A bus driver from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) made a video outlining some of the struggles he faces as a foreigner working in Singapore.
The man, who looks to be middle aged and working for SBS Transit because of his uniform stands in an SBS bus yard while filming his video.
In his video circulating on whatsapp messenger and social media, he says, “To everyone watching, hello”.
“No matter how tough, bitter or tiring life is, we don’t dare to collapse. Because we have no one and nothing to back us up. We cannot hide or avoid this because we still have our wives and kids to think about”.
He adds, “We don’t dare to fall ill, because in a foreign land, no one can take care of us. We don’t dare to voice out that we are tired because no one will care. We don’t dare to skive off because no one will give you money to spend”.
The PRC man ends off his video by urging others to stay strong and to be independent.
“When feeling lonely, sing a song for yourself. When feeling sad, find a corner and dry your tears. Tell yourself: all this is nothing. Remind yourself – you can’t fall, persevere. “Fighting!” friends!”
The average pay for a bus driver in Singapore is about SGD 30,000 annually, or SGD2,500 a month.
Earlier this year, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced during the budget reading that the Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC) – which sets out the maximum permitted ratio of foreign workers to the total workforce that a company is allowed to hire, will be reduced for the services sector in two steps: from 40 per cent to 38 per cent on Jan 1 next year, and to 35 per cent on Jan 1, 2021.
Mr Heng also said, “The basic approach to our foreign worker polices has remained consistent”.
“Based on evidence on the pace of foreign worker inflows, and the progress being made in raising productivity across sectors, we need to calibrate our policies”, he added.
Watch the full video here:
/TISG