Finally, the call....

I had been waiting for almost 2 weeks now and not a call from the agent. That little voice in me keeps telling me I had been taken for a ride. I already paid a big sum of money and looks like this time, I'm getting nothing out of it. My friends and relatives where not much help either. They told me to learn my lesson and move on.

Then when I have just about given up hope, the phone rang. When I saw the agents number, my heart almost skipped a few beats. The agent had good news for me. He said that much of the arrangements is confirmed and I need to go and pay my other 50% payment before they arrange for tickets and the rest.

Quite frankly, after all this wait and the humiliation I got from my friends and relatives, I was about to say yes to anything, just to prove them wrong!

That afternoon, I literally "flew" over to the agents office again. The agent had explained the procedure over the phone. I had to bring down the rest of my payment together with all the necessary documentation. I told the agent I do not have a passport and they said they will give me the necessary documentation to apply for one. It'll take a few weeks but that should be ok as I'm not expected to fly out till about a month later.

When I got home, I broke the good news to my parents. My dad was his usual doubtful self but my mother was rather supportive. I did sense a little sorrow troubling her that evening, as we had dinner. Despite her show of joy, she was saddened by the fact that in just over a month, I will be off to a distant country. She wondered how life will be like without her eldest daughter around. Even though I'm not always at home when I work in Shenyang, I'm still easily contactable by phone and I'm just about a 2 hours ride from home. But now... I don't even know how far away I will be! All I do know is that it is very very far and I am a little apprehensive myself.! In my whole 26 years, I've never been that far away from home, I've never taken a plane or a train. In fact, I've never been to Beijing, our capital city and I've never seen the Great Wall of China, one of the seven man made wonders of the world!

Factory Girls

I recently read an interesting book about life of factory girls in China written my Leslie Chang, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal who lived in China for a decade. This book traces the life of women from the countryside who work factories in China.

China now has more than 130 million workers and the government is frantically creating jobs for these people who's exodus from the villages and rural towns would otherwise become a big problem for the country. As it is, supply is already greater than demand, despite the huge growth in industrialization in China, depressing salary and extending working hours and aggravating working conditions.

The recent news of many suicides at the Foxconn factory manufacturing Apple iphones and other products has raised worldwide attention to the plight of the Chinese migrant workers, prompting the factory management to raise their salary by up to 20%. Unknown to the outside world, many continues to be "sweatshops" employing under aged workers, working in an unhealthy environment and putting them through long hours of work away from their homes and their loved ones. Exploitation has its limits and I believe more of these will be exposed as more and more writers pen their thoughts about the situation in China!

It is no wonder that many are jumping on the bandwagon for jobs in more developed countries such as Singapore and Japan, and despite the lower level jobs (eg waitresses, floor cleaners etc...), the salary, working and living conditions are much better than in the cities of China.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand more about the life of Chinese migrant workers. I consider myself to be one of these and while I try to portray a clear a picture to you in this blog, the book certain gives a different perspective of life as a migrant worker back in China.

My Sister wants to go too!

Ever since my sister heard that I was coming to Singapore to work, she wants to come to. My sister is 5 years younger than I but she is a lot more adventurous and "gung-ho" too. Unlike me, she makes up her mind really fast and when she does so, it will be very difficult to change her mind.

My sister and I are very close since young. Since I started work at 17, I've always bought her little things that she wants. She's always look up to me as "big sister" and I kind of enjoy the "honor" as well. She's a lot more bubbly than I am and now she's grown up to be a beautiful girl. Isn't she lovely?

Currently, my sister works in the beauty line. She specializes in doing facials and currently works in a beauty center in Shenyang. Beauty centers has sprung up by the hundreds all over China as we progress. More and more ladies find it a necessity to want to look good at work, especially office workers. Working hours in this part of the world are long (10-12 hours day) and many work 6-7 days a week. Most workers are only given 7 vacation days each year and as such, many of them don;t have the time to look after themselves. These beauty parlor are perfect places for them to relax and let someone pamper them. Well, the competitiveness of this business is good for the clients but for the business owners and employees of the beauty parlors, life is tough. Margins are low and charges are very competitive, driving many smaller ones out of business.

My sister has an ambition to come to Singapore to familiarize herself with the trade and when she has saved enough, to finally start a small business here. It's just too competitive here.

However, I told her that I will go suss out the situation and working conditions in Singapore before asking her to come over. The truth is, I know she does not have the money  to come over and like me, she probably has to take a loan from someone to pay the agent's fee. I'm not sure it is a good idea for both of us to get into such a high debt at this time, so I am using this as an excuse to discourage her from coming. I promised her that when things are moving well, I will look for a job for her so that we do not have to pay the hefty agent's fee. Or in the event that things does not work out for me, then she should not even think about coming. However, deep down inside me, I wanted her to be beside me on this long journey. Outwardly, I tried to show her that I am "cool" but inside me, I'm just a complete nervous wreck... not unlike a cool looking swan that is paddling like crazy under water!

My Documents...

I had misplaced some documents during my last visit to the agent and I had to get this to them. I went home and had a thorough search and to my surprise, was able to find some of my documents safely tucked away by my mum. That's what mothers are, aren't they? They really take good care of you and if you leave your documents all over the place, you can be sure they will keep them for you, somewhere safe and sound until the day you need them.

I have great parents and they brought me up well and instilled a good sense of responsibility in me and my brother and sister. Sometimes, as we grow up, we take them for granted every now and then... but somehow, we get back to our senses once the excitement dies down. At least I do, and I am glad, I never go overboard with them. They are always there for me, even today, far away from home, they are just a phone call away!

Here is a part of my Educational Certificate. Just wanted to show readers the picture taken when I was much younger. Look really different don't I. Well, we all do when we grow up. Sometimes, I don't even recognize myself but now I enjoy looking at my past pictures.

Putting my money where my mouth is!

This distant relative whom I called "Uncle" lives about 2 hours away by bus. Even though he had finally agreed to lend me the money, I could sense a feeling of reluctance when I was at his place. I don't blame him. He's not rich but he's better off than us. And there was no collateral, which means I may not be able to repay the money. Quite frankly, I don't even know (at that time), if the agent "took me to the cleaners" (cheated me), or if I was able to repay. What I did know was that I will do all I can to work hard and repay the debt... hopefully within the 6mths that the agent had "promised". Regardless, I did not intend to default. We may not be rich, but we are ethical and honest!

Next day, I called the agent who arranged to meet me at his office. I was told to bring all necessary documents; identifications, educational certificates etc... etc... and of course money! I had to pay a 50% deposit and once they secure a job for us, they will contact us for the other 50% before making arrangements for our travel to Singapore. I was actually given two options; Singapore or Japan but I picked Singapore as they money was "bigger" and from what I understand, the population has a high percentage of Chinese many of whom spoke some level of mandarin.

With some doubts still hanging at the back of my head, I reluctantly parted with 50% of the money. The office was not a very impressive outfit. It was small but crowded but I don't think I had many other choice back then. It wasn't even air-conditioned, but ventilated by two big fans, hanging from the dirty ceiling. I could see some cobwebs at one corner where a few geckos and a spiders prey on the few insects attracted to the fluorescent light on the ceiling.

I finally signed some documents and the agent told me to go home and wait for his call. I was a nervous wreck and shaking. Butterflies rumbled in my little tummy heightening the feeling of hunger as I have not eaten all morning. I shivered as a gust of cold air rushed down the back of my neck. I'd never felt so unsure... damn, I wasn't even sure if I'd ever receive a call or see this agent again! I've heard stories of agents disappearing overnight but then... no venture no gain!

Decision Time!

I could not sleep that night, thinking,"Should I or should I not?".I thought about missing my friends and family in China. But I also remembered what my mother told me once when I was younger. She said, "Often in life, we have to give up something to get something else better!" I asked her opinion and she supported my idea of going away to earn a living. My dad was not as supportive though, because he knew that if I were to go, I'll have to borrow money from someone to pay the agent fees, as we definitely do not have the money ourselves. Even if each family member put in all of his/her savings, we still would not have been able to come up with that amount. Such is the situation at home... we live hand-to-mouth each day but we get by.

Finally I decided that I have to go. It's a sacrifice I have to make to give my family a better life. However, first, I have to decide how and where I am going to come up with the hefty agent's fee!

I have a distant relative, an "uncle" who is reasonably well off...or at least more so than we were. I decided that he may be able to help me. The banks won't lend me any money and I am afraid of using illegal money lenders. In China, they have a reputation of harassing your family and loved ones when you're late on payment. I immediately called my wealthy uncle and explained to him the situation. He was reluctant to help but somehow that day, I summoned all my convincing power and managed to convince him to loan me 50,000 RMB. I was ecstatic when he finally agreed. That afternoon, I immediately made the two hours bus journey to get the money from him. My mind was made up... I was going to Singapore and nobody's going to talk me out of it! I was determined to give myself and my family a better life!

Follow my star...

After a week, I still wasn't sure if I did the right thing. After all, I feel quite comfortable in my hometown, where I have friends and I am familiar with everything. My stomach churns when I keep thinking of what I got myself into.

A week later, the agent called and said that there is a job working in a cafeteria and asked if I wanted the job. I went down to meet him and he told me about the job. There's promise of an initial pay of SGD800, with 13th month and bonus for good performance. After 3 months, I'd be eligible for a pay raise, although he did not say how much. Oh, and accommodation is provided!

I quickly turned the figures in my head. SGD800... wow, that's about 4,000RMB, more than 4 times of what I will be getting back home!

The agent's fee is a hefty 50,000RMB (almost SGD10,000)! That hurts! I asked why so much, and the agent said it covers return airfares, documentation etc... etc... I've never saved that much in my whole 26 years, so how am I going to come up with the money. The agent applied pressure... if I wanted the job, I have to pay in 2 days or he'll have to find someone else.

I never felt so pressurized! Stressed out! Cold sweat! He told me to go back and think about it and come back to him in two days. Before I left, he ran me through a little motivation talk again; I could pay back in 6months and come back with a big pile of savings after 2 years!

I've always wanted to run my own little stall selling clothes... my mind started to wander as I walked out into the cold morning breeze!

The Beginning...

I came out to work when I was 17 where I started work as a salesgirl in a small boutique in my hometown. I came from a farming family in the city of Benxi and earning money in farming was not easy. The weather was harsh and winter can be freezing cold. As such, I decided, against my mother's wishes, to stop school and start work.

Even as an employee, my salary was only 800RMB (approx. USD100) per month. It wasn't low by China's standard by I now know that it is very low compared to the more developed countries. Things were cheap back home. I could buy a blouse for 20RMB and have a meal for 3RMB.

It was only at the beginning of 2008 that a friend pulled me along to listen to an employment agency's sales talk in Benxi. They touted the benefits of working in Singapore, where we could earn as much as 10 times more than what we were earning back home. They were good sales people. They even help you calculate your return on investments showing you how you can recover your agent's fee in less than 6 months and thereafter it's all yours to keep. They showed you that after 2 years, you could come back with almost 50,000RMB (USD4,000) of savings to start your own business or do whatever you want with it. This sum of money will take me almost 14 years to save (...if I can save 300RMB every month which is not easy back home!).

It all sounded so rosy and many people fell for it. At the end of the talk, rows of people queue up to sign up. My friend and I were among the crowd who queued. We did not know what we were getting into.