Shamim, aged 25, is from Bangladesh and is currently the family’s sole breadwinner. He is supporting his two elderly parents aged 80 and 68 respectively back home. His brother, who is job seeking at the moment, has no means to provide for his own family. Hence, Shamim has to remit money home for his brother’s family as well.

The family lives in poverty and Shamim took a loan of nearly S$6,000 in order to work as a construction worker in Singapore. Part of the loan was from the bank and the other part of the loan was from his friends. He came to Singapore in October 2018 and earned a basic salary of just S$800 per month.

On the 30th of July 2019, Shamim met with a workplace-related accident. He hurt his back, shoulder, leg, finger, and head due to a fall while discharging his role as a safety worker at a construction site. Hence, he was no longer allowed to continue working. Shamim was only given $2,500 for 6 months of MC wages. His company closed down in March 2020 and they still owed him 3.5 months of his MC wages.

Shamim has to fork out about S$250 per month on rental and approximately S$150 per month for his living expenses. Shamim still owes $6,000 from borrowing money, inclusive of the $3,500 bank loan that he borrowed to pay for his agent fees. In addition, he has to contribute financially to support his family in Bangladesh.

Ray of Hope would like to raise S$3,000 (S$750 x 4 months) for Shamim for his living expenses and so that he can send remittances home to his family.