{"id":33092,"date":"2020-05-01T14:40:51","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T06:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.99.co\/blog\/singapore\/?p=33092"},"modified":"2022-06-13T17:25:06","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T09:25:06","slug":"foreign-workers-singapore-more-living-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.99.co\/singapore\/insider\/foreign-workers-singapore-more-living-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign workers in Singapore need more space, but how much?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Covid-19 outbreak has shone the spotlight on sub-par living conditions of hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in Singapore. With cramped and often unsanitary living spaces, the dormitories are perfect environments for the coronavirus to spread like wildfire.<\/p>\n

And spread it did. In April 2020 alone,\u00a0the Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed more than 11,000 cases of Covid-19 at Singapore’s 43 purpose-built dormitories<\/a> that are home to about 350,000 foreign workers<\/a>. Such is the severity of the outbreak among the foreign worker population that Singapore now has the highest number of recorded Covid-19 infections in Asia after China, India and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

To stem the growing dormitory virus clusters and to prevent cases from spilling over into the community, the Singapore government has placed a full lockdown on all foreign workers in dormitories<\/a>.<\/strong> Authorities have also progressively moved non-infected workers out of their dormitories and into temporary facilities<\/a> that offer more a sanitary living environment and more space per worker. The facilities include army camps, unused multi-storey carparks and vacant HDB flats across Singapore.<\/p>\n

How life is like inside a foreign worker dormitory in Singapore<\/h2>\n

The Singapore government requires dormitory operators to give each foreign worker a minimum of 4.5 square metres (sq m) of living space. This is inclusive of bed space as well as kitchen, dining and toilet areas. The vague definition of “living space” has resulted in common kitchens that are shared among thousands of workers and toilets that are used by up to 80 workers<\/a> as operators devise ways to skirt regulations and maximise profit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This 2012 video shows what life is like inside the dormitories (courtesy of Public House):<\/p>\n