Singapore – The story of a foreign worker handyman who spent hours searching for a specific item has been widely shared on social media.
On Friday (Feb 5), Facebook user Fabian Ke uploaded his heartwarming encounter with Mr Anowar. He said that his glass sliding door got stuck recently, so he looked for a handyman online to fix it.
He found Mr Anowar through WhatsApp and was quoted S$100 for the job. When Mr Anowar arrived at his residence on Thursday, Mr Ke shared he was shocked to discover the man had come by public transport. He mentioned living by the east coast beach and was not easily accessible.
Upon dismantling the door, they realised that the rollers Mr Anowar brought were not the right size.
Mr Anowar quickly apologised and said he would leave and find the right rollers, said Mr Ke.
“He left me waiting for almost four hours. I had to cancel dinner plans. I wanted to get upset but seeing how hard he is working and how determined he is to get the job done really got to me,” said Mr Ke. He also considered Mr Anowar taking public transport to get around.
Mr Anowar returned but did not have a door roller. He had looked all over but could not find the right model, said Mr Ke. He gave the man S$50 for his trouble and advised him to continue searching when he had the time and return the next day.
Mr Anowar showed up on Friday with the right roller and finished the job in 20 minutes.
Mr Ke got to chatting with the handyman and discovered he had two sons. He also had a 14-year-old daughter in Bangladesh, whose right side was paralysed from a vehicular accident.
“He also told me about work problems and a pub at Upper Thomson that isn’t paying him for a finished partition job.”
“Working in Singapore must be so tough and lonely for our Bangladeshi brothers. I cannot imagine myself in their situation. They have nothing but my respect,” added Mr Ke.
Before Mr Anowar left, Mr Ke prepared his best coffee for him and eventually paid him double for the job. “He was so touched that he was near to tears. Made me wanna cry too,” he said. “I gave him all my remaining coffee powder since he said he enjoyed it.”
Mr Ke referred Mr Anowar’s services in his post, which has been shared over 4,900 times and urged interested clients to give him a private message for more information. “He has been in Singapore for 20 years, I’m sure he can repair almost anything,” he said. /TISG
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