A mother’s love comes in a lot of forms and this one comes in working up to 16 hours a day and only seeing her family on her off day, but to Mrs Ganga that’s more than enough.

Long bus rides, traffic jams and her back against the thin cushion of the bus seat on the last row has become part of her weekly routine. A pair of earphones and a blue backpack is her only companions through the four-hour long journey from Malaysia (Johor Bahru) to Woodlands Checkpoint and finally, Changi Village. With her furrowed eyebrows, tired eyes and a ponytailed pulled back neatly to the back of her neck securing her curly hair, she’s off to work.





Decked in a blue polo tee and a pair of black slacks, Mrs Ganga Santhirasegatan, 40, carries out her job as a security officer. She ensures that people who boarding the cargo ships are screened thoroughly along with their belongings and vehicles such as cars and lorries as well.

Even though it sounds like a simple job, Miss Ganga does it with great pride; “There is no air-con at the cargo place that’s why it gets very hot sometimes, but it is very important to check properly.”

Mrs Ganga has a 12 hours shift, 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. daily for four days straight before having a day off which she spends it solely with her family. During her time at work, she often takes up extra hours not only to have extra cash but also that she doesn’t have to spend time travelling to and fro Malaysia and Singapore on a daily basis.

“I stay at my work place, take showers, have meals and also sleep there, we cannot lie down, we can only put our heads on the table,” Miss Ganga shares when asked how does she get her rest in between the long working hours.

“I don’t have free time really, sometimes I work up to 18 hours a day and it gets quite tiring” she replied, when asked what are some of her favorite things to do during her free time, her tired eyes serves as a proof that she is not lying.

“We do work for very long hours but sometimes that is how we earn the money, my previous job was easier but did not pay as much as the one I have now,” said Miss Tivashini Ravindra, 37, a fellow colleague of Mrs Ganga who spend most of their time together when they are at work.

Mrs Ganga shares that she was previously retrenched after working for eight years due to her age and that the company was only looking for younger people for the job. Mrs Ganga was out of job for eight months and throughout that time; she spent her days at Kranji area, looking through newspapers for potential jobs that she can try out for. She explained that she had experiences of going for countless interviews and were promised phone calls of getting back to her but they all never came.

“After spending four months of waiting for a job and seeing that my husband doesn’t have a job as well, I have no more choice and cannot be picky. Even though the basic salary is only about $700 every month, we are allowed to take OTs to earn more so I took this job,” she answered as she talks about how she got her current job as a security guard for Certis.

Being the sole breadwinner in the family, Mrs Ganga has learned to balance the responsibility of working and having a family over the years. “My husband is very sick so he cannot work and move around much so during my off day I will clean the house, cook for them and sometimes read a book if I can find the time to.”

As a dedicated wife and a proud mother of a pair of twins who are both 13-years old, Mrs Ganga tries to spend as much time during her off day with her family. “I only have a few hours with them since I reach home in the afternoon and sleep for awhile after all the OTs.”

“My kids will try to understand that I have to work so much, I call them everyday ask if they finished their homework and what they did for the day even though it’s mostly watching television and playing games and I think about them a lot at work too,” Mrs Ganga smiled brightly as if she is right at home with her children.

Headline	Love Knows No Time
Module	M314 - Editorial and Feature Writing Understanding Test
Type	Feature Piece
Summary	The theme of the article for the module’s submission was to find a foreign worker who left their family behind to make a living in Singapore. By chance, i met Miss Ganga on the bus and talked to her to find out that she fit the criteria perfectly. Throughout our short time on the bus, she shared with me her daily routine, her family background and her job scope like we were old friends catching up. I brought her story to life with descriptive words and highlight the interesting parts of her lifestyle such as her journey to work, what she does in her free time and about her family.