An Indian man on a job search visa in New Zealand has found himself in a major quandary after losing a file containing all his important original documents in a burglary last month.
Ajai Paul Singh had moved to his Mount Eden flat in suburban Auckland three days before the burglary took place July 10 in which he lost all his valuables, including clothes, laptops, educational certificates and travel documents.
"My life feels like it has been shattered into pieces," the Indian Weekender Friday quoted Singh as saying.
"Now I am not sure what I should do. It is hard to start all over again saving up for these things when I still have not found a full-time job. And it is hard to keep job searching without a computer."
This was the latest in a series of unfortunate incidents to have happened to him. Earlier, his employer went bankrupt and could not pay him wages for weeks.
Singh had moved to New Zealand in February last year and completed a business qualification from an institute.
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He has degrees in commerce and law, and is currently on a job search visa.
"It seems I am expected to travel to Wellington to get a new passport, and I am particularly worried about the original documents I have lost, and this has really sent me in to shock," he told the weekly newspaper for the Indian diaspora in this country.
"Now I am finding it hard to concentrate to anything, and am struggling not to lose all hope."
According to Gurpreet Arora, South Asian liaison officer in Counties Manukau Police, people should register and store the serial numbers of their valuable items online at the website www.snap.org.nz.
"SNAP aims to prevent burglary and property offending, and make it harder for criminals to sell stolen goods in New Zealand," Arora was quoted as saying.