A MIGRANT WORKER’S HOPE - Part ( 1 )

I think every single person in the world have “hope”, own hope. Some of them, their hopes are to get the better life, better school or university for their children. Some are to get better job and even for the Earth herself, hoping for better societies to stand peacefully on her body, I think. I, myself as a migrant worker, have my own hope .The reason why I left my mother land was to explore the outside world and gain the better knowledge to be up to date with new technologies and modern world. At that time, most of the youth were unable to gain modern knowledge due to economic sanctions to Myanmar. And till today I am trying my best to gain my “Hope.”

It was mid-2007, when I noticed Kyaw Kyaw from Myanmar as a hardworking worker during my shipyard supervisor time in Singapore shipyard. Among the workers he was a quiet one and always focusing on the jobs. I was always pleased by his hardworking and obedience on the instruction given. But only one thing I have to complain about with him is his face. Even though someone joking with him, he merely smile and became as normal face, motionless. During those day, there were eighty over general workers from different countries under my control. Majority were from India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

One rainy day, I had a conversation with Kyaw Kyaw, during raining all outside works compulsory to stop and seek for resting shelter because of thunder storm. In the conversation I mentioned about his face and why most of the time it looked like unhappy. Then he looked at me with his sorrowful eyes and asked me how much did I pay for my agent fee when I came to Singapore. I said, “SGD 3800” the amount that I had paid for my agent. And then he continued that he paid double of my amount to get job in Singapore. During those days SGD 7000 over is a lot of money for local Myanmar people like me and Kyaw Kyaw. For me, my cousin sister was already worked as a nurse in Singapore and she paid the agent fee because my family simply couldn’t effort to pay it. So, I knew about his burden to find SGD 7000 over for agent fee.

Then I asked him “how you manage to find that amount of money?”
He replied me with his half-smile face, “you guess”.
And I asked him why he had to pay such amount of agent fee. He said that because of to get passport and the three month trainings were the extra cost for him in Myanmar before he came to Singapore. And during that three month, although the dormitory was provided by the agency, had to pay for the daily meals.
As I knew he was the elder son and out from the high school after his father dead to take cares the farm land and his mother. And also he got one younger sister. In order to let her carry on study, he managed the family business.
So, I asked him “did you sell it; I mean the farm land you own?”
He said, “No, I pawned it” and stills unable to cover the agent fee, so he borrowed some money from his relatives with high interest rate.

To be continue

Photo Credit : Google Image

Henry Aung ( Kachin )