<TABLE id=msgUN cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Fucking FT telling a fucking lie!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">12:46 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 2) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>4449.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Unpaid worker fears for well-being of family
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
Penniless and in fear of being repatriated without his pay, Mr Khan is concerned for his family, who are being harrassed by debt collectors to repay a $5,000 loan he took out to come and work here. -- ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->
When hiring agents came to his village in Madripur, a six-hour bus ride from Dhaka, they promised 29-year-old Riponksan Musharraf Khan a $1,000-a-month job in Singapore. That was a year ago.
Convinced by their promises and with dreams of becoming rich, the Bangladeshi road cleaner sold his land and his wife's jewellery and borrowed $5,000 from moneylenders to raise the $9,000 agent's fee.
His monthly pay of $650 at the time was barely enough to support his wife, two young children and elderly mother, as well as two younger siblings who were still at school.
He came to Singapore in February and was paid $700 a month as a pipe-fitter at Tipper Corp. The pay was less than he had been promised, but he was convinced that if he worked hard, it would go up.
After the fourth month, however, he did not even receive his pay. Each time he asked for it, the subcontractor told him he would have to wait.
Mr Khan has been waiting for seven months. He is now penniless and has not sent any money home for six months.
His family members are living off the charity of neighbours, and have already had their electricity supply cut off. Each month, debt collectors harass them to settle the loan he took out to come to Singapore.
It has been three months since he last telephoned home because he has no money to make calls.
'I don't know whether my wife and children are eating, whether my mother is well, or whether my siblings are still at school. I pray that Allah is taking care of them,' said Mr Khan.
Employer Tipper Corp told The Straits Times last Monday that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) had given the company two weeks to pay its workers.
But the company said it cannot pay the salaries at the moment, as it did not have the workers' time sheets and payment records.
According to the company's spokesman, MOM has said the workers will either be repatriated or transferred to other employers.
Each day, Mr Khan prays he will receive his seven months' outstanding pay and can continue working here. He plans to renew his contract when it ends in February 2010 so that he can settle his loan back home.
He cries himself to sleep at night, worrying about being repatriated without his pay. 'I will die if I go home now. I have no money to pay my debtors. They will beat me up, hurt my family and burn my house. I'm very scared,' he said.
[email protected]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Penniless and in fear of being repatriated without his pay, Mr Khan is concerned for his family, who are being harrassed by debt collectors to repay a $5,000 loan he took out to come and work here. -- ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->
When hiring agents came to his village in Madripur, a six-hour bus ride from Dhaka, they promised 29-year-old Riponksan Musharraf Khan a $1,000-a-month job in Singapore. That was a year ago.
Convinced by their promises and with dreams of becoming rich, the Bangladeshi road cleaner sold his land and his wife's jewellery and borrowed $5,000 from moneylenders to raise the $9,000 agent's fee.
His monthly pay of $650 at the time was barely enough to support his wife, two young children and elderly mother, as well as two younger siblings who were still at school.
He came to Singapore in February and was paid $700 a month as a pipe-fitter at Tipper Corp. The pay was less than he had been promised, but he was convinced that if he worked hard, it would go up.
After the fourth month, however, he did not even receive his pay. Each time he asked for it, the subcontractor told him he would have to wait.
Mr Khan has been waiting for seven months. He is now penniless and has not sent any money home for six months.
His family members are living off the charity of neighbours, and have already had their electricity supply cut off. Each month, debt collectors harass them to settle the loan he took out to come to Singapore.
It has been three months since he last telephoned home because he has no money to make calls.
'I don't know whether my wife and children are eating, whether my mother is well, or whether my siblings are still at school. I pray that Allah is taking care of them,' said Mr Khan.
Employer Tipper Corp told The Straits Times last Monday that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) had given the company two weeks to pay its workers.
But the company said it cannot pay the salaries at the moment, as it did not have the workers' time sheets and payment records.
According to the company's spokesman, MOM has said the workers will either be repatriated or transferred to other employers.
Each day, Mr Khan prays he will receive his seven months' outstanding pay and can continue working here. He plans to renew his contract when it ends in February 2010 so that he can settle his loan back home.
He cries himself to sleep at night, worrying about being repatriated without his pay. 'I will die if I go home now. I have no money to pay my debtors. They will beat me up, hurt my family and burn my house. I'm very scared,' he said.
[email protected]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
:o
