Photojournalist Lim Wui Liang spent five weeks documenting the lives of Africans who come here in search of a better life. Some make it but others end up sleeping on pavements, getting into scuffles, and return home broke. Listen to the accounts of five Africans as they talk about their struggles, hopes, and dreams of making it in Singapore.

Elton Gidiglo, 27, was duped into coming to Singapore by a job agent in Ghana. Having paid good money to his agent and for the air ticket to get here, he would rather stay on and try to make a living instead of returning home in shame. His family sends him money but it is not on a regular basis. When he is penniless, he sleeps in the open at the CLE African Restaurant. When his visitor's pass was to expire, he left for Kuala Lumpur before returning again in two weeks. Recently, he has applied to register his trading company with the Ministry of Manpower and hopes to get it approved.

Nigerian Femi Adewumi, 34, is married to a Singaporean, Regina Wong, 34. The couple met over the internet three years ago and began dating. When he first met his father-in-law, it was with 11 other men that he did not know. His father-in-law had brought other male relatives as bystanders while he interrogated him on his background. Today, he works for his father-in-law and and lives in a rental walk-up apartment in East Coast Road. He and his wife hope to have their own place and become parents one day.

Patrick Willie Ofem, 30, is a tour agency boss who came to Singapore on holiday from Nigeria. Besides studying the country to advise his customers back home, he is also here to buy used electronics home to sell for a profit. Two weeks after his arrival, he proposed to a Singaporean lady and she accepted. However, he had to return to Nigeria because his attempt at extending his visitor's pass till their wedding day was unsuccessful. His wife-to-be has since called the wedding off but he is still returning to Singapore.

John Ekundayo, 47, came to Singapore almost three years ago from Nigeria and today pastors the largest African congregation in Singapore at Cornerstone Community Church. Seeing his work as a calling from God, the ex-civil engineer left his bungalow in Africa to come here on a mission to instill the right values and way of life for his countrymen in Singapore. His message to them is clear: Do not overstay here. Once a week, he meets up with new arrivals in his church and at the CLE African Restaurant in Little India to counsel and advise them on their plans here.

Grace Boluwatife, 8, goes to Macpherson Primary with her sister, Gloria Olajesu, 11. Her father, John Ekundayo, came to work in Singapore in June 2005 and brought his family over in December last year to join him. Schoolwork is easy for her and she finds time to play with her neighbours along the corridors of their 4-room HDB flat in Ubi Avenue 1.

In his keynote address at the annual Singapore Tripartism Forum, former Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen - now Education Minister - reflects on the importance of not 'protecting' workers here through a clampdown on the foreign worker quota and a high wage policy. He also elaborates on the way forward for Singapore's workforce.