Social activists say there is widespread exploitation by unscrupulous recruitment agents who circumvent rules stipulated by the MoM and take advantage of impoverished workers from Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, China and Myanmar.
Last year, the MoM promised "sufficient deterrence" to ensure that laws are respected by agents. But, Singapore does not have a minimum wage policy and employers may easily terminate contracts when workers demand fair wages.
Government figures suggest that the country already has 240,000 construction workers and will need tens of thousands more to execute planned housing programmes alone. Full story
