Monitoring of Areas where Foreign Domestic Workers Congregate

Ms Diana Pang Li Yen asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry monitors recurring congregation hotspots of foreign domestic workers on rest days; (b) what measures will the Ministry take to address persistent complaints involving noise, littering and noise-generating activities such as recording TikTok dances that have affected residents living near typical gathering hotspots; and (c) whether alternative gathering spaces can be provided or designated.

Dr Tan See Leng: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) monitors locations where migrant domestic workers (MDWs) congregate during their rest days and works with agencies and partners in the community to manage any disamenities that may arise in these areas. For example, we engage town councils and residents' committees in these locations to co-create solutions that address noise and littering disamenities, while balancing the MDWs' social and recreational needs.

Since 2025, we have been piloting the use of community spaces in Clementi and Paya Lebar to provide MDWs with accessible and conducive resting spaces on Sundays. We invite non-governmental organisation partners to conduct recreational activities and training programmes at these spaces so that MDWs can spend their rest days meaningfully. We also share information with MDWs on this via channels, such as MOM's MDW WhatsApp channel.

MOM will continue to work with agencies and our partners to expand the number of alternative gathering spaces for MDWs to rest and unwind. Even as we encourage MDWs to be considerate when using public spaces and endeavour to provide alternative gathering spaces for them, we do need to recognise that public spaces are shared by everyone, including MDWs on their rest days.