The Problem
Having contributed to several legal education workshops, my team and I became extremely aware of the common problems faced by blue-collar migrant workers who move to Singapore. Particularly, many of them were not necessarily aware of the employment laws that applied to them. Even if they wanted to find out, they had to either consult their supervisor or navigate pages of government websites only to find general information that might not directly apply to them. The fact that many of them barely speak fluent English makes it a lot more difficult for them to understand their rights and how they can get appropriate legal assistance.
What we did
My interdisciplinary team of engineering students and law students, and I, built a multilingual Facebook chatbot aimed at addressing common issues and questions faced by new migrant workers who move to Singapore. Through understanding their problems in the language that they are most comfortable in, our solution can both respond with personalized responses and direct migrant workers to relevant resources.
