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Speech by Minister of State for Manpower, Ms Gan Siow Huang at NTUC May Day Domestic Employees Celebrations 2023

Ms Gan Siow Huang, Minister of State, Ministry of Manpower, Devan Nair Institute

Foreign manpower
  1. A very good afternoon to all our migrant domestic workers. I also want to acknowledge the presence of our partners, such as the Association of Employment Agencies (AEAS), and others who have been working hand in hand with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) to support our migrant domestic workers. We are also privileged to have some members from embassies here to support our migrant domestic workers.
  2. It is heartening to see many people from different walks of life coming together for our migrant domestic workers, who play very important roles in many of our households in Singapore. We have more than 200,000 migrant domestic workers at any one time doing a lot of work within our households. This includes helping to take care of children, the elderly, as well as supporting family members with household chores. Many employers have told me that they are very grateful to their domestic workers for staying on, especially during the Covid-19 period despite the challenges.
  3. From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely thank our migrant domestic workers for supporting families in Singapore.
  4. I also want to acknowledge CDE. CDE has three CDEConnect Centres, located in Tampines, Pasir Panjang and Woodlands. These centres play an important role in facilitating face-to-face interviews for migrant domestic workers who have arrived in Singapore for the first time, so that we can see if they are adjusting well and mediate between the employer and the domestic worker if necessary.
  5. CDE also organises recreational and social activities for migrant domestic workers to participate in on their rest days. I want to acknowledge the good work of CDE, and I hope that the strong partnership between MOM and CDE will continue to grow so that we can help even more migrant domestic workers, and also support our employers well. I would also like to acknowledge some of our good employers who are here today. Without your support, our migrant domestic workers would not be able to adapt and live as well as they do here.
  6. During the pandemic in 2021, MOM conducted a survey with migrant domestic workers and their employers. The results were very heartening. I was happy to see that most migrant domestic workers were satisfied with working and living in Singapore. I was happy to see that most migrant domestic workers were satisfied with working and living in Singapore. Many of them also said that they would recommend their families and friends to work as migrant domestic workers here. These are encouraging signs, and it has not been an easy goal to achieve. 
  7. Every now and then, there may be cases of friction between employers and their migrant domestic workers. This could be due to a poor understanding of responsibilities on either party’s part. However, we have seen good improvement. I thank all our partners, including CDE, for pushing forward for the benefit of our migrant domestic workers and our employers.
  8. Once again, I wish all migrant domestic workers a happy May Day, and please have a healthy and happy year ahead. Thank you very much.