Asia’s ‘Financial Parking Lot’

The slightly dilapidated five-story building in Singapore’s business district known as Burma Mall houses numerous small shops, cafes and under-the-counter, cash-remitting services.

It’s a familiar sight across East Asia’s richer cities, from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong, wherever contracted Indonesians, Thais, Filipinos and, to a lesser extent, Burmese work.