Meet Raj,
An Indian National I Met,
On The First Day of Chinese New Year.
Today, while everyone was busy doing house visits.
I was out and about the island doing event spaces recce for my social enterprise.
During one of my stops at a Futsal Pitch,
I bumped into a 23 year old Indian National named, Raj,
Who appeared to be like any other low-skilled foreign worker sent over to Singapore to help us with the hard labored jobs.
But what was interesting is that,
Raj, is one big man,
Who's more than meets the eye.
You see, Raj is a post graduate degree holder.
A Masters in Computer Applications to be exact.
He was from a well to do family in India before,
But after his family's business collapsed,
He decided to put himself into good use,
And applied for a job in Singapore.
In order to do so, he had to raise SG$8,500 to secure his passage and a job in our sunny country of hope.
So he borrowed money from friends, family and even finance companies.
All in the promise that he would secure a good IT job in Singapore.
However, his hopes were dashed upon his arrival to Singapore.
Because, there was no good IT job to begin with.
Instead, it was to be odd and manual labour jobs like the one he's doing today.
So there he was:
A post graduate working as a pitch facility assistant,
Helping to manage the conditions of the field and other manual labor within the area.
All these, for $1,000 (inclusive of food and lodging) monthly salary
With a few hours off every week (only enough time for him to head to Little India for a quick meal and back), and
1 day leave every 4 months.
Upon realizing his predicament,
Raj cried for many nights for the first month.
But that was all he allowed himself.
Today (three and a half months on),
As he stood sharing his story to me,
Never once did he spoke about his anguish, regret, or hatred over anyone or any of his decisions.
All he shared was, gratitude.
He told me:
"Bro, don't feel sad for me. You know I have learnt so much working here. Last time I don't even know how to sweep, clean and manage a pitch. Now I know everything. Its like a new skill."
"My father told me that in everyone's life, there will be ups and downs. Now I'm in my down period, so I will work hard, and soon, I will be good."
I remembered putting my arm over his shoulder as he spoke that, and I said nothing but thank you to him:
For sharing his story with me, and for being so optimistic about life, even though it may appear to many that he was being dealt the short end of the stick.
I asked about his wish in life,
And he told me he wants to get married with his girlfriend of 6 years.
Unfortunately, he has to work here to pay off his $8,500 loan before he can go back, and
The saddest part of it all is that his girlfriend's family is now looking to marry her off to someone else.
So all he can do now, is to help his girlfriend find a job here in Singapore,
So that they can be together, and not have to be forced to part with her forever.
But as he said that, he looked at me with a bright smile.
He said: "Bro, don't worry, I will try my best to bring her over, so that she can be with me."
At no point, was he overwhelmed by the perceived mammoth task at hand.
It was then, I decided to reach in to my pocket, and
In my bid to represent our local population,
I slipped in $50 into a red packet and passed it to him.
He politely rejected,
But I told him that it was within our Chinese culture to give Ang Pao to a friend on the first day of Chinese New Year.
Yes, I told a white lie, but to such honest and hardy man,
I had to.
For I wanted him to know how much we appreciate him for being here,
For covering the jobs that many of us shun away, and with so much enthusiasm and professionalism,
For the ordeal he had gone through in his journey to Singapore,
For the optimism he displayed throughout this testing period,
Never once blaming anyone but instead, always finding a positive spin to all his circumstances.
Tonight, I salute Raj,
For what he is, who he is, and whom I believe he'd become in the future.
As we parted
We both made a promise that next year's Chinese New Year,
Once he cleared off his loans,
We'd celebrate the first day of Chinese New Year together with good food,
Good Indian food, he told me.
Yes Raj,
We Will.
Sometimes,
Its stories like this,
That make us realize how lucky we are,
And how grateful we should be.
Joe T
