Use of Mattresses in Migrant Worker Dormitories

12 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether there have been instances where the Ministry has prohibited the use of mattresses in migrant worker dormitories; (b) if so, what are the reasons for the prohibition; and (c) how long are the prohibitions for.

The Senior Minister of State for Manpower (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mdm Deputy Speaker, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) does not prohibit the use of mattresses in migrant worker dormitories. All dormitory operators are required to provide each dormitory resident with a bed, which should include a bed frame and a bed board or mattress.

Mdm Deputy Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. Could I then check if the MOM is following up with some of the migrant worker dormitories and checking whether some of them have prohibited the use of mattresses at the dormitories? And if so, what is the percentage or number of dormitories that actually ban the use of mattresses.

Dr Koh Poh Koon: Madam, let me just share two pieces of information. The first is that, between the recent years 2018 and 2022, in fact, there were no active complaints received from any worker related to beds, bed boards or mattresses in dormitories.

But the Member was asking whether MOM does proactive checks – in fact, we do. Between 2018 and 2022, MOM investigated a total of 19 cases on issues related to beds, bed boards or mattresses at the dormitories. At that point in time, it involved only dormitories that are governed by the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act, which was only recently enhanced on 1 April. At that time, the inspection was for larger dormitories to purpose-built dormitories. And I would say that all these inspections were proactive, but none of the cases that were investigated – as I said in my earlier answer of 19 cases being investigated – were related to the prohibition of the usage of mattresses or bed boards.

In fact, those cases were investigated because of two scenarios. One, the migrant workers themselves discarded or misplaced the mattresses or the bed boards because some of them have preferences to sleep on a harder surface or prefer to not use a mattress, because it could be a little bit warm. The other situation that arose was because the bed spaces were unoccupied and so the bed boards were not placed there. But having engaged the operators, they are aware of what they need to provide to workers when the beds are occupied.

I just want to reassure the Member that there were actually no cases in which workers were denied the use of mattresses when they chose to do so.

Mdm Deputy Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: Thank you, Madam. Just one last follow-up question. I visited some migrant worker dormitories recently and none of them had mattresses. I asked some of them and I think there is this misconception because they told me that MOM had prohibited the use of mattresses.

Could I ask MOM to follow up on this and make sure that there is some awareness out there, that migrant workers have a choice with regard to the use of mattresses in their dormitories?

Dr Koh Poh Koon: Yes, certainly. Dormitory residents who feel that they have been told otherwise could either approach our Assurance, Care and Engagement officers who are on the ground, engaging with the dormitory operators, or they could access the feedback channel through the FWMOMCare app, which all workers are able to access and download, and then, they can contact MOM directly to investigate any cases in which they had been prohibited.