SINGAPORE - Around $500,000 has been raised by the business community to help migrant workers who have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, said the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises on Thursday .
The money will go to an assistance fund run by the Migrant Workers' Centre that provides emergency help in the form of accommodation, meals, ex-gratia payments and other forms of financial support to workers caught in wage disputes or injured at work.Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam told a virtual event to mark the end of the fund-raising drive:"It's a very important project, and we all know that migrant workers play a very important role in our system.
Minister of State for National Development and Manpower Zaqy Mohamad added:"It is nice to see how many of our SMEs have given migrant workers recognition in terms of their contribution as essential workers, as well as their role in building up Singapore." "The migrant workers are having a very difficult time, and as the economy opens up and activity resumes in the construction sector, it is a very important signal that we are sending to employees of Singapore companies and members of ASME and SBF."