Yesterday a South China Morning Post account of a riot by Indian and Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore noted that "Singapore is persisting with a four-year campaign to reduce its reliance on foreign workers, after years of open immigration policy led to voter discontent over increased competition for housing, jobs and education. The move has led to a labour shortage and pushed up wages, prompting some companies to seek cheaper locations."
A video of the riot posted by the government-controlled Straits Times predictably emphasized lawlessness and re-establishing control, but not the riot's likely causes, other than to vow that the government will "investigate" them.
But last summer the Wall Street Journal ran a 5-part series on a strike by migrant Chinese bus drivers in Singapore who felt they'd been cheated in wages and forced to live in miserable conditions. More than 25 of them were promptly deported.
Also last summer, workers building the Yale-National University of Singapore College's new campus were kept on the job even as air pollution rose beyond acceptable safety standards, again focusing attention on working conditions in Singapore.
You might think that someone in the government would have learned something by now without requiring a new commission to "investigate" the causes. Full story...
Related posts:
A video of the riot posted by the government-controlled Straits Times predictably emphasized lawlessness and re-establishing control, but not the riot's likely causes, other than to vow that the government will "investigate" them.
But last summer the Wall Street Journal ran a 5-part series on a strike by migrant Chinese bus drivers in Singapore who felt they'd been cheated in wages and forced to live in miserable conditions. More than 25 of them were promptly deported.
Also last summer, workers building the Yale-National University of Singapore College's new campus were kept on the job even as air pollution rose beyond acceptable safety standards, again focusing attention on working conditions in Singapore.
You might think that someone in the government would have learned something by now without requiring a new commission to "investigate" the causes. Full story...
Related posts:
- Rare Singapore riot forces soul searching over foreign workers...
- Faculty gives Yale a dose of dissent over Singapore...
- Singapore's Little India riot a shock but not a total surprise...
- Aftermath of Singapore's Little India riots...
- Fatal accident sparks angry night riot in Singapore's Little India...
- Unwelcome in Singapore, but life-giver to his family in India...
- Study confirms discomfort between S'poreans and new immigrants...
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