More than Grades

More than Grades

- Shermaine Ang

Ms Lutfa Shazneen Hasan grew up enthralled by her parents' stories about life in a central Bangladeshi town along the Padma River and the country's realities of war, famine and protests.

The 23-year-old, who graduated from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) with a bachelor's degree in history in July, said their experiences inspired her to study immigrant history.

"Our family story is like that of hundreds of thousands of others, where those from the Global South have to migrate to other economies for their economic needs," she said.

Ms Shazneen now works full time at the Migrant Workers' Centre, where she helps foreign workers navigate tough job conditions as a senior specialist.

She provides support and advocacy for migrant workers facing employment, social or welfare challenges. This includes managing individual cases, liaising with government agencies, employers and embassies, and ensuring workers have shelter, welfare aid and information on their rights.

The Migrant Workers' Centre, an initiative of the National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore National Employers Federation, runs a migrant recreation centre in Soon Lee Road in Boon Lay.

In 1996, Ms Shazneen's father Zahurul Hasan came to Singapore to work as a mechanical technician in shipbuilding, leaving the political uncertainty of his home town behind.

His wife Sharmin Hasan joined him in 2001, and they had their first daughter, Ms Shazneen, the next year. They have two younger daughters aged 13 and 16.

The family, who live in Jurong West, got their Singapore citizenship in 2006.

Mr Zahurul, now 52, remained in the shipbuilding industry until 2018, after which he found his current work as an English-Bengali translator for government agencies. His wife is a homemaker.