What’s Up@OPERA - What’s Your Take? (June 2022) by Opera Estate Primary

Migrant workers in Singapore

operaestateprisch — 2022-07-05 07:45:16 UTC

Just like the situation in China, migrant workers leave their family and friends to work in a faraway country like Singapore. Migrant workers often feel lonely as they would miss spending time with their loved ones back home. For many, their jobs can be quite dangerous and physically tiring. Migrant workers in Singapore work in construction, manufacturing, marine/shipyard and others. Some work in service industries, such as domestic helpers.

Watch a video that highlights some migrant workers' plight in Singapore.

operaestateprisch — 2022-07-05 08:01:18 UTC

After watching the video, what are your thoughts about it? How can we better understand and appreciate migrant workers in Singapore? Are there any simple, kind gestures we can do to show our gratitude to them?

Guidelines

operaestateprisch — 2022-07-05 08:03:04 UTC

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Naitik Oswal Opera Estate Primary School 5D

2022-07-06 08:15:38 UTC

After watching the video , my thoughts are that the life of a migrant worker is not easy and does not pay much . I have also learnt that most people really disrespect them and even though they work really hard for Singapore even though they are from a foreign country . They also do not get to meet their family and get really lonely . They live in really crammed places and do not have proper living conditions . To show them gratitude we can like maybe say 'hi' 'how are you' or just wave your hand at them . We all can help out in different ways.

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Jameel Watson 6D

jameelwat8 — 2022-07-06 12:10:19 UTC

Just by watching that video, many pupils will seem heartbroken and some may not understand the last part of the video where the son of the main character wants to be a construction worker but the construction worker(main character) is crying because he does not want his son to end up like him and he wants his family and son to have a happy life was he works really hard to earn money. A simple kind word to the workers may make a massive difference in the way construction workers think about working in Singapore or any other place. So, I feel really sad about the worker but I can't just say I'm sad and everything. We have to start making a change and help these hardworking workers.
Just imagine you're in the shoes of them, you're poor, hungry, unfit, and you can pass out in the site just like the main construction worker. Then you'll see what they go through. Then you'll understand.

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Ruz Amari (6I)

67mustard — 2022-07-06 12:20:07 UTC

To summaries the whole video, it goes like this - the main character in the video is a father. he is a migrant worker which work in singapore for you know, money. his son and his wife is in another country. in the video, the wife and the husband is having a call. the son was really mesmerized at his father for working at another country. however, the father quietly teared up as working at another country is not the best as you think.

after watching the video, my mind was filled with questions but i managed to answer some of them myself.

we have to show love and care to our migrant workers. they always work hard just to support their family in another country. and even worse - the pay that they receive is relatively low and they need to stay in poor living conditions.

i feel that we can show our respect to them by just saying a thank you to them. if you happen to see some migrant workers, just greet them hello or a good morning/afternoon/evening.

showing gratitude doesnt only come to teachers, family and friends. it comes for everyone in the world too! lets show some care now!

Prisha Primary 5 Honesty

2022-07-07 12:48:42 UTC

I think that the life of a migrant worker is extremely painful and heartbreaking. Never even in my wildest dreams can I ever imagine being away from my family for a day , let alone 6 to 12 months. I feel that migrant workers in Singapore are not given proper food, enough rest and most importantly , a clean environment to live in . I think that Singapore should treat migrant workers better because the buildings we live in , schools we go to are built by them. And all they get in return is hurtful comments and remarks, causing them to be in tears. In my opinion, this is completely unfair and we should at least be grateful towards them for what they are doing for us. Just a simple wave and thank you will definitely enlighten their day. I really hope migrant workers have a better life in the future.

RoryDanielleGockel5grace

2022-07-10 06:44:52 UTC

After the video I fell that it is not easy being a migrant worker.
They left family behind to this it must be tough.
I really appreciate their work and I hope that they will be treated better because they went through so much but do not deserve this.
I think they deserve better than this.
We should always be thankful for them.

Dominc lee P5C

2022-07-10 07:04:05 UTC

After watching the video I feel that being a migrant worker is a tough job as not only do you have to work in the scorching hot sun , your salary is lower than people working in the office . The conditions of the workers dorm is horrible , and the fact that the rooms are so cramp makes it even worst . I think that we can gratitude to these workers by saying a thank you .

Soma Moukthika 5H

2022-07-11 09:21:06 UTC

From this video I think most people don't follow their passions and work to keep their families going. This leads to depression and anxiety. They also are regretful of telling lies to their own families about our country. I think we should comfort them at least like saying hello how are you ,giving them some treats on their birthday or on festivals. In some cases you can also help them do they jobs.!

Nur Irfan Poh 6G

2022-07-12 03:27:59 UTC

In that video just now I realised how hard working as a foreigner was i thought it would be as easy as a normal job.I also did not think that they would have such Low pay and a large amount of verbal abuse. I think people should not judge or scold foreigners as they are new here. All in all I think people should watch the video and understand the hardship they might be going through.

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Chong Xuan Na 6G

2022-07-12 03:30:04 UTC

I think that it’s sad that the migrant workers are treated badly and do not earn as much money as some others despite all their hard work and effort. I think people should appreciate the migrant workers and treat them well as it is not easy to be a migrant worker It’s sad to see them feel lonely and miss family events every year. We should be grateful for their contributions and should not look down on them.

Lien Xin Yin 6G

2022-07-12 03:30:46 UTC

After watching the video, I actually got to understand migrant workers more. Life of a migrant worker is not easy, they have to stay far away from their family just to come to Singapore to work and get paid very little like a few hundreds only.

Aidan Seet 6G

2022-07-12 03:30:46 UTC

It is very sad that they don’t get to see their family and that they are alone here and they don’t even earn a lot. Some people also don’t treat them respectfully. It also looks very tough and hard working as a migrant worker here. I think when we seee them we can give them a friendly smile or wave.

Taufeeq Zayyan 6G

2022-07-12 03:30:52 UTC

I feel bad for the migrant workers as they have to travel so far from there home and leave their families behind. And we should do a better to be nicer to them, they have built us the things we see around us and clean the city. They work so hard just to get a lot less than what us locals get paid. I hope that Singaporeans including myself would be nicer and treat them better.

Mohamed Akheel Haziq Bin Basheer (P6Grace)

2022-07-12 03:30:55 UTC

I feel heartbroken watching the video.Despite having a hard time at Singapore like having simple food to eat,dirty and unclean environment,and have a low pay salary ,the father in the story still carry out their job that is even out of their country in order to support his family.He even does his best to inspire his son of what he is doing so that his son will study hard and be the best.To me that he is very dedicated to helping his family.In the end,his son mentioned that he wanted to be like his father.This made his father extremely sad and worried as his father did not want his son to feel how he was actually feeling then.This part almost made cry.I feel that we should all appreciate them very greatly because they sacrifice their time and effort to support their family and make ends meet.They changed Singapore by building house and building for us to stay and live in.Despite that,they are given low recognition by others and i hipe that it will change.I believe a simple greeting or thank you when you see them will make their day.We can all play a part as no matter how small your efforts are,you still helped

Koh Le Shan Kyler (6G)

2022-07-12 03:31:01 UTC

After I watched the video,I feel that the life of a migrant worker is not easy.They don’t get payed much but they still have to support themselves and their family overseas.Most of us don’t really think about how hard they work to do their job because we have never done it before.I think we can show our appreciation by going up to them to say thank you.That might make their day.

Nur Diana Adelia ( 6 Grace )

2022-07-12 03:31:05 UTC

After watching the video, I now understand the life of a migrant worker. They do not get paid much and that it is not easy. They would have to come across many rude people and they are also away from their loved ones. Even though they helped build the buildings in the city, many people would still be rude to them.

Charlene Tania Wijaya 6G

2022-07-12 03:31:08 UTC

After watching the video, I feel very sad for the migrant workers as they have to be away from there family for a long time and are also being disrespected and not getting paid much. It is sad to see him cry as he doesn’t want his son to become a construction worker because having such a job is hard to earn money. But we can always respect them by saying thank you to them or just waving at them. Small actions can make someone feel better!

Joshua 6Grace

2022-07-12 03:31:17 UTC

After watching the video my thoughts changed. I think the life of a migrant worker is very hard and they are also paid very little even though they work long hours. I also realised that most people disrespect them and say mean or rude things about them. They can’t even meet their families. I think we should at least give them a wave.

Shreyash Bajaj (6 Grace) Opera Estate Primary School

2022-07-12 03:31:19 UTC

After seeing the video, I felt that it is not easy to be a migrant worker.

They leave their family behind for six to twelve months and work long hours under the hot sun just to earn a measly income. They are not given enough food and a proper place to stay. Without them, Singapore would not be as it is today.

I feel that we should appreciate their efforts more.

Remi Toshniwal 6G

2022-07-12 03:31:25 UTC

I think that migrant workers should be treated better and paid more. If I were in the shoes of the migrant worker in the video, I would hate my job but I still would have to do it for the money.

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Bjorn 6G

2022-07-12 03:31:26 UTC

After I saw the video, I know that the life of a migrant worker is extremely painful. Leaving their family for a long time must be tough for them.

Banu and Rania 6G

2022-07-12 03:31:31 UTC

After watching the video, I felt sympathetic towards that man as he had to lie about his situation in Singapore to his child . He was treated badly in Singapore

Jia Master 6g opera estate primary school

2022-07-12 03:31:33 UTC

Despite all their hard work,Migrant workers still don’t get the respect they deserve. Its unfair if you think about it as they build the luxuries that we constantly enjoy or what uo think is simple,cleaning the house.Migrant workers have very cramped dorms too.i hope they will soon get the respect they deserve

Woong Pe Jung 6G

2022-07-12 03:31:34 UTC

I think the migrant workers are discriminated because of sometimes their body odour. I feel that these people contribute a lot to society and yet they dont get treated the way they deserve and their salary is absurd. We should learn to appreciate the migrant workers as if not for them we would not get the environment we live in. I have seen migrant workers as cleaners before. We should be nicer to them by not showing discriminating actions to them and like greet them and show or appreciation to them. Migrant workers are also human like us and should not be treated like trash and like a equal or better a role model. I feel the government should set an example by at least raising their salary for beginners. These people, like some of us in the country, also have a family to support. We all can help them feel better and more appreciated in the community

Sarah Batatawala 6 Grace

2022-07-12 03:31:35 UTC

After watching the video I pity the migrant workers.They are going through a lot that most of us do not know about.They do not have friends and they are not being treated properly.Some of the migrant workers are not even fed properly and have to stay in a trashed place.All this leads to anxiety, loneliness starvation and depression which can affect out mental and physical well being.As said in the article their jobs are often dangerous and very physically tiring.

Aahana Talwar ( P6G)

2022-07-12 03:31:44 UTC

This video truly showed the hardships of a ordinary migrant worker.People often look down on these workers and their needs are neglected such as the importance of them living in a clean environment.However,we tend to forget that they are important for our fundamental needs

Gary Adam Mcmanus(6G)

2022-07-12 03:31:52 UTC

After watching the video i felt very heartbroken and sad because his son said that he did not want to be a soldier and wanted to be a construction worker since his father lied and said that he has a lot of friends, makes a lot of money, a lot of food and said that Singapore was very clean. He wanted to inspire his son

Hana Sassarak (P6G)

2022-07-12 03:32:11 UTC

I feel very sad after watching the video and reading the article because the migrant workers come to Singapore for a better life but they are treated so poorly. They get payed very little and live in very poor conditions, even though they are doing the most important and difficult jobs. I feel that we should all do our part to make them feel appreciated by just simiply saying hello to them.

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Amelia 5C

2022-07-12 07:30:42 UTC

After watching the video I felt quite sad. The migrant workers leave their families to go and earn money for them. I am sure they feel very lonely but proud of themselves for persevering and living in horrible conditions for their family.

Mehr Bhatia P5G

2022-07-12 07:32:35 UTC

Just because they work in construction sites doesn't mean that they are any less than all of us. All of us are too quick to judge someone or something without thinking about it deeply. It is easy to make comments on construction workers because they don't talk back . Before making any comments or judgements , we should all look at their backstory . Like how they work many hours a day in the scorching hot sun or how their living conditions aren't great either or think about the fact that all our buildings were made by them . All these things and they still are underpaid and criticized . I feel like most of us can agree that they deserve better and that we shouldn't look down on them .

Sshrevikkrant Logeswaran Venugopal P6 Grace

2022-07-12 08:03:38 UTC

After seeing the video, I felt sad for the migrant workers as they receive low income salaries from the bosses of certain companies. They also get tongue-lashings from their bosses. The migrant workers work under the hot Sun for a long period of time. They do not get rest and hardly take breaks. Migrant workers will also fall unconscious when working under the hot Sun. So, I would like to say to the migrant workers that I thank you so much for your hard work for constructing buildings like our school. I know how tough it is for you to travel far away from your family members. Without you, we would never be in this school and we would have no education since you constructed our school. You made Singapore a better place for all of us to stay in. You`ll definitely get respect.

Mira from 5C.

2022-07-17 07:31:04 UTC

I feel really bad for them as they deserve better. The migrant worker contribute a lot to Singapore, yet they are treated like trash! Their salary is so little, they can hardly afford things. It’s inhuman! They deserve better!

Saanvi Sharma P5 Honesty

2022-07-17 10:47:52 UTC

After watching the video, I felt absolutely heartbroken at how migrant workers are treated. Their life is so difficult! They live in such cramped and dirty conditions and I could never imagine living like that! Every day, they work so hard to provide basic necessities for their family. They also work very hard under the scorching heat to build buildings, schools and offices for us and all we do to appreciate them is treat them like trash! They definitely deserve more than what they get. They do not receive good food and some of them even faint while working as they do not feel well! We should never shout at them just because they do not respond back as most of them end up in tears because of our unkind words. They sometimes end up lying to their family so that they do not worry about them. Another thing is that the mere income they get is not enough and they should earn more for what they do. We should always greet them, thank them for what they do or even just wave at them as these small yet meaningful actions can brighten up their day and cost us nothing!

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Paloma Sargsyan 5H

2022-07-18 01:09:55 UTC

I feel as that migrant workers have the right to be treated with equality, just like everybody else. They work so hard day and night on repeat with marginally any serenity to have, not to mention they are ever so contaminated. They deserve much much better. It is not their fault on the way they smell, sound, or even look like! They work ever so hard and deserve to redeem a healthy salary just like everybody else. They have such bad living quarters that they even need to lie to their own families on their life style. They helped to shape Singapore and everything we have, so certainly, the deserve much much respect. And with regarding the current COVID-19 situation, their lives have become much harder then they already are. They deserve the whole world<3

sophie 5C

2022-07-21 09:44:38 UTC

When we see migrant workers, we can greet them with with a smile. I'll try to understand how they feel by imagining me doing all the tasks they're doing and put my feet into their shoes. If we see a migrant worker, we can thank them for their hard work.

Li ZiXi 6C

2022-07-23 14:04:26 UTC

After watching this video, tears welled up in my eyes. I feel so bad for every migrant workers. They get treated horribly, even though they are the ones who help bulid the bulidings where we live it, fill in the cracks of the roads where we might have a accident at. The workers live in a horrible condition and eat so little when they worked so hard in the scorching, hot sun. I am so grateful that I can live in good place and have enough money to get by. Why are some people so narcissistic? They think that the lower class deserves nothing.The workers helped us, but so many people still treat them badly. Why can't we just treat them wiht respect like how they deserve to be treates? They helped us, but we discriminate, avoid and be rude to them. They try their hardest to earn money for their families and send them almost all the money, when they barely have enough for themselves. Everyone should be polite to them. We can brighten up their day by just saying a simple "Hello!" and "Thank you!" They are so strong as they endured all of these, just to earn little money. I feel so sorry for the construction workers in every country. If I could help them to do some work, I would.