How Singaporeans can do our part for the welfare of foreign conservancy workers

They work long, gruelling hours in housing estates across Singapore, clearing trash and sanitising public spaces such as lifts and playgrounds.

I got a glimpse into the plight of these conservancy workers — most come from Bangladesh — when a colleague and I interviewed some of them recently on how their workload had increased amid the Covid-19 outbreak.  

Not only are these workers working 12 to 14 hours a day, several told us that they do not receive overtime pay or their basic pay has not increased for some years. Most do not have off days at all. 

The issue of how foreign workers are treated in Singapore has become a hot button topic of late.

For instance, the mental health of foreign workers who were isolated in purpose-built dormitories to prevent the spread of Covid-19 came under the spotlight after several cases of suicides and attempted suicides by the workers. 

More recently, a court case involving Ms Parti Liyani, a former domestic worker of ex-Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong, made the headlines when the former was acquitted of theft charges.

This sparked a public uproar, with many questioning how the justice system treats the vulnerable and less well-off. 

Many of the issues that migrant workers face — such as hefty agent fees, low or unpaid wages and exploitative employers — are deep rooted and systemic, involving multiple stakeholders. 

Naturally, questions arise on what policy and institutional changes are needed to improve the welfare of migrant workers in Singapore and how to effect such changes given the sheer number of these workers across different industries.

Yet my interviews with the conservancy workers also show that individuals are not powerless in moving the needle too when it comes to making the workers’ lives a bit easier.

I think it boils down to one word: Attitudes.

On Friday (Sept 18), findings from a Singapore Management University survey, which examined public satisfaction with the country’s cleanliness, showed that respondents are “substantially” reliant on cleaning services. In fact, less than half said they are prepared to lift a finger and dispose of an empty plastic bottle on the floor.

Indeed, the workers I spoke to say that residents can easily do their part. 

For starters, residents can be more civic-minded when using shared spaces — by disposing of rubbish responsibly, for example. 

One worker in a Housing and Development Board (HDB) estate in Serangoon said that he was often recalled to work at odd hours — more so during the circuit breaker period — for issues such as excess trash or vomit and urine in the lifts. 

Like most workers I spoke to, he did not want to be named for fear of reprisal from his employer. 

He told me these “activation” times can strike at any hour the residents need help, sometimes as late as 11pm. He hopes residents can be more considerate and take better care of these common spaces. 

“Not all residents (are) like that,” he told me. “Some see that we are working hard and play their part, others will not care and throw their rubbish along corridors, pee in the lifts.” 

Another worker that I spoke to that works at an estate in Hougang said that because more residents are ordering food in, they tend to throw their food waste and plastic containers into rubbish bins at lift lobbies. 

When the bins overflow, the leftovers attract rats. 

Despite posters around the estate urging residents not to dispose of trash if the bins are full, these problems still persist. 

“Some (residents) don’t understand, they just throw and we have to clear, we have no choice,” he said. 

The workers added that residents should throw all their rubbish into bin chutes so that collection will be centralised in an enclosed area. 

Residents ought to also clean up after their pets should they urinate in the lifts. 

This may sound obvious, but clearly some inconsiderate people do not bother to do so, often resulting in the conservancy workers being activated after other residents call the town councils or estate managers to complain.

Basic civic acts aside, it won’t take much for residents to make these workers feel appreciated for their hard work.

Can we reflect on any inherent biases and misconceptions that we may have against these workers and put them aside? 

Another worker I spoke to at an HDB estate along Boundary Road said that some residents, upon seeing him walking towards them, would deliberately take a longer route to avoid crossing paths. 

He said that before the Covid-19 pandemic and the explosion of cases in foreign worker dormitories, he did not receive such treatment.

Now, he said some residents see him as a “ghost”. When he is waiting for a lift with the residents, they will let him go into the lift first and wait for the next one, probably in fear that he may be a coronavirus carrier, he told me. 

Yet, the fact is many of these conservancy workers live in rented HDB units in the very neighbourhoods they work in — and are very much part of the community. 

How does it feel to be shunned, I asked him. “It feels bad,” he told me, eyes downcast. “You also won’t want people to see you and then purposely walk away from you.” 

Another worker who works at Sims Drive said that while he does not sense the same attitude among the residents, he avoids stepping into the same lifts as them anyway.

This is partly out of courtesy, but also fear that they would not be comfortable with his presence. 

Only when he knows the resident is friendly with him will he step into the same lifts. 

While it may be second nature to keep a safe distance from strangers amid a pandemic, we should question if such acts are in fact microaggressions that stem from unfounded biases. 

What residents can do is simply to say hello, strike up conversation and help these workers feel at home. 

“Residents can support me… when I do something I hope they can tell me I’m doing a good job, and respect that I’m doing hard work,” said the worker at Boundary Road. 

“When they do this I will feel good, and when I do, I also feel good working.”  

To be sure, the workers say some residents are kind to them.

One worker that I spoke to at an HDB estate in Toa Payoh said that some residents would even give him money to buy breakfast for himself, and others also give him packet drinks on a hot day. 

“I’m quite happy when they do this,” he told me with a big smile. 

Most of the conservancy workers I interviewed were accepting of their tough working conditions.

But it would not be fair to say that they are contented. Rather, what I sensed was resignation in the way they spoke about their jobs. 

“No choice” and “no use” were common phrases uttered by the workers that I spoke to when asked if they were upset or angry they had to work harder and longer. 

Some just want to avoid trouble so that they can earn as much as possible — including overtime pay — to pay back loans they have taken out to pay agent fees to come to Singapore. 

It is a tough time for most of us, and more so for these foreign workers, many who feel powerless.

Minute gestures and small acts of kindness are the least we can do amid these extraordinary times. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Justin Ong is a journalist with TODAY, covering transport and manpower, among others.