During my first stint in Singapore and since moving to Tanjung Pagar, I stayed with another colleague who was to become a very good friend. I call her Xiao Hong. "I need to earn money faster!" she said as we discussed how difficult it is to earn money when we started of with a huge debt (Agent's fee) in the first place. She, like me, had borrowed a large sum of money to pay the agent fees to come to Singapore. Her first intention for coming to Singapore was to get away from her ex-husband whom she had just divorced. She wanted some time to herself as well as to earn some money as well. Her husband had gambled away all their savings.
"And how to we do that?" I asked and the conversation went on...
Xiao Hong : "We could find a rich and good boyfriend!"
Me : "Aiya, Xiao Hong, good ones are all already taken. And even if they are not, what makes you so sure they want us. We are both past 25 (at that time, I was just past 26) and there are so many more younger and prettier girls around." as I remembered my stroll in Geylang just about a month before.
Xiao Hong : "True too! The other day, a friend approached me to work in a Massage place. She said it's good money. She makes about $2,000 a month compared to our miserable $800!"
Me : "But I don't know how to massage?"
Xiao Hong : "Hey Xiao Jing, you are too innocent! Do you really think that they do massage in those places?"
We talked till midnight before turning in. But in the end, there were no conclusions. Xiao Hong went to great lengths to explain what goes on in the massage centers and I told her that it's definitely not something I can do. She did not get around to doing it either but she did find a boyfriend about a month later (another posting perhaps). Anyway, she worked till just before the Chinese New Year of 2009 before she left for home and never came back. She had changed her number as I write this, I had lost contact with her. I certainly hope she will call me someday, as I miss her a lot!
