Written Answer to PQ on Percentage of workers in dormitories sleeping on mattress

NOTICE PAPER NO. 2250 OF 2023 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 3 OCTOBER 2023
QUESTION NO. 5188 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry has data on the current percentage of workers living in dormitories who have a mattress to sleep on; and (b) if the information is not available, whether the Ministry can conduct a survey to get some baseline data.

Answer:

1. Under the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act Licence Conditions, dormitory operators must provide every dormitory resident with a bed, which includes a bed frame, and base board or mattress.

2. In our experience, dormitory operators either provide mattresses as a default or do so on request by the workers and these arrangements are managed amicably between the workers and the operators. We do not see the need for a survey. If a worker wants a mattress and is not provided one, he can get assistance from MOM through MOM’s Forward Assurance and Support Team (FAST) officers or via FWMOMCare mobile application.