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Abu Sama is short, with curly hair, and speaks in earnest. Shelley was the one who made his case known to me. Shelley is one of the aid workers, a woman with a relentless sense of doggedness when it comes to seeking justice for the workers.

I'd interviewed Abu Sama for a report on TOC in May this year. See here: http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/05/worker-lured-to-mom-building-assaulted-and-possibly-to-be-repatriated/

At that time we had to give him a pseudonym as his case was being investigated by both MOM and the Police. In a nutshell, Abu Sama was the victim of an attempted kidnapping and an assault which left him with a broken ear drum, and was not paid for the work he had done for his employer.

Last week, the decision came:

The Police gave his employer a written warning. 

MOM arranged for him to be paid and sent home.

Here's the catch: His employer was not even fined for the attempted kidnapping and the assault. And Abu Sama was not fully paid his salary. 

But the saddest thing is this: Abu Sama is not the only worker who has gone through these abuses - and he won't be the last. 

With the Police meting out such lenient "punishment" to abusive employers, employers who break the law and then take it into their own hands, why on earth would any employer be afraid? After cheating Abu Sama - and workers like him - of thousands of dollars in fees for bringing him here, then kick him out after assaulting him, and refuse to pay him his full salary, AND THEN TO HAVE THE LAW BE TOTALLY AND UTTERLY USELESS in bringing the employer to justice, why would any employer or agent play fair???

This is why the abuse continues, the scams continue, the employers becoming richer and richer continues, MOM's stupidity and inertia continue, and the freaking police can only stand and watch!!

Each worker forks out an average of S$10,000 to pay agents to bring them here to Singapore. Just do the maths. 100 workers = S$1,000,000.

Bring in 1,000 workers and it is s$10,000,000.

And all you have to do after you've brought them to S'pore is to house them in run-down, ramshackle, unliveable accomodations. You don't even have to find them work. Just house them, give them two cheap meals a day of plain rice and some curry. If the men make noise, threaten them with deportation or repatriation. (And there are repatriation companies you can employ to do this! All legal! They can physically abuse the men, beat them, whack them, punch them, slap them, or IF all these do not work, force them into a van, drive straight to Changi airport and force them onto a plane - and do it in the middle of the night when less people are around! AND THIS IS ALL LEGAL!)

Before long, you find that the men are obedient. They are scared. And they keep quiet.

For to endure such abuses is nothing - compared to what they'd face if they were deported back to Bangladesh. First, the shame of facing their families, wives, children, neighbours, fellow villagers. You won't know what to do as you look at their faces, knowing that you are responsible for their having sold the family land, or the jewellery, in order to keep your promise that you're going to S'pore to make their lives better. In the end you return and make their lives hell.

Then, you'll have to face the people you borrowed from - the loansharks, your fellow villagers who all pinned their hopes on you, gave you money, or your good friends who lent you money so you can do the right thing. In the end, you come back with nothing. Loansharks threaten you and your family - or if you've no other choice, to become their slaves, to work off your debt - which will take the rest of your lives, and maybe your family members' too.

And so, the terror of being deported is more frightening than a punch or a kick from your employer or his thugs. And so you hold on. You hang in there. You believe you will find justice. After all, Singapore is country well-known for law and order.

You hold on - until you cannot anymore. You run to the law. "Yes, everyone in Singapore abides by the law. The S'pore govt is strict about the law. They even have laws against chewing gum or not flushing toilets! The Singapore govt will help me."

But it does not.

All it is interested in is Public Relations - have to protect S'pore's international reputation, even if it's made out of cardboards. And so, MOM makes a show of helping to "settle salary disputes" - and turns a blind eye to physical abuses. Thats' the police's purview.

And so you go to MOM. You are called into a room, and you see your employer there. MOM speaks to your employer in English, which you do not understand a word of. After a while, MOM says, "Ok, here's the deal. your employer will pay you $300. Half now, half at the airport before you board the plane back to Bangladesh." You're desperate. Your family back home is desperate for your money, however little, to survive. It's been 4 months, 5 months, 8 months. And so you accept. You sign the agreement paper.

MOM smiles. Another statistic to add to the Dispute Settled list. Good to show the public how many we have settled this way. No details, of course. Just the numbers.

You go to the airport. At night. You sit and wait. You have heard stories of employers who do not show up. And you've no choice to board the plane - without the rest of the $300. But you're lucky this time. The employer sends his henchmen. Henchmen calls you to him. "Here's you money," he says as he hands you S$50. You protest. "MOM say $300. $150 already give. Now must give another $150!" Henchmen threatens you. "Don't f****** argue with me! Take it and go!" as he curses swear words at you which you do not understand.

Your heart sinks. You make one last desperate attempt at retrieving your rightful salary. You call boss on the phone. "Boss, MOM say $300. You give $150. Now must give another $150. Why only give $50?" you ask. "DON'T CALL ME OK!!" comes the booming voice of your boss, a f****** coward who does not even go to the airport to deliver the $50 himself. "But boss..." "DON'T F****** CALL ME, UNDERSTAND!! TAKE THE MONEY AND GO! GO!" The phone goes dead.

Your heart bleeds. Your mind swirls. fear catches you - again. Nah, not fear. This time, it is utter helplessness you feel. 

Yes, death would be less painful.

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And so the exploitation goes on. Every day. Every month. Every year.

It continues.

You see your employer opening up discotheques with the money he conned off of you. Not one discotheque. Two. AND IT'S ALL LEGAL.

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When the two Integrated Resorts eventually open, or when the Singtel Formula One race starts, or the next time you see a spanking new shopping mall, or when the Circle Line finally fully opens, or when you walk into your brand new upgraded lift which stops at every floor.....

Remember workers like Abu Sama.

You are enjoying their sorrow.

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