Bangladesh

In Singapore, many Indian workers can be spotted at construction sites doing one of the most back-breaking jobs in Singapore. They are the ones who have built Singapore into what it is today. Many of them hail from India and Bangladesh. The villages where they are from are usually very very poor and they, as the breadwinners, must earn money for their family, and in Singapore, that is not easy.

Bangladeshi workers not only have relatively lower pay compared to their counterparts from china and other countries, they also have to pay of debts which they incur from trying to get a job in the first place. These middlemen charge Bangladeshi workers a fee in exchange for a job in Singapore.

However, they are essential and play a huge part in Singapore's economy. Many Bangladeshi and Indian workers work at construction sites building the important things Singapore requires, our MRT system, road system, houses, shopping malls, etcetera have all been built by them. They work tirelessly for long hours and yet, they are still so lowly-paid. Without them, all our skyscrapers and beautiful buildings would not have came to life. Even though they play such a big role, and have contributed so much to Singapore, they are often discriminated and looked down upon. Also, with their darker skin, they are very easily recognizable, and that is often associated with more unpleasant/negative feelings and thought.

Also, they are deprived of their own rights to voice out. There isn't anyone or any organization that they can turn to for help. There are no Bangladeshis in the government and the media often betrays them in a bad light, not always, of course. For example, quite recently there was a video that went viral of a Bangladeshi worker who saved a toddler whose head was stuck between the railings of a HDB block. And yet we have people like Daryl Lim Jun Liang and his friends who prowled around Yishun looking for smaller man they could beat up as sort of a 'practice session', however, the Indian national that they beat up did not go and seek help or even miss a day of work as he did not want to 'lose any income'.