Article: https://www.ricemedia.co/current-affairs-foreign-workers-debt-problem/
The article discusses the debt bonded slavery migrant workers enter when they join the Singaporean work force. It reveals a dependence Singaporeans have on migrant workers for economic growth, fuelled by the exploitation of their work. This exploitation is only possible due to the arrangement of power between Singapore and source countries and the division of work between these two work-based societies Limki, 2017.
This blog will discuss how coloniality enables debt bonded slavery in Singapore’s migrant worker population. Singapore is not the only country who is dependent on migrant workers for economic growth, other nations such as Qatar Lovett, 2020 are too. Revealing a global dependence on migrant workers for economic growth.
This division of work is something we are all participants in as migrant workers have built the infrastructure we do high paid, skilled work in. In the future we are likely to be more dependent on the exploitation of source nations, deepening the economic and work division between source nations and host nations, continuing this power arrangement.
Article overview:
The article describes debt bonded slavery in migrant workers, proposing to solve it by removing employment agents who manage migrant workers administration in source countries and contracts in host countries Nair, 2020. This aims to move control over the contracts migrant workers enter to Singaporean companies, which are implied to be more ethical and prevent modern slavery at a host country level.
Some contextual information the article does not mention:
- Roughly 30% of Singapore’s population are migrant workers Bal, 2020
- They built all of Singapore’s infrastructure
- Singaporeans have negative views of migrant workers and unofficially segregate themselves away from the migrant worker population Bal, 2020
- Singapore is a small country and while it did not create this power imbalance, it participates and exploits modern slavery, which is unethical
- Migrant workers come from a range of source countries in South Asia, but are stereotyped as Bangladeshi Bal, 2020
- In Singapore, the power structure favours Chinese Singaporeans over other races, although private sector multinationals still prefer Caucasian expats in upper managerial positions. Singaporean Chinese nationals are favoured in policy over Singaporean Malay and Indian nationals, with migrant workers at the bottom of this hierarchy.
The meaning of migrant workers’ work:
The duty to work and modern slavery:
The duty to work in work-based societies is fundamental to debt bonded slavery, where people need wages to provide for cultural necessities which are attempts to accumulate generational wealth and provide for their families Cholbi, 2018. (In Singapore it’s healthcare and education, in source countries it’s dowries and land Nair, 2020.)
However, Singapore and source countries differ economically which is where exploitation begins. Migrants from source countries with higher populations and less economic opportunity Nair, 2020 migrate to Singapore to work essential, manual labour construction jobs. Singapore exploits this unemployment to meet the demands for low skill, low wage workers in the construction sector.
This arrangement of power benefits host countries as they can choose to participate in this arrangement. Locals will not enter these contracts as the work is not virtuous Cholbi, 2018. Migrant workers have a duty to work Cholbi, 2018, thus must enter these contracts that undervalue their work. This power arrangement exploits migrant workers and blames them and their countries for their exploitation. Creating a division in labour in host countries arising from the exploitation of the essential work migrant workers provide and the non-essential high wage, high skilled work locals provide.
The coloniality of work:
Migrant workers work is essential to Singapore’s economy, creating huge economic value; but it is invisible to Singaporeans. Migrant worker’s work is viewed as naturalised despite being waged as they are perceived as rationally deficient to Singaporeans Limki, 2017. Thus, their bodies and work are expendable, exploitable and they are kept separate from the population.
“Do these workers even understand…” Nair, 2020
“The Bangladeshi government is in no way equal to the Singapore government, in its effectiveness, in its incorruptibility—everything is corrupt in Bangladesh!” Nair, 2020
These quotes show they view migrant workers and their home nation as less moral and rational than Singaporeans despite their sympathies. The last quote blames the Bangladeshi government for Singapore’s exploitation of their citizens, ignoring the unequal arrangement of power. This is debt bonded slavery, but the article does not acknowledge it. Revealing how little migrant workers perspectives are valued and considered.
Migrant workers themselves somewhat conform to this arrangement of power as they cannot escape it. Supported by this quote:
“my boss hit me here, here” Nair, 2020
Showing he believes his body is expendable and that his boss is allowed to hit him.
The proposed platform furthers the division between the essential work migrant workers do and the non-essential, high skilled work the local population does. The technology suggested builds on the exploitation of migrant workers, thus perpetuating it. This is as the creators have internalised the view that migrant workers are categorically distinct.
The future of Migrant workers’ work:
The current coloniality behind their work will perpetuate into the future, with technology deepening the divide regardless of the adoption of such a platform, due to a lack of consideration of the humanity of migrant workers and their needs. Singapore is a small nation a minority of workers migrate to. We can therefore treat Singapore as a model for other host-source country relationships.
As the future moves to prioritise wages of skilled work; migrant workers and their nations are likely to be ‘losers’ in the global economic growth. Meaning wealthy host countries will become wealthier from the exploitation of migrant workers work and source nations will continue to suffer from economic problems of unemployment and lagging economic growth.
Currently both governments in the article push accountability onto migrant workers for their exploitation and neither make commitments to ending modern slavery. Both governments have a duty to end slavery, especially host countries. Host countries are dependent on migrant workers work, thus must protect them from exploitation. However, such a solution requires international efforts to dismantle this power structure. Specifically looking at the needs and perspectives of migrant workers as modern slavery affects them the most.
Given that this power structure is global, and many countries depend on it, I feel it is unlikely to happen. Especially as this work is viewed as naturalised, (which is a disgusting perspective). The lack of global accountability is horrific. With how ingrained coloniality is globally, migrant workers will continue to be exploited in this global hierarchy. It is unclear how the top of this hierarchy may change, but migrant workers are likely to remain at the bottom.
Concluding thoughts:
The article reveals a parasitic relationship Singapore as a host country has on source countries and migrant workers. My work will be dependent on their exploitation, regardless of if I remain in Singapore or not. I however can address these internalised beliefs I have about migrant workers and hopefully I can change others beliefs, maybe then as a country we can improve migrant workers conditions.
Bibliography:
- Bal, C., 2020. Myths And Facts: Migrant Workers In Singapore – New Naratif. [online] New Naratif. Available at: <https://newnaratif.com/research/myths-and-facts-migrant-workers-in-singapore/> [Accessed 22 October 2020].
- Cholbi, M., 2018. The Duty To Work. [online] Gale Academic onefile. Available at: <http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/10.1007/s10677-018-9942-2> [Accessed 22 October 2020].
- limki, r., 2017. On the coloniality of work: Commercial surrogacy in India. Gender, Work & Organization, [online] 25(4), pp.327-342. Available at: <https://doi-org.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/10.1111/gwao.12220> [Accessed 22 October 2020].
- Lovett, S., 2020. Amnesty International: Qatar’S Migrant Workers Still Being Exploited. [online] The Independent. Available at: <https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world/qatar-2022-world-cup-migrant-workers-amnesty-international-report-a8763831.html> [Accessed 22 October 2020].
- Nair, A., 2020. Our Foreign Workers Have A Debt Problem, But This Man Has A Simple Solution. [online] RICE. Available at: <https://www.ricemedia.co/current-affairs-foreign-workers-debt-problem/> [Accessed 22 October 2020].
Your post demonstrates a good grasp of the notion of coloniality – i.e. of the cultural and moral othering that structures work and work relations. It does a good job of highlighting the naturalisation of migrant (racial) work as “low/unskilled”** and the impossibility of a formal or technological “fix” to this problem. I also appreciate your reflection on the complicity/entanglement of all of us in this system and the challenges of stepping out or away from these entanglements. I would have liked to see you draw these arguments out further in contemplating the future of work – i.e. to posit a more elaborate critique of how technology gets presented as a fix to a problem that is not technological but is actually cultural/social. As such, cases such as these highlight the limitations of techno-utopian or techno-determinist thinking – and it would have been interesting to see you contemplate that further.
** “my boss hit me here, here” showing he believes his body is expendable and that his boss is allowed to hit him.” I don’t think this interpretation is quite accurate. It is true that workers often internalise their devaluation (or their valorisation!) but in this case the context in which the speaker says this seems to demonstrate the opposite of an internalised expendability.