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Sep 26, 2010
Fighting for life experiences
DING JUNHE, 27
In May, Ding Junhe found himself with just NZ$80 ($78) in his pocket and NZ$1.82 left in his bank account.
The 27-year-old, currently on a work holiday programme in New Zealand, had lost all his personal belongings during a visit to the beach near the town of Te Puke, the country's kiwi fruit capital in North Island, where he is based as a fruit picker.
He went from pack house to pack house begging for work so he could pay his rent and living expenses.
'In Singapore, when we lose something, someone will help us. Over here, there is no one to help you. It made me realise that we cannot take things for granted,' he says in a telephone interview from Te Puke.
Still, the pre-university graduate from Jurong Institute loves the globetrotting life enough to have eschewed a stable job for the past 11/2 years to chalk up life experience.
He quit his job last year, after serving five years as an army regular, to travel the world. Armed with savings of about $12,000, he flew to Bangkok and signed up with a Muay Thai gym to train full-time for nine months.
He stayed in cockroach-infested accommodation at times, but says: 'After training, I was so tired I would just fall asleep immediately.'
He went on to fight at the famous Lumpinee Boxing Stadium before deciding, after some 'self-reflection', that he did not have enough potential to go far as a competitive fighter.
He returned home but in April, he set off again, this time to New Zealand. His job there as a kiwi fruit picker and pruner is hard labour. He carries loads of up to 20kg on his back and is paid a more than respectable NZ$180 a day.
'I consider myself a foreign worker like the Bangladeshis and Chinese in Singapore, only a little bit more highly paid,' he says cheekily.
'But I didn't want to find a job again and start working. There are certain things that we can do only when we are young. Yes, money is important but we can always earn it later.'
Apart from losing all his money, he had to deal with another crisis when an unscrupulous boss withheld three weeks of his salary for no apparent reason, only relenting when Mr Ding and his friends threatened to report him to a workers' welfare group.
His father, a sales manager, and mother, a semi-retired art teacher, do not mind his carefree ways. He has a younger brother.
'But when I call home, my dad will say 'if it gets too tough, just come home'.'
He adds: 'I don't feel the need to explain myself to people. I like doing this and I'm not doing anything morally wrong so I will continue doing it as long as I can still give some money to my parents, which I do occasionally.'
When his work-holiday visa in New Zealand expires in a month, he plans to return here to join an outdoor adventure company as a freelance instructor for 'a year or two'.
After that, he intends to work and travel in Australia. 'Saving for a house and all that is not important to me now. I don't want to live my life with regrets,' he says.
'Saving for a house and all that is not important to me now. I don't want to live my life with regrets.'
DING JUNHE, 27, who quit his job as an army regular to travel and work overseas
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access
Fighting for life experiences
DING JUNHE, 27
In May, Ding Junhe found himself with just NZ$80 ($78) in his pocket and NZ$1.82 left in his bank account.
The 27-year-old, currently on a work holiday programme in New Zealand, had lost all his personal belongings during a visit to the beach near the town of Te Puke, the country's kiwi fruit capital in North Island, where he is based as a fruit picker.
He went from pack house to pack house begging for work so he could pay his rent and living expenses.
'In Singapore, when we lose something, someone will help us. Over here, there is no one to help you. It made me realise that we cannot take things for granted,' he says in a telephone interview from Te Puke.
Still, the pre-university graduate from Jurong Institute loves the globetrotting life enough to have eschewed a stable job for the past 11/2 years to chalk up life experience.
He quit his job last year, after serving five years as an army regular, to travel the world. Armed with savings of about $12,000, he flew to Bangkok and signed up with a Muay Thai gym to train full-time for nine months.
He stayed in cockroach-infested accommodation at times, but says: 'After training, I was so tired I would just fall asleep immediately.'
He went on to fight at the famous Lumpinee Boxing Stadium before deciding, after some 'self-reflection', that he did not have enough potential to go far as a competitive fighter.
He returned home but in April, he set off again, this time to New Zealand. His job there as a kiwi fruit picker and pruner is hard labour. He carries loads of up to 20kg on his back and is paid a more than respectable NZ$180 a day.
'I consider myself a foreign worker like the Bangladeshis and Chinese in Singapore, only a little bit more highly paid,' he says cheekily.
'But I didn't want to find a job again and start working. There are certain things that we can do only when we are young. Yes, money is important but we can always earn it later.'
Apart from losing all his money, he had to deal with another crisis when an unscrupulous boss withheld three weeks of his salary for no apparent reason, only relenting when Mr Ding and his friends threatened to report him to a workers' welfare group.
His father, a sales manager, and mother, a semi-retired art teacher, do not mind his carefree ways. He has a younger brother.
'But when I call home, my dad will say 'if it gets too tough, just come home'.'
He adds: 'I don't feel the need to explain myself to people. I like doing this and I'm not doing anything morally wrong so I will continue doing it as long as I can still give some money to my parents, which I do occasionally.'
When his work-holiday visa in New Zealand expires in a month, he plans to return here to join an outdoor adventure company as a freelance instructor for 'a year or two'.
After that, he intends to work and travel in Australia. 'Saving for a house and all that is not important to me now. I don't want to live my life with regrets,' he says.
'Saving for a house and all that is not important to me now. I don't want to live my life with regrets.'
DING JUNHE, 27, who quit his job as an army regular to travel and work overseas
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. Privacy Statement & Condition of Access
I'm more inclined to believe it's the other way round. 
