Where There’s Smoke
The phone rang just after 11pm. It was James. “Come to Fei Fei,” he said. “Something’s happening here.” “What?” “Just come.” And so, because documentary filmmakers are inherent busybodies, I headed down to the noodle shop near where we live. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. Two fire engines blocked the road outside the...
Dowry Deaths
At first we couldn’t believe the statistics. Nearly 200 deaths in 2009. 48 in the first three months of this year. Women – most of them, young and in the prime of their lives – beaten, strangled, burnt, kicked, tortured, drowned, starved, hacked… to death. Because of their husbands and in-laws’ greed. What on earth...
Problem-solving, MOM-style
It’s an open secret. The global trade in low-level labour is a dirty one. And Singapore is a willing participant. We import tens of thousands of migrant workers each year ostensibly because no other Singaporean will do the jobs they do, for the kind of pay they’re willing to accept. But the truth is that...
Homelessness Is Not A Dirty Word
In 2006, we moved to Hong Kong and spent the better part of our year there getting to know a group of homeless people. Their stories were complex, their personalities as diverse as their backgrounds. There were 19-year-old boys and 65-year-old grandfathers. Truck drivers, deliverymen, chefs, waiters, factory workers, failed businessmen… you name it. Some...
So How Much Did you Pay Your Agent?
Of late we’ve developed a strange habit. We can’t meet a Bangladeshi migrant labourer without asking him a somewhat intrusive question. How much did you pay your agent? Is it kinda rude? Maybe. Call it an occupational hazard then. We must have sprung that question on hundreds of workers when we were making “Human Trade”...
Happy World Habitat Day – Let’s Visit A Hovel In District 9
Location, they say, is everything. And in Singapore, living in District 9 means you’ve got it all – posh condo, swanky car, cushy job. You know, all the good things life has to offer. The guy who made the video below should know. He left China for a job here. And his boss was kind...
The Swiftboating Of Siew Kum Hong
He’s been accused of flouting the law, of promoting homosexuality, of creating outrage among parents, of threatening the very fabric of our multi-racial society, of being an affront to CONSERVATIVES WITH HIGH MORALS AND INTEGRITY (emphasis not mine), of CORRUPTING OF MINOR UNDER OUR PENAL CODE [sic], of being a very dangerous person to the...
A Post Involving Boobs
Mine, specifically. A month ago, I decided to do a full medical examination in Bangkok. A well-known Thai hospital was having a special deal, so I thought, why not? It made sense to get checked out. We spend loads of time in slums and dumps and other strange places, who knew what weird parasites I...
The Uproar Over CSE, Or Why Don’t We Just Say Baaaa….
So I went to the AWARE EGM, I voted, I bought the Shut-up and sit down t-shirt, and just when I thought life was going to get back to normal, this nonsense shows up in my inbox: For Singaporeans who’ve not received this (all two of you), it’s an email urging parents to sign a...
