Kind Singaporeans help migrant worker diagnosed with tuberculosis be sent home with help to repay his loans

SINGAPORE — A young Bangladeshi worker arrived in Singapore two weeks ago to start a new job, only to discover that he had tuberculosis and had to be sent back home. He now faces the heavy burden of repaying the loans he acquired to jumpstart his future. Fortunately, kind Singaporeans pitched in to ensure that his dreams would not be destroyed.

“Having taken on huge loans to fund his passage and pay agency fees for a job here, his future was about to end before it had even begun. He didn’t even have a bank account because he had only just arrived in Singapore and barely spoke the language,” said Singapore-based non-profit organization ItsRainingRaincoats (IRR). The organization then quickly rallied to raise funds to help the young worker repay the loans he took when he returned.

IRR also posted details on the “small miracle” on Facebook on Thursday (Jan 5). The almost 21-year-old migrant worker was scheduled to return to Bangladesh on Jan 4, and the organization only heard about his case a few hours before his departure.

“In the short space of two hours, the target funds were raised thanks to kind-hearted members of the public, and one of our team members rushed down to Changi Airport in a taxi to hand him the cash minutes before he was due to go past immigration to get his flight. Phew!” said IRR.

The man departed Singapore not with broken dreams but with a renewed sense of hope for a better future. “We can’t help every single case that comes to us, but when and where we can, we will do our best,” added IRR, thanking everyone who came forward to donate. /TISG

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