I am very glad my old friend Tommy Koh, the veteran Singaporean diplomat, has drawn attention to the plight of foreign workers in the island republic, although I wish the occasion was less painful than the Covid-19 pandemic. Tommy’s comment might help to correct the Panglossian image Singapore projects, and which a former Indian high commissioner there, Mrs Vijay Thakur Singh, reinforced during the 2013 Little India riot.
Commenting on the lockdown in two dormitories housing some 20,000 men after nearly 100 of them tested positive for coronavirus, Tommy said on Facebook that Singapore’s treatment of foreign workers was “not First World but Third World”. He added, “The dormitories were like a time bomb waiting to explode. They have now exploded
