MOM launches gallery featuring efforts to improve migrant worker welfare

SINGAPORE: Manpower Minister Tan See Leng on Thursday (Jun 30) urged companies to “leave no stone unturned” on workplace safety at the opening of a gallery showcasing the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) efforts to transform the migrant worker ecosystem.

“I think we can also exhort all of the companies, the industries, the employers to really pay every single scrutiny and make sure that there is no stone unturned to make sure that the worksite is safe - for all of our workers, regardless of whether it's local or migrant workers,” he said, after launching the gallery with Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean.

The number of fatal workplace accidents in Singapore has spiked this year, with 27 deaths as of Jun 23.

In May, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that there have been "far too many" workplace fatalities this year. He added that safety standards and practices "seem to have slipped” and Singapore “must put this right”.

Speaking to reporters after a tour of the gallery, Dr Tan highlighted the significance of migrant workers to Singapore, saying that they play an important role in building the country's infrastructure.

The Our Migrant Workers Gallery at the Assurance, Care and Engagement (ACE) Group’s headquarters in Geylang Bahru features photographs and exhibits capturing the stories of the workers, documenting the fight against COVID-19 in the dormitories and MOM’s roadmap to improve the migrant worker ecosystem.

“Our Migrant Workers Gallery symbolises our appreciation for our migrant workers’ contributions to Singapore, and recognises their resilience through the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr Tan.

“We are transforming housing, healthcare and the well-being of our migrant workers. As we continue to progress in our multi-year journey, I hope the public and our stakeholders will join us in taking active steps to support and thank our migrant workers.”

The minister said that there are three main pillars MOM is working on – the workers’ living conditions, their health and their mental well-being.

“In the last 12, 18 months, there have been a whole slew of initiatives,” said Dr Tan.

“I think in the weeks and months ahead, you will see us … moving dorm operators in terms of thinking about the future of the housing for each of them.”

MOM said that it has developed improved standards for new dormitories to strengthen the resilience against future pandemics and “enhance liveability”.

It will expand the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act to cover all dormitories to ensure the implementation of a consistent set of housing standards.

Healthcare support has also improved through an integrated primary healthcare system for the workers.

There have also been initiatives to improve mental and social well-being such as Project Dawn, which provides helplines and counselling services, and outreach by ACE and non-profit organisations.

When asked if MOM is taking additional precautions to protect the migrant worker community with the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, Dr Tan said that the vaccination rate among the workers, at 98 per cent, is high.

“I think we're in a relatively stable state … we want them to integrate as fast as they can back into the community and also being to be able to visit the community as and when … they like, it's just that we're not really out of the woods completely yet,” he said.

He added that the ministry is being “very careful” because of the recent upswing in cases.