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A Malaysian man working as a food delivery rider in Singapore is hoping to change the public's mindset about the job.

Earned S$865.32 in two days

The man, who goes by Billy Cane on Facebook, is working as a food delivery rider for foodpanda as per his profile, where he mentions his job not once, but thrice – in his short introduction, his work experience, and a post that marked it as a significant life event.

It is clear to see that Billy takes pride in his profession, so much so that he has taken it upon himself to try and change the public's perception about food delivery.

In his recent Facebook post on Dec. 14, Billy shared that he raked in S$865.32 over two days – Dec. 10 and Dec. 11, which was a Saturday and Sunday respectively.

That works out to an average of S$432.66 a day.

Billy's earning is no small sum, especially after it is converted to Billy's home currency, where the 1:3 Malaysian exchange rate inflates his earning to a whopping RM2,800.

This is also evident in the reactions to his posts, where many envious commenters, presumably also Malaysians, questioned their career choice and joked about jumping ships.

Making an "honest" living from food delivery

In fact, there may even be one or two green-eyed monsters in the comments sections, calling Billy boastful for publicly flaunting his earnings.

However, that may not have been his intention.

Billy wrote that he wanted to be transparent with his income after many of his friends grew curious and wanted to find out how much do delivery riders earn.

He also penned down his personal thoughts about being a food delivery rider, claiming that it is an honest work where he need not cheat or steal to make a decent living, as long as he worked hard.

Even though many may look down on the career choice, Billy hoped to persuade and encouraged people to give food delivery a go, be it whether as a full-time career or as a side gig to supplement their income.

Shares openly

In the spirit of being transparent, Billy detailed how he managed to achieve that income, explaining that he received S$580.31 for the 70 orders he completed over that weekend and an additional S$118 in incentives for completing 60 orders, S$17 from two tips, and a S$150 special "we miss you" payment from foodpanda.

In response to queries, he also clarified that the S$150 special payment is not available all the time.

Another post back in December and September 2022 appeared to indicate that he has received this special "we miss you" payment more than once.

 For Dec. 11 alone, he worked more than 12 hours, from 8am to almost 9pm, to complete 36 orders.

There are also two criteria: individuals have to drive a Singapore-registered car and be either a Singapore citizen or a permanent resident.

Those who do not have a Singapore-registered car can still do food delivery with either a bicycle or by walking, but the earnings will just not be as lucrative, according to his experience.

Responding to commenters, Billy stated he started the job with a bicycle, but has never looked back after he switched to his car.

He added that he incurred S$2 for parking and used a total of 50l of petrol, including his two round trips between Johor Bahru and Singapore for the weekend of Dec. 11 and 12, but stopped short of mentioning the cost of the petrol.

There's always another side to the coin

Billy followed with another Facebook post on Dec. 14, stating that the job is no walk in the park as it is physically demanding and involves lifting large and heavy orders, climbing up and down multiple flights of stairs, and travelling long distances across the island for long hours.

Many things are also out of food delivery riders' control, where they are at the weather's mercy or have to be exposed to the elements.

Even when it is storming and everyone else is staying in, food delivery riders have to continue working even, as that is the time when there are the most orders, according to Billy.

Food delivery riders are also subject to occasional tongue lashings from merchants and customers, and often have to eat while on the go.

In Billy's case, he said he usually sneaks in quick bites while waiting for the red light to turn green at traffic junctions.

These are just a few of the challenges that comes with the job, wrote Billy, who stressed that interested individuals must be able to endure hardship.

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Top image from Billy Cane/Facebook