They walked into our office feeling nervous and shy. They had questions. They had worries. They didn’t know what to expect. For the foreign domestic workers (FDWs) TSMP hosted last week at our office, it wasn’t a usual day in their lives – but we did our best to help them leave with smiles and a spring in their step!

On 4 April 2025, TSMP organised a full-day event for 46 beneficiaries from the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME). Arriving in the morning at our office, they were welcomed into our meeting rooms for talks prepared by our lawyers in English, Hindi, Tamil and Bahasa Melayu. These at-risk FDWs are victims of abuse and exploitation; our talk not only informed them of their rights, what to do if reports were made against them, and where they could go for help, but gave them a chance to share their stories and ask us any questions they had.

Many heart-wrenching stories were shared – many suffered lack of food; some had only 3 hours of rest each day; one even had no mattress, pillow, or blanket and spent months sleeping on the kitchen floor; others had worked for months and not been paid. None of us would have tolerated such treatment of employees in the normal workplace; it was eye-opening for us to know that such circumstances existed in the Singapore homes they worked for.

After the talks, we served up a buffet lunch catered by social enterprise Bliss Group and local ice cream cart Chip Guan Heng Holdings Pte Ltd. We then shuttled everyone to Gardens by the Bay for an afternoon activity: completing a photo- and video-taking challenge among nine teams.

Traipsing through the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome, our beneficiaries – aided by some of our most competitive lawyers and staff – took to their challenge with gusto, coming up with creative poses, hashtags and comments to up their IG game. Beneficiaries in three winning teams each took home $80 NTUC vouchers, much to their delight!

The last photo of the day was a group shot, after which we sent the beneficiaries off with a packed dinner. Our feet ached, our arms were tired from all the poses and photo- and video-taking, but our hearts were full knowing we have given the beneficiaries a day where they learned, lived and laughed.

Beyond this one day of activity, TSMP continues to work closely with HOME on legal pro bono matters, using our skills to empower them and help change their lives. We’ll keep this momentum going and continue to create positive change, one step at a time!