HERO for HUMANITY

A moment in the rain sparked a movement for migrant workers’ welfare. Dipa Swaminathan, the founder of Singapore charity ItsRainingRaincoats, rewrites the narrative for the city’s invisible labour force with her blend of compassion and dynamic action

- Nafeesa Saini

In the stark, industrial vastness of Pasir Panjang Power Station, Dipa Swaminathan cuts an ethereal figure. Draped in a flowing black toga dress and sporting her signature pixie cut, the founder of non‑profit organisation ItsRainingRaincoats (IRR) exudes a calm yet potent energy during our cover shoot, bringing to mind Athena, the Greek goddess revered not just for her wisdom but also her boundless compassion.

The atmosphere on set is a world apart from our first meeting in the cosy confines of her home where she speaks to Tatler for this story. We sit on her eclectically decorated porch, where she welcomes us with masala chai, setting the tone for a conversation as warm as her hospitality. It is this same warmth that propelled her to action on a fateful stormy day in 2014.

Driving into the street where she was living at the time, she passed two drenched migrant workers. “I reversed my car, rolled down my passenger side window and told them to get in. They were reluctant as they didn’t know me, and they were wet and muddy. But I refused to move,” says Swaminathan. She brought them home and gave them a fresh change of clothes as well as food and drink. She also photographed them for a Facebook post to advocate for employers to supply raincoats or umbrellas to workers doing road works, then provided them with her mobile number for future assistance.

Months later, she got a call from the police, who told her that one of the two men, named Murugan, had tried to take his own life. “They arrested him, as attempted suicide was a crime at that time. The only number he had was mine,” she says. “They couldn’t contact the employer, and the only other person he knew in Singapore was me.”