Mysterious job

Having been rejected and broke, I decided to look for a part-time job. I checked Classified and went for three interviews in one day, all waitering jobs. I was rejected immediately for the first job after I told them I wasnt Singaporean nor PR. I was told to wait for a call for a second interview if I were selected, for the second job. After learning that I was a foreigner, a manager of restaurant, the third job, said honestly that he couldn't or wouldn't want to hire me. I insisted that I could work under my Student Pass. He then asked to see my Pass; he examined it thoroughly and read out loud, "You are not allowed to engage in any form of employment." Oops!

The next day, I got a call from someone whom I barely remembered I've applied for a job with; she asked me to come for an interview the same day she called. I learnt later that she wanted to meet me because the other person who was supposed to come for the interview backed out. I have no idea why she wanted to meet me at Cityhall instead of at her "Bugis Cafe". But I didnt dare to ask. Throughout the interview, she kept asking about my situation and how she could help while refusing to answer when asked about her "Bugis Cafe". She described it as a small and cosy cafe. "Our cafe is different from normal cafe like Starbuck cuz you are not only expected to serve a coffee but also to interact with customers," she emphasised. Interact with customers? Hmm what kind of a cafe is that? I thought to myself.

I went back to my school without any expectation for this job because I was too excited about the next week interview with MediaCorp. And then at 10 plus, the lady called to ask if I was still interested to work for the cafe. " Just come and work for 4 hours tomorrow. We'll see after that if we could work together,'' she said. "Sure. Do you provide a uniform?" I asked. " Nope we dont have a univerform. You can wear shorts, you know, beach wear with sandals cuz our cafe has no air-con," replied she. "Oh cool! May I know the name of your cafe," asked me. "Hmm...We dont have a name, you know, it's just a small cafe. But dont worry, you can find us easily. Look for a cafe with green wall and wooden chairs," she said. Then she gave me a direction how to get to the cafe. Up to this point, I started to suspect something didnt seem right. Why is she so secretive about the place? Does Cafe do an illegal business? The job ads on Classified dint give much information about this place either. It ran like this "Bugis Cafe looking for fun staff, full/part-time, email....@yahoo.com". A little suspecious and scary but I wanted to know so I agreed to go and work the next day.

I told few friends of mine, "Could you call me tomorrow after 6 pm to check if I am O.K." Then I gave all details about the lady and her contact no so if anything were to happen to me, my friends could report to the police. My friends laughed about this and said I was over-reacting. Yeah better be safe than sorry, right?