Established in the spirit of collaboration, we aim to channel our efforts and expertise towards peace building. This year marks the 3rd year we strive towards this goal.
In conjunction with our 3rd anniversary, and as part of our twin pillar focus of “Building Peace, Building Expertise”, PracticeForte Pte Ltd aims to make a difference to the lives of today’s foreign domestic workers by bringing awareness to mediation as a peaceful way of addressing disputes between foreign domestic workers (FDWs) and employers in Singapore.
On the 5th of August, 2018 with the support of the Chinatown Heritage Centre and Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training (FAST), as well as the Myanmese, Sri Lankan Philippines’ embassy and Old Chang Kee, we tell both sides of their story in “Displacement, Distress, Disputes: A Bag Perspective” and in the 3 old shop houses of Chinatown Heritage Centre.
Bags have great significance in the narrative of foreign domestic workers and employers. It speaks of the journey domestic workers take, packing their bags from home, to come to a foreign land. Yet, handbags are also a symbol of wealth of employers. The contrast between the two becomes a sign of the power relations between employers and FDWs and a shifting of burdens as we see FDWs often carrying the bags of their employers. This held true even to the lives of migrant workers like the Ma Jies of the old days in Singapore.