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!

Gastric Pains!

When I first came to Singapore almost 3 years ago, one of the bad habits I developed was to go without meals and sometimes have only one meal a day, just to save a few dollars, especially over the weekends. During the weekdays, I work at the canteen at Chai Chee Technopark and at least meals were provided and I usually have a good breakfast and lunch but still would go without dinner. The timing is also different as we have to eat at a time when there are least customers. This means we have our breakfast at about 11am and our lunch at 3pm, the quietest time of the day.



The medicine I brought with me!

 Towards the second year, I developed gastric pains occassionally. Sometimes the pain get so intense, I have to take MC. My colleagues and room mates have always reminded me to take my meals regularly.

Recently, I developed gastric pains again and I had to take the afternoon off. When I came back a second time to Singapore, I brought some pain killers from China but they did not help.

The aweful medicine!

My Singaporean colleague, Ah Mei, happen to stop work at 2pm that particular day and told me that she will take me to see a doctor. We went to a Chinese doctor she recommended and he gave me a concoction which taste like a "water and soil" mixture! Yucks! And I was told I have to finish the whole course, which will take up to 2 weeks! Oh dear, one taste and I could almost puke! And to top it off, I had to pay SGD96 for the whole treatment! That's a lot of money for some "soil" like tasting mixture!

Some of my Singaporean colleagues had also advised me not to visit any Chinese doctor as many are not properly trained and may cause more harm than good! Is this true? For me, back in China, we visit Chinese doctor alot and many have proper certification and training in Chinese Universities.

I have since gotten well but I am not sure if it is due to the medicine or just that time heals. I'm wondering if I should stop taking the aweful tasting medicine! Yucks! I still have about half of it left!

Medical Check-up!

It's almost a year since I came back to Singapore. How time flies! Every year, we have to go for a medical check-up. Mine was just done abut a month ago and I had it done at the clinic at Bedok Central. We had to do a blood test, urine test and a few other check-ups. Quite a simple test actually. We also have to wait a week for the results.I collected my results about a month back and everything was fine.

I handed the result slip to my boss who told me that he will send it to MOM. However, somehow or other, he forgot and got a warning letter from MOM. He told me that if he is late, I may lose my permit and have to be deported. I was afraid. I was questioning this as it seems quite unfair that a worker is deported because the management forgot to send in the Medical result slip???

Anyway, my boss handed me an envelop to send, which I promptly did. Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that nothing bad will come out of it. I cannot imagine being out of a job again when I have not even worked a year. I also cannot imagine leaving my sister her to fend for herself. I promised my mother that I will look after her... and I intend to keep my promise.

Church Donation - Do I give?

I've been attending the church here for some time and each time they pass the "red bag" around (see video), I tend to feel a little uncomfortable. It could be because when my friend brought me there some time back, she told me that normally, everyone gives something, no matter how small. Since she has gone back to China, I have been going to church on my own... and I am kind of at a lost as to how much to give.

Usually I give two dollars or so but today I realized that I did not have any small change and I gave a five dollar note. While the giving has never been an issue for me, five dollars is quite a big sum for me. Some friends tell me they normally give about 10% of their salary. This means about SGD95 for me each month and this can be quite painful on my wallet.... especially when every month, my finance is so tight and I am sending almost every dollar I earn back home.

Some people tell me that the more you give, the more you are blessed! Is this true?

Is giving a norm in church? Is 10% too much, too little? I really have a lot of questions and I hope some readers can enlighten me.

Old friends dinner invite...

Last weekend, I had to visit the supermarket to buy some groceries to cook dinner for my sister. Since it is near to my old place, I decided to visit my old friends again. Maybe now that I have a room to myself, I am feeling a bit lonely... I really don't know Yet, I do value the privacy that I have currently. Life is tough when you have to make such decisions. I do realize that one cannot have everything too. But I do know I miss my friends and would like to know how they are doing. It's always nice to have someone to talk to when you are alone.

I had a good look at the place now that we have left. A lady took over my sister's bed and decorated it beautifully. I am glad that things are moving along just fine for my ex-landlord, as he is also a friend. In fact, I think his "business" is getting better. It seems like every time someone vacates the place, someone else takes it up almost immediately!

It was about 6pm by the time I got there and some of my old friends were cooking dinner. They invited me to join in and I gladly accepted. For once, they had quite an elaborate meal which is quite rare. They even bought fish that day. Normally, we would just have rice and maybe one or two dishes of vegetables and some small pieces of pork. But fish is a rarity and a luxury too.

We had a delicious meal that evening. I was glad I visited them again. I still miss them a lot but come to think of it, I would not trade my privacy for it. At least now I can go back to visit them anytime I want.

Remitting money again!

Yesterday was 1st  June and I had my payday. As always I promptly make my down to People's Park Complex to remit money back home. I think the companies that help us remit money do good business. They charge us about SGD25 per remittance and this place is always full. I have done this every month for coming to 3 years and the situation is always the same whether I go there in the evening or on Saturdays or Sundays.

At any one time, there is an average of 30 people there... so that's a SGD750 collection. Throughtout the day, there could be easily 300 to 400 people. That would be a daily collection of SGD7,500 to SGD10,000. And that's not counting the exchange rates gains they would be making from converting SGD to RMB.

I would imagine they do one single transfer at the end of the day to China and from there, individually bank in the money to each account. Imagine the profits they would be raking in. No wonder, there are easily 10 shops doing such brisk business within People's Park complex alone. Personally, I have used the same one shop since I came to Singapore as they have proven reliable and I see no reason to change.

Can you imagine that during my first month in Singapore, I remitted SGD200 back to my parents in China and had to pay a SGD25 fee? That's more than a 10%! I guess we all get smarter with age and experience!

My sister's Birthday!

25 May is my sister's birthday! In China, we usually celebrate our birthday's by having a "special" sweet noodles and eggs, so signify having a longer life. However, in Singapore, and especially at a rented place where cooking should be kept to a minimum, this might not be so practical. So I was wondering how I should celebrate my sister's birthday???

I decided to buy a birthday cake for my sister. She wasn't really for buying a cake as she has been trying very hard to lose some weight. Ha ha. She has been working non-stop, even sacrificing her one free day to work overtime for a little more pay, so it's been hard to find any time to exercise at all. I feel quite lucky compared to her... at least I still have time to go jogging in the evening, and even do Yoga! For her, it's like the moment she gets home at about 11pm, she washes up and go to sleep and then wakes up and go to work! What a life for my poor sister... but we are both glad that we have a job in Singapore, knowing how hard it is to work here with the reduced foreigner's quota these days.

I told her it's only once a year! We should not forget to relax once in a while, even while we come to Singapore to earn a living! And to ease her guilt, I bought a mango cake. While still a cake, it at least has some fruits and my sister likes mangoes! In a simple celebration, we both had a slice of cake when she came home late at night. I offered my landlord a slice and kept the rest for another day.

For her birthday, my sister dressed up specially nice. She put on favorite best dress and make up for the day. She also bought herself something from the place where she worked... a pair of new shoes! Don't you think we both look a little alike in this picture of her (center pic)? Her face is a little rounder but the features are similar!

Paying my Rent!

It's the end of my first month stay at the new room... and it also means it is time to pay my rent. So instead of SGD210 each, we now have to pay SGD300 each.

After one month, I must say that despite the higher cost, it is a pleasure to pay the SGD90 extra for each of us, as the privacy alone is priceless. My sleep is more sound, I save time not having to queue for the bathroom or washing machines or even just cooking a bowl of instant noodles! I must say I am very happy to have found this beautiful cosy room for my sister and myself!

Here is a short video of me paying the money to my landlord! It's a little dark as my landlord enjoys doing his work in a more cosy lighting in the hall. Enjoy!

Old Friends?

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to go back to my ex-landlord's place to pay them a visit. It's always nice to visit old friends again. This time however, I was actually on the way to the library, so I decided to pop in about 2pm to catch up with them.

Well, as usual on Saturdays or Sundays, some of them are out for some fun but a few of them were around. In fact, it was rather rowdy as usual with my ex-landlord inviting his friends over to play cards. My ex-room mates were having their lunch in the room too.

The "New kid on the block", whom I wrote about some time back is now starting to feel more comfortable. She told me she still does not like Singapore but at least the work isn't too bad. Her working hours are quite normal and she does not work on weekends. After being around for a while, she realizes that she is quite lucky as some of us migrant workers have to work on weekends too. For example, while my sister is allowed to take a day off a week, she had not taken a day off in 4 weeks, all in an effort to earn more money to send back home!

Another ex-room mate who was around was one we called "Chilli Queen" because she is so fond of hot and spicy stuff. She's also a good friend and just like me in the past, she usually prefers to stay home on weekends so that she don't have to spend money unneccessarily. Most of us try to save as much as we can in the short stint in a foreign country!

Actually, you can see (and hear) from the videos that we Chinese speak rather loudly, especially the men! A local friend once told me that the way we speak sounds like we are picking a fight! Ha ha! But that's just they way most (not all) of us speaks.

It's aways nice to visit old friends again. While I love my new room and the privacy it gives me and my sister, I kind of miss the friendship, gossips and even the bickering at the old place!

I want a Christian Name!

A few days ago, a customer suggested that I have a Christian Name. He said that Chinese names are not easy to remember and especially to pronounce, especially for non-Chinese. This is even more so when you have to pronounce the name in Chinese, since our names are direct conversion using Pinyin. It does not read like any typical English words.

In Pinyin, every Chinese character has 4 tones, dictated by symbols wriiten next to their Pinyin translations.

He suggested the name Niki. So I will be called Niki Li??? I said I will think about it. I wasn't sure if it is a good name, or if there are any meanings associated with that name, given my limited English???

While I am proud of my nationality, there is a saying that, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do!". So I thought that since many Singaporeans have a Christian name, why not have one too? In fact, in major cities in China, many Chinese are having Christian names too.

So what makes a good Christian Name? It must be simple to write, easy to pronounce, easy to call and uniquie! I am not familiar with Christian Names... so I hope my readers can help me!

So, any suggestions? Or is the name Niki, a good name for me?

Straight Hair!

I wrote sometime back that my ex-landlord gave away my hair straightener. Well, I managed to borrow one from a friend and decided to temporary straighten my hair just to get a feel of what it was like before. Women are always vain I guess... and since I am quite free during the weekends when I do not work, I can afford some time to indulge in my vanity. It's not an easy job and takes about an hour of hand-breaking work on my own. It's alot easier with a friend to help me.

Here is what I look like with long straight hair. I am going to enjoy a couple of days with my new straight hair because once I wash it, it's going to be curly again! Actually, I personally prefer my hair with a bit of natural curl.

But a change every now and then is good for the soul... regardless of what kind of change it is!

My First English Class!

Some time back, I wrote about signing up for English Classes. Well, it's been almost 3 months ago now and I finally signed up for my Elementary English Class. I've always wanted to learn to speak better English. Since coming to Singapore, I have picked it up a little but I still have a long way to go. I think the most important thing is to have someone to practice with, and that is the toughest part in Singapore. Singapore is a multi-racial country and most people are able to speak a good level of mandarin. When they know you are from China, they immediate start speaking to you in Mandarin.

While I did not really like my stint at Bread Junction, there was one good thing about it. As the staff were mostly Malays, they only speak to me in English, and like it or not, I have to learn it. We got along quite well, with a help using our hands to gesture and make some signs! Sometimes when it does help, we even make funny sounds! Quite funny actually!

For my first class, we were made to buy some photocopied notes at SGD3 per set. Not very impressive notes as you can see from the picture, but good enough to learn I guess. For those of my readers who are new, a friend is helping me translate and maintain this blog despite her busy schedule. I am very appreciative. She wanted me to start this to help me earn some extra money from Google Adsense but so far, it's not alot. Nevertheless, she's been a great help and mentor actually!

The class that I am attending is Elementary English and we have about 7 students, 5 of which are Chinese. I am glad to see so many Chinese learning English. Two are locals. The first day, we learn basic alphabets. I already know some of these as I use Pinyin to type sms and to do this, I have to understand basic sounds and letters. Nevertheless, it was a good revision and I learned some new words too.

Just like a bad student, I sat right a the back of the class, playing with my pen. Naturally, I do pay attention too while taking some pictures for you of course. Ha ha! Our teacher is a middle age lady who had taught English in school before. That's good because I am impressed with the Singapore schooling system and if she is good enough for the schools here, she must be pretty good!

I am really looking forward to the next few lessons where they actually teach you conversational English. Afterall, I think for me, being able to converse is more important than knowing how to read and write well.

My Sister doing her make-up!

I know we come here to work but being women, we also want to look good. Last Saturday, when I wasn't working and my sister had to go to work, I had the opportunity to take a video of her doing her make-up! It's not often I get to see my sister around the house, so we had a fun time chatting away while she "painted" her face!

This video also gives you a view of the new room. It's small but clean and neat and it beats being in a dirty room with eight beds! Enjoy!

Which is my side of the bed?

I am now beginning to like our new room. Without living eight to a room, we can be a lot more creative. I even decorated the room to my liking too. Can you guess which is my side of the bed?

I bought new bedsheets, new pillow cases, a table and a few other items too. In the past, there were too many items on the bed to want to do it up nicely. Now, we have a cupboard, drawers and even a make-up table to keep some of out things. This way, we can keep our bed really neat! How nice!

I am beginning to get used to the new place and I now have a sound sleep each night. While the room is not air-conditioned and we can hear the traffic, getting used to it is easy... especially when you are dead tired at the end of the day!

Blogger was down!

For some reasons, blogger/blogspot was down and even my last posting was lost. My apologies and I will repost some of these by this week.

Li Jing

My sister is changing work location too!

One evening, my sister came home and complained to me that she had a tiff with her Singaporean colleague. At her work place, they are paid commission based on how much each individual sells. When you attend to a customer, you ring up the bill and you get paid the commission. My sister said that a few times, when she made a sale, her Singaporean colleague will rush to ring up the bill, so she gets the commission instead. My sister got really upset too because they called her, "大路妹"! I told her that phrase don't mean much as long as she don't attach a stereotype meaning to it!

I am aware that I am only listening only to her side of the story... so I shall not make any comments. However, I did tell my sister about my early experience with some local workers too. Many local workers tend to treat us Chinese workers as if we are a big threat to them or their jobs. The truth is, we are here to earn a living, and are willing to work really, really hard to make ends meet too!

Anyway, my sister requested for a change of location from her boss and ever since, she had been posted to Yishun North Point for a couple of weeks and then to Serangoon NEX shopping center till now. She seems to enjoy the change of environment better, as it gives her a chance to experience different parts of Singapore. I told her she is seeing more of Singapore than I ever did, despite me staying here almost three years already!

I had the opportunity to visit her on a few Saturdays when she was working, just to make sure she is OK. Most times, she is so happy to see me. I even bought her a soft toy which she likes alot at NEX. It cost me a lot (SGD69) but I will do anything just to keep her happy. I made a promise to my mother to look after my sister really, really well... and I intend to keep that promise!

Working on Saturdays!

One of the big changes during this second stint in Singapore is that my boss told me I do not have to work on Saturday. In the past, I had to work half a day on Saturday, and for this, I get 7 days leave a year. However, now that the canteen at the MOE does not open on Saturday, my boss will be deducting the 7 days leave.

However, recently, my boss took up a new place at the HSA canteen at the Singapore General Hospital. They have to open on Saturday too. Last Saturday, I worked there till 3pm! That's like almost a full day. Another 3 hours more and it's a full day of work!

My boss now wants us to work on alternate Saturdays there. No extra pay, no extra leave. Unfortunately, I have already signed up an English course at the local community center and lesson starts in May every Saturday morning. My boss wasn't too pleased to hear this, and said that since my lessons are from 9.30am to 11.30am, I should go to work after my lessons, and stay till the canteen is close. Is this fair?

First, we agreed that the 7 days leave be deducted because we don't work Saturdays. Now he wants us to work Saturdays but will not give us back the 7 days leave. One of the weekends, I even worked a full Saturday and Sunday because they had a big weekend event at the MOE... no overtime pay too.

Please don't get me wrong! I am just curious if we, migrant workers here, are taken for granted? Employers know that we have signed a 2 years contract and will squeeze the maximum out of us. Regardless, this is still much better than my short stint with Bread Junction anyway, so, I am really not complaining... just curious and would like to know what my Singaporean readers think!

What would a Singaporean worker do when faced with such a situation?

My first night at the new room!

Moving to a new place and sleeping on a new bed is always not easy for me. Sometimes it takes me a few days to get used to the new bed and the new environment. Fortunately, it was a long weekend, which allows me an extra day to get used to the new environment. Sunday is going to be my first day at my new room... am I excited!

I spent the latter part of Sunday buying some utensils for my cooking and eating. At my previous place, we could use what was provided by my ex-landlord but my current landlord is a Muslim, which means I have to use my own utensils. Not that I mind using his, it's more like he minds me using them as he has to ensure everything is HALAL (...although I do not know what exactly that means! Nevertheless, I must be sensitive to these things). He did tell me not to leave pork in the fridge!

That evening I went back home at about 8pm. My landlord was at home so I was feeling a bit uneasy about moving around. He is a nice person but I think it's just me, trying to get used to the place.

At one point, I was feeling hungry and I did not feel comfortable to go cook in the kitchen. Fortunately, I had a loaf of bread which I brought over from my old place and I took two slices before I went to sleep (or at least attempt to sleep). Plain old bread taste good when you are hungry enough!

I tossed and turned till my sister came back close to midnight! By then, my landlord was asleep so I showed my sister the bathroom and how to turn on the heater etc... We then had a short chat before we both tried to sleep. She must have been tired as before long I could hear some heavy breathing! I was awake till about 2am!


When we both woke up on Monday, my sister said she had a very sound sleep and the room and bed was very comfortable! My poor sister must be really tired. She had to work overtime, just trying to earn a little more!

Does this look like me?

My ex-room mate who helped me move took this picture of me and my soft toy. She said that we both look alike. I had a good laugh and it was good because it took out some stress from the heavy moving job! I really appreciate having friends who can make me laugh and have fun, even when times get tough! I always remember the days when I first came and how stressed I was trying to make ends meet. It's exactly in times like these that you need someone to help you see the lighter side of things!

Have a good laugh at my expense!

Moving in!

I told my current landlord that I will be moving. He was rather disappointed but he wished me well anyway. He knows we'll remain friends and anyway, the new place I am moving to is just a 5mins walk away.

I had my stuff all packed since Thursday, anticipating the move. Today (Saturday) is the start of the move. Unfortunately, I have to work today for half a day (actually more like a full day) at the new HSA canteen at the Singapore General Hospital (another article on this later).

Moving wasn't easy as I we had 2 big luggages and a couple of smaller ones. As I don't have a car, I had to lug the luggages all the way from by current place to the new place, about 300m away and I had to cross one major road. I had to make about 5 trips to move everything! Fortunately, one of my new friends, (the new lady who was crying the other day) had not started working yet and volunteered to help me. She was bored at home... so I was very appreciative of her help too.

The landlord was quite nice. He bought a new clock, new curtains and even a poster for me to put in the room. Although I was very busy with my own packing, I managed to put up the curtain, the clock and the poster.

It's definitely one of the toughest weekends I had here. In the past, I had move from one place to the next before but then, I had less stuff. Also becase the places are further apart, I took a taxi, which means minimal lugging and walking. This time, it was all footwork. But come to think of it, it's good exercise! Maybe I can skip my jogging for a few days!