The Journey V

"Long, how have you been? Is everything alright? Is work difficult? Are you eating well? Have you lost weight? The rice is almost ready for harvesting, and someone offered a high price for our ox the other day...." The standard questions each time Long called home which he answered in monosyllabic umms and ahhs.

"Don't worry about me, I have to go, calls are expensive. Good bye. Send my regards to Mei mei." Click and the phone line went dead.

In the rowdy noisy background of his dormitory, the silence on the other end of the line to his family in the village was deafening. It wasn't that Long didn't want to call home. It wasn't that calls were expensive, in fact they were ridiculously cheap. It wasn't that life was rosy here in Singapore. It wasn't that work was lonely, being the only grown man who could not make himself understood in this community. It wasn't that colleagues ostracised him, and customers shouted at his inability to converse in English. It wasn't that he was not willing to try, but Long just wanted to speak mandarin so he could be understood better and serve his customers quicker.

It was that he could not bring himself to let his family know any of this, at all. The more frequent the calls, the greater the temptation to breakdown each time he heard his mother's concerned voice. The longer each phone call, the higher the longing to return home to his village fields. The more words spoken, the shakier his voice may become to betray the strong front Long has been staging for the past 10 months.

There was no way but to speak less and call less frequently. Numbness is better than weakness.

===========================================

In the new flat Long now shares with 3 other acquaintances, he no longer needed to sleep on the floor on a thin, dirty, bug-ridden mattress. Long finally had his own bed albeit a double deck. It was paradise compared to what he had put up with for the past year.

While many of his more resourceful friends found accomodation in HDB flats much sooner, Long did not know many people and was shy to mix around even with his own countrymen. It was difficult for him to rent a place on his own as it was way beyond his affordability. So when the opportunity came up from Lucy who was pre-disposed to look after the welfare of foreign workers in the company, Long quickly grabbed the chance to move to a new flat.

With Lucy's resourcefulness, she got the rented place for a good deal and Long paid almost the same rent for sharing a room with 3 others, as he had been paying the unscrupulous agent for sharing the room with 7 other workers.

At least not everyone here is out to exploit foreign workers like me, Long thought to himself, grateful for the help and attention that Lucy has been giving him since he arrived.

In this new flat, Long no longer needed to share a bathroom and toilet with 30 other workers. He only had 7 other people in the flat which was brightly ventilated with sparse furnishing. A dining table and some plastic stools sat in the kitchen, and a 14 inch TV sat on a console in the living room with a 3 seater couch.

He bought himself a plastic box to keep his clothes and some other belongings he accumulated during his stay in Singapore. He no longer needed to live out of his suitcase, even if it meant having his pseudo cupboard of a plastic box hidden under his bed.

Here, he was allowed to boil water and cook rice and instant noodles. No frying or other methods of cooking were allowed except boiling.

Enterprising Long then started to cook rice for dinner and lunch the next day, topping his lunch box with boiled vegetables and boiled egg. Sometimes he added pickled vegetables for flavour. What he cooked for dinner, often was what he will have for his next meal at lunch. And this diet persisted for a long time, given the constraits of his living conditions.

Long also took on a sideline distributing flyers at the MRT stations. He didn't need to speak to anyone, just needed to ensure the flyers were handed out diligently to passers-by. For each kilo of flyers he distributed, he earned 60 cents.
This job he took on during his days off and sometimes for a few hours before he started his night shift at work, or after his day shift at work.

Soon he found out that he could also distribute more flyers if he delivered them to doorsteps or into postal boxes of housing estates. Long soon carried heavy bags of flyers and walked all over his estate to deliver them. He took the lift to the highest floor of a block of flats and walked his way down distributing flyers at the doorstep of each household. He could not understand why residents in Singapore often locked their post boxes. Perhaps it was a central government control to prevent media circulation of negative news that would affect the ruling party. Such acts were nothing new to him. But he secretly applauded the government for installing such beautiful steel postal boxes which came with a central lock which only a legitimate postman could unlock, probably with a key issued from the central government.

He also learned how to make occasional requests on his work roster to allow him to distribute flyers during pedestrian peak hours along MRT walkways. Slowly but surely Long was accumulating a tiny bit of savings from his job as well as his part time job.

With each meal that he cooked, he was saving himself a tiny sum each day. And this was the portion that he had to fork out for his utility bills in his new flat. In the previous dormitory, the utilities were included in the $250 he paid each month to the agent.

=========================================================

Long thought about his tiny savings each month and smiled contentedly. He had done his family proud and his village proud by coming out here to eke a living. Here he earned 5 times more than what he made back home, and was not vulnerable to droughts and floods. He was working in a cosmopolitan city in a slick working environment.

These were the flashy things he must say, and not the loneliness or discrimination he faced and still faces daily. True that he earned 5 times more but expenses were 5-6 times higher as well. Sigh. We all see what we choose to see.

Counting down, he had 6 more months to go before his 2 year contract is up.

祝福

那夜，在回家途中， 我说了“如果真想去，没有地方太遥远。如果无心，哪里都太远”。

就这样，我们无所不有的谈天说地， 一直到天光。相聚的时光太短太快，思念的岁月却是那么漫长。

眼前的路不好走，你要当心保重，直到我们再见那刻。轻轻地，把彼此眉间的皱纹给抚平。

就这样，又开始了一段漫长的等待 - 等待直到约定融化成笑颜。

五月天的“生命有一种绝对”把心情给形容了：

“想要征服的世界 始终都没有改变
那地上无声蒸发我的泪
黑暗中期待光线 生命有一种绝对
等待我 请等待我
直到约定融化成笑颜”

The Journey IV

Long woke up in the sweltering heat. He wiped his brow and felt the tender area at his ear. It was hurting again.

Scratching his neck, arm and legs, he got up from his thin mattress, folded into half and slid it under the bed. He checked carefully for any bugs that might be crawling around the floor as he suspected that was the source of his persistent itch. The occupants had gone out early for their shift at the construction site. "That's good" he thought as he knew he would be able to use the bathroom without the hassle of queuing for more than 1 hour for his turn.

Long was working the night shift today, and it was only 11am in the morning. He had reached home at 2am last night after his night shift ended at 12mn. The cab ride he took with 3 other co-workers took him to various other places in Singapore he had never seen, and he was the last to alight.

4 months have passed since Long's arrival into Singapore. He had only ever ventured out to take a bus and MRT to his workplace and home. The other place he knew of was to the supermarket 4 blocks away to buy bread and instant noodles. And he had to buy the more expensive cup noodles instead of the packet noodles as he was instructed by the agent not to do any cooking in the dormitory.

Long washed up and opened his luggage bag for his loaf of bread. He ate what was left of the remaining 2 pieces and washed it down with some tap water.

Looking at his room shared with 7 other workers, he thought about his village back home, and longed for the fresh air of the fields. Here, his room mates, all construction workers smoked and drank in the hall way and at times in the room. The bedding provided was thin, dirty and smelled of stale perspiration mixed with cheap cigarette smoke.

For the past 4 months, Long had been living out of his suit case as there was no room to hang his clothes. The room was small and housed 3 double bunk beds. Long and 1 other worker slept on the floor at night. Long made sure he locked his suit case in case anything was stolen while he slept. Meals were expensive in Singapore, each meal costing easily $4 ached Long painfully. He tried to eat only 1 meal per day while at work, and sustained himself on bread while at the dormitory. He yearned for some fragrant white rice and vegetables from his home.

He felt a tickling sensation in his ear, and pressed the tender area gently. It hurt badly. Long felt some liquid ooze from his ear, and thought that it smelt off. Long suppressed a small wave of panic. What if a bug had crawled from the bed into his ear at night? Would he go deaf? How much would a visit to the doctor cost here? Oh no...

Long tried to nap, but the persistent ear ache would not go away. In the sweltering heat of the room, the concoction of pain and stale odours made Long feel giddy. Was it fever?

Long got up, dressed for work and left for his work place. He arrived 2 hours ahead of schedule. In fact, Long was never late for work. Partly because he knew being early for work was about the only thing he could do better than his co-workers, and partly because he wanted to escape from the oppressive dormitory environment.

************************

"It's an infection of the outer ear, and should clear up after a week to ten days. In the mean time, no swimming, no contact with water for the affected part. Use cotton wool while in the shower. Avoid baths." Dr Lingam advised Lucy.

Lucy repeated this in Mandarin to Long who nodded silently. Long then asked Lucy there was any bug found in his ear. Lucy translated this to Dr Lingam who smiled and said, no no there were no bugs, not to worry. Just a minor infection. Remember to complete the antibiotics, and take the paracetamol if the fever persists.

Long wanted to show his bed bug bites on his back, shoulders, arms and legs to the Doctor, but hesitated. He didn't want to appear rude or demanding as he didn't know if he could ask this many questions. He hoped they would subside soon so he would not have to live with the itch.

As Lucy and Long walked back from the clinic to their work place, Lucy asked in mandarin "Why didn't you see a doctor about your infection?" Long explained that he didn't know how much it would cost, and also he was worried about what to say to the doctor. "My English is bad." Long said.

Lucy smiled "There are many doctors who can speak mandarin too" and then she stopped. What if Long met with Dr Lingam by himself? How would Dr Lingam or Long cope with each other? That would make an interesting doctor-patient relationship.

Back at the staff room, Lucy made Long write down in mandarin the dosage and frequency of administrating his medication. She also helped him report his Medical leave to his supervisor, and processed the medical claim of $25 from the company.

Long noted all this in his notebook, and was relieved that there were no bugs in his ear. He had heard that these bugs will live in one's head and cause one to lose their minds when they grow old by singing high pitched tunes constantly. Long still had to look after his parents and little sister, and did not want to lose his mind. No, Long had to be strong.

Long thanked Lucy profusely for her help. If not for Lucy who detected Long's pale lips at work, he may have had to live with the bug in his head for a long time.

"How are things for you so far? Have you settled into your dormitory nicely?" Lucy asked

Long went on to tell her about how 24 people share 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms in the rented HDB flat. And how these workers from different countries speak different languages, smoked and drank in the rooms, and how they fought to use the bathroom daily. Some used camping burners in the room to make their own meals as they could not afford to eat out, adding to the smell of the already squalid living conditions.

"Have you considered moving out?" Lucy asked, apparently taken aback by what she heard.

"I've paid 3 months deposit to the agent already, so I'll have to stay here. Besides I don't know how to go about getting another apartment." Lucy did the maths and realised that Long had been paying far too much at $250 per month for a floor space to share with 7 other people in the room.

Long needed money if he were to move out on his own, and he would do best if he could pool together 3 others to share a room with him. And he needed money to pay deposit for rental as well as agent fees. Earning $1000 per month doesn't leave Long with much savings at all.

Suddenly what the demi-goddess said to him back in China hit him hard. But he felt cushioned against the impact as he had been warned. But little did he expect his living conditions to be so bad, it was worse than his village back home. And he craved for a good decent meal too.

"Have you called home lately?"

"Yes, I called my parents when I reached Singapore."

"What about lately? Xing and the others have been calling home nearly everyday. Don't you miss your family?"

" No need, as long as they know I am safe, I will work hard, that's ok. Not good to let them worry about me."

Long was steely about his stance on calling home even though he knew that calling rates for long distance call was extremely cheap here in Singapore. It costs something like 5 cents a minute or possibly less. Xing and Jiang would know all the rates quite well.

The Journey III

Events unfolded quickly over the next 2 days.

Long learnt from Mr Chow that there would be another day of interview the next day, and a decision would be made at the end of the second day. If he was selected, he would need to attend a 5 day training course here in the city.

Should his performance be unsatisfactory during the training, he would not qualify for employment, and would need to go back to his village.

Lodging was provided for the length of his stay at a dormitory nearby, but the cost of the return ticket would be borne by him if he was not selected for the job.

"So what is your decision?" asked Mr Chow.

Long thought about the week that he would need to spend alone in the city. He had never been out in the city for so many days. How are his parents to cope in the field for the week that he is away? The potatoes and yam were ready for harvesting, which meant that a lot of back-breaking digging work. The ox was needed to till the rice field, and the pumpkin seeds were ready for planting.....

Thoughts raced through Long's mind.

Never had he encountered any company that would spend time training him either. Either way, it was an opportunity for learning, and Long decided that nothing bad would come out of it. "At some point in time, my family would have to cope without me." Long gritted with determination.

***************************************

Long made it amongst 20 selected candidates for employment in Singapore. He later learnt that there were 150 applicants for the positions, and remembered to say a prayer to thank his ancestors for his good fortune.

Over the next 5 days, Long attended lessons from 830am-430pm. For the first time in 3 years he left high school, he was required to converse in the english language with fellow compatriots.

He felt that a lucky star sent by his ancestors had fallen on him to be given such an opportunity to learn english for free. Long knew the advantages of so many doors that would open for him if he could get his english on track.

China was changing, so rapidly that personal fortunes could be amassed overnight, if only one met the right contacts, at the right time, with the right skills, and right attitude.

Long knew he possessed only the last of the quartet, but skills he would work hard to learn, and NOW was the right time, and the the demi-god was his lifeline contact. Of the 13 billion people in this country, this demi-god had chosen to give me a chance; Long knew he had to hold on.

After all, his father had endowed upon him the power and determination of the most powerful mystical creature in history - the Dragon. "I am the descendant of the Dragon!"

********************************************

Long re-learnt his ABCs and 123s from the lady demi-god. In class, Long met 19 other individuals from provinces all over China who had, like him, travelled to this strange, enchanting city in search of that ONE life-changing opportunity.

Xing came from a well-to-do family in the city. He wanted to travel out of China to meet new people and experience living in a cosmopolitan city like Singapore. "He'd do well, his English is good. He's trendy, and he's outgoing." Long thought as he looked again at Xing's Nike Air Max and Dri-fit attire.

Jiang, like him came from a village. Her parents were apple farmers, as their village was located near a scenic coastal city famed for Fuji Apples. Shy and unassuming, she was not unattractive. And she worked hard at learning English from the lady demi-god. At lunch breaks, she practises with other girls just so she'd get it right when the demi-goddess came back from lunch.

Dong had similar working experience working in the same industry. He knew what to expect, but had problems with the english language. His skill set was excellent, but struggled with the language. Dong kept defaulting into pu tong hua as he was at least a good 5-6 years older than the rest of the group. He'd been out of school for almost 10 years, and relearning the language was proving more difficult for him as compared to the rest.

The Demi-goddess made them converse in English daily, simulating everyday encounters they would meet at the workplace. She corrected pronunciation, drilled into them phrases they would need to use at work, and while living in Singapore.

She taught them skills: how to tell the time, how to ask for directions, how to order food at a hawker centre etc. Scenarios were created where the class had to role play a customer and a staff and the class critiqued one another.

While she was fierce, the Demi-goddess also made sure she adjusted Long's expectation on the cost of living in Singapore.

Each day she came into class and asked if anyone wanted to leave. Each day she made the class tell her the cost of renting a room, the cost of a bus / MRT ride, and the cost of a McDonald's meal in Singapore. And she asked them to calculate how much each person could expect to save from a SGD 1000 salary per month. And she would ask again if anyone wanted to leave.

Over 5 days, the class of 20 learnt to tell one another what they ate or did the day before. Leant to tell the correct date and time. Learnt to ask and give directions. Rehearsed workplace scenarios in role plays, correcting themselves in the process.

Long could not understand or explain it. He felt a sense of belonging at the end of the 5 days with this group of total strangers. It was beyond what he had ever imagined or experienced in his lifetime within the village.

The Demi-goddess chose all but one of them at the end. That one person not selected was sent home. Bad attitude, she said.

****************************************************

The last day of class approached before the Demi-goddess was to depart for Singapore.

She told them about the climate in Singapore, showed them the currency, the map and bus/train guides so they could be prepared for living in Singapore.

"I expect no less then total preparation from you when you arrive in Singapore." she said in her crisp accented pu tong hua.

It was amazing, Long thought, how the demi-goddess could speak like that, switching between languages effortlessly. And she told them that this is common in Singapore. "But don't take for granted that all Chinese speak mandarin, and not all mandarin is spoken by Chinese. Singapore is NOT like China, not everyone speaks mandarin. Everyone speaks English. English! If you don't make yourself understood or understand others, you will never succeed on the job or in Singapore. I will send you back to China! Do you understand this?"

Singapore, the land of the abundant and talented, Long thought to himself, and secretly told himself he would have this effect rub off on him after 2 years on Singaporean soil.

Towards the end of the day, the Demi-goddess reminded them on subtle cultural differences between Chinese and Singaporeans. "don't stand so close to others! never touch anyone with any part of your body or else the police can be called in for molest!"

She told them to queue up for public transport, not to block doorways of buses and trains, allow other users to alight before boarding etc. "How strange that she has this power to instil upon us in 5 days what the government has been trying to do for the past 20 years!" Long thought.

Long later learnt from Jiang that she also reminded the girls to shave their underarms - something that drew giggles and amazement. "What's the purpose of that?" Long wondered, but didn't spend much time pondering as he thought about his new life ahead.

The one thing that disturbed Long was that he was told to change his clothing frequently. "Never wear the same outfit again for consecutive days without washing! Please!" the Demi-goddess pleaded.

This was something which took everyone by surprise. It was common practice and widely understood that one only has limited sets of clothing for outings. In Long's case, he had been wearing his white shirt, pants and polished leather shoes for the past week now. It was all the 'outing' clothes he had to his name. How was he to find a new set of clothes to wear for each day of the week?!

Demi-goddess launced into a lecture about personal hygiene, bactorial growth, body odour and the humid climate of Singapore. She went further about clean socks, smelly feet, and where to purchase anti-odour foot spray and deodourant.

While Long found this information extremely useful, he wondered if all Singaporeans ladies were as candid as this Demi-goddess about body hair, odour, feet and all amongst other things. Was there anything taboo to this lady at all?

"Don't have unprotected sex." she said. "Ladies, you are not to get pregnant or I will send you back to here. You will lose your work permit and you have to bear the cost of the air ticket."

*********************************

As Long was ushered from place to place over the next few days for health checks, passport application, and work permit application, he wondered how long he would need to repay the rmb 40000 loan he would have to take to buy this opportunity to the Land of Plenty, Singapore.

He also wondered where he was to get money to buy more clothes (a frivolous luxury according to Long) as instructed by the Demi-goddess.

When all was done and ready, he finally bought a train ticket to his village. It would be his last train ride on the hard seat compartment, until his return 2 years later. Long bought steamed corn to accompany him on his return journey and settled into the hard seat. Thoughts swirled around his mind as he gnawed on the corn.

Long thought to himself, he has proven himself worthy of his name, and brought glory to his village and family to be the Chosen One to work overseas.

He now had only one path ahead, to work and send money back to his village. To build a better house for his family and fellow villagers, to repay the loan taken from the village head and villagers, to save money so his little sister could marry into a better family.

The hopes of his family, his clan, his village, now rested on the dragon's descendant who will journey far to pursue the dream of those who placed their hopes on his shoulders.

The Journey II

Long endured a long night on the train with little sleep on the hard seat.

Buying a ticket on a soft seat would have been a frivolous luxury he could ill afford now. Buying a ticket on an express train to shorten his journey to 9 hours was likewise. Long is a frugal man, like his father.

Finishing his last bit of steamed corn for breakfast, he heard the train pull into the city's station. He got out and adjusted his eyes and ears to the humming of the city life. It was a different world from his village 15 hours away.

Long waited at the main gate of the train station, along with possibly several thousand others. All travellers, like him. Why were they here, where were they going to? Each had his own tale to tell, but Long's focus at present was to find Mr Chow.

Soon he heard a man calling "Mr Chow! Mr Chow!" and realised that this man was gathering a group of possibly 50-60 others who had arrived at the station. He seemed to be in charge.

"Those looking for Mr Chow from XX agency, meet here!" the man bellowed.

"Now listen carefully. .... " The man gave instructions for them and they were herded into a bus to be transported to a hotel where the interview was held.

Long waited for 5 hours for his turn at the hotel. There were 75 applicants for the job, and each had waited for his/her turn to enter the interview room.

Long was told that this was a large company based in Singapore. They were willing to pay 5000 rmb per month. That's more than 5 times what he would earn in the city each month! No wonder there were so many applicants. However they needed applicants who were able to converse in English.

Long prayed to his ancestors as each applicant came out from the interview room that he would be amongst the chosen ones. Some came out hopeful, others just shook their heads.

4 hours had passed since he arrived, and he had been seated in line, waiting for his interview.

At 1pm, Mr Chow announced that the interviewers had decided to break for lunch, and the interview would resume at 2pm. Late comers would be banned from the interview immediately as it is a sign of utmost disrespect to the potential employer.

Long caught sight of the demi-gods - the interviewers who would decide upon his fate - as they walked out of the interview room. His heart skipped a beat as he saw a full head of blonde hair walk past him.

"Lao wai?!" (a foreigner?!) Long had been hoping that he could still convince the interviewer of his physical abilities and hardworking qualities in pu tong hua if his command of the English language failed him. He knew that there were many Chinese in Singapore, and communication would not be a major barrier for him.

But, a lao wai interviewer threw Long totally off course. As he paid his 2rmb for a quick lunch of rice, mince meat and cabbage at a xiao dian near the train station, he was in no mood to eat. Long was worried, and checked the large clock face of the train station frequently to make sure he would make it back to the hotel in time.

*********************************

Long knocked on the door, and readied himself to meet the demi-gods.

As he walked in he noticed the lao wai, and a young chinese lady seated next to him. The lady smiled and spoke to him in pu tong hua. "Ni Hao, we will be conducting the interview in English shortly. We will ask you questions and you are to perform the tasks asked of you. If you do not understand, just say so. If you do, go ahead and perform the tasks. Are you ready?"

That voice was melody to Long's ears as it steadied his beating heart. Eager and ready to please, Long cried out "Yes!"

Long performed the tasks to the best he could, like "pick up 2 red boxes", "put your hand on the table", "Put the small cup into the big box". At times he thought long and hard, and tried his luck. On tasks he could understand, he did them quickly, and stood upright with his hands behind his back, ready for the next command.

The lady seemed pleased, he thought, as he noticed the lao wai busy looking through his resume.

The lady asked Long about his family which he tried his best to converse in English - a speech he had rehearsed a million times in his head. Never mind if this didn't answer her question, just say something to show that you can speak English!

As his ended his rehearsed speech, Long heaved a silent sigh of relief and looked at the lady interviewer and her lao wai companion. The lao wai had finally spoken and Long could not understand a single word.

"I'm sorry. Please say it again." Long said.

Lao wai tried again, and Long stared at his own sweaty hands. The Lao Wai repeated himself, at a slower pace and looked at Long. The silence was compressing Long's head as each second passed.

Long was desperate. How is it that I cannot understand a single word? Panic set in.

Long's lips tremoured as he said "I'm sorry. Please say it again." the second time. Long wiped his brow with the back of his hand, and rubbed it on his black pants.

He dared not look at the interviewers for he felt he had failed. It was deeply embarrassing. Then Long heard the lady demi-god say something to the lao wai and they both seemed relax.

The lady finally spoke in pu tong hua "Thank you. Can you let me know what do you know about this job you are applying for? Why do you want to work overseas and what do you know about working in Singapore?"

Long tried his best in imagining what job tasks would be expected of him and explained to the lady, each time nervously watching her expression as he mentioned each task. She simply nodded, and at times smiled, which Long took as a positive sign of encouragement. The lao wai remained expressionless, which was a nagging worry.

And then Long spoke about his family in his village, and why he wanted to work overseas to earn more money to lift his family from poverty.

The lady then launched into detail about living costs in Singapore. Never had Long imagined that a meal in Singapore would cost 30-40rmb! And that taking a bus would cost some 10rmb one way! This was many many times what he would have to pay back here at home!

"So don't think that 5000rmb per month is a lot of money. You have to see things in perspective. 5000rmb in Singapore gets you as much stuff as 1000rmb back here, and possibly less as you have to factor in the cost of housing as well." Suddenly the lady's tone turned sombre.

"I will work hard, I am not afraid of hard work. I have worked in the farm all my life, and I am not afraid of hard work. I really hope you can give me a chance, please. I will work very hard."

Long pleaded, desperate to hold on to this long thin thread of hope he had been clinging on to. "It would be very honourable for my family if I can go overseas. Please give me a chance, I want to provide a better life for my little sister."

The lady looked bemused, a look that Long could not understand if it was something she had heard far too many times that day, or that she had really heard his cry of desperation. She ended the interview saying that she will inform the agent Mr Chow of her decision.

Long left the interview room, not knowing when he would be notified. From his experience, some employers decided on the spot, others waited for a day or two. Which meant he would need to stay at a dormitory while the results were being processed.

"Little sister, my fate is not in my hands."

The Journey I

It was a going to be a tiring day for Long. He had woken up at 5am, prepared his only white shirt, pants, and leather shoes, and before changing into his usual garb of blue cotton sleeveless shirt and shorts to tend the fields 5km from his house.

The fields that belong to his father were allocated by the provincial government. The crops which they rotated on this farm were sold to the local authorities in exchange for food rationing coupons. This was fast changing in recent years as farmers such as Long's family were allowed to sell to merchants in exchange for cash.

Long knew the crops would in turn, be traded at thousands of times the value which the merchants had paid for. But what could the farmers do? They had the shorter end of the stick as the local authorities dictated who farmers were allowed to sell their crops to. It was to sell, or risk having the crops go bad. Such was the way in the village.

Breakfast was thin gruel with beancurd sticks and salted egg. Long ate quickly as he knew he had much to accomplish for the day. He left for the fields hesitating for a moment to draw a long breath. "It might just be my last morning today" he thought with a tinge of sadness and a glimmer of hope in his heart.

By noon, his little sister brought his lunch, and sat alongside as Long ate. Rice, vegetables from the farm, and a salted egg.

"Will you travel again today?" she asked. "Yes" Long answered.

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know."

"Why not?"

"It's not up to me to decide." Long knew in his heart, his fate laid not in his hands. But in the hands of others, more powerful, more educated, more well to do.

He accepted that, like millions around him, he was born into a farmer's family, and is destined to take this path. He also accepted that his heart would yearn for his family if he were to leave them behind, his aging parents and young sister whom he adored.

But he must never show his emotions. A man must be brave, go forth into the world to earn big money and glorify the village and the family.

********************************

At 3pm, he was home, packed the few belongings he had into a plastic carrier, and changed into his thin white shirt. His mother tried her best to straighten the shirt with her hands, hoping her only son would be accepted at the interview.

Long carried with him his passport, his high school certificate, some undergarments and his only other set of home garments.

He bade his family farewell. He hoped he will return, as his heart missed them so. Yet he hoped also that he would be amongst the chosen ones this time, unlike the numerous times he made the 15hour journey to the city, only to be rejected and travel back.

************************************

Long left home at 4pm, taking the 1 hour ride on the village bus to the train station where he will spend the next 15 hours on a 'hard seat' the cheapest ticket possible to the city. He bought steamed corn from the platform before boarding the train.

Long's journey had begun.

Would he travel further this time? Or would he make the return journey back to his village?

The cost of the train ticket each time he travelled was proving to be a drain on his family's resources. It was their investment in him, in hope that he would bring glory, wealth and fame to his village and his family.

All Long knew at this point, was to meet a man called Mr Chow upon arrival at the city's train station. He must remember to stay awake which was proving too easy with the crowded train bustling with people smoking, playing cards and children crying.

He rehearsed endlessly the few lines he knew when greeting potential employers. Long wanted to succeed this time.