What is that one thing that separates a human being from other species put on the Earth for survival?? What is that one attribute that has provided us superior hierarchy in this constant battle for supremacy?? Why is it that after years of evolution,We,the humans still continue to dominate the lesser animals though at times they are faster than us,smarter than us and even at times stronger than us.What is that one thing that distinguishes us from them and further permeates us into the ecstasy of being the mightier of the species?? If you think about it then the answer is so simple that it will not strike you at the first go.As often happens with simple things,we often tend to overlook the basic and concentrate our efforts on the complex,failing to understand that the complex with varied layers will never be as simple and appealing as the basic.The simple yet the most appealing attribute that humans are born with is their infallible ability to HOPE in spite of all odds.That if you turn the pages of history there's a shining example at every page that humans beings have overcome natural disasters,cosmic chaos,war,diseases,pillage only due to one reason-Even when we are standing against everything that is far more powerful than us and we are armed with nothing,we still dare to hope,we still dare to dream.
If you take into consideration the situation that any third-world country tends to suffer from then statistics will point out to you that the situation everywhere is almost the same.People who tend to fall under the highlighted BPL strata often tend to have the worst in all cases.With the Home Government too busy to take care of all the hungry mouths by providing them proper jobs,good food,basic pay and decent medical care...people of such countries often tend to migrate to other countries in lieu of a better life.Most of them happen to be the sole bread earner in the family,with a wife,elderly parents and children to support and provide for.Unable to find anything in their homeland they migrate to far off distances hoping to secure a better life.
Singapore is no different.When I first landed here a week ago,I was very surprised to see the number of Bangladeshi faces I saw in a crowd full of Asians who form a major bulk of the population here and are in no way different from a struggling middle-class man in my country India.Most of the migrant workers in Singapore are not here by choice by rather by compulsion.Most of them have no better ways of earning a standard living in their own country and hence have come here to work and earn a minimum pay so that they can sustain their families back home.The work they do here is enormous compared to the minimum wages they are paid here along with the lack of proper food and housing they are devoid of.All in all its a total loss for them as they happen to have made a lot of personal sacrifices to come here.Some have sold ancestral house and properties,some have been compelled to sell the meagre gold jewellery women wear and some have made sacrifices that they are too saddened or humiliated to utter.
The Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore have two things in common if you bother to look at their faces while travelling by the bus or MRT or when you see them on the roads.One-They all carry the stigmata of humiliation and pain which they have and still are facing here.In their homeland,had they stayed there,the might have not earned enough and most nights might have slept with empty stomachs but at least they would still have their self-esteem intact.However when hunger and poverty are no longer states of the might they endure but rather become grim efficacy in their daily lives,their hard working,industrious and educated people are forced to bend their heads and will to survive in a place where they are looked down upon by most sections of the society.
Two-Their faces all light up with HOPE.Having had the wonderful opportunity of meeting and interacting with some migrant workers at a close basis,I have realised that this pain and humiliation too they have taken in their stride.They hope everyday that things will get better,that somehow one day they will be provided with the simplest and basic amenities of life by the Government whose part labour force is constituted by them and instead of bend heads and broken wills,they will have the simple dignity that God had destined every human being on Earth to have.the human dignity that these migrant workers are born with and which they fight so hard to find.
Isn't it high time that we provided them their basic rights so that they may lead a life which is content and happy and one that doesn't come at the cost of their self respect.
