Jeevan Frontiers: Unsung Hero of Singapore Migrant Workers

Sundays at Singapore’s Little India district unfold to what can be described as scenes of organised chaos, with thousands of migrant workers thronging its streets to enjoy their day off. As the day wanes and the crowds dissipate, a group of workers gather outside a nondescript clinic. While they’re largely here for the subsidised healthcare, they’re served by a clutch of volunteers from local non-profit organisation Jeevan Frontiers, which also offers practical advice and moral support to help them overcome numerous challenges, including debt incurred from paying recruitment agencies to secure employment in Singapore, chronic health conditions and alcohol addiction. 

“Besides their physical health, we also address workers’ mental well-being, because they face a very intense work environment,” says Dr Simon Mahendran, Jeevan Frontiers’ founder, who adds that workers may feel compelled to work overtime even when they are ill, to earn extra income. 

A dentist by profession, Dr Simon became attuned to the travails of Singapore’s migrant workers in the 80s, when he opened his dental clinic in the heart of Little India. The ethnic enclave is an established haunt of the community, which now numbers more than a million. Back then, he met workers who had sustained work-related injuries they couldn’t afford to have treated, and others faced with a raft of difficulties, including financial hardship and exploitation by their employers. 

He began assisting them through simple acts of kindness, such as counselling them and distributing used clothing he’d collected. As his reach expanded, he enlisted the help of volunteers to teach English language classes and lead tours of local attractions during the workers’ rest days. 

Then in 1994, Dr Simon established Karunya Community Clinic adjacent to his dental practice, offering migrant workers affordable healthcare delivered by a team of pro-bono doctors on Thursday and Sunday evenings. The clinic sees an average of 70 patients every week.

Besides medical attention, the workers also seek advice on various issues, including contractual disputes for which the team refers them to the Ministry of Manpower and legal experts. Importantly, beyond rendering practical assistance, Dr Simon’s team of 30 volunteers also nurtures enduring friendships by routinely reaching out to the migrant worker community across the island. 

“The counselling, in a way, provides them with inner stability. When we offer encouragement for their jobs or families, they know they have a friend here who can listen and care for them,” shares Dr Simon.

The organisation has since expanded its initiatives to India, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh, where it delivers crisis relief as well as runs literacy centres, leadership courses and income generation projects. The latter includes a programme where it disburses loans for leasing agricultural land and equips farmers with practical skills to manage it. Jeevan Frontiers also provides family counselling, supports microenterprises, fosters leadership development, promotes creative art, and deploys medical teams.

Dr Simon reveals that beyond helping to improve livelihoods, their efforts have paid off by bridging cultural divides between Singapore’s migrant workers and its citizens. He seeks more volunteers to boost Jeevan Frontiers’ capabilities within Singapore as well as contribute specific skills to overseas projects, while bolstering cross-cultural ties. 

Bearing testament to his ground-up movement’s ripple effect, are the migrant workers who now pay it forward by serving as pillars of support within their communities. Among them is India national Thiru (not his real name), who approaches his counterparts at Tuas, a far-flung western industrial estate that accommodates tens of thousands of labourers in purpose-built dormitories.

“We don’t have our families here to care for us when we get sick or injured, which makes me want to help when I see someone in a bad state. I just want to provide some hope and joy to everyone I meet,” he shares.