SINGAPORE – For years, many Bangladeshis paid middlemen up to two years’ worth of their salaries to secure construction jobs in Singapore, often arriving heavily indebted and vulnerable to exploitation.
This was an issue that Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC), a network of philanthropists in Asia who work together to tackle social challenges, wanted to address.
So the APC has been working with international development organisation BRAC, social enterprise BOP Hub and another Singapore partner to recruit, train and place Bangladeshi workers directly with employers here. This approach cuts out the middlemen, whose fees can cost between $12,000 and $15,000 for each worker placed.
Under the Alternative Entry Pathway project, workers pay less than $5,000 for training, medical screening, flights and other costs, said APC’s chairman Laurence Lien.
“(When you are) under a heavy debt, your employer tends to have a lot more power over you,” he said. “Anything their employer asks them to do, even if it’s unreasonable, they would just do.”
Since the project began in late 2023, over 150 workers have found jobs in Singapore. The aim, he said, is to come up with a recruitment model that can be scaled up to benefit many more.
The project reflects both APC’s approach and how Lien views philanthropy: not simply giving money away, but as a way to address root causes of social problems, collaborate with others and find new ways to solve challenges.
Lien, 55, was recently named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in philanthropy by Time magazine. He is the only Singaporean to make the 2026 list that was released in its May 25 issue.
“It’s nice to get the recognition,” he said in an interview with The Straits Times. “I’m not into the recognition for myself, but I recognise the value of putting the spotlight on Asia, where we tend to be under-represented on such platforms.”
He joins the ranks of the founder of Dell Computers, Michael Dell, and his wife, Susan, who pledged to give US$6.25 billion (S$8 billion) to seed Government-administered investment accounts for 25 million American children who will each get US$250.
Others on the Time list include pop star Rihanna, whose Clara Lionel Foundation has distributed over US$100 million to climate, women’s entrepreneurship and other causes, and BRAC’s executive director Asif Saleh. BRAC operates in 14 countries to tackle poverty and inequality.
Perhaps best known as chairman of the Lien Foundation – which was established by his grandfather Lien Ying Chow, founder of Overseas Union Bank – Lien spent nearly the past two decades working full-time to promote philanthropy.
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