GLOBAL HEALTH
Mental Health of Non-Domestic Foreign Workers in Singapore by bhavya tripathi and abigail goh su-en
Singapore is a rapidly growing economy in South-East Asia, with an ethnically diverse population of 5.7 million. It is surpassing Hong Kong as the prime location for multinational corporation (MNC) headquarters in Asia. At least 46% of the world’s MNC’s are headquartered in Singapore, compared to Hong Kong’s 37%. Singapore has experienced this rapid growth in a short span of 53 years since its independence in 1965, through the aid of visionary leaders and migrant workers who helped build the city and its highly efficient infrastructure. Given the country’s expansive and ever-changing landscape, the demand for workers is on an annual increase. Yet, despite being an important asset to Singapore’s growth, migrant workers are often subject to labour abuse. There are approximately 1.4 million immigrants living in Singapore including professional, semi-skilled and low-skilled workers, of which nearly half of are construction-related jobs. Other low-skill employment for immigrants includes domestic help — a field dominated by young women from Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar, and India. The focus of this policy proposal is non-domestic migrant workers who are engaged in sectors related to con-
struction. Over the past two decades, the government has begun to recognise the need to effectively revise policies to improve migrant workers’ health insurance coverages and living standards. Yet this demographic is still susceptible to poor psychological well-being due to indebtedness, disparities in accessing healthcare, and labour exploitation by employers. The government actions may be superficially effectively, but they are still unable to address the core problem at hand: the integration of migrant workers into local communities. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are delving into the issue by reaching out to the individuals in need, but a vast societal shift must occur in order to emancipate the migrant worker community. Background Migrant workers played a pivotal role in alleviating the labour crunch during the late growth In Singapore. While young Singaporeans are encouraged to pursue higher education, the infrastructural development is carried out by primarily off-shore Bangladeshi, Indian, and Chinese labourers. Over the years, Singapore has become one of the largest net importers of migrant labor. Migrant workers as a group are therefore crucial to Singapore’s infrastructure and landscape. Yet their work is far from recognised by society. The inequality and voicelessness of the demographic is detrimental to its social status, and results in their contributions and needs being ignored. This inequality puts migrant workers at risk, especially regarding lack of access to healthcare – let alone mental health care. This disparity is of course, not unique to Singapore, but also prevalent in the other Southeast Asian ‘tiger econ-
A foreign construction worker takes a break in Singapore’s city-centre. 73