Singapore steps up migrant worker reforms amid calls for deeper change

The life of a migrant worker in Singapore is bittersweet.

Ramesh, 29, came to the city state in search of a good job. He hails from Tamil Nadu, India, and earns just over S$600 (US$466) a month working as a technician at a large multinational firm.

While this is double what he made in India and has helped put his sisters through college there, it is only about 10 per cent of the S$5,775 nominal median gross monthly income of Singaporeans.

Grappling with an ageing population and a low fertility rate, Singapore has stepped up efforts to improve conditions facing its many low-paid migrant workers, also known as work permit holders.

But a lack of space and high business costs are obstacles to improving their lives.

Ramesh, a pseudonym, shares a dormitory room with 15 others. He commutes in the backs of open lorries, a practice non-governmental organisations want banned due to fatalities and injuries caused by traffic accidents. The government has responded with measures such as requiring lorries to be fitted with speed limiters.