Tissue Selling Better than Glorious Cleaning Job?
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She probably has a reason why she's selling tissue paper, but what do you think? Couldn't she have taken a Cleaning Job?
Frm New Paper
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Heeren mother
If I don't work, WHO'LL FEED MY SICK CHILD?
February 05, 2006
YOU would have seen them near The Heeren on Orchard Road.
Madam Rani has been there for about five years. Her routine: She'd be there with her daughter to sell packets of tissue from a big, red plastic bag.
The 50-year-old woman would hold three or four packets in one hand, raising her other hand to her mouth to show she needed money to eat.
Some people would shake their heads and walk away. Others would simply ignore her.
She would then go to her daughter, who would be standing in a telephone booth. 'Today no luck,' Madam Rani would say to her daughter, Miss Bawani, and return to her work.
Slipping her hand under her T-shirt and rubbing her stomach, Miss Bawani, 26, said to this reporter: 'No luck, we drink plain water. Got luck, we eat chicken rice.'
Miss Bawani looks healthy, but Madam Rani said she does not allow her daughter to work.
'My daughter is sick. She had a brain operation and she can't work. Don't talk to her too much or else she'll get a headache.'
Her sickness could not be independantly verified.
Raising her voice, Madam Rani added: 'Don't talk to us. So many people came to talk to us and said they wanted to help, but also never help. Some called the police to chase us away.
'We did not cause any inconvenience. I'm only selling tissue paper. When people tell me they don't want to buy, I never force them. I walk away.'
She recalled how a woman had once approached her.
'She talked to me for one hour. She asked me so many questions and said she wanted to help me. I waited and waited, there was no help.
'A few months later, I saw her again at Orchard Road so I stopped her and asked her 'How?' She told me, 'Sorry lah auntie, I can't help you. You go look for MP.'
'Never mind, I depend on myself. I help myself.'
So there they are every day, taking the bus or MRT from Yishun where Madam Rani claimed they live in a friend's rented one-room flat.
'We come in the morning and leave around 3pm to 4pm,' said Miss Bawani.
'Here is good. Nobody comes to disturb us although some people gave me nasty looks and showed me their middle fingers. But I ignored them because I don't want to offend anyone or else they'll call the police.'
A teenager distributing flyers at the junction claimed she had seen the two women leaving in a taxi.
On good days, Madam Rani said she can make up to $14 selling packets of tissue. Sometimes it's only $5.
'People are always rushing. Some people give me $1 and ask for 12 packets of tissue,' said Madam Rani.
Before her operation, Miss Bawani said, her mother used to work in the service industry and she worked at a fast-food restaurant.
She could not say when she had the operation, but said her father left the family about nine years ago.
'We lead a simple life and have enough to get by,' said Miss Bawani.
- Joyce Lim -
Will, or how many, of our older generation do you think would resort to or be reduced to, selling tissue paper?
I'm not expecting our government to provide welfare for older workers, but at least provide avenues for those who can find no paths to make a living!
Since it's illegal to beg; Damn it! create more opportunities for hopeless aged to make a living!!!!
Don't tell me our multimillion dollar salaried ministers CAN'T think of something??? That's BULL.
Frm New Paper
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Orchard Road confidant
Tissues for tears & ears for their fears
By Zubaidah Nazeer
February 05, 2006
YOU would have seen him in his dark glasses and baseball cap, which reads: Jesus Blesses You and Your Kindness.
You may have heard his voice singing hymns and serenading passers-by.
Mr Goh Siang Leng, or Coco as he is known to friends, is almost blind, and a jack-of-all-trades.
He's a gospel-singing evangelist, a kerbside tissue-seller, an entertainer to passers-by, a confidant of sorts - someone who is willing to provide a listening ear to anyone who needs one.
'People tell me all sorts of things, from marital problems to work woes,' the 65-year-old told us outside Meritus Mandarin hotel, where he usually sells tissues.
For example, a 40-something woman once approached him for advice because she suspected her husband was having an affair, he claimed.
'I could tell she was nearly in tears and didn't know what to do.
'I told her not to idolise one man, to be patient, to pray to the Lord. I also told her to communicate with her husband because men do not always know how to tell you that they want your love.
'Two months later, she looked for me near Novena Square and told me that she and her husband are doing all right. She sounded radiant.'
Another time, a young engineer was so stressed with life he wondered to Mr Goh whether he should quit to devote himself to church-work.
He told him he should continue to work and save money so that he can be stable and devote himself to church-work later.
Mr Goh said he left school at Secondary 4, was a clinical assistant in a hospital for four years and then worked as a clerk in various ministries for the next 14 years.
This was followed by a stint selling stationery for a printing company. He was also a passenger services officer at a cable-car station.
Then he became a tour guide and park assistant at the Jurong Crocodile Park.
He appeared in shows and handled the reptiles when visitors wanted snapshots.
But he hasn't had a regular job since 2000 when diabetes-induced glaucoma affected his eyes.
Now, he is about 95 per cent blind. He recently also had prostate surgery, but said his diabetes is under control.
The eldest of six siblings, Mr Goh separated from his wife 26 years ago and does not have children.
He lives on his own, renting a room for $120 in a friends's three-room HDB flat in Eunos. Can't he get a job?
His tired reply is that he has tried.
'I applied to work as an ice-cream seller, but my application was rejected because of poor eyesight,' said Mr Goh.
'I have also applied to do simple clerical or reception work, but the employers told me they don't employ someone older than 35 years old.'
Despite his old age and failing eyesight, Mr Goh is fiercely independent, travelling everywhere by MRT and bus, tapping his cane.
He is on his feet for four to five hours a day, five times a week.
He gets up to $70 on good days, selling tissues at $1 for four packets.
Said Mr Goh: 'I can't stay at home. I find such joy meeting and interacting with people.'
Singaporeans, he said, are a kind-hearted lot. 'A few times, a doctor and a company manager have driven me home.'
He even squirrels away some money to travel to Batam, Penang and parts of Thailand to visit churches and do missionary work.
'Selling tissues is not just about making a living for me. I see it as one way for me to pass my time and to reach out to people, and hopefully, to touch them in some way.'
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Are they begging & breaking the law?
PEOPLE who solicit for money in return for packets of tissue paper can be fined for illegal hawking, said the National Environment Agency (NEA).
It can also be considered disguised begging, which is illegal.
Under the Environmental Public Health Act, those found peddling tissue paper can be fined up to $5,000 for illegal hawking.
Repeat offenders can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to three months, or both.
They can also be charged with begging under the Destitute Persons Act. Those convicted face a fine of up to $3,000 or up to two years in jail.
In recent times, there has been a call for the authorities to be more lenient with the elderly selling tissues.
The NEA declined to comment on whether laws will be relaxed, but said they are working with the relevant authorities to tackle the issue.
An NEA spokesman told The New Paper that they understand some people in financial difficulties want to hawk for a living.
But they advise people to apply for street hawking licences. That would allow them to sell ice cream, canned drinks and tidbits within their town council estates or parks.
- Maureen Koh -
Brain operation cannot work. Since she is discharged, it shows that she is on her way to recovery. Maybe not do stuff that is too hard for her, but to the extent of not working, it is really a bad excuse.Originally posted by ShutterBug:She probably has a reason why she's selling tissue paper, but what do you think? Couldn't she have taken a Cleaning Job?
Frm New Paper
========================================
Heeren mother
If I don't work, WHO'LL FEED MY SICK CHILD?
February 05, 2006
YOU would have seen them near The Heeren on Orchard Road.
Madam Rani has been there for about five years. Her routine: She'd be there with her daughter to sell packets of tissue from a big, red plastic bag.
The 50-year-old woman would hold three or four packets in one hand, raising her other hand to her mouth to show she needed money to eat.
Some people would shake their heads and walk away. Others would simply ignore her.
She would then go to her daughter, who would be standing in a telephone booth. 'Today no luck,' Madam Rani would say to her daughter, Miss Bawani, and return to her work.
Slipping her hand under her T-shirt and rubbing her stomach, Miss Bawani, 26, said to this reporter: 'No luck, we drink plain water. Got luck, we eat chicken rice.'
Miss Bawani looks healthy, but Madam Rani said she does not allow her daughter to work.
'My daughter is sick. She had a brain operation and she can't work. Don't talk to her too much or else she'll get a headache.'
Her sickness could not be independantly verified.
Raising her voice, Madam Rani added: 'Don't talk to us. So many people came to talk to us and said they wanted to help, but also never help. Some called the police to chase us away.
'We did not cause any inconvenience. I'm only selling tissue paper. When people tell me they don't want to buy, I never force them. I walk away.'
She recalled how a woman had once approached her.
'She talked to me for one hour. She asked me so many questions and said she wanted to help me. I waited and waited, there was no help.
'A few months later, I saw her again at Orchard Road so I stopped her and asked her 'How?' She told me, 'Sorry lah auntie, I can't help you. You go look for MP.'
'Never mind, I depend on myself. I help myself.'
So there they are every day, taking the bus or MRT from Yishun where Madam Rani claimed they live in a friend's rented one-room flat.
'We come in the morning and leave around 3pm to 4pm,' said Miss Bawani.
'Here is good. Nobody comes to disturb us although some people gave me nasty looks and showed me their middle fingers. But I ignored them because I don't want to offend anyone or else they'll call the police.'
A teenager distributing flyers at the junction claimed she had seen the two women leaving in a taxi.
On good days, Madam Rani said she can make up to $14 selling packets of tissue. Sometimes it's only $5.
'People are always rushing. Some people give me $1 and ask for 12 packets of tissue,' said Madam Rani.
Before her operation, Miss Bawani said, her mother used to work in the service industry and she worked at a fast-food restaurant.
She could not say when she had the operation, but said her father left the family about nine years ago.
'We lead a simple life and have enough to get by,' said Miss Bawani.
- Joyce Lim
Singaporeans are spoilt nowadays. -
But personally, I think I'm not reading "everything" about the lady's plight - perhaps, the paper "left out" some pertinent facts as to why she ended up selling tissues?Originally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:Brain operation cannot work. Since she is discharged, it shows that she is on her way to recovery. Maybe not do stuff that is too hard for her, but to the extent of not working, it is really a bad excuse.
Singaporeans are spoilt nowadays.
People don't generally prefer to sell tissues and face redicule and sneers from public members; they must be at wits end to resort to that. -
I don't think so. She can answer the reporter leh. If after operation she becomes retarded or something, she won't even give such a nice answer.Originally posted by ShutterBug:But personally, I think I'm not reading "everything" about the lady's plight - perhaps, the paper "left out" some pertinent facts as to why she ended up selling tissues?
People don't generally prefer to sell tissues and face redicule and sneers from public members; they must be at wits end to resort to that.No luck, we drink plain water. Got luck, we eat chicken rice.
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sell tissues is begging?
<3 govt
More like illegal vending la.. walau.. 10 years of education and I can win the govt liao
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To the weak n old, selling tissue is less strenuous.Originally posted by ShutterBug:She probably has a reason why she's selling tissue paper, but what do you think? Couldn't she have taken a Cleaning Job?
You reminds me of the call by our garment for the jobless singaporeans to become cleaners.
They ask why u cannot be a cleaner? I think they must be in the ivory tower.
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one group million dollar ministers and suppose to be voted leaders to take care of citizens. not to mention $15k monthly allowances for MPs.
Another group begging for money to survive. Both hold singapore citizenships. How come singapore turn out like this with more than 100 billions in reserves? -
You can find tissue sellers everywhere now, by both the young and old.
Every bus interchange / MRT station / town centre has at least a few of them selling it.
I wouldn't be surprised if one day some government agency take over this lucrative business to consolidate and monpolise the market soon, making it illegal for individuals to sell tissues unless it is under license from the agency itself.
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this line caught my eye ....Originally posted by ShutterBug:She probably has a reason why she's selling tissue paper, but what do you think? Couldn't she have taken a Cleaning Job?
A teenager distributing flyers at the junction claimed she had seen the two women leaving in a taxi.
I'm not being callous ... but I think Singaporeans are generally a pretty generous people ... witness NKF, all the assorted star charity shows, quake donations, even the donation to Huang Na, the murdered girl's mother ...
taxi indeed ? ... well ... anyone remember an article in the same newspaper sometime back about professional beggers from other countries coming over to Singapore to beg, because they can make a few thousand by the time their social visas expires ? ....
all I ask, is that people open their eyes wider before reaching into their pockets for charity ... there are plenty of heart-wrenching stories in Singapore, not just this one. I do buy tissue papers from those old old ladies selling them from table to table at the hawker centres, but I don't think it's a good idea to encourage this, one may think they are trying to be independent and standing on their own two feet, but remember that they are not so much selling as service or a good as selling their "plight", relying on people's sympathies to push sales, isn't it ? ... If they really did take taxis to commute ... then I think a some people may be piaking their foreheads, just like they did after the NKF and Hung Na mother's thingy broke out ...