by Teo Soh Lung
I think the Government is getting ki siow (mad). Maybe it is even worse. My late mother would describe it as “ki tang” (going into a trance) with reference to the temple medium.
Minister of Home Affairs and Law, K Shanmugam is not only angry with videos taken of downtrodden workers in other countries, he is mad with people who publish videos and photos taken of the deplorable condition of workers’ dormitories in Singapore and food supplied to them some years ago.
These videos and photos have been republished because we, the people of Singapore have not been aware of the living condition of our migrant workers before.
These videos and photos seek to rebut what our multi-ministerial COVID-19 task force told us – that they were not aware of the overcrowded dormitories before and that if they had known, things would have been done differently and COVID-19 would not have spread so rampantly among the workers.
Every minister knew of the poor living condition of our migrant workers since years ago. They even permitted these workers to be transported dangerously by lorries. They knew they were paid pittance and given poor quality food.
In other words, they knew these workers were terribly exploited. But they did nothing because they wanted our posh buildings to be built cheaply and our coffers enriched so that we can tell the world that we too belong to the first world.
So my response to the Government is this. If you think you can seal the mouths of critics with your threats of legal proceedings, imprisonment, and fines as the general election which you are planning approaches, you will be wrong.
Do what you like. The people who have spoken will not be silenced.
