Earlier this month, 46-year-old Kim Ae Ran made a painful decision by ceasing her daughter’s education in Singapore and go back home to Korea, despite the fact that her spouse’s construction business there isn’t going well.
Mrs. Kim had decided to leave her 17-year-old son here and pull out her 16-year-old daughter from the Canadian International School. Unfortunately, Mrs. Kim soon found out that her real state agent had just vanished with her $6,000 pre-paid rental deposit for two months when she surrendered the keys of her condo. Apparently, she and her daughter are now stranded here.
“The money was meant for me to settle my son in at his new home and also to buy air tickets home for my daughter and myself. I cannot bear to tell my husband I have lost the money because he is under so much pressure, yet I cannot go home,” said Mrs. Kim.
Mrs. Kim managed to file a police report with the help of 60-year-old Mrs. Tolani, who also manages the Sihanada Buddhist Association. At the moment, Mrs. Kim tries to pursue the complaint at the Small Claims Tribunal.
Mrs. Kim and her children are living separately since they moved out the previous month. The kids are staying at their friends, while Mrs. Kim stays at the house of a kirogi mother like her. She also spends most of the days at the Buddhist Association.
“She is fine when she is here with us”, Mrs. Tolani said. “But she tells me that when she is home, the frustration and helplessness is almost unbearable,” she added.