SHE had big dreams when she left her family in Zhejiang province in China and came to Singapore.

The former factory worker arrived with just one piece of luggage, lured by the promise of easy money to build a better life for her factory-worker parents and two younger brothers.

A year later, the petite woman realises that “many, many miles stand between my life now and my dreams”.

She can’t even return home – not until she earns enough to pay off the debts the family incurred to send her here.

Miss Ke-er, 25, told The New Paper on Sunday in rapid-fire Mandarin: “The agent (who arranged her trip) told me that I’d have to pay up nearly $6,000 for grooming and wardrobe fees if I decide to end my contract prematurely.”

Her plight mirrors that of 24-year-old karaoke lounge hostess Li Hong Yan, whose body was found floating in the lap pool of a Sentosa Cove bungalow on March 24.

The New Paper on Sunday team interviewed 25 women from various provinces in China who are working in nightclubs or walking the streets here.

>> Here to seek better life

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