was taking a break from work when i visited this site: http://nemation.sg/view_vote_07.html
remember last year national day rally when pm lee showed two video clips about NE. got one is a sand art:
then got another one is clay art, which i cannot find on youtube.
anyway, this year got new entries. so go and vote lah. tot the beans united one v cute.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
shipyard in tuas and kolkata
today (sun) went back to ship to settle some work. my ship has gone to yard to undergo some sort of planned maintainence. sort of like servicing in a workshop lah. the yard is like "the peak" "zui gao dian (the highest point)" place lah. but it's extremely dirty and dusty.
not that i'm being mean. but the place sort of resemble the conditions in kolkata. this is not meant to be racist or demeaning. but the place has a lot of indian foreign workers.
and these ppl lead a v tough life. from wat i hear, the workers work v long hours to earn a pittance. not sure how much they earn though. but they definitely work a lot of ot. typically, they work until ten on weekdays and sometimes overnight to two am. when i was in base on sun, these ppl still worked until four.
their breaks are minimal. twelve to twelve forty five for lunch and is signalled by a horn throughout the yard. during which they squeeze in their naps by sleeping on the floor at a sheltered corridor near the canteen/toilet/office. on top of these, they have to endure the heat of working onboard ships with poor ventilation (our aircons are off for maintainence) and work in a dusty and potentially hazardous environment. plus those disgustingly dirty toilets.
basically, the working conditions in the shipyard is not much better than those in kolkata. only good thing is that the pay (though little) is much better. i doubt that these guys live in any better conditions. (saw a photo exhibition at the national library last year depicting the living quarters of these workers. )
so can we only provide these workers a seemingly higher pay? but not better and cleaner working and living conditions? is giving them a more decent treatment so costly that it will erode our competitive edge? or are we afraid of lowering their immune system or creating an environment so that they can better adapt?
today (sun) went back to ship to settle some work. my ship has gone to yard to undergo some sort of planned maintainence. sort of like servicing in a workshop lah. the yard is like "the peak" "zui gao dian (the highest point)" place lah. but it's extremely dirty and dusty.
not that i'm being mean. but the place sort of resemble the conditions in kolkata. this is not meant to be racist or demeaning. but the place has a lot of indian foreign workers.
and these ppl lead a v tough life. from wat i hear, the workers work v long hours to earn a pittance. not sure how much they earn though. but they definitely work a lot of ot. typically, they work until ten on weekdays and sometimes overnight to two am. when i was in base on sun, these ppl still worked until four.
their breaks are minimal. twelve to twelve forty five for lunch and is signalled by a horn throughout the yard. during which they squeeze in their naps by sleeping on the floor at a sheltered corridor near the canteen/toilet/office. on top of these, they have to endure the heat of working onboard ships with poor ventilation (our aircons are off for maintainence) and work in a dusty and potentially hazardous environment. plus those disgustingly dirty toilets.
basically, the working conditions in the shipyard is not much better than those in kolkata. only good thing is that the pay (though little) is much better. i doubt that these guys live in any better conditions. (saw a photo exhibition at the national library last year depicting the living quarters of these workers. )
so can we only provide these workers a seemingly higher pay? but not better and cleaner working and living conditions? is giving them a more decent treatment so costly that it will erode our competitive edge? or are we afraid of lowering their immune system or creating an environment so that they can better adapt?
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