I was chatting with my local friend in Starbucks. The phrase of 'gratefulness despite bad fortune' brought out my tale of the Indonesian friend who received most of my household goods in 2017 (as recorded in a much earlier blog post). My friend asked me where is the Indonesian friend now?
Well! She could be in Tivoli in her own tiny wooden house near the airport. Or she could be in her elder son's plantation looking after grandchildren, that would be about two hours by car from the former capital of Borneo. Possibly she could be with her second son in Sembawang. But wherever she could be, she would no longer be travelling by public bus from town to town. Her work permit has expired. She is too old now to qualify for legal employment. As an illegal person she has to be mindful of staying below the radar. By now she has spent slightly more than half of her life working legally in this state. It is very sad that a law-abiding person like her could not apply for proper residency permit to stay on. Both her sons work here on permits. It simply would not make sense for her to go back to a country she has no one close enough, to return to.
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