What a sad day!

I wonder what is happening in Singapore??? Recently, one of my good friend, the "chilli queen" who stayed with me at my previous place was sent back to China almost overnight. From what I heard, the "authorities" found out that her certificates presented were false. She works at a local laundry shop in China town. I saw her the day before she left and she was full of remorse. As always with migrant workers, she had not paid up her agent's fee of SGD8,000 and this means she has to go back with a big debt to pay. And in China, with a salary of between RMB800 to RMB1,200, it will take ages to pay back such a loan!

Yesterday, I heard from my ex-landlord that he will be sent back the following day as well. This time, the company he is working for (a cleaning company) just handed him a letter and air ticket and told him that he has to fly back the following day. He is in a dilemma as he has a rental contract with 2 months deposit and so many belonging in the house (beds, washing machines, wardrobes etc...) that he has no time to clear them all.

I felt really sorry for him and went to see him yesterday. All his tenants were shocked too and nobody, including my ex-landlord, was sure why he was being sent home. We had a meal together and had a good talk.

Migrant worker life is really not that easy. Even when we are willing to work really hard, something comes up along the way that may destroy our dreams. In one of my last posting, I mentioned that my boss forgot to send my medical check-up results to MOM and this may cause them to terminate my employment pass. I still have not heard from them, and I am keeping my fingers crossed, that I won't have to face the same fate. It will be a total disaster for me!

I am lucky that this second time around, I did not go through an agent and do not have that huge debt to pay. But I can imagine what it is like for most other, when instead of going overseas to make some money, you end up with a big debt and have to work the rest of your life paying it off. I wish some of the employers could be more responsible... ie if they know their business is not doing well, they should not be hiring foreign workers. But unfortunately, it works the other way around. The more they are not doing well, the more they would want to cut cost and the more they would want to hire foreign workers. See my posting about this hot pot restaurant who brought me over and told me they are closing down... how irresponsible!