JAKARTA: On weekends, the walkways outside Singapore’s Lucky Plaza resemble a vibrant enclave as migrant domestic workers gather on their only day off.
At the popular hangout for workers from Indonesia and other countries, women sit cross-legged on flattened cardboard sheets, unpacking rice packets and fried snacks from plastic containers. Indonesian pop songs drift softly from mobile phones.
For many Singaporeans, it is a familiar scene and part of the rhythm of bustling Orchard Road. But for 17-year-old Nathan Alexandro Tjhe, an Indonesian student studying in Singapore, it was impossible to look away.
“When I first moved to Singapore, I realised many Indonesian migrant workers gathered there every Sunday,” Nathan, who is from Pontianak in West Kalimantan, said.
“A lot of them sent most of their salaries back home, so they had very little left for themselves.”
Singapore relies heavily on migrant domestic workers, with about 316,900 employed as at December 2025, according to the Ministry of Manpower. They come from countries including Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar.
Much of their salaries go towards their children’s schooling, household expenses or savings for a home back in their countries.
Nathan first encountered that reality in his own home.
His family moved him and his brother to Singapore in late 2021, where he enrolled in ACS (International) in Holland Village.
One evening in 2025, Nathan noticed his Indonesian domestic helper crying quietly.
“She told me her son in Java was having problems in school and had fallen into bad company”, he recalled. “She felt guilty because she was far away and could not guide him properly.”
The woman had been sending nearly all her salary home to support her family and other relatives.
“Sometimes she wanted to buy small things for herself or her child, like a keychain or jacket,” Nathan said. “But she did not have enough money left.”
He could not look away from that either.
A quiet burden carried across borders
Nathan began speaking more regularly with Indonesian workers and realised many felt pressure to support their extended families because relatives often assumed anyone working abroad was financially secure.
Soon after, he and some schoolmates started the Peduli Initiative to support Indonesian migrant domestic workers in Singapore.
At first, the obstacles seemed insurmountable for a teenager just trying to do something kind.
Nathan e-mailed the Indonesian embassy in Singapore and waited weeks without a reply. He also contacted Indonesian embassies in other countries.
Eventually, the embassy in Madrid forwarded his message back to Singapore, which prompted the embassy to respond.
With its guidance, Nathan and his schoolmates focused on fundraising. Together with embassy officials, they identified simple items many workers rarely bought for themselves: toiletries, snacks and basic comforts from home such as noodles and biscuits.
The students then collected second-hand tumblers, umbrellas, clothes and electronics from classmates and teachers. Some even donated old iPhones.
The items were resold on online marketplace Carousell, raising between S$1,000 (US$781) and S$2,000 in four months.
In August 2025, the group organised a gathering near Singapore’s National Stadium attended by around 100 Indonesian domestic workers.
The women received care packages filled with Indomie instant noodles, biscuits, toothpaste, soap, sanitary products and Tolak Angin herbal medicine.
Among those who attended was Maria Ermelinda Bhoki, a 36-year-old from Flores island in East Nusa Tenggara.
Her monthly salary was S$580. She usually kept about S$50 for herself and sent the rest home to support her 17-year-old child preparing for university, her widowed mother and three younger siblings still in school. She was also saving money to build a house back home.
“There were times when everything ran out,” she said. “I just endured it... because earning money is already hard.”
Most months, she tried to stretch her personal allowance of S$50 as far as possible, buying only essentials and the occasional loaf of bread as a treat.
Maria said she skipped some of her days off to save money.
Another worker, Siti Al-Isna, 31, returned to Kendal in Central Java in March this year after four years of working in Singapore.
She had completed two contracts as a domestic worker, earning a basic salary of S$550, which rose to around S$620 with overtime. Most months, she sent about S$500 home to support her family and help build a house.
“Sometimes I would crave for KFC,” she said. “But then I thought it’s wasteful and would tell myself to buy it the next month instead.”
From school project to regional effort
The Peduli Initiative has since expanded beyond Singapore. The group now runs chapters in Pontianak and Kubu Raya in West Kalimantan, distributing aid to orphanages and nursing homes, while also helping flood victims in Aceh with support from Indonesia’s 473rd Commando Battalion.
This year, Peduli – which now has 18 members – was selected as part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) 2026 Global Youth Action Fund cohort, which supports youth-led community projects around the world with grants and mentorship programmes.
According to the IB website, organisers selected 110 projects – including Peduli – from more than 1,100 submissions worldwide. Nathan said Peduli received a US$2,500 grant, becoming the first project from his school to receive the award.
“When I handed out the packages and saw how grateful they were, everything suddenly felt worth it,” Nathan said. “All the stress, fund raising and hard work became meaningful.”
The group is now discussing future programmes with Sian Chay Medical Institution, including free medical check-ups, haircuts and educational workshops for Indonesian migrant workers.
Siti said such programmes could especially help newly arrived workers still paying off agency debts and adjusting to life in Singapore.
Even small comforts from home matter emotionally, she added. “Tolak Angin is something we always drink when our bodies ache,” she said. “So receiving it felt really comforting.”
For Maria, the package arrived when she needed to send extra money home because of illness and a death in the family. The supplies lasted about a month.
“I am very proud of Nathan,” she said. “He is still a student, yet he is looking out for his fellow Indonesians while abroad.” - The Straits Times/ANN
