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Our group has chosen Goal 11 of the UN's 17 Sustainable Goals, titled Sustainable Cities and Communities.

The UN aims to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable - a sustainable city means:
- no-one is left behind
- cities are well-prepared and adapt well to any future crises
- cities are planned with the environment in mind

Source: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/

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Why did we choose this theme?
Now, during the COVID-19 crisis, cities' limits are being tested. Some cities, like Singapore, are faring well against these unforeseen challenges, while others are struggling. We can see firsthand how essential good city planning and urban resilience is during a crisis.

Post-COVID-19, many cities will have to reflect and act on the problems they have faced and measures will be put into place to prevent them from reoccurring in the future. What drastic changes will be made? How will they impact our society? That is what we want to investigate.

Source: https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1186571.shtml

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Our group has chosen to focus on the foreign workers in Singapore, specifically their dormitories, which has come to a negative light in the media for causing the bulk of Singapore's COVID-19 cases earlier this year.

Singapore, renowned for its inclusive society and modern infrastructure, had its 'hidden slums' revealed through horrifying videos from workers showcasing poor, crowded living conditions. How did we get here and what can we learn from this situation?

Source: https://coconuts.co/singapore/news/filthy-cramped-dorms-come-to-light-as-virus-afflicts-singapores-migrant-workers/

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Why did we choose this topic?
One of the aspects of a sustainable city is that no citizen is left behind. However, in the COVID-19 pandemic, an overwhelming majority of the victims were migrant workers, who live in packed dormitories. In recent months, the COVID-19 pandemic has ripped through the foreign-worker dormitories, their unsanitary and overcrowded conditions having rapidly attracted international attention. Singapore, praised for its gold-standard approach to testing and tracing, demonstrated the serious dangers of neglecting certain communities.

Prior to this year, few of us had given much thought to migrant workers and their plight. It's time to hear their story.

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/rethinking-dorms-next-steps-for-foreign-worker-housing

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In April 2020, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced that foreign worker dormitories were being designated as isolation areas after an influx of COVID-19 cases found among foreign workers. Subsequently, they announced that the residents of these dormitories could no longer cook their own food, with food instead being provided by a professional caterer so as to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

MOM seemingly had the situation under control, with "teething problems with the portion, suitability and distribution" of the food being gradually improved on, according to them. In reality, the situation was far from under control.

Many workers reported that the food they were catered was of poor quality, small portion sizes and unsanitary. The food was reportedly tasteless, old and not culturally appropriate, with Malay food being served to Indian and Bangladeshi workers. Workers were forced to eat this food to stay alive and many later reportedly became ill from it.

Source: Facebook (Kokila Annamalai)

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Shortly after several foreign workers' dormitories were isolated in April, 2020, horrifying videos and images posted by the residents of these dormitories flooded social media. These videos showed the awful living conditions of the workers, with insect infestations, stagnant water, filthy surroundings and cramped housing, with over 10 people per room and all of them sharing one toilet, being common themes.

Singaporean media raised an uproar, with former diplomat Professor Tommy Koh stating that "The way Singapore treats its foreign workers is not first world, but third world". More than just a human rights concern, the horrible living conditions in these dormitories, especially the crowded rooms, facilitated the potential spread of COVID-19, going against the original aim of reducing its spread by isolating the dorms.

Source: https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/construction-site-quarters-home-500-foreign-workers

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Food

Thankfully, changes came soon. In late April, Minister of State for Manpower at the time Zaqy Mohamad acknowledged the issues in a Facebook post and stated that things were going to improve, with MOM beginning to work closer with workers, dormitories and caterers to ensure that food standards were reworked. The scale of the distribution of food, on time delivery and the accommodation to dietary preferences had all posed as challenges for caterers. After the announcement, food quality had indeed begun to change for the better, with foreign workers now enjoying their edible, even tasty, food and thanking MOM for the action taken.

Living Conditions
Improvements to the living conditions of foreign workers were soon announced by the government, with them working closely with dorm operators and employers to ensure that both short term and long term beneficial changes are implemented. Some of the improvements planned are:

Currently: At 4.5 sqm per resident (including shared facilities)
Improvement: Living space per resident—>at least 6 sqm (not including shared facilities)

Currently: There are no limits on the occupancy per room. In practice, dormitories typically have 12-16 beds per room, with mostly double decker beds.
Improvement: Maximum of 10 beds per room, where only single deck beds will be used with 1m spacing between the beds.

Currently: One toilet, bathroom and sink to every 15 beds
Improvement: One toilet, bathroom and sink to every 5 beds

Currently: Requirement of just one sick bay bed per 1,000 bed spaces.
Improvement: More sick bay beds – at least 15 per 1,000 bed spaces.

Improvement: The Government is considering and studying the possibility on whether to develop the purpose-built dormitories on a different, less commercial model compared to the present, bid-based system.

Overall
Although the government eventually brought improvements to foreign worker dormitories, it was too little too late. Dormitories were already hot spots for COVID-19 and, at the time, were still contributing hundreds of cases to Singapore's daily case count.

The outbreak seemed obvious, considering the many issues present with foreign worker dormitories. Did the government realise that they were, as said by Professor Tommy Koh, "a time bomb waiting to explode"? The answer is yes - the issue had previously been brought up by NGOs and other politicians in debates before, however very little concrete action had been taken.
This was not just the government's fault, but the public's as well. Prior to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in dormitories, many in the Singaporean public resisted possible initiatives posed by the government to improve the situation of foreign workers, taking on a selfish 'Not In My Backyard' attitude towards them.

Issues with foreign worker housing are not new. These same problems were present even before COVID-19, ignored by most media outlets and, unfortunately, most Singaporeans. It is only when these conditions expedited the spread of COVID-19 that we paid attention and brought change with us.
This experience shows us all that, even though poor planning might not affect us at a certain point in time, it is best to be proactive and resolve it then, rather than waiting until it hurts us, such as during a crisis. This is why building a Sustainable City matters.

Sources:
Upper Left: https://mustsharenews.com/dorm-meals/
Lower Left: https://www.facebook.com/theonlinecitizen/videos/josephine-teos-response-when-asked-if-the-government-would-consider-issuing-an-a/2598640030375209/
Right: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid-19-singapore-new-dormitories-foreign-workers-conditions-12792538

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Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid-19-singapore-new-dormitories-foreign-workers-conditions-12792538

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-Employers provides meals for these foreign workers but, they were often no more than soggy rice and gravy.These meals were also spoiled or inedible

-The living conditions are abhorrent, leading to the rising cases of COVID-19:
—>Cramped rooms housing up to 30 men a piece
—>No air-conditioning
—>Inappropriate and poor ventilation
—>Filthy beds filled with pests like cockroaches
—>Toilets shared by more than 80 people

-The government has yet to take comprehensive steps to improve these foreign workers’ living conditions

-The government did not issue face masks to these foreign workers at the first sign of COVID-19 in February

The government turned a blind eye and ignored the foreign workers needs, when they should be doing their best to prevent an outbreak among these workers.The result in poor planing led to the outbreak of COVID-19 in these dormitories.

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The organisation we chose to work with was Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), one of the many NGOs in Singapore constantly looking out for migrant workers and their rights.

What makes TWC2 different? Over the years, they have consistently contributed towards solving the migrant worker issue through their advocacy. In the past years, their work has led to the adoption of an extra weekly day off for migrant workers, more streamlined salary payment through bank accounts and more.

Beyond that, TWC2 mainly focuses on volunteer work, helping migrant workers in the field, such as making sure that injured, hence unpaid, workers receive sufficient rent money, food and necessities. For example, since 2008, TWC2's Cuff Road Project provided food to hundreds of migrant workers who were unable to work due to injuries or disputes with employers, making sure that they have enough to eat every day.

This year, in fact, TWC2 accurately predicted the COVID-19 breakout in dormitories a month prior to the actual event in their Straits Times Forum letter titled "Employers’ practices leave foreign workers vulnerable to infection", where they said that the crowded conditions of migrant worker housing and transport made the risk of a new cluster among migrant workers "undeniable".

Clearly, TWC2 is an organisation with a lot of resources, passion, outreach potential and insight into the migrant worker problem. Hence, we decided to work with them to learn more and gain a deeper understanding of the situation.

Source: https://twc2.org.sg

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Unfortunately, TWC2's volunteers are currently very busy with the influx of problems and work brought about by COVID-19, and hence were unable to give us a complete, in-depth response to our questions. Instead, however, they gave us access to some great resources that pointed us in the right direction. With their help, we were able to construct some answers to our questions from an NGO's point of view, detailed below:

Q1) Why do most Singaporeans continue to disregard and perceive migrant workers so negatively, despite your efforts?
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A: The main goal of our NGO is public education pertaining to migrant workers - that is true. Unfortunately, no matter how large our outreach may be, deep-rooted negative stereotypes about migrant workers still persist in our society, spread by misguided friends and family members. On an individual level, we can attempt to get rid of these preconceived ideas through our small-scale programmes, learning journeys and assembly talks, but there is only so much we can do to change how society as a whole perceives migrant workers. If we do manage to influence enough people to change stereotypes, it wouldn't happen overnight.

Q2) What do you think the main reason behind the government not acting more in terms of improving living conditions of migrant workers prior to this year was?
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A: The answer is simple - for them, there was no reason to. There was no economic or public pressure to do so. The government has always prioritised citizens over foreigners, with Work Permit holders at the bottom of the hierarchy.  In fact, public pressure was against helping migrant workers, as seen in the previous question. Once the pandemic ends, there is no guarantee that the public's sympathy for migrant workers will last and, most likely, migrant worker issues will go back on the back burner.

Q3) In many instances, restaurant workers were offered better pay in exchange for no tips and were against it. Would the migrant workers you talk to be against better worker conditions if it meant less pay?
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A: The draw for migrant workers coming to work in Singapore is simply a job opportunity with a slightly higher-paying salary than in their home countries. Even then, this salary is barely enough to cover migrant workers' monthly expenses and makes saving very difficult, as seen in "$alary Day", a short film by Indian migrant worker Ramasamy Madhavan. Were this salary to be further lowered, migrant workers would not be able to support themselves and their family, defeating the purpose of working here, even with better conditions.

Q4) Are migrant workers happy now that living conditions have been improved?
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A: The issues facing migrant workers exceed far beyond dormitory conditions. Although improving them is a move with good intent, it would merely be a cosmetic solution in the grand scheme of things if the root causes of workers' problems aren't addressed, such as the exorbitant agency fees, which take years to pay back with migrant workers' meagre salaries, threat of getting fired and instantly deported, going into debt because of the agency fees, and the inconsistent nature of salaries and employment as a whole. Bettering living conditions is a good short-term solution that will appease the media, but it doesn't address the long-term problems and worries migrant workers have.

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After our research, we empathised and sympathised much more with migrant workers and their plight. Hence, the most important question we wanted to find the answer to was:

What can normal, middle class Singaporeans really do to help migrant workers?

All of the actions we previously attributed to helping migrant workers (i.e. donating, volunteering) required lots of time and money, which most Singaporeans do not have. After our research, we discovered that helping migrant workers was much easier than we thought.

1) Say Hello
It may seem obvious now when you're reading this, but when out in the streets, migrant workers are often overlooked and ignored by many. Just stopping for a minute to greet them or have a quick chat would definitely lighten up their day of hard work.

2) Educate Yourself and Others
Take the time, just like we did, to seek out information about the problems migrant workers are facing now and understand them. Through this process, you'll find it much easier to empathise with migrant workers and change any preexisting negative perceptions you had. The next important step - spread the word. Show videos and articles to friends and family; share NGO donation calls and stories on social media, helping to change how other people perceive migrant workers and placing us one step closer towards a more positive view of migrant workers.

3) Help NGOs
NGOs are some of the most important resources migrant workers have to help them with any problems they may face, including employer troubles or lack of money to pay for basic necessities. If you have any spare money or time and truly want to help migrant workers, donate or volunteer at NGOs like TWC2 and HOME. Unlike we previously thought, donations need not be very large, like >$100. All donations count and are greatly welcomed by NGOs. Besides money, many  NGOs also support donations of clothes, food and other necessities to distribute directly to  migrant workers, so you can rest assured that your money is going to help them.

Sources:
Left: Facebook (Kerry Cheah)
Bottom Right: Facebook (itsrainingraincoats)
Top Right: https://twc2.org.sg

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Part (v) : Reflections by group members - Angeline

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Part (v) : Reflections by group members - Angeline

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At the start of the project I thought it would be harder to do research on the migrant worker dormitories as I figured that there would be little information on the topic. And after our research we still had to do research on the NGOs. I actually felt pessimistic towards part (iii), as I thought that they would ignore us, most probably viewing us as meddlesome secondary school student doing it just for the sake of VIA hours and hence not replying back. However, we were lucky enough to have 2/5 NGOs replying us back despite a long wait.
Throughout our research, I learnt a lot about the migrant workers suffering in their packed living conditions and the little help given to them. Furthermore, after contacting the NGO - TWC2 - I learnt that there was more to see to The Eye than it seems, and what we as Singaporeans can do to help these migrant workers in the long run.
During the making of the video, I honestly thought it would have been more chaotic but it actually happened pretty fast and smoothly as all I had to do was read the script provided to us. The only person that really suffered was Adrien - our editor - because he had the most work in, for example, editing out some empty spaces and clear up our voices so that it would have sounded clearer and better. Plus, he also had to find and edit in articles and videos of the living conditions which was surely very tedious.
In conclusion, I found out that, as a team, we can do things faster and better as long as everyone plays their part, along with, of course lots of encouragement.

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This project has definitely been one of the most challenging for me to work in and has exposed my frustrating difficulties with compromise, working in groups and listening to others. So, there's definitely room for improvement for me there and I deeply apologise if I have been difficult to work with over the length of this project.

At the end, however, with the creation of the video, it is difficult for me not to state my satisfaction with the teamwork we displayed in making it all work. Every group member had a part to play and, I think, they did it very well. Extra thanks goes to Adrien, who spent many, many hours editing our video clips into something that made sense and was engaging, stopping at nothing to achieve his vision, even if it meant re-recording some parts himself (which he initially wasn't meant to do). The initial journey might have been shaky and a bit infuriating, for myself and the other group members, but everything came together in the finale into something quite nice, I feel.

Our original intention with selecting the issue of migrant workers was to learn more about migrant workers and their plight and get a more in-depth understanding of the situation earlier this year. Have we succeeded? Personally, I believe so. After doing our research, we can definitely understand the nuances of  the COVID-19 dormitory outbreak and why it was a failure, being able to relate it back to the overall theme of "Sustainable Cities" rather successfully. Our success here, I believe, lies beyond just that. For me, at least, this experience has changed my attitude towards migrant workers, from that of (regrettable) indifference and aversion to acceptance, seeing them as real people instead of background objects (shocking!). That kind of change of perception will stretch far beyond secondary school. Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to help out at TWC2, HOME or Dipa Swaminathan's itsrainingraincoats someday and make a real difference - all stemming from this project.

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Fact:
From the project, I have learnt many facts of how migrant workers are mistreated  due to the poor living conditions that are provided for these people.I learnt that organisations like HOME and TWC2 help these migrant workers in terms of providing financial aid or emotional support for them, and I feel these should be improved by the government as they can take the initiative to help these people as it is beneficial towards them, making their lives better than before.

Feelings:
I feel that migrant workers are human beings too and should have the opportunity to live well like the rest of the society, having favourable living conditions for them.Especially in this COVID-19 situation,  it is important for them to be healthy but it is difficult for them since dormitories have poor standard of living where beds are close to one another and toilets are shared by many, causing the spread of diseases.I feel sorry for these migrant workers having to go through these painful experiences especially the ones who were infected, disappointed by the fact of the lack of concern for these migrant workers.Thus,I feel the living conditions in dormitories where many migrant workers should be improved by the and maintained by the authorities so as to not inconvenience their lives such as preventing the spread of diseases

Findings:
From our findings, it seems that there is inadequate social distancing between where the migrant workers sleep so this is a concern during a outbreak of diseases.I have found out which factors in dormitories caused the quick spreading of disease and what the government is planning to do and implement safe distancing measures so that another crisis like the COVID-19 could be avoided or reduce the spreading of it.

Future:
In the future, I do hope there will be improved living conditions, facilities and other necessary things provided for the migrant workers as they already face hardships in their daily lives so we should help make their lives easier for them.For instance, more dormitories can be built so there is less overcrowding, meals provided could be healthier and more delicious for them, more toilets are constructed to keep it a more sanitary environment for the migrant workers . I also hope more people will understand what are the problems migrant workers face and how they can contribute to help them, or even being friendly towards them and not appreciating their efforts they have done to help Singapore.

Overall, migrant workers are just like us and I hope that they can live happier, healthier and better by providing essential support for them by the government or other organisation groups.I hope that future planning will be improved before crisis strikes in Singapore, so that everyone will be prepared and reduce the problems caused by these crisis.Thinking ahead is always better than waiting for the worst to happen, thus building a sustainable city matters.

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This project has given me an opportunity to learn about the problems migrant workers faced, as well as what is being done by both Independent organisations as well as the government. The mass spread within the migrant worker  dormitories during the COVID-19 outbreak is proof that the system is flawed. For too many years how it has been is the government provides the land and the companies instruct the migrant workers to build the dorms up to standard. I feel the goverment has to play a more active role in ensuring the proper treatment of migrant workers.

Editing the video has also taught me a lot. Last Christmas, I got my very own desktop and quite a powerful one. I've also gotten a piece of professional grade editing software for it. For a long time, I never knew how to use it to its full potential and I feel now, thanks to this experience, I know how to take advantage of its features a lot better in the future. While all my groupmates have been active in working towards the completion of this project, I feel especially Danil and Raymus and I contributed the most.

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This project was really an eye opener for myself and it was, to be honest, really challenging. No one expected such a crisis to occur at the start of a new year and no one in our group was actually prepared to be dealing with such a topic of a virus, and it already made choosing a subject for our VIA project to be of great difficulty and we were behind schedule.Personally i feel that i should have done more for my team, as without the rest of my team, extra thanks to Raymus and Adrien, we would not have been able to finish this project on time. Raymus, our leader who is the brains of this project, gave us our deadlines as well as creating the entire script for the entire team, we have Adrien, who spent hours compiling our videos together and hours of edits, having to rerecord himself countless times, and even fixing my mistakes without asking me to rerecord, special thanks to them.

Overall, i feel really grateful at the end of this project. This VIA project was different in a way such that it did not feel like a project that needed to be submitted or anything, rather a project to help me learn and improve. Right now, i am fairly positive that our group will continue to help the migrant workers from our research in this project and be more active in raising awareness for them. This project is just a start for our group and hopefully through this, everyone has much more knowledge on the plight of the migrant workers, as when it comes to the end, we are all only humans, we should do our best to help one another, educate each other and not turn a blind eye to other fellow humans.I find that our end result is really rewarding and the effort each and everyone of us in the group did has indeed paid off making the hours sacrificed all worth it.

Our purpose from the very beginning was  to learn more about migrant workers and the plight, for a deeper understanding in their daily life and surroundings, after this project, i feel that we have definitely succeeded in our research, with interviews we conducted, articles everyone read. Since our project and research started, I found myself empathizing with migrant workers i see outside much more. At the end of the day, we need to realize that all humans deserve the same rights, the migrant workers had, or should i say have terrible living conditions and we need to improve on that, as they are the people who built the places you live, where you are reading this, wherever you are. This to me is no longer a project and hopefully in the future, i would be able to help the migrant workers through volunteering.

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This project was more challenging than expected. There were several difficulties and problems that we faced while we were working together as a group, but we did solve these problems by working together as a team and everyone having a part to play in this project. In the end, we managed to complete the project by working together and I am proud of the teamwork that every team member had contributed significantly to the project.I feel that my friends and I have worked hard in accomplishing the tasks that we were supposed to do, so the end product was definitely amazing. Good job everyone

I have learnt about the hardships migrant workers face working in Singapore, for example the poor living conditions they live in. The government can build better infrastructure and facilities to improve migrant worker's lives in Singapore.There are also organizations such as itsrainingraincoats and TWC2 that help migrant workers by helping them in terms of welfare or in other sectors that can benefit the migrant workers. I feel that migrant workers can be treated better and should have the opportunity to live in standard living conditions .Poor living conditions allows the spread of diseases, making it hard for migrant workers to keep healthy so that they can work and provide for their families. I am disapointed that there is little care for the wellbeing of migrant workers by both the public and the government. These migrant workers helped build the infrastructure of Singapore. We as Singaporeans can definitely do better to improve the welfare of migrant workers.