You've seen them at your construction sites and perhaps even in your own neighbourhood.

It's a common scene; you walk down the street on a warm Saturday evening with your classmates after a gruelling week in school and you see them squatting by the footway sipping Tiger beer and getting high into the wispy, pungent fumes of lit tobacco.

A friend tosses a token derogatory remark in their direction - something about body hygiene- that incites a chorus of derisive laughter from the rest of your companions. The row of seated men looks up at the sound of the laughter and clattered coin of insult, strangers, all, to the uttered foreign tongue, but fully comprehending the mocking tone and meaning behind the words.

Between more sips of beer, their thoughts drift, far away from the prejudice and bitter slights to their dignity.

This is the plight of the foreign worker - do they truly deserve such treatment? Can we make a society without them? And the more important question begs asking, are we willing to accept them?

The Tempest Within

25 year-old Ngee Ann Polytechnic graduate Swee Ming definitely doe not feel safe if the foreign workers were to move in next door. "Though I know they probably will not be dangerous or commit crime, I'll still feel unsafe", she admits.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, foreign workers appear to commit less crime than Singaporeans. 435 Singaporeans out of every 100,000 residents got into trouble with the law last year while the police arrested only 286 foreign workers out of every 100,000 residents.

An apparently lower crime rate would, logically, dispel the common stereotypes of foreign workers who are often labelled as thieves, robbers, rapists or otherwise perpetrators of all manner of depraved acts known to mankind.

In a straw poll of 12 tertiary students, a student, who declined to be named, expressed his incredulousness if such workers were to move in next-door to him. He thinks he would promptly shift out of that happens. Another thinks race plays a part. "If they're of the same race as me, I'd feel OK about it," he says.

More than half of the students polled do not think they would ever build a strong friendship or develop a close relationship with a foreign worker.

Lim Hong Jie, 20, a 2nd-year Ngee Ann Polytechnic student, cites a case of burglary near his residence. "My neighbour who was renovating his house had foreign workers staying there and at night, the foreign workers climbed out through the window, broke into another neighbour's house to steal." He recalls, "Many foreign workers come here to work and earn money, but some seem more interested to make our maids pregnant and steal."

The Neighbourhood Watchmen

Not all foreign workers commit crime. Certainly some have banded together to help fight crime. A group of vigilant and righteous workers have started neighbourhood patrols to curb complaints of rowdy and drunken behaviour by newly arrived counterparts. Surely, such initiatives will help integrate our workers, both seasoned and new arrivals, into the community quicker.

Just One Of Us

It is easy to hurl accusations and abuse at our foreign workers when you have a roof above your head, live comfortably with your family and have parents who can support your material and lifestyle needs to a large extend. It makes us less aware of the gaping maw of loneliness, the struggle to acclimatise to a foreign environment and the monumental financial burdens that the workers are yoked to.

Put yourself in the shoes of the poor workers. Imagine that you've spent most of your savings and sold your business at home for passage to a foreign land. While away from home and family, you stay in a cramped dormitory burdened with the daunting task of having to feed 11 mouths back home.

That is the stark reality of life for Joynal Abedin, a foreign labourer who was recently interviewed by the Straits Times.

For now, perhaps perceptions might change as Singaporeans become more aware of the plights of these journey men and someday accept that foreign labour forms a part of our social fabric.