HOME Away from Home—Social Support Network for Migrant Workers inSingapore
Gloria A. ROSANOW (Singapore)
They all have sad stories to tell. If you bother asking, one would tell you that she wascharged for a theft that she did not commit. Another would confide that she was
frequently starved and beaten by her madam. Yet another shared the story of how she
was trapped into prostitution. Many other tragedies would surface if you bother to findout. But not many bother to ask. Even less who care. After all, “they” are just maids-theforeign, lowly, and othered pariahs of our society.
Foreign maids, like other migrant workers, are frequently subject to suchdiscriminatory treatment from mainstream society. Carried to the extreme, it is not
unusual for them to be abused and mistreated by their employers. Compounding this is
the lack of sympathetic ears and friendly shoulders to cry on, which frequently resultsin desperate acts leading to tragic ends. In Singapore, cases of death sparked by suchcircumstances have increased in the past years, be it maid suicide, murder of maids, ormurder of employers by their maids.
In response to the alarming increase of such cases, Singaporean Bridget Lew took it
upon herself “to build the culture of welcome for the global family in Singapore.” Sheenvisions Singapore, a nation forefathered by immigrants from China and India, to playhost and provide a home to modern day migrants. A charitable organization initiatedand run by an everyday heroine called HOME, or the Humanitarian Organization ofMigration Economics was born in 2004.
Over the coming years, HOME quickly establishes itself as a crisis centre for
distressed migrants in Singapore. Foreign domestic workers, construction workers andillegal sex workers are among its usual clientele, who are referred there by theauthorities or by fellow migrant workers. In most cases, these workers suffer from somekind of hardship, running away from their abusive employers, or pending trials forcrimes they have allegedly committed. In the shelters run by HOME, these migrants
wait patiently—some for months, some up to a year—for justice.
But you cannot tell these if you just glimpse a visit to the “Grotto.” More likely, youwill see young, vibrant, lively women (or men, depending on which Grotto you visit) intheir twenties doing handicraft, floral arrangement, dancing, singing, and worshipping.
At times, they will stop to chat with one another, giggling as if sharing a secret privy tothose lucky few. These were greetings in Tagalog with a rejoinder in Malay, while one ortwo Thai phrases sneak into the same conversation. But different tongues have neverbeen a cause of communication breakdown here. If anything, they are testimony to thesolidarity of this Global Family of HOME.
The ultimate goal of HOME, as is many other voluntary welfare organizations andreligious bodies in Singapore, is to empower these migrant workers and provide themwith opportunities to network with one another. This has resulted in the migrantworkers in Singapore coming together and forming a support network of their own.
Such initiatives are frequently supported by the embassy of the migrant’s origin.
Indo Family, for example, was the brainchild of a certain Miss Nurifah Rasidi, anIndonesian domestic worker who has been working in Singapore for 8 years. Theorganization runs a weekend 24-hours helpline for fellow migrant workers in Singapore
regardless of nationalities (although it mostly appeals to Indonesian workers due to thebond of language and culture). The “modus operandi” was via handphone, where the‘senior’ maids with years of experience of working in Singapore would dispense freecounseling and advice to their ‘juniors.’ They would also act as a referral point to therelevant organizations and/or authorities when the need arises.
HOME is but one example of community service by wom(a)n for women, even if they
are “just” migrant workers, in Singapore. It would be an exhaustive laundry list toinclude all such organizations in this article’s short space. Nevertheless, the noble
intent of these organizations is common: to empower the disempowered in thecommunity

regardlessofreligion,nationality,orclass.

Thebirthof“by-migrants-for-migrants” organizations like Indo Family and other similar support
networks is a testimony to this empowerment. With such heartening developments inthe community service scene, the migrant workers in Singapore could perhaps, one day,really find their welcome here.