Monmouth College group sharing research on migrant workers in Singapore at events

Sharon Wren
·4 min read

A group of students, graduates and professors from Monmouth College will share the results of their research on migrant domestic workers in Singapore at several events this spring, including at one of the College’s Great Decisions meetings on February 28, the College’s annual Scholars Day on April 23 and at the April national conference of ASIANetwork in Atlanta.

Monmouth professors Jialin Li and Marlo Belschner led a team of five students on a three-week trip to Singapore last summer, where they conducted research on migrant domestic workers. The ASIANetwork helped fund the trip.

“We applied before COVID and didn’t get the grant, so we reapplied after COVID,” said Belschner, who teaches English and has a background in feminist theories and issues and transnational feminism. Her knowledge of grant agencies helped make the trip possible. Li, who teaches in the College’s sociology and anthropology department, provided historical background on Singapore, saying that just 60 years ago, Singapore was one of the world’s poorest countries. Government officials placed high value on women’s education to reverse the widespread poverty and unemployment. This also attracted migrant domestic workers from nearby nations, including Myanmar (formerly Burma), Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

“It was around 1978 when the government wanted highly educated women to go to the labor market, and so they needed workers who can continue domestic labor,” said Li. “So they opened the door to allow migrant domestic workers to apply for a temporary visa so that they could come and work in individual households in Singapore.”

The group traveled to three malls – Peninsular Plaza (for Burmese migrant domestic workers), City Plaza (Indonesian), and Lucky Plaza (the Philippines) to observe the lifestyles of other cultures, especially on Sundays because it was the busiest day for the migrant domestic workers.

“We were well-prepared for our trip by taking a half-semester course surrounding education about foreign domestic workers and about Singapore, in general, before leaving,” said Kylie McDonald ’23, who signed up for the experience because it would be an “extraordinary” addition to her grad school profile.

From left, Ethan Forsberg, Michael Andal, Jacinda Garcia, Addison Cox and Kylie McDonald at Singapore National Library(Monmouth College)
From left, Ethan Forsberg, Michael Andal, Jacinda Garcia, Addison Cox and Kylie McDonald at Singapore National Library(Monmouth College)

Women who are migrant domestic workers in Singapore usually care for the elderly and children, cook and conduct other domestic chores like dog walking. These jobs are usually much better than the situations the migrant workers faced in their home nations.

“It wasn’t until traveling to Singapore and talking to these women personally that I understood how complex of an issue this work really is,” said McDonald, who graduated last May. “Despite the negatives, these women repeatedly expressed gratitude for the opportunity to do this work. Many chose to stay in Singapore long-term. I suddenly realized that no matter how horrendous their treatment in Singapore could potentially be, their home life was much worse.”

Even on Sundays, the migrant women work to improve their qualifications so that when they return home, they can help others.

“Most of our work and observations were on Sundays at the malls, and we also went in and spent some time with workers at the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs),” said Belschner. “There were also some taking classes, including a large group taking certified nursing classes. They were doing it to help increase their qualifications as a worker, and they also talked about being more qualified to help people back home. We spent some time talking and eating with them. And our students also sang, played music with them and ran a tie-dye workshop at one of the NGOs.”

Addison Cox and Jacinda Garcia, who both graduated in May, and Michael Andal ’26 of Crystal Lake, Illinois, and Ethan Forsberg ’24 of Carbondale, Illinois were the other members of the group. They completed tasks like conducting one-on-one interviews with the workers efficiently, according to their professors. It wasn’t all work though; they spent time exploring the city and visiting Singapore’s zoo.

Ethan Forsberg, Addison Cox and Jacinda Garcia in front of the Hainan Chicken Rice stall during a scavenger hunt in Singapore (Monmouth College)
Ethan Forsberg, Addison Cox and Jacinda Garcia in front of the Hainan Chicken Rice stall during a scavenger hunt in Singapore (Monmouth College)

“One of the advantages of this trip is that the students were able to bear witness to the workers’ personal stories, discovering realities that were not stated anywhere else,” said Li. “During one tour we made to TWC 2 (Transient Workers Count Too), our students interviewed a construction worker from Bangladesh. We also learned a lot from the director of that organization regarding the obstacles and social injustice Bangladesh workers are facing in Singapore.”

“We learned that they really love to dance. and we were taken out behind the mall where plastic tarps stretched across the grassy area,” said McDonald. “Women camped out with friends for the day. They had a big speaker set up and dozens of women danced around enjoying their day off. We were pulled into the chaos and danced around with the women. In the meantime, many lined up to take videos or pictures with us since we were Westerners. Eventually, it felt like we were celebrities at a meet-and-greet with fans. We had to get our professors to come pull us away.”

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