Thursday, March 6, 2008

Laboring in the Lion City - The Source

Burmese Workers in Singapore Make Great Sacrifices to Make Ends Meet.
By Moe Kyaw

With its own economy wracked by decades of mismanagement, many Burmese workers look overseas to make their financial dreams come true. But for workers wishing to jump Burma's sinking economic ship to go work in Singapore, they must first clear a series of legal hurdles, leaving many migrant workers wondering if making the journey is worth the effort.
"I decided to go to Singapore because I have no money and there is no way for me to survive in Burma," says Burmese architect Aung Moe Gyi. "Even if I had enough money or ran my own business, I could become a poor man in an instant because there is no rule of law in Burma."
Burmese have been working legally in Singapore for decades, but started arriving in larger numbers to compensate for the labor shortages during the city-state's construction boom in the mid-1980s. Some Burmese work as doctors and professors and have settled permanently in Singapore, but most legal Burmese laborers work physically demanding jobs in painting, welding, carpentry and other general construction work with their sights set on returning home after putting away enough cash.
Prior to January 1998, Burmese could get a visa-on-arrival for a seven-day stay, but now things are not so easy. Only the Singapore embassy in Rangoon has the authority to issue visas for Burmese, and applicants must first furnish a work permit and a sponsor letter: documents available only to naturalized Singapore citizens, to Burmese with Permanent Resident (PR) status, and to those who already have been granted an official Employee Pass (EP).
Only skilled labor will be issued work visas for Singapore. Requirements for an EP include completion of university education in Burma or enrollment in one of Singapore's polytechnic schools. For PR status, workers must first meet EP requirements and then convince the authorities that they are upright and law-abiding guests.
For those who cannot obtain a sponsor letter, they must put down a deposit of 2,000 Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC) on top of the standard visa fee of 18 FEC (1 FEC = 960 kyat) at the Singapore embassy in Rangoon. If they overstay their visa, they lose their deposit money, says an embassy employee.
This initial investment may only be the beginning of an arduous financial journey through multiple layers of bureaucracy, sometimes encountering swindling job brokers along the way. To facilitate the move abroad, job broker agencies in Rangoon with close ties to Singapore businesses will arrange everything for a fee, but nightmarish tales of fraudulent services disappearing with people's money, and dreams, are commonplace.
Legitimate job agencies typically charge clients between 1,000,000-1,200,000 kyat. The exorbitant fee includes a passport, an air ticket and job training that can last up to six months. Thus, it can take up to eight months after the initial payment before workers can get to Singapore to work off their debt.
For ordinary Burmese who have trouble eking out a living, getting to Singapore is prohibitively expensive. Skilled manual laborers in Rangoon can earn a daily wage of 500-800 kyat while bureaucrats officially earn 4,000-4,500 kyat per month.
"We cannot get a good education or health care and there are no social services at home," says Hla Aye, a construction worker. "I can earn at least 100,000 to 150,000 kyat (about US $140) per month in Singapore and am able to take care of my family in Rangoon."
Laboring Legally in Singapore
Legal Burmese workers have it easier than their illegal counterparts in Singapore but the financial obligations can be daunting. Legal laborers generally receive about S$16 (9,200 kyat) per day with higher-skilled work earning a few dollars more. Some companies pay Burmese workers a monthly salary of about S$600 (345,000 kyat) per month. Basic monthly household expenditures range from S$80-100. The Burmese government charges a 10% tax on overseas income and S$30 is paid as a flat tax to the Singapore government. To renew a passport, the Burmese government charges S$300 and replacing a worn or lost one costs S$1,400, or nearly three months' wages.
"After taxes, hostel fees and living expenses, I only can remit about S$300 to my family each month. I try to work overtime to make ends meet but sometimes there is no overtime work available," says Tin Ko, a construction worker.
But the money is still attractive enough to lure workers eager to please families back home. "Of course I'm working hard labor jobs and have poor living conditions here but my family has been able to stay in their own house in Burma, and if I work hard, they might have a car in two or three years. That's why I am here," explains Soe Myint, a welder from Rangoon.
Some companies arrange for their migrant workers to stay in hostels, but the S$75 monthly rent is too steep for most construction workers such as Soe Myint, who prefers to live in a less expensive "container" where accommodations are tight.
Myint Swe, who mortgaged his house to finance his way to Singapore and now lives in a modified cargo container near his construction site, says, "We have to stay with at least four other workers in one container. I could stay at the hostel but then I won't save money to pay back my debt in Rangoon."
Others only wish that they could be in Myint Swe's shoes, however. With fake job broker agencies lurking in Rangoon, selling one's property and committing to a job in Singapore can be a risky undertaking; one bad deal can wipe out a life's savings.
"One of my friends mortgaged his house to get enough money to go to Singapore, but three months after giving a job agency his money, they closed down and disappeared, so he lost everything," says Ko Ko Aung, a businessman in Rangoon. "There are many others like my friend in Burma."
Illegal Workers
Most illegal Burmese laborers in Singapore arrive as stowaways on ships and work in factories, restaurants, and basic construction. Although the work is laborious and sometimes dangerous, for many, it beats facing the bleak economic realities at home. But without the protection of legal rights, undocumented workers are subjected to higher housing rents and arbitrary arrest by the authorities, even in their own homes.
"One of my friends with EP received three lashes with the cane and two years imprisonment for renting a room to illegal immigrants to earn extra income," says Zaw Htun, a construction worker who has lived in Singapore for eight years.
Others who get arrested for entering the country illegally get sent home--provided they have the money to pay for their own one-way ticket back to Rangoon. If not, then a stay in prison to work off the transportation cost can be expected.
"The police arrested us at our home in the afternoon. The next morning in court, I told the judge I arrived by boat only a week ago, and he sent me back on the next boat to Rangoon without caning. But some of my friends who had stayed a long time were caned," says Soe Soe. He added that the caning is administered by a martial arts expert with a six-foot long rattan cane that has been soaked in brine.
The prospects of leaving behind one's family and facing such hardships in a foreign land may not seem like an attractive option. But when presented with the alternatives--a repressive government that applies the law whimsically and an economic climate that inspires little cause for hope--working difficult jobs and living hand to mouth in Singapore may not be so bad after all. And for illegal workers subjected to arbitrary arrest and flexible application of the law, Singapore may feel a lot like home.

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