Is Mike in this forum?
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Dear Dr. Lam (PAP MP),
I, Mike Yeo, stand before you at my wits end.
I used to be a Regional Marketing / Sales and Training Manager for
a pharmaceutical company and it was effectively a Regional
Director’s position. I was earning about $15,000/month then.
I spent almost 10 years in the industry and company, since January
2005 and was made redundant in March 2013.
I immediately made many changes of lifestyle and even went into a
repayment mode with several banks and financial institutions and
even got the car finance company to take the car back in and to
change the shortfall of the loan into a personal loan.
After being unemployed for almost a year, I managed to join an
Indian start up as its Business Development Manager and helped it
to connect with the doctors I had contacts with and so on.
But after 6 months. the management said that I was too expensive
and got rid of me again/ In my previous company, I was earning at
least 15,000 per month, in the Indian company, I was only getting
$5,000.
So I was willing to downgrade and even start much lower so that I
could try and get back a life. I used most of the $5,000 ($4,000
after CPF) to repay my debts and also to feed my family, but once
made redundant again, I had no more income and could not make any
repayments and or any other significant financial
contribution.
So I immediately got a Real Estate Agent license from CEA and also
a taxi vocational license to enable me to bring in some income.
However sir, I am now working almost 15 hours a day every day just
to be able to feed my family and also to repay some of the more
priority debts likes power and gas and marketing and so on.
I do not even have money to put my 5 year old child to school and
or to pay for any medications.
I can bring in $200-$250 a day, depending on the day and time I
spend on the roads, but on average I am bringing in closer to $220.
This is because of not being experienced enough to know where to
catch passengers and or being able to drive fast enough to make
more trips.
I am sure that as I spend more time on the roads, I will improve my
earnings. But my cost is $120 for rental and $50 for fuel and not
including food and ERP and so on. So I am only confidently bringing
home $50 a day. This is a far cry from my previous pay and an even
further cry from my last proper job.
So I am in great financial distress and am also facing great
pressure from the various banks and institutions to repay my
debt.
I am most happy and willing to do so, but I am not earning enough
and I am also unable to respond to them in a timely manner as I am
on the road in the morning at 5 am and am driving till 7-8pm each
day.
And I am not taking any significant breaks. So I am not able to
answer phone calls, sometimes even from my own family like when my
daughter was having high fever.
I have discussed with my family and am now in the midst of selling
my HDB flat. At least the proceeds will be able to be used to repay
my debt of almost $100k and then I am able to breath again. I am
also very tempted to self declare bankruptcy, but to do this, I
have to pay $1,800. If I had that much money, I would have used it
to pay some of my bills and debts. Also becoming a bankrupt is also
not a viable option as I have a CEA license and this will be null
and voided if I am declared a bankrupt.
As a property agent, if I can sell my home and also a few more,
earning enough in commissions to pay off a $100,000 debt is a
simple matter.
Being a cab driver, even if I were to earn $100 pure profit a day,
it will go no where far in paying down any debts.
So sir, I need your help 1) to see if you can speak to CEA to give
me an exemption so that even if I am declared or if I self declare
myself a bankrupt, I am able to still work as a property agent so
that I can at least bring my life back into line, 2) Help me to
find a way to rent a HDB rental flat once I sell my 5 room HDB so
that we can have a place to stay and I can then rebuild my life, 3)
please introduce to me anyone who can help provide financial
assistance to a low income family so that they can send their child
to school and also to be able to find the funds for self
declaration.
As I am driving almost throughout the day (a simple investigation
of my car logs or even Comfort Delgro electronic tracking of my
taxi) I am almost unable to speak on the phone at most times and
also after each shift,
I am sure that you can understand the pure exhaustion I feel. So if
you can help, or if your personnel can help, please lets start a
line of communications through this email and please help me if you
can sir.
I thank you in advance for your kind consideration and any
assistance you can provide me and my humble family
henceforth.
Kind regards,
Mike Yeo
* Letter first appeared in Transitioning.org, a support site for
the unemployed Singaporeans
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJSATzPbZCA
