Wakecot and Buang are two Indonesian fishermen who work long hours on different Taiwanese fishing vessels, hoping to improve their circumstances and the lives of their families back home.
Yet, after 10 years of catching fish and mending nets on Taiwanese boats, Wakecot, 37, has very little to show for it.
The bulk of his salary is usually sent home to support his wife and two children in West Java, and he tries to manage on the little money that is left, he said.
Buang, also from West Java, told a similar story, saying that he barely has enough left to buy cigarettes after he remits most of his pay to his wife and two children in Cirebon.
“I never learned how to save money, because I am out at sea for most of the time and I have only one day off a week,” said Buang, 31, who has been working in Taiwan for seven years. “And I usually do not venture out of the harbor when the boat comes in.”
Indonesian fishermen in Taiwan reportedly earn NT$21,100 to NT$25,000 a month, before deductions, and like many other migrant workers in the nation, they find it difficult to save money.
One of the major problems among migrant fishermen is that they suffer from stress, working long rigorous hours at sea, often for weeks at a time, Indonesian migrant rights advocate Dwi Tantri said.
“Can you imagine, after days or weeks of work out at sea, when they come back to port, some of them are required to help their employers sell fish in the market,” said Tantri, 50, who has been working as a caregiver in Taiwan for nine years.
On their days off, some of the fishermen would get together to drink, each chipping in NT$500 to buy the alcohol, “to try to unwind and forget about everything for a while,” 38-year-old Kasirin said.
However, this is the kind of lifestyle that makes it difficult for many of the 700,000 or so migrant workers in Taiwan to realize their dreams of returning home with enough money to start their own business or at least gain some financial security so they would not have to leave their families again to work overseas, Indonesian banker M. Zaky Faishal said.
Zaky, a Taiwan-based representative of Bank Negara Indonesia, was invited by Tantri to talk to Indonesian fishermen about saving money.
Zaky advised the fishermen to save 30 percent of their monthly salary in a bank account, send 15 percent to their families, retain 40 percent for daily living costs and set aside 15 percent for any emergencies that might arise.
“We hope they can start their own businesses upon their return to Indonesia, and we try to motivate them by telling them that they can one day be small or medium-sized entrepreneurs,” he said.
In the Filipino community, similar advice is offered regularly by the Taipei Labor Center of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office.
Center Deputy Director Dayang Dayang Sittie Kaushar G. Jaafar, has been visiting factory dormitories in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic to hand out health kits and talk to Filipino workers about financial and family responsibilities.
“They should save every penny they can if they have not yet started doing so,” Jaafar said. “Current times are tough because of the pandemic, and many people are out of a job. Savings are very important.”
The aspiration among many migrant workers to return home and start their own business is not unattainable, Filipino Allan D. Viray said.
Viray, 33, who worked in a Taiwanese factory for six years, returned home in April, and four months later, he launched a business to import Taiwanese food products.
Since August, he has sold half a shipping container of Taiwanese beverages — 16,800 bottles — to distributors and grocery stores on the island of Luzon, he said.
Viray said he is now processing a new order for a full container of Taiwanese products.
He is also about to open a vehicle rental company, starting with two vans, one sedan and a jeepney, which he has obtained, he said.
He advised his compatriots to keep in mind the primary reason why they left home to work in Taiwan.
“Always focus on your goals and be productive, be kind and courteous for no reason at all, because I believe every person you meet may be a potential door opener,” Viray said. “Attitude matters.”
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