Poor Old Lady

Last Saturday, as I was preparing to go for my English Class, I was kind of feeling down, thinking why I had to spend money to learn English, when I should have learnt all these when I was younger. If not for the classes, I could be resting, listening to music or just relaxing. As I headed to my English Class, I walked behind a row of flats near Bedok Central and noticed a small stack of cardboard boxes, messily placed all over. Cluttered amongst them, was an old lady, patiently cutting up the boxes and stacking them onto a trolley.

The little old lady was probably in her late seventies or eighties and walks with a perpetual hunch. I could almost feel the pain as I watch her walk those difficult few steps. I could almost feel the creaking in her bones and the pain she must have felt.Despite the pain and difficulty she was obviously in, she was meticulous, cutting and stacking each box neatly onto the trolley and tying them down neatly. My mind wondered as to how much she can fetch for those few boxes? Ten cents per box and with about 10 to 20 boxes, she probably gets about two dollars worth?

All of a sudden, I realized how fortunate I am to be of good health, to be able to study, to be able to walk with pain and even jog regularly. I thank God for blessing me for making me what I am and I made up my mind to study and work even harder.

It's interesting how our attitude can change just because of one thing or another. Maybe it's these little incidents like what I had just experienced that makes our life worth living. What would life be without a few of these incidents to remind us of how fortunate we are. No matter how bad a situation you think you are in, there's always someone worse off than you, somewhere in the world!

My sister's new hair cut!

Recently, after straightening my hair, my sister decided to have a hair cut herself. Her hair have become quite messy as she had no time to trim it since she came to Singapore in January. She had wanted to cut her hair some time back already but do not know of a "cheap" place to do so. Since I got to know this Chinese guy who works at the salon in Punggol, she think's it's worth a try.

Two Thursdays ago, when she had a day off, she asked me to take her to this place in Punggol. While I dread to go the distance, she promised to buy me a good dinner. Ha ha... fair exchange!

So in the evening after work, I met her at Bedok MRT on my way back and we made our way to Punggol. I had already made an appointment for her, so we do not have to worry about the queue. This place can get quite crowded after working hours as it is the only salon within a 2km radius.

Sometimes, the problem with women is that we want to do something, but we do not know how we want to do it. My sister wants to have a hair cut, but she does not know if she what style she wants. She spent the next half hour or so flipping magazines, searching for the correct style. I just told her that any style is better than no style... Ha ha!

So with some cajoling from my end and some recommendations from the hair dresser, she finally decided on a "neither here not there" style... long at the back but with a China doll look in front. Here's the result! How do you think she looks? I actually think she looks a lot cooler in this new hair-do. She likes it too....

My first week making coffee!

Monday was the real test for me! It was my first day making coffee for everyone and was I nervous. I came to work with butterflies in my tummy. I remember the feeling when I was going to sit for an exam; same feeling. I could not find the sugar, I could not find the coffee powder etc... Fortunately for me, I got in earlier just to make sure I got everything in order. How I wish my colleague was with me just for one more day!

Anyway, the crowd starting streaming in at close to 8am and very soon, like all morning, the queue got longer and longer and longer. I'm not sure why the coffee queue is always long, maybe it's because we sell coffee at quite low price, only $0.80 per cup compared to $1.20 in most other places. Nevertheless, the coffee queue just keeps getting longer and I keep hoping it gets shorter.

Then I get a short break from a out 9.30am to 11.30am before the crowd starts to come again. Instead of having my lunch at 2.30pm, now I have my lunch at 11am as the lunch queue can be even longer. It's scary for me on my first day and I kept telling everyone I serve, "Please let me know if my coffee is not good, so that I can improve and serve you better!" Many say, the coffee taste just fine, but I was wondering within if they were just being polite? Most were encouraging... thank goodness!

The rest of the days were the same... long queues. Now I understand how stressful my ex-colleague's job was.

Fortunately for me, my buddy, Ah Mei and another colleauge, were always helping me. Ah Mei, in her jovial self, was always joking with the crowd, keeping the tension casual so that nobody noticed how slow I was at my first attempt to make coffee. After the first day, my shoulders were aching from having to carry the huge pot of coffee up and down, pouring out at least a few hundred cups each time.

Well, looking on the bright side, as one of my readers said, it's a skill I may be able to put to good use in future. And the shoulder ache, well, it must be good exercise too. Maybe I should cut down on my jogging a bit now that I am getting good exercise at work too!!!

Well, if you are working at MOE and reading this, please give me some encouragement. However, if my coffee is really bad, do let me know. I promise to learn and learn fast too.

My good friend - May!

It's not often that you get a good friend at work but if you do, it is such a blessing! Working life can be tough and cruel and good friends make working fun! I am fortunate to have a few good friends here and there wherever I go and I treasure them alot. Being a migrant worker can be lonely at times. It is also nice to be accepted by people other than your own country folks. I learn new cultures, mannerisms and even new words and phrases from different people. Some local friends were surprised when sometimes I utter, "Wa lao eh!", a phrase which I picked up while in Singapore!

I have a good friend I want to introduce to my readers. Her name is May and she is a Malaysian who works with me at MOE. May is one cheerful person that always never fails to make my day. She is always smiling, joking and poking fun at people. She is sharp and witty and it's just so much fun exchanging words with her. She has her own facebook page as seen on the right here...

May is also a great help at work. When I am working and she has done her work, she will always come by to help me. If I have to be in the kitchen, she will help me mend the stall. If I have to be at the stall, she will help me with the kitchen work. Sometimes we both work at the stall and that can be really fun!

What I like best is that with her around, I actually look forward to going to work! When there is a little bit of free time, we would sit and chat, eat together or even "shop" a little at the little stalls that are set up in the eating area. The pictures here show May shopping for a bag at one of the stalls.

Recently, May had her hair done as well, so I told her I am going to post a picture of her now hair-do here on my blog. Do "like" my blog on my facebook page so that I can show it to May ok? She's such a constant source of fun and encouragement for me!

I really enjoy her company and I dread the day when we have to part. Some day, that may come... but as for now, I am going to enjoy every moment I can with her.

She is quitting!

Recently, one of our Malaysia worker decided to quit. She's a specialist and she only makes coffee, and she makes good coffee. However, she has decided to call it a day as she found a new job with OLD CHANG KEE who supposedly pays her better. She will be working at the Old Chang Kee branch in Joo Chiat and as has asked me to go visit her when she start works next week.

We are good friends and I asked her why she wants to quit. She told me that's because our boss refuse to pay her a 13th month pay! I've never got a 13th month pay when working in Singapore and I can imagine that must be quite nice! Well, I've learned to be satisfied with what I have anyway! I have good colleagues and that makes working fun... and that is important for me. The last thing I want is to have to drag myself to work everyday.

Why am I concerned this time? That's because my boss has decided that I should take over her place to  be making coffee. I have served coffee before, mostly using the coffee machine but I have never made "home made" coffee... the local brew kind, sometimes called "Kopi-O"! And I  am not even sure if I can do it. I am suppose to start this monday 19 Sep 2011. I told my boss so but he said, just do it... no training, no nothing! Scares me to death! One good point though, my boss said that if I make coffee well, I will not have to work on Saturdays... quite a motivation for me!

What if my coffee turns out terrible? Will people complain about my coffee? Will takings dwindle and my boss comes after me? What if I serve too slowly and people gets agitated staying in the queue for too long? So many questions in my head at the moment... I think I am going to have a few sleepless nights. Stress! Stress! Stress!

My landlord is not too happy!

Just before the Hari Raya holidays and despite the Hari Raya celebrations round the corner, my landlord has not been in the best of moods recently... and it is mostly our fault!

Since moving here, my sister and I had been busy working. I leave early in the morning at 5.30am and am usually back home by 7pm or so. My sister leaves at about 9am and is usually back at 11pm when I am already asleep. My landord leaves for work about 8am and is usually back at 6.30pm or so.

Unbeknown to me, my sister, in her haste to go to work had left the main door unlocked twice. Once, my landlord came home to find his main door unlock. He did not say anything that time. Another time, he came home and an old neighbour lady was in his house. When I came home, I thought that the old lady was his mother and I greeted her. Little did I know that she was a friendly neighbour who came to give my landlord some food she cooked. However, in finding the door unlocked, she stayed in the house until my landlord came back, just to be sure.

I did not know of the above until my landlord called me the other day and spoke to me when I came home. He was rather unhappy over the two incidents. He also brought up other incidents like cooking too often, washing our clothes too often but he did say that these others were minor. The biggest incident which he is unhappy about is us leaving the door unlocked.

I do not blame him but I confronted my sister when she came home. My sister in her usual defiant and hot tempered way, said that she only did it twice, because she forgot to lock as she was late for work. I told her that this was not a good excuse and that my landlord had threatened to evict us if we ever do it again. I also told her that I should not cook for her as often as my landlord thinks we are cooking too often and we should only wash our clothes once or twice a week (even though we hand wash our clothes most of the time). I told her that we found a good place, a good landlord and it is our responsibility to make sure the place is safe, clean and not to inconvenience him in any way. My sister was upset with me... even though she admitted her faults. I told her we should be glad that nothing was missing... or we might have to pay for it.

I dread having to look for a place again, or even having to move. This is a nice place and my landlord is a nice and reasonable person. I enjoy the place and I hope my sister will come to her senses and apologise to my landlord! Young people are too hot tempered these days! She did not even call or sms me on my birthday!

Checking out cheap air tickets

After my rather unsuccessful visit to the NATAS fair, I decided to take the advise of some of their agents and visit their offices in the city. One Saturday, after my work, I decided to go to People's Park to remit some money back home. Incidentally, that's where many of the travel offices are located as well, so I decided to take a walk around and check out some of the travel offices. I was actually quite surprise at how big People's Park is as I seldom walk around even though I go there to remit money every month!

I visited quite a few travel agents and they were all quite crowded as well. I found out that there is a second building beside as well and another one called the Pearl's center further up the road. Unfortunately, I was quoted quite a high price of almost SGD900 for my air ticket to Shenyang by many agents. That's almost SGD200 more than I paid the last time when I went home and that would mean that I will have nothing left to buy anything for my parents and brothers! They say it's the peak season!

But all hope is not lost. One agent suggested that a cheaper way may be to take a ticket to Shanghai and take a high speed train from Shanghai to Beijing. Beijing is not too far from Shenyang and from Beijing, I can also take a train back home. That may be a good idea to save cost but I am not sure it would be a good idea to travel when I have limited number of days back home. The train itself is about 4 hours and that means I could take as long as 12 hours just to get home instead of about 8 hours. And added to that, the train crash recently in China is still clear in my mind... But the yearn to go home and see my parents is too strong this time, so I am still eager to seek a solution! I spent about 3 hours there and at the end of the day, I was hungry, thirsty, tired and a total wreck. A food stall I came across look so delicious I decided to treat myself to a good meal!

Going to NATAS fair

I had been toying with the idea of going back home to visit my family this coming Chinese New Year (2012). It's still a long way off (4 months+ away) but I learned from my colleagues that it is better to book my ticket early to get a better price. Ticketing agencies and airlines bump up their prices towards the festive season knowing that hordes of Chinese will go home to visit their families.

2012 Chinese New Year falls on a Monday and Tuesday, so I could leave on Friday evening and spend Saturday, Sunday and Monday with my family before coming back on Tuesday. It's going to cost but I had already started putting aside SGD80 every month since the beginning of this year to see if I can make this trip back. I expect the ticket to cost about SGD700 and that will leave me some money to buy some gifts for my parents and brothers.

Two weekends ago, I visited the NATAS fair. My colleagues told me that you can get cheap air tickets back to China. The place was really, really crowded and I had trouble just knowing where to go or moving around. Singaporeans must be a lucky lot... having enough to go on holidays every now and then!

Unfortunately, after spending 2 hours there and despite paying SGD4 for the entry ticket, I did not get a good deal! Most of the companies were selling tour packages and did not even want to entertain me when I asked them about ticket back home. A few more friendly ones told me to go to their offices in the city to check out ticket prices and gave me a card of their address in town. They advised me to book when it is closer to the dates as they were not able to tell me ticket prices at the moment. This is contrary to what I hear from my friends and colleagues who told me to book early. Can any readers advise?

Why is my ticket so costly? That's because I live at the far north of China. I have to fly to Shenyang and then take a 2 hr taxi ride or train home. There is normally one stop in between... so altogether, it could take me as much as 8 hours to get home.

From 2 Saturdays to 3 Saturdays

In May, I wrote about working on Saturdays where during my first stint in Singapore, I had to work half a day every Saturday. During my second stint, my boss told me I do not have to work Saturdays and for that, he will be taking away our 7 days leave. Fair enough, I thought. In May, he wanted me to work 2 Saturdays every month but will not reinstate the 7 days leave. Well, it's not big deal. It's suppose to be half day work but we usually end up at 3.30pm and one a few occassions, we even ended at 5pm.

Yesterday my boss told me he wants me to work 3 Saturdays now. He claims that one of our colleages left recently and he is short of staff. Also, the foreign worker levy has gone up from just over SGD200 to SGD400 for me. While he did not say it, it appears to me that he wants to make sure I "pay" for the extra SGD200 in levy by working another Saturday... making it 3 Saturdays of work now.

With many Singaporeans up in arms against foreign workers, things are getting tougher and tougher for us. The government is bending to the demands of the the public in fear of losing more "votes" and is raising the levy on us migrant workers. While many think this has no impact on us, employers are imposing longer hours on us to recoup the extra charges they have to bear. Ultimately, it is the foreign workers who have the bear the brunt of it all. There's even a "Foreign Talent Bashing Ring" set up in some forums to "bash" us... scary to see this happening in peaceful Singapore.

I had told my boss that I had to attend English lessons on Saturday at the local community center and I had shown him my receipts where I had paid for classes till September. He was kind enough to allow me to attend the classes but I still have to turn up for work after my classes. My classes usually end at 11.30am and by the time I make it to work, it will be about 12.30pm.

Again I must emphasize that this is not a complain against anyone but a factual article for readers to know the situation and make their own judgements. I am just glad to have a job in Singapore, and while it is tough, it's not any better back home too.

Migrant Workers - Are people getting it right?

After my post on migrant workers, a few readers who were also employers themselves wrote to my facebook account with some comments.

They felt that many Singaporeans are mistaken that migrant workers are coming to Singapore to take their jobs, bring down their salary and reduce their quality of life. Being employers themselves, they personally experienced little or no savings as far as salary for migrant workers is concerned. Sure we get less, but as mentioned in my post, it does not mean employers pay less.

With the recent rise in foreign worker levy, employers now have to pay as much for foreign workers as well as local workers. The main difference, as explained to me, is that employers find foreign workers to be hungrier, and willing to work longer hours.

Yes, we are hungrier. We need the money, or else, we would not have travelled so far to a foreign land to earn money. And being here, and having paid a hefty, agent's fee, we would need to make sure we work as hard as we can. The last thing we want is to be sent back with a big debt to pay. Most of us work 12hours plus days, 6 days week (sometimes 6.5 days as in my Bread Junction days) while our Singaporean colleagues work an 8 hour day and a 5.5 days week maximum. My own sister works a 13 hour day 7 days a week for two weeks straight just to be paid some overtime. She takes a day off every two weeks.

Please do not read the above as a complain or comparison. I am so blessed to have a job here and I am very happy working the hours assigned. I am so blessed to have a good boss, good colleagues and good friends. I am posting this hoping to shed more light on the matter (for myself as well as others) so that we can all live happily and make Singapore a better place.