Following investigations into the attempted suicide of a migrant worker residing at the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol yesterday (22 July), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) clarified that the worker’s employer had complied with advice to facilitate the employee’s return to his homeland.
The worker will leave Singapore today, said MOM.
MOM in its Facebook post today also disclosed that the worker — who was staying at the PPT Lodge 1B dormitory block — did not discuss with his employer the option of leaving the cleared dormitory, which led to a dispute.
“Investigations revealed that the worker purchased a flight ticket to his home country on his own and became agitated when his employer was not facilitative of his return.
“When the incident happened, the FAST team on site managed to calm the worker down and resolve the issue after contacting his employer,” said MOM.
The Ministry encouraged all migrant workers to contact the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) 24-hour helpline at 6536 2692 or via MOM’s feedback form in the event that such employment disputes arise.
Earlier in a viral video, a commotion broke out when the migrant worker was seen standing on top of the railing on the fourth floor of the dormitory building.
Many other migrant workers whipped out their mobile phones to record the scene.
According to Vaster News, the Chinese migrant worker was forced to pay a S$2,000 return ticket to China after encountering issues with his employer.
However, it was reported that the migrant worker could not afford the flight ticket, which pushed him to attempting suicide.
It was also reported that the Singapore Civil Defence Force was called and they had set up rescue cushions at the scene as a form of precaution.
Fortunately, the migrant worker was successfully persuaded and he stepped off the railing safely.