Hello TRS, I write this article because My mother and I are at a loss for what we can do.
I'm 19 years old, and live in a rented condo with my parents, we are a small family of 3. A couple of years ago my parents were in heavy financial debt, hence why we couldn't get a house, however things gradually got better. As the rental contract is ending next year, they were planning to buy a hdb, but that yet calls for a huge sum of savings I'm sure everyone can relate to this.
My Dad is 66 this year and my mom is 57 and i have yet to graduate with my diploma and serve NS, I am in no position to start supporting them financially, except with a few part time jobs not even making enough for a month of rent.
My dad is the only breadwinner for the family at the moment, he still works very hard despite his age, and he runs/owns a factory in Batam, Indonesia. Last month an employee ran off with around SGD $26,000 meant to be salary for the factory workers. $26,000 is a huge sum for us, and luckily my mother had withdrawn from her CPF a month ago, and was able to pay off the salary. That worker eventually came back to apologize albeit receiving a cold response from my dad.
We thought everything would be alright, but as of yesterday, when my dad went Batam on a trip to give this month's salary, he was caught by immigration for being there on a tourist visa. He has not renewed his work permit since December last year 2013. He is now being detained by the immigration officers who confiscated his passport.
The immigration officers are asking a bribe of $150,000SGD for them to put the matter " to rest ". We in no way can afford to pay off that kind of sum, my mother only has 40k savings, and around 10k in various gold accessories, we cannot sell off the car because it is under my dad's name and he's stuck overseas. They're saying if we don't pay off the sum, they'll start sending the court papers to Jakarta where we won't be sure how long he'll be detained in a foreign country while the legal processing takes place.
The immigration officers warned him that he may face a jail term of 5years. He's currently 66, 5years would too precious for him to spend in confinement. My dad is also not a Singaporean citizen nor a PR, having given up his PR a decade ago to withdraw his entire CPF sum to help my mother with her financial problems.
I truly think 4months of travelling a day or less to Batam on a tourist visa, without having a work permit is that serious of an offence, that warrants a sum of $150,000SGD. I mean, I understand he is in the wrong, and that he should get some form of punishment, but shouldn't the penalty be less severe? Its not like he's been trafficking drugs .
Thank you for reading this, I humbly request for anyone who has legal knowledge or have experienced anything like this before to give me and my mother some input and advice as to how we can go about handling this issue. I honestly cannot afford to nor want to even lose my father at the age of 19. I am incapable of supporting my ageing mother should we lose him, and I'll have to start my NS the following year.
Please, anyone.
A 19 year old Singaporean
TRS Contributor