Chin has a regular partner on the drilling platform, Ah Lim. They are a strange pair; Chin is boisterous, smokes and enjoys gambling and Japanese girls. On the other hand, Lim rarely speaks and only replies in grunts. He never wastes a cent on anything non-essential and stays clear of all the four evils that drag down his fellow coolies. Instead, he saves every cent and visits the remittance store as often as possible to send his money home.
A dedicated family man, Ah Lim has a burning ambition to return to Jia Liang, his village in Guangdong, and build a new home for his parents, wife and two children that he rarely hears from.
As days turn into weeks, months and years he wonders if he will ever see his family again, but despite his doubts, he drives doggedly on, day in, day out to achieve his ambition.
