Hundreds and thousands of migrant workers live and work in Singapore, responsible for our malls, condominiums, MRT train lines and clean HDB estates. But there are also many migrant workers who are just here… stuck.

Due to workplace accidents or salary disputes, these workers have had their work permits revoked. They are then issued with Special Passes allowing them to remain in Singapore until their cases are resolved. These Special Passes need to be regularly renewed at the Ministry of Manpower, and don’t give the men the right to work.

Things can get boring real fast. The primary objective of coming to Singapore has been removed. There’s no income, not for needy families back home or for indulgences in Singapore. Many men say they just while away the hours in their dormitories, listening to the radio or sleeping.

Irene Ong and Terence Kek are two Singaporeans who set out to change that. Both started volunteering with Transient Workers Count Too’s (TWC2) soup kitchen The Cuff Road Project after reading about the exploitation of migrant workers in the newspapers. But there were too many volunteers at the soup kitchen then, so they came up with another project, Discover Singapore.

Discover Singapore

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Gather a group of workers and take them out for a relaxing day to enjoy the city.

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The idea of Discover Singapore is simple: gather a group of workers and take them out for a relaxing day to enjoy the city. “There are places where they were working but never got a chance to see the whole place,” Irene said. “A volunteer was sharing once that she came across a worker who had been here four to six years but had never left her workplace. That’s one of the main reasons we want to take them out.”

Waiting in Singapore indefinitely can also be stressful and depressing. Some men haven’t even been working long enough to repay their debts. Not having work means having to deal with anxious families back home, and the mounting pressure of financial burdens.

Ghosh Joydeb is one such worker. He was only three months into his job when he hurt his back carrying heavy loads. He’s been waiting for his work injury compensation claim to be processed for over a year now, and has no idea what to do with his money problems.

He'd paid a recruitment agent $8,500 for his job in Singapore, a sunk cost that required loans. “Many people in my country lend money, then I come Singapore,” he said. Now he can’t pay his creditors.

It's a thought that makes him sad and anxious, but for one afternoon at Changi Beach with Discover Singapore Ghosh Joydeb is able to set aside these worries and just enjoy himself. He’s one of Discover Singapore's regular participants, winning their Muscle Man competition in May. That afternoon at Changi Beach he props himself up on a bench, providing a running commentary for a cricket game in Bengali.

Challenges faced by Discover Singapore volunteers

These trips don’t cost too much – an average of about $300 for 30 men – but can be difficult to organise. Irene does a lot of the groundwork, arranging food and transport for everyone. Funds are almost always in short supply.

“In general, people would rather give to other causes, like the elderly, or to fund overseas volunteering trips to Cambodia or something,” she said. “They don’t often think about a programme like this.”

A lot of it has to do with the public perception of South Asian migrant workers in Singapore. “People don’t really know anything about them,” said Terence. “So when things like the Little India riot happen, they form a very bad impression.”

It also does not help that Discover Singapore seems like a luxury, rather than a need. People can agree that unemployed migrant workers might need a soup kitchen to get food, but why do they needed funded excursions?

“What the men tell me that they really appreciate is the opportunity to go out together in a big group,” said Terence. “It lets them hang out together. Without us it’s difficult to get so many people together to go anywhere.”

Supporters for Discover Singapore

Discover Singapore does have a few supporters. The Changi Beach outing – held in early October – was sponsored by a group of friends who made a family day out of the whole thing, catering food and bringing along their kids to set up games and enjoy the weekend.

Terence and Irene also found well-meaning corporate supporters in Ben & Jerry’s and the Esplanade. Outings held near the VivoCity branch of Ben & Jerry’s mean that the workers would probably be able to get a free scoop of ice cream each, while the Esplanade makes a point to invite the workers to events like Kalaa Utsavam, the annual Indian Festival of Arts.

One such collaboration with the Esplanade had the Cuff Road Project – an initiative that gives migrant workers free food – buzzing on 10 November. The Wishing Spheres – to be set afloat in Marina Bay for the New Year countdown – had been delivered to Little India, and Discover Singapore volunteers were busy inviting men to write down their wishes, or write poetry, or draw on the big red balls.

“Happy New Year. Very happy to be in Singapore. Everything is good here,” wrote one man.

“TWC2 is the great!” wrote another.

Others wrote less cheery messages, poems about missing home and family. “Migrant life is like jail,” one man scrawled.

Ghosh dropped by to get his meal, and signed his name, enclosed in a giant heart with an arrow through it. Off in the corner more spheres were being inflated for the men, while filled ones waited to be deflated and packed away. It was a happy night, full of jokes and laughter as men peeked over each other’s shoulders to comment on their friends’ writing and artwork.

“We get to know the men when we meet them and spend time with them,” said Terence. “After getting to know them, when things happen, we are not so quick to conclude or make judgement based on what we see in the media.”

Discover Singapore is an opportunity for a connection to be made between Singaporeans and the men who have worked hard to build the city, and a project that brings benefits to both sides people begin to learn more about one another. The programme is constantly looking for volunteers and, especially, sponsors.

It is not an easy job when there are so many causes out there vying for the public’s attention, but Irene and Terence have kept the project going for over a year now, and have no intention of stopping.

The writer is a volunteer with both The Cuff Road Project and Discover Singapore.

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