I've had a few readers question my blog as the passport shown was dated 2008. One reader was quick to recognise that I was writing about my past and that is indeed true. Just to clarify, I came to Singapore to work in May 2008 and my contract ended in May 2010. As you will read from my blog, I had borrowed quite a sum of money to pay my Agent's fee and as such I had intended to work at least 4-6 years. The first two years I work to return the money I owe and subsequently, I hope to be able to save up enough to start a small business (maybe selling clothes) or use it as downpayment to buy a small one room apartment in Shenyang.
Unfortunately, due to the rantings of many Singaporeans about foreign workers, the government decided to reduce the quota requirement for Chinese workers. It used to be an employer requires 3 local workers to hire one Chinese worker but now the quota suddenly shot up to 9 locals to 1 Chinese (at least that's what my boss told me). This happened just before my contract ran out and when I expressed interest to renew my contract for another 2 years, my boss tried his best but was unable to help me. Since then, I had been trying to look for another job in Singapore but this has been difficult. Many employers are only able to hire PR's and S-Pass workers due to the reduced quota.
I left Singapore for home in late May, 7 days after my contract expired. During my 7 days stay, I had contacted more than 50 companies looking for a job. When I was back home in late May, a company called me to offer me a job. They company is a restaurant in China Square Central serving Hot Pot. They applied for my WP and faxed it over to me and I again had to borrow some money (this time just a small sum from my parents for the airfare) and I flew over immediately! I was estactic that I finally landed a job again, this time without having to pay the hefty agent's fee! I am now very wary about using Agents as I know that I will have to work another 2 years for free, just to pay the Agent's fee, although the Agent's fee had been reduced from SGD10k to about SGD8k recently... nevertheless still a hefty sum by my standards.
This "job offer" unfortunately turned out to be a false alarm and I am now back in China, SGD1,000 poorer (airfare back and forth)! I will tell you more about this "offer" in my next post, but in this post, I just want to update readers who have doubt about the authenticity of my blog.
Some readers question my ability to write such good English. The truth is, I did not write this myself. I have the habit of keeping a diary since young and a good friend (graduate from Malaysia I knew at my workplace and who became a good friend, teacher and mentor. She taught me how to use email, chat on QQ etc...) had suggested writing a blog. I had read the Newspapers and understand that many Singaporeans are unhappy with foreign workers, and I just thought it would be a good idea for them to see the other side of the coin, to experience how hard we work, how much we go through. Life is not bed-of-roses for us. Some Singaporeans relate foreign Chinese workers to prostitution. I had seen the scene in Geylang and I do not blame them... but the truth is, there are many good and hard-working Chinese out here to make a clean living. I know I am one of them! Believe me, I had my fair share of indecent proposals and I will share some of these with you along the way!
So with this, I told her I am not able to hand over my diary but she agreed to help translate for me... and the result is this blog! The translation is slow mostly because we communicate via emails and fax where I make copies of certain pages of my diary from time to time and send it over for translation. I don't have a computer so I have to do this from an internet center in China. So please be patient if the update on this blog is slow. Fortunately before I left, I had updated a big part of my story so the initial post may be quite regular but as time goes on, expect it to slow down.
However, I think that as long as it serves its purpose of keeping people aware of the picture from the other side of the coin, I will have achieved my objectives.
I am also not here to seek sympathy, donations, funds etc... I am young, able-bodied and am willing to work hard to achieve my dreams. All I am asking for is a job! I am determined to come back to Singapore to work as it is the only place where Mandarin is quite well accepted and I feel at least quite at home and yet I can earn more than what I can at home. You have a wonderful government who keeps this place safe, sound and prosperous compared to many other countries. While I am approaching some Agents in China, I am still rather careful not to get myself into another big debt, as I had just got myself out of my first one when I got home in May 2010.
