The Straits Times - Grassroots groups rope in foreign workers
04 November 2007
Safety training and exercises help them be part of community
By Maria Almenoar
GETTING involved in the community is no empty slogan - and foreign workers are certainly not excluded.
Indeed, grassroots organisations are giving them training in areas like first aid and dengue prevention.
There are about 500,000 foreign workers in Singapore.
The organisations, which put these training sessions together with the help of relevant agencies, say it is a good way to bridge the gap between foreign workers and residents.
On Sunday, Nee Soon South grassroots organisations launched their Safety, Security Watch Group made up of 30 foreign workers living in Tagore Industrial Estate, near Upper Thomson Road.
The estate houses over 3,000 workers from different companies and from six countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia and China.
Teaming up with the National Environment Agency, Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force, a selected group of foreign workers were taught skills in dengue prevention, emergency preparedness and crime prevention.
They were, for example, taught how to do cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), told whom to alert if they see a suspicious person loitering around their estate, and how to deal with the dengue-carrying Aedes mosquito.
These workers are then encouraged to teach their new skills to their friends.
Said Mr Tony Guan, organising chairman of the coordinating committee: 'They ought to be part of the community... But it's not just us who should be teaching such issues. We want to get the workers' companies involved.'
Over at Bedok Reservoir on Sunday afternoon, foreign workers trained in evacuation procedures pitched in with residents of Block 128 taking part in a simulated bomb blast at the void deck.
The 'bomb blast' was part of the Home Team Eastern Sector Kampung Spirit, held to raise awareness of community involvement in emergency events.
Of the 9,000 foreign workers housed in three dormitories in Eunos, 42 are now trained in evacuation procedures and understanding local culture, among other things.
Some workers like Mr Prabu Mani, 26, a foreign worker from Tamil Nadu, India, accompany grassroots leaders on their block walkabouts at night.
On these visits, they act as translators and advocates of good behaviour when they see other foreign workers talking loudly into their mobile phones or drinking at the void decks.
Said Mr Prabu, who has been here for three years: 'I help out. I like to do social service work.'
