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LABOUR ISSUES
145
April15
T
hrough 20 years of research
at universities in her home
country and in Singapore,
Australian Sallie Yea has shone
a spotlight on the grim daily experiences
of millions of vulnerable people across
Asia. She has documented the plight of
the marginalised, who, through poverty,
poor education, family pressures and
lack of job opportunities, are forced
into low-paid and, often, dangerous and
illegal work.
Sallie works at the National Institute
of Education (NIE), within Nanyang
Technology University. This is her
Associate Professor SALLIE YEA’s research illuminates the harsh
reality of the lives of some of Asia’s most disenfranchised people.
She sat down with Katie Roberts and spoke about a handful of her
research projects, which have taken her from remote Indian villages
to Singapore’s foreign worker dormitories.
second stint in Singapore, having
returned here in 2010 with her husband
and their two primary school-aged
children. She previously held a post
for two-and-a-half years in the National
University of Singapore’s Geography
Department.
Typically, academics are involved in
both teaching students and research
projects in their chosen fields. For Sallie,
these are migration studies, tourism,
political and cultural geography, and
human trafficking across Asia. Two of
her most recent studies have focused
on Singapore.
Debt bondage
Sallie’s current research at NIE centres
on foreign migrants working in the
construction, marine, landscaping and
cleaning sectors in Singapore. While
they are highly visible, 24 hours a day,
UN Women Singapore