Minister Josephine Teo Says No Migrant Worker Has Demanded Apology, Netizens Don’t Think They Dare To

Manpower Minister Says Workers Are Mainly Concerned About Falling Sick

When you’re unhappy at work due to boss-related issues, it’s probably unrealistic to expect an apology for less than ideal work conditions.

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Unfortunately, something similar is happening to our migrant workers, but with more serious consequences. Living conditions within dormitories across the island have been placed under media scrutiny, due to an outbreak of Covid-19 involving thousands of patients.

And yet, despite being exposed to a deadly disease, it seems none of the workers have asked the authorities in Singapore to apologise to them.

NMP asks Minister if an apology would be issued to migrant workers

This issue was discussed at length in Parliament on Monday (4 May), after Manpower Minister Josephine Teo’s ministerial statement on the Covid-19 situation in Singapore.

Ms Anthea Ong – Nominated Member of Parliament – posed her a challenging question. In essence, she wished to find out if the Government was willing to apologise for “dismal conditions” and the recent Covid-19 outbreak within workers’ dorms.

In her answer, Minister Teo said this,

I have not come across one single migrant worker himself that has demanded an apology.

Here’s a video of Mrs Teo’s reply, uploaded by Channel NewsAsia (CNA).

Workers more focused on their health & wages

In the response, Minister Teo shared that based on frequent interactions with the community, migrant workers had expressed concerns about the following things:

1. How the present situation is being handled
2. How to avoid falling sick
3. How to they will be taken care of if they fall sick
4. How their wages will be paid
5. How to ensure that they can send money home

Besides these requests, she said, none have come forward to ask for an apology.

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Minister’s response didn’t go over too well with netizens

Unfortunately, the video of Minister Teo’s answer has so far received more dislikes than likes.

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That observation was also picked up on by one user.

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While we might have an inkling as to why this answer was so disliked, we decided to get a better idea of how this opinion was received.

Thus, we looked at Reddit.

Migrant workers may not dare to voice their true opinions

Many reactions to Minister Teo’s answer on Reddit touched on the reasons that we expected, that migrant workers could be aware of their status in our society.

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Additionally, workers are hired under the discretion of their employers, who retain the power to send them back home. In the event that they have to return home, they may not be able to raise enough money to support their families or repay their debts.

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One netizen also referenced the fact that foreign workers are punished severely when they flout the Infectious Diseases Act, and work passes of workers have been cancelled for not abiding by ‘Circuit Breaker’ measures.

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That said, netizens concluded that it may be tough, in fact almost impossible to “demand” an apology.

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Heartfelt apologies are given freely

Other netizens said that an apology should be given without prompting, not as a result of a demand from the aggrieved party.

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Trotting out wise words from their mothers, two netizens said a heartfelt apology comes from courage and self-awareness.

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Quoting a song from well-known singer Ronan Keating, one netizen implies that it’s probably difficult to say sorry in this case.

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Better to focus on actions instead of words

There were also netizens who defended Minister Teo, saying that actions speak louder than words — i.e. best to do something practical about the situation.

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Others scrutinised the role of dormitory operators in the situation, calling the negative comments “bullying”.

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The Redditor opined that Minister Teo and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will learn crucial lessons from this experience moving forward.

Unequal balance of power remains

Undoubtedly, Minister Teo’s answer doesn’t sit well with those who are aware of the unequal balance of power between migrant workers and the authorities.

Perhaps, like what some have said, she was making a point about how MOM and the workers themselves prefer concrete actions to get everybody out of this mess, and an apology doesn’t serve any purpose.

However, while it doesn’t stop Covid-19 from spreading, an apology does go a long way in soothing the lingering grievances that some might have.

What do you think? Do we owe our migrant workers an apology or do actions speak louder than words? Do let us know what you think in the comments.

Featured image from YouTube and Facebook.