said:

Is a lot of stress cooped in a room for months with no certain end date.

But I thought if they do get paid couple hundred a month, at least they can still send money home. In fact, possibly they can save up more during this period, as food/lodging provided and they are prevented from going out and spending unnecesarily.

when got work, there is OT (many), i assume they can earn at least $1200-$1500

now only got $450-$500? they have the whole family to support back home plus DEBTS! O$P$

[13177]

6 hours ago, Dleodleo said:

Poor thing.    No wonder so many suicide cases.  

Thanks for sharing.   I used to think that how nice of them not to work and get paid for months.   Now then I know how bad they are feeling inside. 

If no need to work and yet get paid and also no need to restrict your movement within a room, then good la. If you cannot go out, 24/7 only can stay inside a room with many other people, dont think mental can take it for months. 

[13177]

28 minutes ago, Hamburger said:

I only know none of them complained to JT as far as she is concerned. 

In the first place will their complaints reach JT or not even they have complanied? Even reached JT, do you think JT will take any actions to help them? Looking at JT face, i doubt anything would be done?! 

[Windwaver]

Luckily these folks no need to do NS 

On hindsight, maybe they will make better soldiers than my mono-intake hokkien pengs 

[inlinesix]

Quote

At breaking point: Singapore's migrant workers struggle with isolation, anxiety amid COVID-19 curbs

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/at-breaking-point-migrant-workers-struggle-with-isolation-anxiety-amid-covid-19-restrictions-073153411.html

[Wt_know]

1 minute ago, inlinesix said:

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/at-breaking-point-migrant-workers-struggle-with-isolation-anxiety-amid-covid-19-restrictions-073153411.html

err ... hearsay ... ah neh remains here is even better than be at home country, no meh?

Edited August 7, 2020 by Wt_know

[inlinesix]

7 minutes ago, Wt_know said:

err ... hearsay ... ah neh remains here is even better than be at home country, no meh?

Have to ask Ah Neh returning from India.  Can't answer for them.

😂

[noobcarbuyer]

https://mothership.sg/2020/08/indian-migrant-worker-jurong-west-death/

In a statement to Mothership on Aug. 6, MOM said that it is aware of the recent spate of suicides and attempted suicides involving migrant workers.

MOM added that, based on their engagements with NGOs and the ministry's records, such incidents tend to stem from "issues that migrant workers face back home such as marital or familial issues, or unforeseen mishaps in their home countries".