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Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat

12/7/2016

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Volunteers at Bright Vision Hospital are an integral part of a patient’s journey to recovery.
Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat
Please do put a penny in the old man's hat
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do
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If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!
It’s that time of year again. Shakin’ Stevens is wishing everyone a merry Christmas. Brenda Lee is rocking around the Christmas tree. And, Mariah Carey is telling us what she wants for Christmas. Many of us are already digging out the decorations, breathing in the familiar smell of tinsel and putting up the tree, if we haven’t done so already. We are traipsing the shops (whereupon we hear the aforementioned songs) and browsing Amazon for the perfect gift for our loved ones, and we are looking forward to seeing their faces when they open it.

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But Christmas doesn’t all have to be about presents. And, whether we believe in religion or not, the festive season is often a time of joy, kindness and giving thanks. We are thankful for our good health, our education and careers and, for some of us, a safe place to raise our children. We are thankful for our childhood memories of Christmas, and for being able to establish new traditions with our own friends and family.
Wrap up gifts and help raise money
As the children’s nursery rhyme goes: Christmas is a time for giving to charity, according to our means. That is to say, if we haven’t got a penny then we should give our blessing or, even better, our time.

LoveFAD, a university student-led non profit organisation, is looking for volunteers like you to help provide gift-wrapping services at different shopping malls across Singapore. The funds raised will go towards their chosen charities of Home Nursing Foundation and Singapore Red Cross. By giving some of your time to LoveFAD this Christmas, you could do your bit for charity, make your Christmas more meaningful, and get into the festive cheer by wrapping up gifts.
Fighting the Christmas blues
We don’t all enjoy Christmas, however. In fact, for some of us this time of year can be an emotional struggle as we experience the seasonal blues. Mental health professionals value the benefits of volunteering when coping with feelings of isolation, anxiety and depression over the Christmas period. Reaching out to people in need can help us to feel better about ourselves, get us out of the home and out of a rut.

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If you feel that you want to take measures to cope with your holiday blues then Bright Vision Hospital is looking for volunteers to spend time with patients. Bright Vision Hospital is a community hospital that provides intermediate and long-term care to the elderly, sick and needy in Singapore. Volunteers are an integral part of a patient’s journey to recovery and help to bring joy and delight to their lives. Tapping into this compassion and generosity of spirit as a volunteer, could help you to focus on the needs of others. It could also be an opportunity to do something different and to enrich your life.
Thanking you for your support
As we prepare for the holiday season and look back over the last year, Expatgiving thanks you for the continued support that you have given us and for the hours that you have volunteered to the many non profit organisations across Singapore and Asia Pacific.

Your care has helped to improve the welfare of Singapore’s stray and abandoned dogs. Your enthusiasm and life experience have taught children about taking chances and reaching for the stars. Your teaching-English skills have helped foreign domestic workers to communicate more confidently and improve their life experiences. Your strength has helped to provide therapeutic and rehabilitative horse-riding therapy for people with disabilities. Your time has helped to empower underprivileged women to build their confidence and find employment.

These are just a handful of the achievements that you, the volunteer expat community, have made over the last twelve months. Thank you. Your time and your skills have made and continue to make an impact to the community as a whole.

To echo the words of Tiny Tim Cratchit, God bless us, every one!


If you want to explore volunteer opportunities over the Christmas period or in the New Year, take a look at Expatgiving. 


​Author

Emma Nobes

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Singapore’s migrant workers: help victims of abuse and exploitation get just compensation

12/2/2016

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Justice Without Borders: making justice for migrant workers a reality at home and abroad.
As expats, many of us are fortunate to live a very privileged life here in Singapore. In fact, many of us stay because of how much easier our lives are than what they would be in our home countries. It’s true that we do not have the support of our families and the friends that we may have left behind, but what we do have access to is the opportunity to employ live-in help to carry out the cooking, cleaning and often the child care. ​
There are currently 237,100 female domestic workers in Singapore.
The majority of people in Singapore who employ foreign domestic workers - mostly women who have often left their own families, including children, behind to earn money - treat their employees as equals. We remunerate them well and make sure that they have at least the basic human rights of food, periods of continuous rest and a safe shelter. Sadly, many do not. In some cases, these women, from countries like the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar, are treated as subservient, do not receive adequate breaks, have their salaries and even meals withheld, and are abused emotionally, physically and sexually. In 2015, Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) received 102 reports of physical abuse, and in one HOME survey 35% of respondents claimed some form of economic abuse, like having salaries withheld, and 40% said that they have less than one weekly rest day.
Male migrant workers are victims too.
According to Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a non-profit organisation in Singapore dedicated to improving conditions for low-wage migrant workers, only one third of male migrant workers are paid correctly and receive a detailed payslip to check their wages. One third think that they are paid correctly, but have no way to check, and one third are not paid the full wages that they have earned. These men come to Singapore from countries like People’s Republic of China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and typically work in construction or the shipyards to earn money for the families that they left behind. Many face hefty agency fees, deportation if they lodge a complaint, emotional distress, and often go home poorer than what they were in the first place.
Getting just compensation
UN agency International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that US$8 billion is stolen from domestic workers and US$ 34 billion from construction, manufacturing, mining and utilities in Asia alone. Furthermore, many exploited workers are unable to claim compensation for their abuses, because they have to return to their home countries, have no further access to the legal support that they so desperately need, and give up. When this happens the legal case is simply dropped.

Justice Without Borders (JWB) helps victims of labour exploitation and human trafficking to get just compensation. The non profit organisation works in partnership with local support organisations, law students, lawyers, and legal aid associations to build cross-border networks to help empower victims of exploitation and make sure that they can access legal aid wherever they are so that they can pursue legal remedies. In 2015, JWB worked with local support organisations, including HOME, to examine more than 180 cases to identify viable claims for migrant workers.
Your public relations skills can help vulnerable men and women
If you have professional public relations experience, are familiar with social media tools, are native or fluent in English, and can volunteer at least five to ten hours a week, then you too can help make a difference to the lives of exploited migrant workers by joining JWB.  

As Public Relations Volunteer, you would be working with the Executive Director and the International Board of Directors to:


  • develop an effective communications strategy for JWB.
  • increase public awareness of JWB.
  • publicise events and activities.
  • maintain JWB’s website and social media, and publish the quarterly newsletter.

With your help, Justice Without Borders can make sure that more victims of exploitation and abuse who must go home do not have to go without, and that those who abuse them can no longer do so with impunity.        

For more information, please go to Expatgiving. 

Author

Emma Nobes

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