Migrant workers, a post office and a baby on the way

I went to the post office and I saw one Nepalese and two Bangladeshis.

They wanted to send money back home via Western Union.

None of the staff there wanted to help them.

The Nepali and Bangladeshis must have asked four counters and still looked very clueless. So I asked:

Me: Nak buat apa?

Him: Hantar wang Western Union. Wife mahu bagi baby.

(Me: What do you want to do?

Him: Remit money using Western Union. My wife is about to give birth.)

I went to the number ticket-dispensing machine.

Me: Lain kali datang tekan ‘C’. Ini untuk kirim wang.

Him: Terima kasih, kakak.

(Me: Next time, press ‘C’. That is for remittance.

Him: Thank you, sister.)

Instantly, their number was called - 3008, counter 10.

Meanwhile, I’ve been waiting for almost an hour and still have 10 numbers before mine.

Me: Ha, tu number sudah panggil. Pergi sana counter 10 hujung.

Them: Okay, okay.

(Me: Ha, your number is called. Go to that counter, number 10, at the end.

Them: Okay, okay.)

But they don’t know which counter.

Me: Number 10. There. There. Hujung (the end).

I pointed to the counter, so they proceeded to the counter.

But it was swift.

And they left the counter.

So I asked:

Me: Sudah hantar?

Him: Belum kakak. Tak boleh hantar.

Me: Why?

Him: Passport tak boleh baca.

Me: Eh. Kenapa nak baca passport? Nak hantar duit je pun. Come I go with you.

(Me: Have you remitted the money?

Him: No, sister. I couldn’t.

Me: Why?

Him: They couldn't read my passport.

Me: Eh. Why do they need to read your passport? You only want to remit money. Come, I go with you.)

We went back to counter 10.

Me: Dik, kenapa tak boleh nak hantar duit dia. Bukan nak kena bagi maklumat wife dia je ke. Kenapa nak kena baca passport? Nak number passport je kan?

Her: Tak boleh, kak. Passport dia boleh baca. Permit kerja dia nak habis

Me: Eh, berkaitan ke? Dia nak hantar duit je pun. Tak apa lah. Bagi borang. Bagi saya je hantar.

Her: Okay.

(Me: Why can't he remit his cash? Doesn’t he only need to give his wife’s details? Why do you need to read his passport? You only need his passport number, right?

Her: It's not possible. We can read his passport but his work permit is almost expired.

Me: Eh, how is that relevant? He only wants to remit cash. Never mind. Give me a form. I will remit it.

Her: Okay.)

She took my identity card and keyed in everything.

I thanked her and gave the receipt to the man. His name is Akber, by the way.

He thanked me like I just saved his life.

‘I would have been scared’

This made me happy. I remember this feeling when I did legal aid for a local migrant rights advocacy NGO.

Had I not assisted at the NGO for 14 weeks I might not have helped the migrants at the post office. I would have been scared to do so with all the stereotypes deeply-rooted in our society.

The recent announcement of incoming Bangladeshi workers doesn’t make it any better.

What happened at the post office involved four personnel at four counters. Or five if you include the person at the Western Union counter.

Was it so difficult to help tell them how to remit cash? What does work permit have to do with remittance?

Sigh.

We are barking up the wrong tree.

It’s the government’s decision to bring them in. Our protests should be towards the government and not these migrants.

Working in Malaysia is a big opportunity for them, of course they’ll come here if offered.

And not all of them are criminals.

Similarly, not all Malays are lazy, not all Chinese are cheats and not all Indians are drunks.

If it hurts us to be stereotyped like that, what makes it any different for them?

Let’s just be nice to everyone, okay?

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MAZIAH MARTIN is a law pupil in chambers. -Mkini