They were retrenched. Now they are among ground-up groups helping others find their footing

SINGAPORE – Kyle Ahmad worked as a bartender until his company suddenly wound up in 2023.

“Our livelihoods were cut just like that,” the 38-year-old Singaporean told The Straits Times. 

Confused, he sought help from the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM). Months later, Kyle eventually received about half of the overtime pay he was owed.

“It was definitely a stressful time,” he said, referring to the process of finding the right party for help and getting all the documents and evidence needed in order.

The painful season inspired Kyle to set up Makan Minum Workers (MMW) in 2023 to help educate other food and beverage employees about their rights as well as advocate for these workers.

“Makan” and “minum” are the Malay words for “eat” and “drink” respectively.

MMW does not have an office. Any F&B worker, regardless of citizenship, can join for free.

Today, it has more than 20 members.

They gather for meals and outings from time to time, listen to one another’s experiences and proactively offer advice to other retrenched workers seeking guidance on their next steps.

An MMW member who wanted to be known only as Nee stepped up to help when she learnt that some Twelve Cupcakes employees had resorted to borrowing money from licensed moneylenders and loan sharks.

She directed the affected workers to Blessed Grace Social Services, a non-profit organisation that offers recovery paths and debt solutions. Its case workers helped them negotiate a more structured and realistic repayment plan with their creditors.

Confectionery chain Twelve Cupcakes suddenly shuttered in October 2025, leaving about 80 workers in the lurch. After waiting for five months, these workers were told they would receive half of their owed salaries as the financially distressed company had insufficient funds for distribution.

Nee herself was retrenched by cafe chain Providore five months ago, and knew the stress of losing one’s income suddenly. She had previously volunteered with Blessed Grace Social Services and was relatively familiar with some debt issues.

Nee, who is in her mid-30s, said she herself received MMW’s support when she had a hard time coping with Providore’s sudden closure. 

“They gave me cash, and stood by my side whenever I needed help,” she said.

In documents seen by ST, Nee and her former Providore colleague Fabian Soh are shown as still owed eight days of salary for March 2026. They were also not paid in lieu of notice or compensated for unutilised annual leave. 

Soh, 56, also joined MMW days after Providore suddenly wound up. “When I got retrenched, MMW helped me with my bills and expenses for my kids,” said the single father of two children, aged eight and 12.

“But we don’t want to take advantage of them and keep asking for help.”

Under MMW, Soh has so far also helped two former colleagues find new jobs through his network.

MMW works with other groups like Workers Make Possible and Migrant Workers Singapore to amplify workers’ voices through their platforms. 

Amplifying workers’ voices

Workers Make Possible, a group set up to help workers campaign for their rights, launched a crowdfunding campaign in 2021 to cover legal fees and provide financial aid for 10 Malaysian and three Singaporean bus drivers who sued their employer over alleged unfair workplace practices.

Today, it has more than 100 volunteers.

Suraendher Kumarr, a community worker with the group, said: “We fund-raise for things like the Labour Day rally or for workers in crisis.”

He works freelance, in fields such as writing, research and project work, and food delivery.

Not all workers know where and how they can find support, and the ground-up groups act as a friendlier bridge for workers to navigate the system here to seek help.

Kumarr has accompanied workers to see their MP, and sat in on liquidator meetings for the workers who needed to be represented. Kyle has also accompanied workers to TADM for mediation, waiting outside to offer support.

“No F&B worker should have to go through this alone. We accompany them when we can because for most, it’s an intimidating experience,” said Kyle, who is taking a break to focus on his health after years behind the bar left him with several ailments.

Workers Make Possible and Migrant Workers Singapore also helped amplify MMW’s fund-raising campaign on its platform to raise $80,000 for about 80 former Twelve Cupcakes employees who needed the money for food and rent.

Twelve Cupcakes’ and Providore’s sudden closures also prompted Workers Make Possible and MMW to campaign for the Government to consider a statutory fund to support retrenched workers of all nationalities.

Another plea in the joint campaign is to make directors or owners personally liable if they fail to pay their workers.

Migrant Workers Singapore was founded by Ripon Chowdhury in 2018. The 38-year-old Bangladeshi, who has worked in the marine sector since coming to Singapore in 2010, was inspired to form the group to help migrant workers socially integrate into the local community.

Today, it has more than 600 passive members and uses its platform to amplify workers’ concerns.

“Migrant workers are not treated as true stakeholders, especially when it comes to decision-making processes that directly affect our lives, working conditions and well-being,” he said.

The group meets up on members’ days off, said Ripon, and may use the time to educate workers on the telltale signs of businesses that are not doing well, such as when salaries are not paid on time or when there is a reduced workload.

When a company liquidates, said Ripon, many workers do not know what they need to do, and they are often the last ones to know when there is trouble.

“There is fear on the ground that if you talk about it, you’ll be sent back to your country, you will lose your job, you cannot come back, you can be blacklisted. All these fears need to be removed.

“We need systemic change because we cannot afford to help workers only after it has already happened.”