A public service announcement of sorts, since I didn't even realize this was possible:
There's an NGO called HOME in Singapore which helps out migrant workers who've gotten into legal problems with their employers for one reason or another (abused, injured, unpaid etc.) Many of their guys are sitting around waiting for the wheels of justice to slowly grind their way forward, with no income at all and often families to feed back home... but they often have Special Passes and are thus legally available for hire for small jobs like cleaning, painting, etc at a rate of around $50/day. It's a win-win: you get a skilled person to help you out at a good price, and your money goes directly to someone who needs it desperately. Here's one story:
http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2009/yax-1058.htm
(note: the guy from HOME is the second worker, not the incompetent first one!)
And if you're in an even more charitable mood, HOME is always looking for volunteers and accepts donations of cash, food, household appliances, old PCs, etc:
http://home.org.sg/page5.asp
Update from Yawning Bread:
Subsequently, I learnt that it's rather more complicated than that. It's true that with a Special Pass, a worker could do casual work -- after all, the poor guy has to survive and he can't work for his original (Work Permit) employer with whom he is in dispute. But the Ministry of Manpower has instituted a hopeless system whereby employers who wish to hire Special Pass casual workers have to register with the ministry. As my friend who helps out with the migrant worker organisation remarked, the system evidently is not working. It's too cumbersome, too bureaucratic for what is really just a few days' or a few weeks' work. Net result: the workers, some of whom have not been paid for months (and that's why they are in dispute with their employers) don't get offers and are left stranded and desperate.
So you can still hire people from HOME, you just need to register with the Ministry of Manpower to do it legally. If you have any experiences with doing this, please post below!
unfortunately it is the same thing which is discouraging employees who are taken advantaged to seek MOM's help.
