Grant them citizenship loh! *Ptui*
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Sep 7, 2008
BANGLADESHI
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>'I feel lucky to be working in a nice country'
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Bangladeshi foreman Alauddin Abul Kalam (with roommates in background), 27, came to Singapore five years ago and finds Singaporeans helpful. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Where from: The majority are from Dhaka in central Bangladesh, Monshigonj in the south and Kaulna in the north.
Likely to see them: At shipyards and construction sites, or at Mustafa Centre in Little India.
Living in: Dormitories in Jurong, Tuas and Kaki Bukit.
Mr Alauddin Abul Kalam, 27, came to Singapore five years ago, from his village of Moulahavashpur in northern Bangladesh.
When he goes home for a break in two weeks, the foreman at Heatec Jietong, a shipyard piping company in Jurong, will marry the girl his mother has chosen for him. He will return three months later.
With overtime, he gets $1,400 a month and remits $1,000 home. He lives in a Jurong West dormitory and spoke in English.
How do Singaporeans tend to see you?
They have never given me any problems. When I don't know what bus to take at the bus interchange, they will help me.
How do you feel about this?
I feel lucky to be working in such a nice country with nice people.
Singaporeans think foreign workers have bad habits. How true is this?
Some are like that. They drink too much and don't care about others. But I am not like that. I am a Muslim, so I don't drink. I also don't go to void decks and make noise.
Where should foreign workers live if Singaporeans don't want workers to live near them?
I don't think there is anywhere else for us to go. Singapore is a very small country. We have to live somewhere.
Last words
Before I came to Singapore, I always heard from the men in my village that it is a good country to work in. When I go home, I will tell the young men in my village the same thing.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Sep 7, 2008
BANGLADESHI
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>'I feel lucky to be working in a nice country'
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Bangladeshi foreman Alauddin Abul Kalam (with roommates in background), 27, came to Singapore five years ago and finds Singaporeans helpful. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Where from: The majority are from Dhaka in central Bangladesh, Monshigonj in the south and Kaulna in the north.
Likely to see them: At shipyards and construction sites, or at Mustafa Centre in Little India.
Living in: Dormitories in Jurong, Tuas and Kaki Bukit.
Mr Alauddin Abul Kalam, 27, came to Singapore five years ago, from his village of Moulahavashpur in northern Bangladesh.
When he goes home for a break in two weeks, the foreman at Heatec Jietong, a shipyard piping company in Jurong, will marry the girl his mother has chosen for him. He will return three months later.
With overtime, he gets $1,400 a month and remits $1,000 home. He lives in a Jurong West dormitory and spoke in English.
How do Singaporeans tend to see you?
They have never given me any problems. When I don't know what bus to take at the bus interchange, they will help me.
How do you feel about this?
I feel lucky to be working in such a nice country with nice people.
Singaporeans think foreign workers have bad habits. How true is this?
Some are like that. They drink too much and don't care about others. But I am not like that. I am a Muslim, so I don't drink. I also don't go to void decks and make noise.
Where should foreign workers live if Singaporeans don't want workers to live near them?
I don't think there is anywhere else for us to go. Singapore is a very small country. We have to live somewhere.
Last words
Before I came to Singapore, I always heard from the men in my village that it is a good country to work in. When I go home, I will tell the young men in my village the same thing.
