Singapore ministry criticised over 'migrant gaffe' Facebook post
It was accompanied by the caption: "I learnt that some workers prefer to sleep without a mattress as they are used to it back in their home country".
Mr Teo denied making that comment when contacted by the BBC. In a later statement the ministry said an administrator wrote the caption, not Mr Teo.
Teo Ser Luck did not make comments on foreign worker dorm beds: MOM
A controversial comment on beds at a foreign workers' dormitory, was not made by the Minister of State for Manpower Teo Ser Luck, his ministry said on Friday (Dec 18)
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) issued a clarification on Facebook after the post went viral. It showed a photo of Mr Teo on a bed without a mattress, along with caption: "Quite comfy! I learnt that some workers prefer to sleep without a mattress as they are used to it back in their home country. They find it more comfortable and cooler too!"
The post was slammed as "insensitive" and a "joke" by some, although some praised Mr Teo for trying to at least trying to experience for himself how foreign workers live.
MOM said the Facebook post and captions were put up by an administrator for its Facebook page. "MOS Teo did not make those comments. We regret the unintended implications, and any misunderstanding that the post has caused. To avoid further misrepresentation, we have removed all the captions from the Facebook post," it said in a statement on Friday.
'Mattress' comment was by MOM Facebook administrator
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has clarified that Minister of State for Manpower Teo Ser Luck did not make the comments that were attributed to him on its Facebook page.
The photo showed Mr Teo, on a bed with no mattress in a dormitory, with the caption: "I learnt that some workers prefer to sleep without a mattress as they are used to it back in their home country."
An MOM spokesman told The New Paper last night that the photo and the accompanying caption, which was posted on Dec 11, were put up by the MOM Facebook administrator.
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Teo Ser Luck deny making “comfortable without mattress” gaffe
After being exposed and embarrassed domestically and internationally (see BBC report here), Minister Teo Ser Luck now denies that he made the gaffe saying it is comfortable to sleep without mattress.
The original Facebook post which went viral after States Times Review posted the article, has since been censored and removed by the Ministry of Manpower. It is understood a tsunami of angry comments were hitting out at the PAP Minister for being a wayang (political antic), and the authorities found it easier to delete the post instead of deleting and censoring each comment that criticized the Minister.
In a follow-up post, the Ministry of Manpower now claimed that Minister Teo Ser Luck did not make the comment. During the time when the post was still available, Minister Teo Ser Luck tried to defend himself and hence tacitly acknowledged that the offending caption was his. The Ministry of Manpower is now blaming the page administrator for the fiasco.
related: Foreign worker to TSL: Sleeping without mattress is not comfortable at all
Teo Ser Luck draws online flak for foreign worker dormitory posting
Photo: Screenshot from Ministry of Manpower facebook page
Photo: Screenshot from Ministry of Manpower facebook page
Minister of State for Manpower Teo Ser Luck has come under fire online over a photograph of him lying on a bed in a foreign worker dormitory.
The photograph was posted on the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Facebook page on 11 December, as part of an album called “MOS Teo Ser Luck’s visit to Dorms and a Recreation Centre”. Teo had visited the dormitories as part of an event to mark International Migrants Day.
The photo was accompanied by this caption: “Quite comfy! I learnt that some workers prefer to sleep without a mattress as they are used to it back in their home country. They find it more comfortable and cooler too!“
Facebook Post By Minister Teo Ser Luck Goes Viral On Int’l Migrants Day For All The Wrong Reasons
Another day, another Facebook post from a minister that outrages Singaporeans everywhere. On International Migrants Day, the Ministry of Manpower organised an event that involved Minister Teo Ser Luck taking a turn around migrant workers’ dormitories. Apart from publishing blogposts and writing up Facebook posts to commemorate the day, Minister Teo was also quoted as saying this:
“I learnt that some workers prefer to sleep without a mattress as they are used to it back in their home country.”
Many Singaporeans replied in anger, saying that his comment was “insensitive”, and that he was stuck in an “ivory tower”, unable to empathise with migrant workers. These same sentiments were echoed in the Cardboard Auntie debacle, when Minister Tan Chuan Jin was criticised for saying that some older folk were treating cardboard collecting as a “form of exercise”, while excluding the well-known fact that others do it as their only means of income.
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MOM: MINISTER TEO SER LUCK DIDN'T MAKE DISTASTEFUL MIGRANT COMMENT, OUR FB ADMIN DID IT
We understand that many of you have expressed concerns over a Facebook photo featuring MOS Teo Ser Luck visiting a dormitory
The Facebook post, including the captions, were put up by our MOM Facebook Administrator. MOS Teo did not make those comments. We regret the unintended implications, and any misunderstanding that the post has caused. To avoid further misrepresentation, we have removed all the captions from the Facebook post.
Foreign workers have contributed much to the development of Singapore. The visit to the dormitory is to show our appreciation, and our care and concern for their wellbeing from housing to food, and exercise to entertainment in their dormitories. It is unfortunate it was over shadowed by this turn of events
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MOS Teo Ser Luck’s visit to Dorms and a Recreation Centre
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What do Teo Ser Luck, BBC and Ministry of Manpower have in common?
Facebook user Ibrahim Khalil, presumably a migrant worker, explained why some prefer sleeping without a mattress
They committed gaffes.
Netizens are whacking Teo Ser Luck left, right and centre for a photo posted on Dec. 11 of his visit to a workers’ dormitory.
This is the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) photo in question, featuring the Manpower Minister of State in a semi-lying/ in between crunches position.
