The Struggle

49-year-old Billal has worked in Singapore for a good many years. Unfortunately, the sole breadwinner met with two work-related accidents. The first accident happened in 2012 when slabs of marble dropped onto his left foot in a forklift mishap. Despite the excruciating pain that he was going through, Billal resumed working without realizing that his left shin bone has begun to curve. His left shin developed varus deformity and pain became a constant fixture in his left knee.

Billal continued working as he had to support his family including his two school-going children age 13 and 11 years old. He worked until the second accident on 25th July 2018. He was polishing the marble floor when the buffing machine malfunctioned and spinned out of control. Billal’s left arm was fractured and his kneecap was dislocated as a result of the machine malfunction. Since then, the life of the sole breadwinner who once harboured high hopes of being able to improve the lives of his family came crashing when he was unable to continue working to send remittances home.

Help Needed – Give Hope

Billal was under 9 months of medical leave, yet his employer only paid for the first 4 months of MC wages. Billal used to earn between S$800-S$900 a month without overtime pay, and up to S$1,600 a month, clocking in many hours of overtime pay just so that he could send more remittance back to his family in Bangladesh. Since the accident, Billal was advised by the doctor to undergo surgery for his constant knee pain. Unfortunately, the surgery is estimated to cost up to S$100,000. Billal’s employer is also disavowing anything to do with this surgery, and since he could not undergo the surgery, Billal now walks with an obvious limp.

Putting the physical pain aside, Billal is also worried about not being able to send remittances back home for his family’s living expenses and for his two children’s school fees, estimated at S$1,000 for the both of them each year. With the salary that he was earning, Billal used to send the bulk of his pay home to his family. Although he has fully repaid the agent fees that he undertook in order to come to Singapore to work, he has an unpaid loan of close to S$1,700 that he took from friends to pay for his rent, food and phone card while he is awaiting his MOM compensation claim. Now that he is unable to return to work any time soon, Billal is worried about his family situation back home.

Financial Breakdown

Billal’s meals are currently provided for by a migrant worker advocacy organisation. Since his accident, Billal has approached the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to seek compensation from his employer, and he understands that it will take months before MOM reverts to him with an answer.

Hence, ROHI wishes to raise S$1,750 to defray Billal’s living expenses ($250 x 3 months) and his children’s school fees for a year (S$1,000 for 2 children) while he waits for the outcome of his compensation by MOM. Your donations would bring comfort to the helpless worker and his family!

*Ray of Hope case workers have cited medical documents provided by Billal. However, they will not be published as he is currently awaiting closure on his MOM compensation.