Faced with low wages and poor working conditions, Singapore's migrant workers are beginning to get restless. Last year, a fierce riot broke out in the suburb of Little India, after an Indian worker died in a road accident. The riot was as violent as it was rare (the last riot took place in 1969) and provoked intense scrutiny into how migrant workers are treated in the country.
Although Singapore's prime minister Lee Hsien Loong dismissed the riot as an "isolated incident arising from unlawful actions of an unruly mob", others saw it as an expression of long-simmering discontent. An editorial in The New York Times argued that migrant workers were "underappreciated and underpaid", and attributed the riot to systematic problems with migrant living conditions.
The riot was not caused solely by migrant working conditions. Other factors included alcohol and anger at the way the police responded in the early stages.
According to Jolovan Wham of Home, an organisation that supports migrant workers in Singapore, "it has been observable, particularly over the past couple of years, that riots tend to occur among marginalised groups. This is a characteristic for many large-scale riots around the world."
"Regardless of the causes of the riot", Wham adds, "it is a good opportunity for us to reflect and re-think our attitudes, policies, and laws which affect migrant workers." Full story...
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Although Singapore's prime minister Lee Hsien Loong dismissed the riot as an "isolated incident arising from unlawful actions of an unruly mob", others saw it as an expression of long-simmering discontent. An editorial in The New York Times argued that migrant workers were "underappreciated and underpaid", and attributed the riot to systematic problems with migrant living conditions.
The riot was not caused solely by migrant working conditions. Other factors included alcohol and anger at the way the police responded in the early stages.
According to Jolovan Wham of Home, an organisation that supports migrant workers in Singapore, "it has been observable, particularly over the past couple of years, that riots tend to occur among marginalised groups. This is a characteristic for many large-scale riots around the world."
"Regardless of the causes of the riot", Wham adds, "it is a good opportunity for us to reflect and re-think our attitudes, policies, and laws which affect migrant workers." Full story...
Related posts:
- Rare Singapore riot forces soul searching over foreign workers...
- 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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