Why I don't sit on the MRT
Mr Jasvir Singh is used to seeing people shun him or his Indian brethren while he is taking the MRT.
"They make a face and move away. Some people - usually old people - get up when we sit beside them," says the 36-year-old Punjab native.
Instead of feeling offended or angry, the soft-spoken Mr Singh says he feels bad about these reactions to his presence.
Says Mr Singh: "There is nothing I can do about it. I cannot be angry at them, so I just feel sad. It makes me feel small."
To avoid scenarios like that, Mr Singh would rather not sit on the train unless it is mostly empty.
'NO SMELL'
He does not know why some people here behave like that around migrant workers.
Despite his job as a technician at sewage cleaning firm Asia Pacz, he says he does not reek of foul smells.
"I take the train only on my day off, Sunday. I bathe and keep clean before I go out, there is no smell on me," he says.
"Even when I work, it is not like we go into the sewage. We stand far away and use our equipment (to do the work)."
As a result, he feels more comfortable with other migrant workers, so on his day off, he goes only to Little India.
Other than for work purposes, he has never been to the Orchard Road belt or Marina Bay area, even though he has been in Singapore since 2006.
Says Mr Singh: "Mustafa (Centre) has everything. I don't feel comfortable being in Orchard Road."
Like many others who work here, he is happy making a living in Singapore and often extols its stability and low crime rate to his countrymen back at home.
Also, his pay of around $500 a month is more than what he can make in India, he says.
Yet, for all of Singapore's virtues, he admits that a good working life here is determined largely by the company you work for.
In that regard, luck is a major determining factor, he says.
Mr Singh's first work stint in Singapore in 2006 lasted only a few months as he saw his $500 monthly salary get cut by $200 for no reason, he claims.
He did not know that he could approach the authorities for help, so he left the company on his own accord.
He was left with a mountain of debt as he had to borrow around $4,000 to pay the employment agent in India.
Thankfully, he found employment here again in 2008 at Asia Pacz.
"They give me days off, allow me to go back to India to see my family. I am lucky to be working here," he says.
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