Writer’s fortnight- TWC2

TWC2 (Transient Workers Count Too) is a voluntary organisation that helps transient workers in Singapore know their rights and privileges well. Seema, a volunteer from TWC2, came to our school for a talk on Friday. To be honest, before researching about this organisation, I did not know much about transient workers and this session deepened my understanding of them. Transient workers in Singapore have a very fragile condition, their employers control everything and can cancel their work permit at anytime; some employers can take advantage of this privilege and threaten employees. It is injustice like this that TWC2 is trying to fight, by urging the Ministry of Manpower to establish a law against these practices to prevent them from happening again. I believe that TWC2 is a thoughtful initiative that brings up an issue that has not been acknowledged enough before. This gave me an understanding of what life is like for migrant workers who come to Singapore from various other countries to work, like many of our parents, but do not get treated the same way just because of a social class divide. We do service at school as well, and even have a Fresh Fruit Friday service that lets us donate fruit for these transient workers. Ms. Seema made a interesting observation when asked about what she thinks about our service program; she was confused as to why students would not be passionate about it. She believes it is fair that the school encourages service and makes it a necessity, furthermore the variety of services gives each student an opportunity to do a service they are passionate about. This makes questioning school service un-called for. This session inspired me to care about issues that matter and think about the importance of giving injustice a voice. If transient workers could live their lives the way they should, with rights and privileges, this would take a step towards terminating social class divide and making Singapore an equally safe place for everybody.