She was in her final year at a college in the Philippines when she got a six-month waitressing stint at Blu Jazz Cafe in Kampong Glam. It was part of the on-the-job training for her Hotel and Restaurant Management degree course.
'When I first came, I was not used to speaking English and the Singaporean accent was quite hard to understand,' she admitted.
And though a classmate found the adjustment too hard to handle and returned home after a month, the smiley Filipina persevered.
She said: 'I realised I needed to observe the needs, wants and likes of the customers. When I didn't understand, I stepped back and watched my colleagues.'
It took her two months to familiarise herself. When her stint here ended in June, she left to work at a resort back home for half a year.
She returned two months ago when Blu Jazz's owner Aileen Tan offered her a full-time position.
'I feel that everybody here is treated equally, regardless of nationality,' she said.
She has no plans to return home for now but hopes to run her own restaurant in the Philippines one day. She said: 'If I work hard there, it's not worth it. If I work hard here, I make more money and learn much more.'
'Sometimes, customers say their drinks are too strong or don't have enough alcohol, and we give them a new one free of charge. If our customers are happy, we are too.'
Debbie Yong
Waitressing supervisor Jeangen Salinin, 23, has no plans to return home for now but hopes to run her own restaurant in the Philippines one day. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM