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New Paper
28-05-2025
- New Paper
2 charged over getting foreign workers to hold placards in protest at worksite
Two Singaporeans were charged on May 27 after they allegedly got foreign workers to hold placards at a construction site and demand outstanding payment owed to a company. Rebecca Rubini Ravinthiran, 33, who was a director at the aggrieved company Apex Engineering, was handed a total of 17 charges, while Vee Derrick Mahendran, 36, was handed 11 charges. Rebecca was handed two charges over organising a public assembly without a permit, while Vee was given two charges for abetting her alleged offences. Rebecca's 15 other charges and Vee's nine other charges were for instigating various foreign employees to break a condition in their work passes. According to charge sheets, Rebecca allegedly organised two public assemblies at about 11am and 11.30am on Oct 24, 2024, to demand that Apex Engineering be paid the outstanding payment. She allegedly did so by instructing six workers from Apex Engineering to gather at a construction site in Jalan Satu and hold placards, and nine workers to do the same at a construction site in Tengah Garden Walk. Vee had allegedly aided in the preparation of placards publicising the cause the day before and coordinating with her on the gathering of workers to hold placards on the day itself. He had also allegedly supervised the group of workers in Tengah Garden Walk on Oct 24, 2024, by updating Rebecca on his observations, and conveying her instructions to the group. The pair will return to court on June 24 for a further mention of their case. In a joint statement on May 26, the police and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said no further action will be taken against the workers as the police have ascertained that they were acting under the instructions of their employer, and had no intention of breaking the law. Those found guilty of organising a public assembly or procession without a permit can be fined up to $5,000. Anyone convicted of abetting a foreign employee to break the terms of his work pass may face a jail term of up to 12 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. In a Facebook post in October 2024, MOM said it was aware of a social media post regarding several migrant workers holding placards at a worksite. The ministry said it engaged the workers, who shared that they were not owed salary payments, and did not have any concerns about their well-being.
Straits Times
27-05-2025
- Straits Times
2 charged over getting foreign workers to hold placards in protest at worksite
2 charged over getting foreign workers to hold placards in protest at worksite SINGAPORE – Two Singaporeans were charged on May 27 after they allegedly got foreign workers to hold placards at a construction site and demand outstanding payment owed to a company. Rebecca Rubini Ravinthiran, 33, who was a director at the aggrieved company Apex Engineering, was handed a total of 17 charges, while Vee Derrick Mahendran, 36, was handed 11 charges. Ravinthiran was handed two charges over organising a public assembly without a permit, while Mahendran was given two charges for abetting her alleged offences. Ravinthiran 's 15 other charges and Mahendran 's nine other charges were for instigating various foreign employees to break a condition in their work passes. According to charge sheets, Ravinthiran had allegedly organised two public assemblies at about 11am and 11.30am on Oct 24, 2024, to demand that Apex Engineering be paid the outstanding payment. She allegedly did so by instructing six workers from Apex Engineering to gather at a construction site at Jalan Satu and hold placards, and nine workers to do the same at a construction site at Tengah Garden Walk. Mahendran had allegedly aided in the preparation of placards publicising the cause the day before and coordinating with her on the gathering of workers to hold placards on the day itself. He had also allegedly supervised the group of workers at Tengah Garden Walk on Oct 24, 2024, by updating Ravinthiran on his observations, and conveying her instructions to the group. The pair will return to court on June 24 for a further mention of their case. In a joint statement on May 26, the police and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said no further action will be taken against the workers as the police have ascertained that they were acting under the instructions of their employer, and had no intention of breaking the law. Those found guilty of organising a public assembly or procession without a permit can be fined up to $5,000. Anyone convicted of abetting a foreign employee to break the terms of his work pass may face a jail term of up to 12 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. In a Facebook post in October 2024, MOM said it was aware of a social media post regarding several migrant workers holding placards at a worksite. The ministry said it engaged the workers who shared they were not owed salary payments, and did not have any concerns about their well-being. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
CNA
27-05-2025
- CNA
Two charged for instructing foreign workers to hold placards in illegal protests at construction site
SINGAPORE: Two people were charged on Tuesday (May 27) in relation to illegal public assemblies involving foreign workers in October last year. Rebecca Rubini Ravinthiran, 33, and Vee Derrick Mahendran, 36, both Singaporeans, were also charged for abetting foreign workers to commit offences under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA). In an earlier joint press release, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the police said that Ravinthiran is accused of directing 15 foreign workers under her employment to gather outside two construction sites on Oct 24. She also instructed the workers to hold placards to demand payments owed to her company. Mahendran allegedly aided the offence by going to a construction site to "ensure that the foreign workers complied with the woman's instructions". Ravinthiran faces 17 charges in total while Mahendran has 11. RAVINTHIRAN'S CHARGES Two of Ravinthiran's charges are under the Public Order Act, while 15 are under the EFMA. She is accused of organising a public assembly to demand that Apex Engineering be paid the outstanding payment owed to it by instructing no fewer than nine workers from Apex to gather at a construction site at Block 324A Tengah Garden Walk - Parc Flora @ Tengah - and hold placards. No permit had been granted for the event on Oct 24, 2024, stated the charge sheet. Separately, at about 11am the same day, Ravinthiran is said to have organised a public assembly to publicise the same cause at a construction site at 91A Jalan Satu - Dakota Breeze. She allegedly instructed no fewer than six workers from Apex to gather at the site and hold placards. This event similarly had no permit. Each of Ravinthiran's charges under the EFMA states that she instigated a foreign worker to breach the condition of their work permit, with a total of 15 workers involved. She is said to have facilitated each worker's contravention by instructing each to be involved in the illegal activity of participating in a public assembly at either work site. For two of these workers, Ravinthiran allegedly instructed them to prepare and distribute placards and coordinate with other workers to be involved in the public assembly. MAHENDRAN'S CHARGES Mahendran's charges comprise two under the Public Order Act and nine under the EFMA. Mahendran is said to have abetted Ravinthiran by helping organise two public assemblies at the two construction sites to publicise the same cause. He allegedly helped in the preparation of the placards the day before, and coordinated with Ravinthiran on the gathering of the workers to hold the placards. He is said to have ensured that no fewer than nine workers from Apex gathered at the Tengah construction site. As for the charges under the EFMA, Mahendran is said to have helped nine foreign workers contravene the conditions of their work passes by supervising them while they were involved in the illegal public assemblies. He then allegedly updated Ravinthiran on his observations and conveyed her instructions to the group of workers. Both cases will return to court on Jun 24. Last October, MOM said on Facebook that it was aware of a social media post regarding several migrant workers holding placards at a worksite. MOM said it engaged the workers involved and found that they were not owed salary payments, and did not have any concerns about their well-being. Then-Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam has also said that MOM was investigating the employer for illegally deploying the workers and abetting the workers to perform illegal acts under the EFMA. A person convicted of organising a public assembly without a permit can be fined up to S$5,000 (US$3,890).
