Remitting money back home - Part 2

I wrote about remitting money back home a few post ago. Just a few days after I remitted the money, my dad texted (sms) me to tell me to call home, saying that it's urgent! I was working then and it was during my peak period which means that I cannot even make a phone call. As usual, I panicked... trying to figure out what emergency had happened back home. Had my mum slipped and hurt herself? Did somebody close pass away? I don't know about you but I certainly don't like this feeling of anxiety! Beads of sweat started forming on my forehead... some from the heat of the noodle stall I was manning and some from the anxiety I was feeling.

I could not wait for the day to end and it finally did. The first thing I did was to call my dad and all he had to tell me was that I had filled up the form wrongly and he was not able to get the money. Instead of filling out my name in the "Remitter's name", I filled his name instead!

I immediately made my way down to People's Park again to correct the error. Fortunately, the place was still opened, although not as crowded as before... which is good for me. Anyway, I managed to get the error corrected and so all is well for now... at least I assume! Sometimes, I think my home folks should not use the word "urgent" unnecessarily. While this is certainly important, I did not think it was that urgent and it had caused me alot of unnecessary concern. My dad could have just said in the text message that I need to correct an error I made in the remittance and to call back after work! Ha ha... anyway, we all  learn from our mistakes!

Remitting money back home!

It's New Year's day and I just had my pay yesterday. I decided to go to People's Park to remit some money back home as I had not done so the previous month.

Surprisingly, People's Park was still crowded despite it being a holiday and most of the shops were opened too. However, it seems that many Chinese had the same idea and the shop that I frequently use to remit money back home was packed with Chinese. Hmmm... is it "Great minds think alike" or "Fools seldom differ"? Well, never mind. I managed to get into the queue and within 20 mins, I had it all done. Then I made a call to my mother to inform her to keep a lookout for the money going over. I expect her to receive it most probably on Tuesday next week.

They had changed the form since the last time I came and I had some difficulty filling up the form. I had to ask some of the others and they explained the new form to me. Thereafter, it wasn't so difficult! Anyway, I guess I had better get used to the new form as I am sure I will frequent this place. I also have to teach my sister how to remit money back home.

It seems like the owners of the business are having a great time helping Chinese to remit money back home. They have opened another side of the shop to cater to the ever increasing crowd of Chinese, eager to make sure their families at home have a comfortable life. Must be a good business!

My first pay day in China - Joy and Frustration!

Since I came back the second time (after being played out by Hot Pot City) to China towards the end of June, I started working at a boutique near Tieling, which is about a 1+ hour bus ride from my home. The pay is RMB800 per month. Every morning, I take a bus at 6am to get to the work place by about 7.15am or so and that cost me RMB3 per trip. Work starts at 8am but I cannot come any later as the bus comes hourly and if I miss the 6am bus, I will be late for work.

28 July is my first month payday and I was looking forward to getting my first paycheck. While RMB800 is not a lot of money, it is about the average amount most boutiques are paying here. I was looking forward to it as I need to return some money I borrowed for my second trip to Singapore where I was "played out" by Hot Pot City and had to come back. I had plan to return about RMB500 every month leaving about RMB300 for my own spending.

I was in a good mood all day, waiting for my boss to come in towards the late afternoon to pay us our money. Imagine my surprise when I only get RMB300 for my month's worth of work! The boss explains that they keep RMB500 of our first month's pay to cater for any deductions that I may incur for any loss of goods, damaged goods or for being late for work. This wasn't told to me when I first came for interview.

When my boss left, I asked my colleagues if that was true and they all said they had the same experience. However, the boss did say that when we do leave the company, they will return the RMB500 less any deductions to us.

This is terrible... imagine looking forward to your month's pay only to have more than half deducted away just like that. And taking into account that I spend an average of RMB6 a day on bus fare ie RMB180 a month, I am basically left with RMB120 to take back home. RMB120 sounds like alot until you realise that it is just SGD26! Now, what am I to tell my creditor?