Min-Wei Lee
Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2)
Singapore
Growing up with a live-in maid is a commonplace phenomenon in affluent Singapore. Most do not question it, and before last year, I didn’t either. I never thought that Aunty Loring—my family’s Filipina domestic worker, who has been a second mother to me since I was four—could be the basis for my recent examination of Singapore’s ambiguous foreign labor laws and its societal apathy towards the welfare of foreign domestic workers.
Today, these 218,000 workers from neighboring countries are not protected under the Ministry of Manpower’s Employment Act, which regulates work hours, rest days, safety guidelines, and retirement. They also have no minimum wage. It is both sobering and perturbing to know that up until 1 January 2013, a nation like Singapore—which boasts First World economic and societal standards—had no mandatory labor policy for weekly rest days for foreign domestic workers. Almost 50% of these women still do not receive a weekly rest day.
With a heavily imbalanced employer-employee relationship, these women are often regarded as inferior by local Singaporeans. While their treatment might not fall under the category of malicious physical or emotional abuse, it is arguable that what some Singaporeans regard as an acceptable way to treat their maids is in fact a silent infringement of their human dignity.
Using my experience as a film and television major, I aim to create an intimate documentary through the lens of my family’s relationship with Aunty Loring to shed light on the nuances of domestic work and highlight the value of these workers to the nuclear family unit. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of problems faced by these women, I will be simultaneously working with social workers at Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), an advocacy and educational outreach group that champions the rights of migrant workers in Singapore. The organization is also an active research center and a helpline for migrant workers who encounter problems with employers, and provides information for employers and the public.
I do not intend for the documentary to be a condemnation of the system but rather a truthful portrayal of these women who contribute to society just as locals do. It will not ignore the bigger issues but will focus on human connections that matter the most to us, which we all can relate to. In the end, I hope this film may serve as a reminder of these women’s common humanity, and their right to respect and dignity.