BANKING AND CURIOSITY

Was at BDO bank to do some transactions when a woman in her mid-50's who's seated beside me started talking to me. She's wearing a white blouse, a blue denim shorts and a slip on. She's holding a class A Coach shoulder bag, a gold ring on her left 4th finger and a white Guess wrist watch on her left arm. With her were 3 young girls and 2 teenage boys. I believe she's opening a bank account. Bank staff busy with paperworks. She said that her previous transactions are done at Cebuana Lhuillier branches but when the ---refused to let her do transactions of withdrawing more than 50,000pesos, she then decided to open a bank account. I smiled at her but said nothing. When the staff checked on her application, she must have missed out some info and was asked several questions like who's sending the money, what was the occupation of the sender, where did the money come from, how many times will she receive money. According to the woman, her daughter, a domestic helper in Singapore is sending her money once a month and that she prefer to receive it here because they can dispense any amount sent to her. The staff asked if how much will she withdraw. She said, "well, I want to withdraw everything today because my family will go to Pampanga tonight". The staff said she need to have at least a thousand pesos in her account to keep it active. The woman agreed. The staff then removed 6 1000 pesos from a bundle of 20 1000's and gave it to the woman together with 2 thick bundles of 500 pesos amounting to 50,000 each. The woman concluded that she's taking home 114,000 pesos. The staff gave a positive affirmation. She then left the counter and did my own transaction. There were questions in my mind when I left the bank. I was an ICU nurse who've worked in a government hospital in Saudi Arabia. Most of my colleagues get a minimum salary of 42k to a maximum of 90k from the ministry. I was wondering if domestic helpers working in Singapore are getting much more than a nurse who work in Saudi Arabia.