Overcrowding, broken furniture and bed bugs: Foreign students complain about S'pore

[pianist]

wonder how many more of such cases to come? hot humid wet crowdy environment tend s to attract bed bugs and dengue

Stomp Thursday, Oct 24, 2013 A recent news report by a Taiwan media company highlighted the poor living conditions of foreign students who come to Singapore seeking work, and how this greatly differed from what they had been promised.In the video published by China Times which Stomp readers Derome and Steric alerted Stomp to, an 18-year-old Taiwanese student shares his experience about how he had come to Singapore to work and study English at the same time.Despite paying $280 for a room every month, he has to share the space with six to eight others. The tenants also have to take turns and wait to use a small bathroom.The only furniture in the room other than their bunk beds are a broken desk and a wardrobe so small that the student has to place his belongings in his luggage.The student also mentioned old sheets and being bitten by bed bugs. The report stated that he was scratching his arms repeatedly throughout his interview.He then added that he had been attracted by agency advertisements, which turned out to be different from the real thing. The agency website also failed to include photographs of the actual room he would be staying in.It is also reported that students earn a monthly salary of about NT$30,000 ($S1,264), but are left with only NT$14,000 ($590) after the deduction agency fees and living expenses.In a closing statement, the report said that one can only live in Singapore with a careful budget, and that those who have plans of working here should consider carefully so as to avoid being cheated. - See more at:
http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/over...iLdFv.dpuf

[pianist]

can cleaner room/toilet fetch a higher rental rate?


RazorTV, Edvantage
Friday, Nov 08, 2013

Broken showers, thin mattresses, dirty toilets, pests and pictures that mislead expectations are some of the gripes of foreign students, reported RazorTV. The biggest problem, however, is the dirty toilets.

Students said that the toilets are not being cleaned often enough and most hostels only clean their toilets once a day or even less than that.

The students pay anywhere between $250 and $500 for a room shared between 4 people. The students who are here to pursue a degree in Singapore or learn the English language mostly come from China, India, Taiwan and Vietnam.

A student from India told RazorTV that his friends who are staying in hostels in India have better living conditions compared to the student living facilities in Singapore.

RazorTV visited three hostels at Novena, Joo Chiat and Queenstown.

One student told RazorTV that he often saw cockroaches and rats near the toilets and the rubbish collection area.

The student also pointed out that broken-down equipment like the air-conditioner was fixed slowly, while the basketball board was never repaired.

While another student said that his mattress was thin that he wakes up with body aches every day.

However, there are other students who claim that they are fine with their living conditions.

A pair of girls told RazorTV that their hostel rooms are clean and come with private toilets; others liked the environment and the sports facilities that are within the hostel grounds.

Off-campus hostels in Singapore were in the headlines last month, after a Taiwan media company highlighted the poor living conditions of foreign students who came to Singapore.
- See more at: http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/dirt...fv1YD.dpuf