Bangladeshi workers ogle 'Mat Salleh" ladies in bikinis: Not illegal, says MWC

BANGLADESHI construction worker Masum Tapader understands why women get intimidated by onlooking migrant workers.

The 22-year-old, who has been here for the past two years, told my paper: "I am an unknown person to them. I will leave if I see that a woman is scared."

He added that his employer had made him sign a document to ensure that he abides by stipulated rules during his stint here.

"We are not allowed to talk to or marry Singaporean girls," he said.

He was responding to an incident last Sunday where migrant workers thronged a Sentosa beach filled with bikini-clad sunbathers.

Stomp contributor Cheryl took photographs of them and posted the photos on citizen- journalism website Stomp.

She claimed that the men took the opportunity to gawk at women on the beach, some even whipping out camera phones to film them basking in the sun.

She added in her post that three Caucasian women who had been sunbathing left with "disgust on their faces, having many eyes watching them continuously".

Singaporean Nicole Tan, 22, told my paper that she encountered a similar incident involving migrant workers on Sentosa two years ago. The undergraduate said she was made to feel like a "museum exhibit".

Netizen Arios7476 said that it is wrong to judge migrant workers too quickly. He said: "The men need not be foreign workers. It could be locals (doing the same)."

Another netizen, lesterjason, felt that the migrant workers were only looking and have not broken any law. He said: "Girls are exposing themselves like that and you expect a normal guy not to look? There is no logic in that."

Volunteer John Gee, 58, from migrant workers'-rights group Transient Workers Count Too believes that the high turnover of migrant workers here could be a cause for their behaviour.

"They do not have the time or the urge to assimilate and they do not learn the local norms in the short period of time they are here."

He called for a long-term migrant workforce that can have more time to become attuned to Singapore and its ways.

The Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC) said it attempts to help such workers respect Singapore's social norms through talks or exhibitions organised with various government agencies.

This is done in a bid to "educate and encourage migrant workers to respect local customs and social norms, as well as to comply with Singapore laws", said Mr Edwin Pang, executive director of MWC.

MWC said it has not received any complaints of such incidents on beaches.

Mr Pang added: "It is something that we can address as we reach out to more migrant workers and Singaporeans to generate greater awareness and foster better understanding of each other".

My.paper