Article by Bertha Henson, Associate Editor

She went out, presumably to check with someone else, came in and took the flask away with profuse apologies. She was a Chinese national too.

The nurse who was in charge of my particular room was a Filipina. Likewise, the nurses who asked me questions [...]]]>

Source: The Straits Times Page A2 24 Aug 2009

Article by Bertha Henson, Associate Editor

She went out, presumably to check with someone else, came in and took the flask away with profuse apologies. She was a Chinese national too.

The nurse who was in charge of my particular room was a Filipina. Likewise, the nurses who asked me questions en route to the operating theatre and the nurse who assisted the anaesthetist. They were all cheery though I had to wrap my brain around their accents…

I believe I was in touch with a true-blue Singaporean hospital staff member only once — an elderly Malay man who helped push my gurney.

I do not live in Serangoon Gardens. But for the past five years, I have been living 50m from a Circle Line construction site, and have many foreigners in my neighbourhood throughout the week.

…Sometimes, these men, taking a breather from their 24-hour work shifts [...]]]>

Source: The Sunday Times Think Page 26, 14 Sep 2008
Letter by: Bernadette Low (Ms)

I do not live in Serangoon Gardens. But for the past five years, I have been living 50m from a Circle Line construction site, and have many foreigners in my neighbourhood throughout the week.

…Sometimes, these men, taking a breather from their 24-hour work shifts during lunch or after dinner, would lie down at the void decks to catch a nap.

Yes, it is not always a pretty sight to have 30 to 40 men sprawled on the floor sleeping in your block, but I really have no heart to complain or tell them off.

I know they are exhausted from working all night …so that I — and everyone else — can enjoy zipping into town in mere minutes.

The Ministry of National Development (MND) must not relent in its efforts to find decent housing for foreign workers wherever it is practical and economical to do so. If it agrees with Serangoon Gardens residents that, for whatever reasons, it would set a [...]]]>

Source: The Straits Times Forum Page A35 13 Sep 2008
Letter by: Lim Fang Check

The Ministry of National Development (MND) must not relent in its efforts to find decent housing for foreign workers wherever it is practical and economical to do so. If it agrees with Serangoon Gardens residents that, for whatever reasons, it would set a dangerous precedent that could create a potentially social-divisive problem, can residents in the heartland now protest against foreign dormitories in their neighbourhood? Why should foreign dormitories be sited only in the heartland but not in private estates?