For the Indian workers, who paid between $1,500 and $4,000 to unscrupulous agents who promised them well-paying jobs in Singapore, the amount not only represents their entire lives' savings, but many of them had to rely on heavy borrowing as well.

It wasn't long ago when we read about the man who was entrusted with millions of dollars to remit to families in China for Chinese foreign workers here, but pocketed the money instead and gambled it away.

Wasn't it just a few weeks ago The Straits Times reported an employer who did not pay her Indonesian maid in the six years she worked for her? When interviewed, she even had the cheek to claim she had raised her maid's wages over the years. And she would have gone on with her abuse, if not for the sense of injustice felt by a family member who blew the whistle on her. I'm sure the cases we read about are but the tip of the iceberg of actual abuses, even in our small country.

On the other hand, every now and then we read about Singaporeans who, from their own foolhardiness and greed, fell prey to Nigerian scams and are cheated of large sums of money. As such, many of us do not have a good impression of Nigerians in general, branding them cheats or swindlers.

However, my question is; How are we different from the Nigerians? The only difference I can see is, while the Nigerian scams exploit gullible people who want to make a quick fortune without hard work, these Indian workers are here to sweat it out for an honest day's wages. And while we in Singapore have the benefit of the media to warn us of such scams, these Indian workers, many of whom I believe are illiterate, did not.

Furthermore, in desperation or out of sheer ignorance, many turned to working illegally here and were duly arrested, jailed and even caned. Shouldn't those responsible for the scam, who have benefited financially from it, be punished instead?

Some of us may argue that many of these agents are Indian nationals themselves, but could they have carried out their scam without Singaporeans involved? Some may even try to explain that these Singaporeans represent a tiny minority, but ask any bona-fide Nigerians and won't they tell you the same?

Singapore is known for its clean government and honest people, so our passports are cherished by many around the world as symbols of honesty and integrity. I don't believe such a reputation came to us by chance. Our leaders and people have worked hard for it. Isn't it sad that our reputation can be tarnished by such unscrupulous black sheep?

Peter Yan Pei Tuck