SINGAPORE – For almost 10 years, Indian construction supervisor Selvan Kasi would spend his Sundays hanging out in Little India, meeting friends, buying spices and snacks, and remitting money back home to Tamil Nadu.
But that changed shortly after he moved to a dormitory near the Woodlands Recreation Centre in 2012.
The 43-year-old spends his rest days now at that recreation centre in Woodlands Industrial Park. Like Little India, the football field-sized space has an array of minimarts, food stalls, phone shops, remittance services and other stores that cater to migrant workers. At the back of the centre, there are sports facilities to play games like volleyball and sepak takraw.
But perhaps the greatest draw is that the centre is just a 10-minute walk from Mr Kasi’s dormitory.
There are a growing number of migrant workers like Mr Kasi, who are turning to dedicated recreation centres for their essential and leisure needs, because of the convenience these places provide and the range of amenities and activities they offer.
All the nine migrant worker recreation centres here saw year-on-year increases in average monthly visitors from 2020 to 2024, according to the Ministry of Manpower. Figures provided by MOM showed each of these centres drew an average of over 80,000 monthly visitors in 2024.
Of the 15 migrant workers The Straits Times spoke to, 10 said they frequent recreation centres more today, compared with five years ago.
Said Mr Kasi: “I gather with friends who also live in the North (at the Woodlands Recreation Centre) now because it is much closer to where we live than the Tekka area. We can also get the Indian groceries we need, top up our SIM cards, and run other errands here, too.
“Today, I go to Little India only once a month to meet friends who live farther away.”
While an MOM spokesman said average visitor numbers at these centres have yet to reach pre-Covid-19 levels, migrant workers, migrant advocacy groups and businesses told ST that there has been a noticeable push by the authorities for workers to visit the recreation centres, which are closer to their dormitories.
They said that in the past one to two years, more activities, services and large-scale events have been made available at such recreation centres across Singapore.
In June 2024, MOM announced plans to appoint external parties to run the centres and upgrade older ones to ensure their facilities are up to date.
MOM’s assurance, care and engagement group chief Tung Yui Fai had said then that the ministry wants recreation centres to be the “venue of choice” for workers on their rest days.
Currently, NTUC and MOM each run three recreation centres, while the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC), a non-governmental organisation affiliated with NTUC, operates one in Soon Lee Road in Boon Lay – the first centre to be built here in 2009.
The remaining two centres – in Woodlands and Kaki Bukit – are privately operated.
Mr Michael Lim, director of NTUC’s migrant workers segment, said the MWC Recreation Club in Soon Lee Road received about 150,000 monthly visitors on average in 2024. This is 25 per cent higher than the 120,000 monthly visitors that it averaged between July and December 2023.
He said the centre has introduced new amenities and improved its programming over the years in response to feedback from migrant workers, such as by opening a new gym in June 2024. MWC is also exploring introducing a medical centre there.
Migrant workers meeting their friends at benches in Sembawang Recreation Centre, which opened in April 2024, on Jan 26.ST PHOTO: WONG YANG
Migrant workers have also been able to learn new skills through classes and workshops at these centres.
Electrical technician Raju Manikandan has taken six computer skills classes conducted by volunteers at Sembawang Recreation Centre since the start of 2025.
The classes are offered by non-profit The Colours Foundation – in collaboration with Hope Initiative Alliance – which opened a space at the Sembawang centre in June 2024.
Mr Manikandan, 41, who lives in the nearby Cochrane Lodge 2, said: “It’s like an exercise for my brain. And it’s given me more confidence to hopefully do an AutoCAD (computer-aided design) course for construction in the future, so that I can upgrade myself.”
Another NGO with a dedicated space at Sembawang Recreation Centre is ItsRainingRaincoats. The group conducts yoga sessions, shopping bazaars and Microsoft Excel classes, among other activities, at the centre for 25 to 50 workers monthly.
Over at Cochrane Recreation Centre, Bangladeshi construction worker Hasan Jahidul Islam, 25, has played football almost every weekend with about 20 other migrant workers from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, India and Vietnam for three years.
Mr Hasan, who lives in temporary workers’ housing in Ang Mo Kio, said: “I don’t mind travelling here because the pitch is very good and it is free for us to book it. Otherwise, we cannot afford to play at the other football pitches in Singapore.”
Migrant workers carrying groceries they bought at the minimart in Cochrane Recreation Centre in Sembawang on Feb 16.ST PHOTO: WONG YANG
With more workers going to recreation centres, old haunts in Little India have become quieter.
Eateries and shops that mainly serve migrant workers in Little India said sales have dipped by 20 to 30 per cent in the past two years. The seven businesses ST spoke to cited the trend of fewer migrant workers going to Little India on their rest days as a major factor.
The MOM spokesman also said the ministry has observed fewer migrant workers visiting Little India compared with before Covid-19.
Mr Ruthirapathy Parthasarathy, honorary secretary of the Little India Shop Owners and Heritage Association, said about 150,000 workers visit the area every Sunday, a 40 per cent drop from an average of 250,000 before Covid-19.
“Businesses say their regulars are visiting less frequently because they can get more of the groceries and services they need at the recreation centres now, which have become more vibrant, and where prices are pretty competitive,” added Mr Ruthirapathy.
“So instead of making the longer journey to Little India every weekend, or every fortnight, many of them now come down around once a month, or less.”
With more workers going to recreation centres, old haunts in Little India have become quieter. Eateries and shops that cater to these workers told Little India their sales have dipped by 20 to 30 per cent in the past two years.ST PHOTO: WONG YANG
While advocacy groups said recreation centres have been crucial in providing amenities, services and leisure facilities close to migrant workers’ dormitories, they added that places like Little India will remain the “de facto community hub” for workers.
Mr Ethan Guo, executive director of Transient Workers Count Too, said workers will always have a reason to visit venues like Little India because they are more centrally located, and have a buzz and atmosphere that cannot be replicated.
A Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) spokeswoman also pointed out that “recreation centres’ (and dormitories’) locations in remote areas may isolate them from the wider community, and limit social connections and a sense of belonging”.
In an MOM guide for migrant workers seen by ST, the only venues listed under a section titled “Where to go on your rest day” are recreation centres. The guide advises workers that in their free time, they can visit recreation centres where there are amenities and activities catered to them.
An MOM spokesman said the first recreation centres were initially set up to address the basic needs of migrant workers, with minimarts and retail shops.
Migrant workers buying their groceries at the minimart in Cochrane Recreation Centre on Feb 16.ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
Then, from 2013 to 2022, the Government progressively developed more recreation centres as a “key engagement platform” for migrant workers. MWC also took over the Soon Lee centre, where a programme to help new arrivals settle in is being carried out, said the spokesman.
In 2014, then Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin told Parliament in the aftermath of the 2013 Little India riot that the Government intends to build more recreation centres, which will provide alternative options for migrant workers to gather and relax.
The MOM spokesman added that after the Covid-19 pandemic, the authorities have looked to recreation centres as a platform to collaborate with NGOs and other partners to better meet the needs of migrant workers.
These include setting up regional medical centres at the recreation centres in Penjuru, Kranji and Woodlands, expanding congregational prayer sessions and community engagement with NGOs, such as through the organisation of festive celebrations, events, training courses and workshops.
MOM has also arranged for free bus services that shuttle between workers’ dormitories and Kranji and Sembawang Recreation Centres to make it more convenient for them to visit the centres, said the spokesman.
He added that MOM is working with design-thinking firms to explore ways to reimagine and develop innovative design concepts and features for the recreation centres in Soon Lee and Kaki Bukit. The redevelopment projects are tentatively expected to be completed in early 2030.
For Mr Kasi, the increasing variety of recreation options for migrant workers helps to make Singapore more of a home away from home.
“We come here and work very hard for our families, so it’s nice to have more places to relax and more things to do on our days off,” he said.
- Wong Yang is a journalist at The Straits Times, covering housing, property, land use and community stories.
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