Furloughed casino employee stuck on Saipan turns to GoFundMe

Edmond Chow sits down for an interview with Saipan Tribune at Cha Cafe and Bistro last Saturday. (JOSHUA SANTOS)

Edmond Chow, a furloughed gaming table employee at the casino of Imperial Pacific Resort, has been jobless and stuck on Saipan since the casino shut down in March last year. In an interview last Saturday at Cha Café and Bistro, Chow detailed his struggles, how he created a GoFundMe account to survive, and his reasons for staying on Saipan. Chow, who first arrived in Saipan on a CW visa in 2017, has until September this year to make ends meet before his visa expires.

Before flying to Saipan to work for the casino in 2017, Chow recalled his past jobs as a watch salesman in malls in Malaysia and as a gaming table employee aboard tourist boats and inside Malaysian casinos. Now, Chow is without a job, has little to no savings, and has become a regular at Saipan’s many food distribution sites every weekend.

The casino cut employee hours last year in February, and ultimately suspended operations a month later. Since then, Chow has been struggling to take care of himself and his mother, who is still in Malaysia. He further explained that his mother was frequently in and out of the hospital to treat stones in her back and said that her medical bills amounted to $800 every month.

When asked about what was stopping him from flying home and the purpose of his GoFundMe, Chow made it clear that his main priority was to take care of his mother before anything else.

“It’s not about why I can’t go home. I did GoFundMe hoping that people will help me because of problems back home. And [even] if I go home, what’s after? I have no job when I go home. Now, my situation is very hard. My mom is very sick, and I have no more money [to give],”said Chow.

Chow’s GoFundMe page was created with the help of volunteers from Full Belly, Full Hearts, who distributes food every Sunday at Majesty Chinese Restaurant in Garapan. Chow is a regular at their food distributions. “I did not know of [GoFundMe] before, but they helped me set it up,” said Chow. The funds donated to the page will be directed to Chow’s personal savings account at First Hawaiian Bank.

Chow is one of several workers on a CW visa who were furloughed by the casino and are still refusing to go home before they are fully paid and/or reemployed. “My visa’s not yet expired, so [I] can still stay here. I hope the casino will reopen. They say they will, but until now they haven’t,” he said. Chow thanks those that have already donated and wants people that are considering donating to know his story and think of his mother and father. As of writing, the GoFundMe has raised $200 of its $5,000 goal. The GoFundMe link can be found at https://gofund.me/28d0677b and Chow can be reached directly at https://www.facebook.com/chow.edmund.3.

File photo of Edmond Chow, second from right to left, lined up with others outside of Majesty Chinese Restaurant in Garapan for Full Belly, Full Hearts’ food distribution last November. With mounting costs of living for him and his mom, Full Belly, Full Hearts volunteers put together a GoFundMe page for Chow. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)