Recently, photos showing the deplorable living conditions of Singapore’s foreign workers have been circulating in social media. Among other things, these photos show the foreign workers living in overcrowded dormitories, and eating food that a hungry stray cat would pass up on.
However, according to an insider in the construction industry, these photos do not show the norm as the welfare and living conditions of the foreign workers have greatly improved over the last 10 years due to tightened MOM regulations.
Most dormitory operators have to limit their room occupancy to 10 per room, and maintain a high level of cleanliness. Furthermore, foreign workers can now choose from a variety of Bangladeshi, Indian, Malay, Chinese, and vegetarian cuisine for their meals.
With the rise of COVID-19 infection clusters in foreign worker dormitories, MOM have intensified their efforts at maintaining hygiene standards in these areas. The frequency of refuse removal and cleaning of the common areas have been increased from once daily to four times daily. In fact, foreign workers living in affected dormitories now have their hot meals distributed within an average of one hour and a half.