Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Diner asked for dishwasher with tumours to be sacked

My Paper, Monday, November 16, 2015, Page A5, Top Stories
From http://epaper.mypaper.sg/epc/en/2015-11-16/
Source Website: http://mypaper.sg/top-stories/diner-asked-dishwasher-tumours-be-sacked-20151116
By Ng Jun Sen, The New Paper, Published on Nov 16, 2015


GENETIC CONDITION:
PHOTO: GENETIC CONDITION: Mr Wee, a dishwasher, suffers from neurofibromatosis, which has left him with thousands of benign tumours on his body and face. The condition is not infectious, but he hides in the washing area at the back of the restaurant he works at to avoid the gaze of diners.
PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3J3uGGKF_S9u5mE4g-HN-Caa6Q2kFIwpDhiJIPOwncRKDwJLqOQPnYnlEd24JgMdTgCrsmlIYa2zqryyq3NRTHZPgRhKOqX9yFIVCh0tgJVDgwGA9AcnHKgtGgzsGCW_r2FGeYyh5oM/s1600/Dishwasher+with+tumours.jpg
My Paper, Monday, November 16, 2015, Page A5, Top Stories


JOBS do not come easy for Jimmy Wee. And when they do, he tries to hide from the public eye.

That is because he suffers from a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis, which caused the growth of thousands of benign tumours on his body and face.

Neurofibromatosis is a well-documented condition popularised by the film The Elephant Man. It is not infectious.

Despite his disfigurement, "good fortune and a kind boss" gave Mr Wee the chance to work as a dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant from the start of the year, he says. He hides in the washing area at the back of the restaurant to avoid the gaze of diners.


Despite hiding in the washing area at the back of the restaurant to avoid the gaze of diners, three months into his job in March, a customer complained about him to his boss, citing health concerns. She wanted the boss to fire him.
PHOTO: Despite hiding in the washing area at the back of the restaurant to avoid the gaze of diners, three months into his job in March, a customer complained about him to his boss, citing health concerns. She wanted the boss to fire him.
Posted by Aneet Gill (Mesmerizing Mishaps) on 12 November 2014, The Ugly Duckling
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxfj7xbau4nnKkrpTUk3NfEECDn-A4H22KvDk8Sv9Gh_3ILsbUALTY7kbEkRoe62jQVbGSD017W1JWvbhRAw_lT7aTlA_mU7u1EINMM3MeQSNhkEsWEAul3NfC_3bZYsXomtTgEz0a1s/s1600/ugly-duckling-copy2.jpg
https://mesmerizingmishaps.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/ugly-duckling-copy2.jpg?w=1024&h=666&crop=1
https://mesmerizingmishaps.wordpress.com/


But three months into his job in March, a customer complained about him to his boss, citing health concerns.

His employer says: "She told us that she was disturbed when she ran into Jimmy at the back of the restaurant. She wanted me to fire him.

"I was taken aback by how unkind people can be. I would rather lose her as a customer."

Mr Wee's boss declines to be named because she does not want to be seen as trying to benefit from his ill fate.
She says: "My stand is that Jimmy is a good, hard worker. When I hired him, he even asked if I was sure that I would hire someone like that."


How unkind people can be.
PHOTO: How unkind people can be. Despite being a good, hard worker, people still want to fire him. This is not the first time since when he was seven. Fortunately the boss would rather lose the customer.
Posted by MoviesPictures, The Ugly Duckling (1959) Movie
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJeynGXAT1HHGGJ_eEpsDIXjaa73NhQamAfV7u0pqTAxzLevZIJPlUPBUAdonmaNjWDdBz_mheKPT05c1J1SLHF8VGTH2hMoKkAYo0Fvx1_dATbtpsoiwqYqErj4S8AE7O2dAUkMis4fM/s1600/the_ugly_duckling_by_raspytaffyshark-d763l3w.png.jpg
http://pre09.deviantart.net/af21/th/pre/f/2014/042/9/8/the_ugly_duckling_by_raspytaffyshark-d763l3w.png
http://moviespictures.org/movie/The_Ugly_Duckling_1959


It was not the first time Mr Wee had encountered intolerant people since he found out about his condition when he was seven.

For years, he has endured being called the "Chicken Pox Man" by passers-by, especially young children.

But each time a confrontation happens, Singaporeans would jump to his defence, just like how his employer did.

He recalls being told to leave by a couple while he was having a meal at a hawker centre some years ago.

Mr Wee says: "They said that people with my type of body should just stay at home and not come out. They wanted me gone.


Being told to leave by a couple while he was having a meal at a hawker centre some years ago
PHOTO: Being told to leave by a couple while he was having a meal at a hawker centre some years ago
People with my type of body should just stay at home and not come out. They wanted me gone.
Posted by Cryptid-Creations, Digital Art / Drawings & Paintings / Animals, ©2015 Cryptid-Creations, Ugly Duckling
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http://orig08.deviantart.net/4ab2/f/2015/064/8/4/day_835__ugly_duckling_by_cryptid_creations-d8kksoi.png
http://cryptid-creations.deviantart.com/art/Day-835-Ugly-Duckling-518292018


"A stranger came forward and scolded them, saying that he was a doctor. Then someone else also came forward, saying that he was a lawyer and would sue them."

He tries to avoid such confrontations. For example, he would rather walk than take the train, even if the journey is long.

Mr Wee, who has four brothers and two sisters who do not have neurofibromatosis, says: "It would cost me around $100,000 to go through plastic surgery and remove these bumps, but I won't go through the operation.


I have a job, and I am earning my own keep. If people want to give me money, I will ask them to give to charity instead.
PHOTO: 'I have a job, and I am earning my own keep. If people want to give me money, I will ask them to give to charity instead.'
Posted by mruottin, Digital Art / Mixed Media / Fantasy, ©2009-2015 mruottin, Ugly Duckling 
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http://orig09.deviantart.net/6550/f/2009/236/c/4/ugly_duckling_by_mruottin.jpg
http://mruottin.deviantart.com/art/Ugly-Duckling-134550462


"I let other people say what they like about me."

The former grassroots leader says he will not accept any donations.

"I have a job, and I am earning my own keep. If people want to give me money, I will ask them to give to charity instead," he adds.

By Ng Jun Sen, The New Paper, Published on Nov 16, 2015


Each time a confrontation happens, Singaporeans would jump to his defence, just like how his employer did.
PHOTO: When you’ve spent your whole life trying and failing to be a duck, it’s an incredible revelation to realize that it wasn’t that you didn’t try hard enough, but that you’re not a duck at all; you’re a swan and there are many others like you in the world. . . .

Into the garden presently came some little children, and threw bread and cake into the water.

“See,” cried the youngest, “there is a new one;” and the rest were delighted, and ran to their father and mother, dancing and clapping their hands, and shouting joyously, “There is another swan come; a new one has arrived.”

Then they threw more bread and cake into the water, and said, “The new one is the most beautiful of all; he is so young and pretty.” And the old swans bowed their heads before him.
Posted by Justin Lee in Get Real, REAL LIFE, Being “Ugly Ducklings” is a Wonderful Thing
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYorhERGuWN0KlEKlIvuHcq8JPL1DarVd_tihmv8b6vp92g-4H3OIzDxcPWBcF8p91UPoXSqFB6Sd8HitP4qmDpAAlmo2YykM8fVAR4g26beRhqNi_lIlaF_lZWh0n-ZZoifWA6rC6QgI/s1600/rainbow_swan-1024x640.jpg
http://impactmagazine.us/wp-content/uploads/rainbow_swan-1024x640.jpg
http://impactmagazine.us/2012/10/being-ugly-ducklings-is-a-wonderful-thing/


Then he felt quite ashamed, and hid his head under his wing; for he did not know what to do, he was so happy, and yet not at all proud.
PHOTO: Then he felt quite ashamed, and hid his head under his wing; for he did not know what to do, he was so happy, and yet not at all proud. He had been persecuted and despised for his ugliness, and now he heard them say he was the most beautiful of all the birds. Even the elder-tree bent down its bows into the water before him, and the sun shone warm and bright. Then he rustled his feathers, curved his slender neck, and cried joyfully, from the depths of his heart, “I never dreamed of such happiness as this, while I was an ugly duckling.”

Hans Christian Andersen’s original story is a far more lonely and depressed. Andersen knew exactly what he was doing with The Ugly Duckling, which, thankfully, has a much happier ending. Alas, Andersen himself was never able to experience the fulfillment of this story in his own life.
Texts by Justin Lee in Get Real, REAL LIFE, Being “Ugly Ducklings” is a Wonderful Thing, http://impactmagazine.us/2012/10/being-ugly-ducklings-is-a-wonderful-thing/

Picture posted by Jameli (Art) on Saturday, 22 September 2012 at 1:05 PM, The Ugly Duckling
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