I have been following the ongoing debate about siting foreign-worker quarters in Serangoon Gardens.

I am very much aware of Singaporeans' 'not in my backyard, please' mentality when it comes to workers' quarters, funeral parlours or any other kind of 'disamenities', so I was not surprised by the outbursts.

But what struck me after reading last Sunday's articles, 'Where 5,000 expats call home' and 'So what do foreign workers think of S'poreans?', was the vastly different treatment we give to the 'foreign talent' in Singapore - the highly-skilled expatriates - and the low-skilled foreign workers.

Whether they are here to contribute to our banking and financial sector, set up new offices, serve us in the hospitals or shops, build our homes, or take care of our elderly folk and children, they are all human. So why the difference in treatment for different groups of people?

I do not live in Serangoon Gardens. But for the past five years, I have been living 50m from a Circle Line construction site, and have many foreigners in my neighbourhood throughout the week.

Some are engineers, many more are construction workers. Sometimes, these men, taking a breather from their 24-hour work shifts during lunch or after dinner, would lie down at the void decks to catch a nap.

Yes, it is not always a pretty sight to have 30 to 40 men sprawled on the floor sleeping in your block, but I really have no heart to complain or tell them off.

I know they are exhausted from working all night at the construction site to get the Circle Line ready, so that I - and everyone else - can enjoy zipping into town in mere minutes.

These foreign workers do not enjoy any fruit of their labour when they leave Singapore. The majority of them are well-mannered, decent chaps who are just trying to eke out a living for themselves and their families.

I just pray that they remain safe while they are here, and receive fair wages so that they can go home and build their dreams after they have helped us build ours.

During a recent National Day rehearsal, I bumped into one of these foreign workers, who marvelled at the thrilling aerial displays.

He got very excited when I told him that we were celebrating our National Day, and that he would be able to see some spectacular fireworks later that night. He promised he would check them out while at work later.

As I walked away, I was grateful that Singapore could offer him a beautiful respite in the course of a hard day's work.

Bernadette Low (Ms)

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