Earlier this week, a troubling video of a worker threatening to jump off the fourth storey of a Punnggol Dormitory building circulated on Facebook.
According to the Ministry Of Manpower (MOM), the situation arose as the worker had bought an air ticket home, but his employer was initially “not facilitative”. The worker in question has left Singapore on Thursday (23 Jul).
However on Friday (24 Jul) afternoon, another video of a man allegedly attempting to jump off a dormitory started circulating on social media.
In the video, the surrounding crowd can be heard asking the man perched on the ledge why he wanted to take his own life.
The man replied in Mandarin that he wasn’t able to return to his home country despite having purchased his flight tickets.
A man in a brown shirt with the word “security” printed on its back approached the migrant worker and tries persuading him to come off the ledge. He also urged him to go about solving the dilemma in another way.
The crowd in the video can also be heard advising the man to make a phone call — presumably to his employer or to MOM.
While it is a harrowing sight to witness, this isn’t the only of such videos that surfaced this week.
On Wednesday (22 Jul), another video showing a worker trying to jump off a building at the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol went viral on social media.
In the video, a worker was seen standing on the ledge from the fourth floor of the building. A commotion broke out as a crowd formed on the ground level.
On Thursday (23 Jul), MOM released a statement saying that they are aware of the incident.
The Ministry revealed that the worker in the second video had also purchased a flight ticket home, but his employer was “not facilitative of his return”.
Fortunately, the dormitory operator and FAST team on-site reportedly managed to calm the worker down.
The issue was also resolved upon contacting the employer, who was advised to facilitate the employee’s return.
MOM has, however, yet to release a statement on the video uploaded today. MS News has reached out to the MOM and will update this article once more information is available.
Another similar video of a worker allegedly contemplating suicide circulating on Friday (24 Jul) at around 3pm.
In the clip, a man was seen standing at the edge of a building. According to the SG Chinese Community Facebook group, the incident took place along Old Choa Chu Kang Road.
Thankfully, two individuals grabbed him and hoisted him away from the ledge. Loud cheers can be heard as he was dragged off.
Aside from the case at the Punggol Dormitory, MOM has yet to confirm or release any statements with regard to the other videos. We urge everyone not to jump to conclusions until more details are released.
MOM has also advised workers with employment disputes to contact the Migrant Workers’ Centre’s 24-hour helpline at 6536 2692 or reach out to them via their online feedback form.
A pandemic climate is not an easy one to navigate through. We hope everyone will be more compassionate and understanding to those around them and whom they work with.
Featured images adapted from Facebook.
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