What Happened to Rafique?

On 29 September 2022, Rafique met with a workplace accident. He fell from where he was standing, on an elevated wooden panel when he had lost his balance and after the battery-operated pipe cutter he was using malfunctioned. As he fell, he landed hard on a pile of wood, severely injuring his back in the process.

MRI scans showed an L4-5 disc bulge that had affected his nerves, accompanied by multilevel lumbar degenerative disc changes. Rafique continues to endure excruciating lower back pain and worries that without his full strength, he would not be able to take on future jobs. 

Rafique received a total of 5 months’ worth of medical leave. Unfortunately, he has only received partial MC wages covering only 3 months of pay. The sole breadwinner has remitted this home, anxious about his current inability to provide for his family.

How can you help?

You can lessen Rafique’s financial worries by supporting his financial commitments and living expenses ($610 x 5 months), while he focuses on recuperating and for MOM assessment to conclude. Funds raised will be transferred to the worker directly.

Find out more / Appeal from Rafique:

52-year-old Rafique is from Bangladesh and is married with two school-going children. He was employed to work in Singapore as a General Worker in the construction industry in 2001. Rafique was earning approximately $1,400 a month with overtime, and would remit the bulk of his salary to his family for their living expenses.

Back home, Rafique was supporting his two elderly parents, wife, their two children and his younger sister. Since the accident, Rafique has lost the means to provide for his family. Rafique shared that he is unsure how long it would take for him to fully recover. This has left him perpetually anxious about his future and the financial burden on his family. He is worried about whether he can ever return to work in Singapore, given his age and the severity of his back injury.