Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Covid-19 Singapore: A ‘pandemic of inequality’ exposed
There are quite a few countries where wealthy citizens enjoy economic growth, urban development, and labor services that are supported by a large number of expatriates. For instance, around and over 70% of the populations of oil/gas-rich Qatar, UAE, and Kuwait are expatriates, many of whom have been building skyscrapers, constructing and repairing roads, and collecting garbage. Without their labor, the economies, and the daily lives of those city states can’t be sustained even for a day.
Singapore is no exception. Of the 5.7 million total population, nearly 1.7 million, or 30%, are non-residents, many of whom provide essential labor services for the residents of the city state. Though Singapore is a technologically advanced, tightly governed, and highly disciplined community, the conditions of those expats’ lives seem far below the ones of the citizens. Many of those expat workers came from India and Bangladesh to earn and send money to their families. They live in dorms where a dozen or more workers share a room, a limited number of toilets, and showers. Social distancing is hardly possible in such overcrowded dorms, and as a result, the Covid-19 cluster occurs here and there.
Someone says it’s a pandemic of inequality. The prime minister admitted that their actions to those dorms were not without shortcomings. One of the dorm’s occupants wants to be treated just like a human.
Read the article and learn about the living conditions of expats workers in Singapore, but not the financial elites who enjoy their lives in a high-rise apartment.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54082861
Covid-19 Singapore: A ‘pandemic of inequality’ exposed
There are quite a few countries where wealthy citizens enjoy economic growth, urban development, and labor services that are supported by a large number of expatriates. For instance, around and over 70% of the populations of oil/gas-rich Qatar, UAE, and Kuwait are expatriates, many of whom have been building skyscrapers, constructing and repairing roads, and collecting garbage. Without their labor, the economies, and the daily lives of those city states can’t be sustained even for a day.
Singapore is no exception. Of the 5.7 million total population, nearly 1.7 million, or 30%, are non-residents, many of whom provide essential labor services for the residents of the city state. Though Singapore is a technologically advanced, tightly governed, and highly disciplined community, the conditions of those expats’ lives seem far below the ones of the citizens. Many of those expat workers came from India and Bangladesh to earn and send money to their families. They live in dorms where a dozen or more workers share a room, a limited number of toilets, and showers. Social distancing is hardly possible in such overcrowded dorms, and as a result, the Covid-19 cluster occurs here and there.
Someone says it’s a pandemic of inequality. The prime minister admitted that their actions to those dorms were not without shortcomings. One of the dorm’s occupants wants to be treated just like a human.
Read the article and learn about the living conditions of expats workers in Singapore, but not the financial elites who enjoy their lives in a high-rise apartment.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54082861
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