Lessons from kiln slavery in China
Lessons from kiln slavery in China
THAT slavery exists in the 21st century is a fact.
Recently, I watched transfixed and horrified at television images of dazed and scrawny Chinese mine workers, bearing the unmistakable marks of savage treatment by their employer.
What useful lessons can one extrapolate therein?
Thousands of foreigners work as maids in our homes, and thousands more in the construction, manufacturing and service sectors.
They leave their loved ones, and many incur huge debts to pay for their passage here, just to ensure a better livelihood for those at home.
Although the abuse of foreign workers in Singapore has not paralleled in scale, severity and callousness compared to cases in China, there have been a few instances when they came perilously close.
Some maids work from dawn to dusk daily. They 'multitask': clean, tidy, cook, wash, iron, and also look after children, elderly folk, the sick, the handicapped and so on.
Others are deprived of decent meals, sufficient rest and sleep.
Some are even subjected to verbal, psychological and physical abuse.
A few hapless and helpless maids were hounded to desperation - bullied, threatened, harassed, beaten, molested, raped and eventually driven to suicide or murderous rage by selfish, unthinking, loutish and brutish employers.
This is a wake-up call for all Singapore employers to exercise moderation, compassion and fairness vis-�-vis their employees, both local and foreign.
We should never do to others what we do not wish others to do to us.
If we had to go overseas to seek menial jobs out of desperation, we would pray hard that our employer would be more humane to us.
I am aware there are workers who drive their employer up the proverbial wall due to their poor work attitude, lack of diligence, low intelligence, stubbornness, criminal tendencies and so on.
However, the fact remains that no rational being seeks a low-paid job with all the attendant insecurities, risks and dreariness in a foreign land, unless her own country is in severe straits, and the push factor is inexorable.
THAT slavery exists in the 21st century is a fact.
Recently, I watched transfixed and horrified at television images of dazed and scrawny Chinese mine workers, bearing the unmistakable marks of savage treatment by their employer.
What useful lessons can one extrapolate therein?
Thousands of foreigners work as maids in our homes, and thousands more in the construction, manufacturing and service sectors.
They leave their loved ones, and many incur huge debts to pay for their passage here, just to ensure a better livelihood for those at home.
Although the abuse of foreign workers in Singapore has not paralleled in scale, severity and callousness compared to cases in China, there have been a few instances when they came perilously close.
Some maids work from dawn to dusk daily. They 'multitask': clean, tidy, cook, wash, iron, and also look after children, elderly folk, the sick, the handicapped and so on.
Others are deprived of decent meals, sufficient rest and sleep.
Some are even subjected to verbal, psychological and physical abuse.
A few hapless and helpless maids were hounded to desperation - bullied, threatened, harassed, beaten, molested, raped and eventually driven to suicide or murderous rage by selfish, unthinking, loutish and brutish employers.
This is a wake-up call for all Singapore employers to exercise moderation, compassion and fairness vis-�-vis their employees, both local and foreign.
We should never do to others what we do not wish others to do to us.
If we had to go overseas to seek menial jobs out of desperation, we would pray hard that our employer would be more humane to us.
I am aware there are workers who drive their employer up the proverbial wall due to their poor work attitude, lack of diligence, low intelligence, stubbornness, criminal tendencies and so on.
However, the fact remains that no rational being seeks a low-paid job with all the attendant insecurities, risks and dreariness in a foreign land, unless her own country is in severe straits, and the push factor is inexorable.
posted by Alex at
3:02 AM
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