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Youth in Action: How three women are empowering ‘invisible’ South Asian domestic workers

As part of a series to highlight youth activism, TODAY speaks to young people in Singapore who are not only passionate and vocal about social issues, but are driving positive change through their actions. In this instalment, the youths running non-profit Women of Shakthi talk about how they are empowering the South Asian domestic worker community in Singapore.

(From left) Ms Vaishnavi Naidu Rajendran, Ms Sindhura Kalidas and Ms A Aarthi. The three of them running non-profit Women of Shakthi talk about how they are empowering the South Asian domestic worker community in Singapore.

(From left) Ms Vaishnavi Naidu Rajendran, Ms Sindhura Kalidas and Ms A Aarthi. The three of them running non-profit Women of Shakthi talk about how they are empowering the South Asian domestic worker community in Singapore.

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As part of a series to highlight youth activism, TODAY speaks to young people in Singapore who are not only passionate and vocal about social issues, but are driving positive change through their actions. In this instalment, the youths running non-profit Women of Shakthi talk about how they are empowering the South Asian domestic worker community in Singapore.

  • Women of Shakthi is a non-profit aimed at teaching South Asian domestic workers English
  • It is run by three young Singaporeans: Ms A Aarthi, Ms Vaishnavi Naidu Rajendran and Ms Sindhura Kalidas
  • Having a dedicated organisation for South Asian domestic workers will allow them to tap networks they are comfortable with, says Ms Sindhura
  • The team has faced criticism by some for helping domestic workers, but intend to press on with their work

 

SINGAPORE ꟷ Before Ms Malar Tharmalingam came to Singapore from India to work as a domestic worker in 2015, she mostly kept to herself.

“I lived alone and I was scared to talk to people…I hold a degree in economics but I was also afraid of being mocked for my English,” she told TODAY in an interview earlier this month.

Six years on, not only is Ms Malar, 41, comfortable conversing in English, she also actively participates in events such as Tamil poetry recitals and conferences.

She attributes her newfound confidence to “Women of Shakthi”, a non-profit aimed at empowering South Asian domestic workers, particularly those from the Tamil-speaking community. “Shakthi” means power in Sanskrit.

The non-profit teaches domestic workers conversational English to help them navigate everyday situations, such as answering the phone or purchasing items from the market.

It also runs workshops on various topics such as health and art, and facilitates the domestic workers’ participation in activities they are interested in, such as poetry recitals. 

The group is helmed by Singaporeans Ms A Aarthi, Ms Vaishnavi Naidu Rajendran and Ms Sindhura Kalidas.

The seeds of the group was first formed in 2017 when Ms Aarthi, who was then a sociology post-graduate student at the National University of Singapore, wanted to explore how to meet the needs of the “invisible” community of Tamil-speaking domestic workers in Singapore.

“Although migrant worker advocacy is a big part of university research, there’s no information on Tamil workers,” said Ms Aarthi, 27. She is currently a civil servant.

She set out to gather feedback from domestic workers in November that year. They told her that they were keen to learn conversational English to help them in their work.

So she, along with several other volunteers, started English lessons for the domestic workers in February 2018.

She subsequently roped in her friend, Ms Sindhura, 32, as well as her cousin, Ms Vaishnavi, 31, who is a marketing associate, to develop a more structured English curriculum for the domestic workers.

Acknowledging that other organisations already exist to help domestic workers in Singapore, Ms Sindhura said it was still important to set up one that caters specifically to the South Asian community.

This is because other organisations tend to target domestic worker communities with a larger presence in Singapore, such as the Filipinos and Indonesians.

However, unlike workers from these countries, those from the South Asian countries such as India and Sri Lanka tend to be less savvy in English and have less access to social media, noted Ms Sindhura, who is an educator and theatre practitioner.

As such, establishing a group specifically for South Asian domestic workers will ensure that they have networks that they are comfortable tapping, she added.

As of last year, Women of Shakthi had about 30 South Asian domestic workers in the group, with most joining through word-of-mouth.

However, it has not been smooth-sailing for the team, which has faced criticism from some Singaporeans.

“We had random employers messaging us through our Facebook page calling domestic workers ‘manipulative’ and saying they should learn to work properly first before participating in other activities,” said Ms Sindhura.

But such criticisms have only fuelled the group to step up its outreach efforts.

In mid-2019, it joined forces with another migrant worker group Vaangae Anna (“Come, Brother” in Tamil) to develop a card game explaining the structural inequalities that migrant workers face in society.

The game was well-received during its debut at The Learning Festival organised by Youth Corps in July 2019, said Ms Sindhura, who added that Singaporeans at the event were surprised to even learn that there were Indian domestic workers in Singapore.

However, English lessons for the domestic workers as well as outreach efforts to the public took a backseat last year in light of social gathering restrictions imposed due to Covid-19.

Ms Aarthi said that while they had tried to organise online lessons for the domestic workers, it did not take off as some did not have access to the internet while others preferred learning in-person.

The continuing restrictions mean that the team is still unable to restart its English lessons this year, which it used to host weekly at self-help group Singapore Indian Development Association’s premises at Beatty Road. 

Nevertheless, they continue to keep in touch with the domestic workers and help them if they face issues with their employer, said Ms Aarthi.

Setbacks aside, Ms Sindhura says that the team will continue working to improve the lives of workers, even if only by a bit.

But for Ms Malar, the benefit of joining Women of Shakthi has been more than just a little bit.

“As a student, I never participated in so many activities and I’ve only been able to do so since coming to Singapore. Participating in writing classes and poetry competitions have given me the confidence that domestic workers such as myself can do these things too.”

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