Pro Bono SG, a community legal clinic that offers free legal awareness programmes, guidance and legal representation, organised the second edition of its Migrant Justice League last Sunday.
The cricket tournament for migrant workers, supported by The Majurity Trust’s Scaffold Fund, has two aims: Raise awareness of the free legal services Pro Bono SG offers and build friendships between migrant workers and the legal fraternity.
Twelve teams competed in the finals at the Ceylon Sports Club (CSC), with Ojha Boys beating Genuine Friends by seven runs to bag the trophy and a cash prize of $4,000.
The six-week-long tournament saw the participation of nearly 1,340 migrant workers, who formed 183 teams and participated in the preliminary rounds at the Kranji, Cochrane, Tuas South, Penjuru recreation centres and the Migrant Workers’ Centre Recreation Club.
More than 500 people turned up at the CSC during the semi-finals and final on Sunday, including lawyers, volunteers, donors, representatives from The Majurity Trust and cricket lovers.
Pro Bono SG chairman and senior counsel Gregory Vijayendran said the tournament benefited more than 4,000 migrant workers who got the chance to know about the free legal service Pro Bono SG offers.
“A tournament like this breaks down barriers of understanding and perceptions,” he said. “It helps us to be on the same field, know each other better, build friendships and, for the migrant worker community, not to be afraid of lawyers.
“We know that many of them are very shy, they are actually afraid to tell their problems. So the hope is that something like this will reduce and remove as much barriers as possible and help them realise the lawyers are as human as them. They will also know who to call if there’s a problem.”
The migrant workers make up one of the most vulnerable communities in Singapore and often find it difficult to access justice and other kinds of support because of language differences and a lack of interaction with individuals who might know where to seek legal help.
Pro Bono SG provided free legal help to 60 migrant workers at its Migrant Worker Legal Clinic from January to June this year, including those who speak Tamil, Hindi, Punjabi and Bengali. The most common cases were criminal matters and personal injury and salary claims. Other cases included personal loan, landlord-tenant disputes and scams.
The Pro Bono SG team also believes that interactions during the tournament will help the legal community better identify the needs of the migrant workers.
“Sports is a great way to unite people,” said Mr Pravinraj Rajendran, captain of the Ojha Boys team. “We are happy that we got to play our favourite sport on a big ground, and that we have Pro Bono SG’s backing if we have legal issues. That is a comforting feeling in these tough times.”
Genuine Friends player Angappan Arivalagan said the tournament was a great occasion to make new friends. “We usually play our cricket at the Soon Lee Migrant Workers’ Centre Recreation Club. So, it was a big jump for us to be playing at Ceylon Sports Club.
“Pro Bono SG gave us this chance. We are also thankful to them for providing us legal help when we need it.”
Mr Vijayendran said Pro Bono SG’s aim is to “help these guest workers who have helped build our community”.
“The bonds can be built only over time,” he said. “Last year was the first time we did this tournament. This was the sequel and we hope it was even better and stronger.”
