Send a cheque to us along with your name, contact number, mailing address and email address. We will be in touch!

Imagine a Singapore where…

• Roads are not swept
• Common areas in housing estates, parks and other public areas are strewn with litter
• Construction projects are never completed
• Factories and shipyards do not function
• Parents have to look after their children and their homes by themselves
  

Our country would be a very different place without the 650,000 foreign workers who carry out the many manual, and often menial, jobs that Singaporeans shun. Most of these men and women have a happy and productive stay in Singapore.

But it is a sad reflection on our society that some of these migrant workers labour in Singapore under appalling conditions – unpaid wages, inadequate accommodation and food, insufficient rest time. Sometimes they suffer physical and emotional abuse; occasionally they lose their lives.

Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) is one of several voluntary groups trying to ensure that foreign workers are treated fairly while in Singapore and that those who encounter problems get the help they need.

TWC2 is a registered charity and independent non-government organisation. We have 3 main areas of activity:

• Providing direct assistance to troubled workers, including a Helpline
• Conducting research to assist in policy reforms
• Public education.
  

The Helpline is able to handle calls in the main languages spoken by foreign workers, namely, Bahasa Indonesia, Mandarin, Tagalog, Bengali, Tamil, Thai, Singhalese and Burmese. In 2007, we received some 500 calls and our case officer followed up on 50 of these calls.

We have two full time employees, one to run our office and support our research activities and the other to co-ordinate our helpline service. We need about $100,000 per annum to keep running these services. A copy of our latest audited financial statement is available at our main page.

We are very grateful for the on-going support of organisations such as the Lee Foundation and Singapore Pools but we are living a hand-to-mouth existence and we urgently need to raise more funds if we are to continue our work.

While the Helpline is a significant part of our work, our efforts in the research, public education and advocacy areas are just as important as it is these that can help bring about lasting solutions. Our work in these areas includes:

• Seeking to create awareness and change public mindsets towards migrant workers
• With our partners, TWC2 has developed advocacy programmes that fit local conditions. They incorporate the results of our research and are based on our experiences with direct services.
• We promote knowledge of migrant workers’ experiences
• We encourage changes in attitudes and practices aimed at preventing today’s problems from becoming tomorrow’s emergencies. 

With better funding, we will be able to achieve more. We will be able to provide more effective direct services, undertake more extensive research, and pursue more intensive public education programmes.

We are appealing to you as a responsible and caring member of our society to help us continue our work. Help us so we can help secure better conditions for the migrant workers on whom Singapore depends so much.

If you are able to help us with a cash donation, please send a crossed cheque made out to TWC2 and mail it to Transient Workers Count Too, 5001 Beach Road, #06-27 Singapore 199588. Please include your mailing address and your name so we can send you a receipt.

We would be happy to provide any other information needed.

Yours sincerely,

John Gee
President