{"id":141557,"date":"2024-04-25T13:07:15","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T20:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=141557"},"modified":"2024-04-25T13:07:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T20:07:15","slug":"she-completed-law-degree-while-working-as-a-domestic-helper-in-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2024\/04\/25\/she-completed-law-degree-while-working-as-a-domestic-helper-in-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"She completed law degree while working as a domestic helper in Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy The Straits Times<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
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Ms Jayanthi Gamage spent her weekends attending virtual lessons and pockets of free time were dedicated to studying. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SINGAPORE \u2013 Ms Jayanthi Gamage was at work in August 2023 when an e-mail from the University of London arrived in her inbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It included the word Pass\u201d, which marked the end of her seven-year journey to complete a law degree and a dream come true for the then domestic helper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describing the 43-year-old Sri Lankan\u2019s journey as a long\u201d one makes light of it. It spanned two countries thousands of kilometres apart, and saw her juggling her studies over several years while working as a domestic helper in Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A job as a helper here earned her twice as much as her previous job as an audit assistant in Sri Lanka did, Ms Gamage told The Straits Times. So three years after starting her law course, she decided to leave the comforts of home in 2019 to fund her degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She quashed any qualms of venturing to a foreign country for the first time, as she was determined to make her childhood dream come true. Law is a calling, said Ms Gamage, who failed the entrance exam to Sri Lanka Law College 10 consecutive times from 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a very long journey and took a lot of hard work,\u201d Ms Gamage, now a supervisor at a cleaning company, told ST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My emotions can\u2019t be put into words but now I know when there\u2019s a will, there\u2019s a way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenges in a foreign land<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ms Gamage burnt the midnight oil aplenty and rarely had time for herself. She spent her weekends attending virtual lessons and pockets of free time were dedicated to poring over study material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t buy any lipstick or make-up \u2013 none of those things. Every dollar was saved for my degree,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even during tough times, Ms Gamage always found a silver lining. I looked at everything as a new learning experience,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought I probably felt things were difficult because I had never faced such situations before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Sri Lankan, who described herself as someone who doesn\u2019t cry a lot\u201d, had crumbled in moments when she longed to reunite with her parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Gamage\u2019s father, a driver, and her mother, a housewife, were always supportive despite being normal people\u201d. Even though they didn\u2019t have a good education themselves, they knew the value of education.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was looking forward to reuniting with her family after her first employment contract expired in 2021. But Covid-19 hit, and borders shut, leaving Ms Gamage unable to return home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was her lowest point\u201d, she said. I missed them a lot. I felt stuck, I feared for my parents and their health… I had many of these thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Gamage was also running a race against time. She had to complete her degree in eight years and had left Sri Lanka with seven modules to finish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ms Manjit Kour (left) often found her then domestic helper Jayanthi Gamage revising her work at the dining table late into the night. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She worked for her first employer in Singapore for two years from February 2019, but was able to complete only a single module during the period of her contract as she had to care for an infant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was scared that the baby would wake up and cry during the night, so I would be in the living room or his room most of the time. It was very difficult to return to my room and study.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Gamage was desperate for an employer who would understand her plight and allow her to pursue her degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding a perfect fit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A person Ms Gamage hailed as an angel\u201d entered her life late in 2020 \u2013 Ms Manjit Kour, a retired public relations professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Kour was greatly supportive of her employee\u2019s academic pursuits. She would often tell the latter to study once the household chores were completed and check on her progress regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I put a premium on education \u2013 I believe that when you have education, you can advance in life,\u201d said Ms Kour, 72.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A woman, especially, needs to stand on her own two feet and achieve something for herself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She even set reminders in her mobile phone to alert her whenever Ms Gamage\u2019s exam results were released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d always ask her, \u2018When are your results coming out?\u2019 I\u2019d put them in my calendar and ask her in the morning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Ms Kour went on a month-long holiday to Australia less than two months before Ms Gamage\u2019s final exams, she told her then employee to focus on her studies when she was away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Gamage said Ms Kour was the miracle\u201d she was praying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added: It\u2019s very rare to find someone who has this level of understanding. She\u2019s like a mother caring for her child\u2019s education. All I can say is I\u2019m blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Kour was one of the first people she shared her final results with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Kour said: I\u2019m overjoyed for her. It\u2019s a big achievement to come to Singapore, work as a domestic helper and reach this milestone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She recalled the many times she would spot Ms Gamage revising at the dining table into the wee hours of the morning. She would be listening to her lectures playing in the background while cooking dinner,\u201d added Ms Kour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had so much focus and put in the hard work \u2013 all credit goes to her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seven years later, with a degree under her belt, Ms Gamage <\/em><\/strong><\/em>insisted the journey and its takeaways were well worth the sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ms Jayanthi Gamage started her law course at the University of London in 2016 and completed it in 2023. PHOTO: COURTESY OF JAYANTHI GAMAGE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But she has less reason to celebrate as her visa application to attend her April 30 graduation ceremony in London was rejected by the British authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since I can\u2019t make it the first time, I\u2019ll save money and plan for next year,\u201d said Ms Gamage, explaining that her application was rejected as she was deemed to have insufficient finances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe that achievements should be celebrated. I really want to wear the graduation hat and gown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has no plans to stop furthering her education and has set her sights on adding a master\u2019s degree from the National University of Singapore to her portfolio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obtaining her bachelor\u2019s degree has already reaped dividends for Ms Gamage, in terms of a promotion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy The Straits Times SINGAPORE \u2013 Ms Jayanthi Gamage was at work in August 2023 when an e-mail from the University of London arrived in her inbox. It included the word Pass\u201d, which marked the end of her seven-year journey to complete a law degree and a dream come true for the then domestic helper. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[167],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}