My experience from an agent

I just want to share my experience before and upon arriving in Singapore as a foreign worker. 

Year 2011 when I posted my resume on a Filipino website (which I think is somehow accredited by the POEA) looking for work abroad. A certain agency contacted me immediately and asked me to submit the necessary documents for assessment.  I processed and submitted all the requested documents and in a week’s time I already had my IPA. I paid the agency fee and flew to Singapore.

I was fetched by another agent who was a partner of the agency in Philippines when I arrived at Changi Airport. She invited me for a snack nearby and asked for my documents and even my passport (and really I was nervous at that time) which I hesitantly gave to her. While we were having snacks, she looked on my papers and then gave me instructions not to talk and listen to other people especially at the workplace. After she scanned my papers, she explained me something about my work as a childcare teacher, my salary, amount to be spent for the house, transportation, food and other daily needs. She offered to lend me money if I did not have enough with me but with an interest. I declined since I was confident I had just enough money for my needs. She then told me about her agency fee worth 4, 000 SGD to be paid by installment for 4 months before I could take back my passport. I was so surprised by the amount since the agency in Philippines did not inform me about this. I thought that the agency fee I paid was already okay. She further told me not to divulge anything we talked for safety reasons otherwise I would be like the other foreign workers who ended up in trouble for not listening to her. I was just quiet and still could not believe of the amount I needed to give her in exchange of my passport. I was then turned over to another agent whom I didn’t know at that time that it was an agent for the house I will be staying. He drove me to my new house and paid for his fee as well.

Two days after my arrival, my agent brought me and another Filipino foreign worker to MOM to apply for our work pass. She told us not to tell anything other than personal details to anyone in the MOM office and that in case they ask us if we were with an agent or under an agency, we must say NO otherwise they would not approve our pass. This made me ask why it would be like that but she cut me in and told me not to ask questions because “It is like this in Singapore!” She was suddenly pissed off and directed us to queue up.

When we were done with our work pass application, our agent brought us to a snack shop located at a nearby mall. While eating, she showed us a paper to be signed which she verbally discussed to me when she met me at the airport except for some changes. Instead of $ 4,000 agency fee it would be $4,500 to be paid by instalment for four to five months or $2,000 cash at that moment before our passport would be given back to us. I asked her why it became $4,500 and told us she just had the paper from her secretary (who is unfortunately a fellow Filipina married to a local) and she forgot that the fee recently went up. According to her, it was a new policy by the Singapore government. She also stated it was mandatory for us to attend some seminars she would be choosing at our own expense. She consoled us that once we paid $4,500, (likely $1,000+ monthly deduction from our salary for 4-5 months) our passport and ATM cards would be returned and would be on our own already. I noticed the agreement paper has no heading or company name. This made me doubt her already but I kept my silence. We signed the papers and agreed to meet the day when we would open our ATM account.

The day we met to open the account, she fetched me near my school. She was talking on the phone while she was driving. I could say she was getting irritated because she could not find a nearby bank and was asking for direction. I told her I didn’t know. She begun to scold the person she was talking to on the phone and turned to me to scold me also for not knowing the direction. She was driving real mad so I kept quiet. Inside the bank while we were on queue, I asked her for a copy of what we signed. She suddenly flared up and asked why. I told her I just needed a copy for me to know about the conditions I was to pay. She got mad and told me I was not allowed to have a copy because even the domestic helpers do not have. She said I can only see and read. I reasoned out that I deserve to have one for reference purposes only.

Her voice rose and accused me of bringing the paper to a lawyer before she marched out from the bank. She was mumbling something while I tried to catch up and heard her saying she would send me back to Philippines. She stopped and turned to me telling she has money to go to a lawyer. I followed her to her car and told her we needed to settle that thing professionally and not walk out on it. She was really angry and told me I was wasting her time for she was a very busy person. I was quiet but my mind was arguing either to shout back at her or ignore her rants. I just kept quiet and listened to her telling me how come I did not trust her when she was the one who found me a job. We did not open an account that day. My boss asked about our transactions so I honestly told what happen even if at that time I was having doubts if I should trust her after the warnings I had from my agent. My boss decided to accompany me to open an account.

It was payday already when I met my agent to en cash my cheque. My salary at that time was just enough for a month’s expenses so she did not take her $1000 agency fee but she took my ATM card. For the succeeding months, she would withdraw all my salary and took $1000. The rest of the amount were given either in their office or outside like café’s or restaurant. At times, she would take $100 from me as a payment for a seminar which she told me to attend but I never went.

I searched for her agency’s name through internet and found out it was registered as a maid agency only. I did not find the agency’s name in the list of the accredited agency also. I heard once that the agency was raided by police and now they transferred somewhere in Eunos. She was using a space inside an office which was not registered as her office.

Parents In Singapore Who Abuse Their Own Children

Parents In Singapore Who Abuse Their Own Children

In a society considered relatively pampered, the majority of us have grown up in surroundings protected by our parents and a life of considerable comfort, compared to some of our counterparts; sometimes even perhaps to the point of being overly protected. However, what’s lurking around besides the seemingly pristine picture of happy families, cheery smiles and material luxuries?

There’s always a hybrid mix of stark contrasts in every society that we see. There are the minorities and family tragedies that we tend to overlook. Sometimes, it’s hard not to feel jaded by all these news that we hear of all the time. However, once in a while, we do need to be jolted awake to remind ourselves of how very lucky we are to have everything that we most probably take for granted at times. These are not cases that we hear about in other countries, it’s about Singaporean children and it’s only right that we take more personal interest in them.

Parenthood comes with a responsibility tag, whether we like it or not. At the end of the day, it’s the children who are the innocent victims as a result of adults’ mistakes. 

Similar pressures from work, upkeeping the pace of your lifestyle may also lead to parents abusing their very own children, which is a very sad truth indeed. Physical maltreatment is the major form of abuse, which leads to emotional scars as well.

In order to tackle child abuse issues better, the Singapore government has recently revised the manual on Management of Child Abuse in Singapore. MCD - MCYS also aims to provide help to and protect affected children. Singapore Children Society has also conducted research on topics that range from physical child abuse and neglect to parenting.

Please report of any case you might know of to the relevant police authorities. A life might be at stake. For more information on family violence, visit http://fcd.ecitizen.gov.sg.

Such harsh realities make us think back of how often we might have bickered with our parents and how non-appreciative we are of the nagging they give us, despite them having the best intentions. It’s only when we become parents ourselves, then we can better understand them. It’s best to appreciate parents who are great indeed. After all, not everyone has good parents that they deserve.http://www.todaysmotherhood.com/2010/01/child-abuse-in-singapore/

Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse

Protecting children from violence, exploitation and abuse

All children have the right to be protected from violence, exploitation and abuse. Yet, millions of children worldwide from all socio-economic backgrounds, across all ages, religions and cultures suffer violence, exploitation and abuse every day. Millions more are at risk.

Some girls and boys are particularly vulnerable because of gender, race, ethnic origin or socio-economic status. Higher levels of vulnerability are often associated with children with disabilities, who are orphaned, indigenous, from ethnic minorities and other marginalised groups. Other risks for children are associated with living and working on the streets, living in institutions and detention, and living in communities where inequality, unemployment and poverty are highly concentrated. Natural disasters, armed conflict, and displacement may expose children to additional risks. Child refugees, internally displaced children and unaccompanied migrant children are also populations of concern. Vulnerability is also associated with age; younger children are at greater risk of certain types of violence and the risks differ as they get older.

Violence, exploitation and abuse are often practiced by someone known to the child, including parents, other family members, caretakers, teachers, employers, law enforcement authorities, state and non-state actors and other children. Only a small proportion of acts of violence, exploitation and abuse are reported and investigated, and few perpetrators are held accountable.

Violence, exploitation and abuse occur in the homes, families, schools, care and justice systems, workplaces and communities across all contexts, including as a result of conflict and natural disasters. Many children are exposed to various forms of violence, exploitation and abuse, including sexual abuse and exploitation, armed violence, trafficking, child labour, gender-based violence, bullying (see UNICEF, Too often in silence, 2010), cyber-bullying, gang violence, female genital mutilation/cutting,child marriage, physically and emotionally violent child discipline, and other harmful practices.

There is significant evidence that violence, exploitation and abuse can affect the child’s physical and mental health in the short and longer term, impairing their ability to learn and socialize, and impacting their transition to adulthood with adverse consequences later in life.http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_57972.html

Passport Awareness at the Airport

Please be careful at the airports, This is a well organized conspiracy by Immigration, Police, Customs and Airline staff with networking at all International Airports. Be careful when ever you give your passport to Immigration/Customs/Airline staff. The pass port can be easily tampered and can create trouble to you. They have found an easy way of making money. This is the way it works:

At the time of the passenger's departure, if the passenger is not looking at the officer while he is stamping the exit, the officer very cleverly tears away one of the page from the passport. When the passenger leaves the immigration counter, the case is reported on his computer terminal with full details. Now all over the country they have got full details of the passenger with Red Flag flashing on the Passport number entered by the departure immigration officer. They have made their money by doing above.

On arrival next time, he is interrogated.

Subject to the passenger's period of stay abroad, his income and standing etc., the price to get rid of the problem is settled by the Police and Immigration people. If someone argues, his future is spoiled because there are always some innocent fellows who think the honesty is the basis of getting justice.

Please advise every passenger to be careful at the airports. Whenever they hand over the passport to the counters of Airlines or immigration or the customs, they must be vigilant, should not remove eyes from the passport even if the officer in front tries to divert their attention.

Also, please pass this information to all friends, media men and important politicians. Every month 20-30 cases are happening all over the world to rob the passenger the minute he lands.

A similar case happened with Aramco's Arifuddin in Pakistan . He was travelling with his family.

They had six passports. They got the visa of America and decided to go via Jeddah. When they reached the States, the page of the American visa on his wife's passport was missing. At the time of departure from Pakistan it was there, the whole family had to return helplessly. On arrival at Pakistan , they were caught by the police and now it is over 2 months, they are running after the Police, Immigration officers and the Courts. On going in to details with him, he found out the following: One cannot imagine, neither can believe, that the Immigration dept can play such a nasty game to harass the innocent passengers.

All the airlines passengers must be aware of this conspiracy. Every month 15 to 20 cases are taking place, at each mentioned airport, of holding the passengers in the crime of tearing away the passport pages. On interviewing some of them, none of them was aware of what had happened. They don't know why, when and who tore away the page from the middle of the passport. One can imagine the sufferings of such people at the hands of the immigration, police and the court procedures after that. The number of cases has increased in the last 2-3 years. People who are arriving at the immigration, they are questioned and their passports are being held and they have to go in for detailed interrogation. Obviously, the conspiracy started about 2 to 3 years ago, now the results are coming. Some of the Airline counter staff too is involved in this conspiracy.

SO MAKE SURE NOT TO LET THE PASSPORT GO OFF YOUR SIGHT EVEN FOR A SECOND. THE IMMIGRATION COUNTERS ARE HIGH AND TIRED AND SHORT PASSENGERS REALLY HAVE TO WORK HARD TO KEEP THE PASSPORT IN SIGHT, SPEACIALLY AFTER THE EXHAUSTING JOURNEY, EVERYONE WANTS TO GET OVER WITH THE AIRPORT FORMALITIES AND GO HOME. SO BEING VIGILANT FOR AN EXTRA MINUTE WILL SAVE YOU A LIFE TIME OF MISERY. BEST OF LUCK IN YOUR TRAVELS.

KINDLY SEND THIS TO AS MANY OF YOUR INTENDING TRAVELLERS AND FRIENDS ACROSS THE WORLD REQUEST THEM TO CHECK THE PASSPORT AT THE CHECKING COUNTERS AND BEFORE LEAVING THE AIRPORT.

I think at least have a full photo copy of Passport and Keep scan of your passport in your Hard drive or flash memory and i will advise same for ticket also.

Timeline: Job Application in Singapore

July 2011
I posted my resume at the Work Abroad site and within a week, one of the agencies on that site contacted me. The staff on that agency informed me about the documents needed for the work I was qualified to apply for Singapore. Since I was still working with my company at that time, I did not have the time to accomplish the required documents immediately. I had to authorise my sister who is in Baguio to get my academic qualifications from my university.

Mid August 2011
My sister requested the documents from my school on my behalf.

September 2011

After fifteen working days, my university released the requested documents.
I also filed for a few days leave since I was still required to submit more documents. I had to go to my college dean to specifically request the course titles and descriptions of all the subjects I finished in my degree.
End of October 2011
I received the documents I requested from my school and immediately scanned and emailed them to the agency.
A few days later, the agency informed me that I was accepted by a company in Singapore and that my work permit was on process. I was advised to go for medical at their affiliated clinic accredited by POEA.

November 2011
I was scheduled for medical somewhere in Guadalupe.  I was cleared and ready to process my papers to POEA. It was supposed to be the work of the agency but their license was about to expire and they did not renew it four months before expiration.

Anyway, the agency gave me all my documents and instructed me to go to POEA and processed my documents under name hire. The lady in that office asked me about my contract, salary and proceeded to check all my papers. Initially, she was doubting my contract but after checking her computer, she gave me my papers and asked me to pay the corresponding fees. I paid my Overseas Exit Clearance and on that same day, I had my PDOS. 

December 2011
I did not inform my supervisor about my Singapore application not until the agency booked my ticket for Singapore. My colleagues were all surprised (if not disappointed) but at the same time happy. I filed my unused annual leaves and resignation to prepare all my things. I did not have enough time go home to the province to bid goodbye to my parents as I needed to go to Singapore three days after my PDOS.

14th December 2011
The day of my flight. It was my first time to go overseas and I was nervous when I was at the immigration. I was so paranoid at that time, kept on checking my luggage to be sure no one put something or whatever. I checked in and an hour later, I heard it was time to board the plane.

I was fetched by another agent in Singapore...