Non-profit organisation’s stories about migrant workers dramatic enough for TV
Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2 — yes, they have a number in their acronym) are your average non-profit everyday migrant worker protectors. Along with research on migrant workers’ rights in Singapore, dramatically-written stories on their website tell tales of disadvantaged migrant workers and TWC2’s attempts at fighting for their rights.
The great escape: the Wahyudi story
One such story, posted on 1 March, deals with a maid, who is said to have been working for more than two years without a single day off. Acting on a tip-off, TWC2 sent two members — Shelley Thio and Noorashikin — to the tip-off location in Thomson and indeed found a maid “trapped” in her house, albeit in the garden.
Reminiscent of a wartime spy thriller, Noor crouched just outside the gate, close to a ditch and the trash bins to whisper to the maid, who had moved to a corner of the garden.
Dramatic elements like these are found throughout the story, such as when the maid made a “dash for freedom”, taking advantage of the house being under renovation to escape through the open gate., while Shelley passed a note to someone named Brian, containing her number for the employer to find her.
In the aftermath of the great escape, the maid was apparently so hungry that she finished off a plate of rice filled with chicken, fish, curry, and vegetables, in the time that Shelley bought a drink from the coffeeshop.
Source
TWC2 later learned that Wahyudi was only given bread for breakfast and lunch daily, and leftovers for dinner, meaning she went hungry most days. That’d explain the way she wolfed down the food, although the retelling of this incident also carried an air of drama.
The case was settled with the Ministry of Manpower after Wahyudi, through Shelly, told her employer that she would not be returning to the house.
The maid’s employer had been deducting Wahyudi’s pay from her expenses, meaning Wahyudi was only paid $2,000 after working for 28 months, and not even in a timely manner.
In the end, Wahyudi went back to Indonesia with about $4,000 — a pittance compared to what she had to go through.
According to the editor, the employer might not even be charged for her treatment as MOM told Shelly that the case was between the words of Wahyudi and the employer’s — meaning the employer could be let off with a warning.
The story can be viewed here in full.
Inspiration for local TV series?
Source
Some aspects of the story may have been played up for sensational effect, but there’s no doubt about the maid’s mistreatment by her employer and the plight she had to endure for more than two years.
We have Crimewatch for interesting criminal cases — why not a similar show for these invisible workers who benefit our economy but are largely mistreated and exploited? The show would definitely educate viewers on the poor conditions many of these workers are going through, and hence rally more support for them.
TWC2 is accepting volunteers and donations, so if you want to help migrant workers out 2 too, check out their website here!
Like this post and our Facebook page to keep up with more of our interesting news!
Talk to us! Send in your story suggestions or comments to hello@mustsharenews.com
Featured image via TWC2
With references from TWC2, The Online Citizen
The post This Maid’s Escape To Freedom Is The Most Drama Thing You’ll Read All Day was created and published on MustShareNews.com.