It was Singapore’s hot weather that changed an Albanian man’s life. Around 12 years ago, Hermes Xhika (pronounced ‘Jhika’) was an IT undergrad in his native Albania when he got into a bad car accident. His head injuries were severe enough that he spent several days in the ICU, and another three months recuperating in hospital with his jaw wired shut.

While scrolling through Facebook on his phone to pass time, Hermes saw the profile of a Singaporean woman who would later become his wife. “She was the friend of a friend. I said hi to her, we started chatting and things progressed from there,” he told 8days.sg.

Determined to make their long-distance relationship work, Hermes, now 31, eventually dropped out of university to relocate to Singapore in 2014. “It made more sense for me to move here, because I can speak English but my wife couldn’t speak Albanian,” he said.

He expected his father to be “super angry”, as he had been paying for Hermes’ private schooling. But the construction company owner, who “had no idea that the [luxury] brand Hermès existed” when he named his son, was surprisingly understanding.

Hermes recalled: “He just said, ‘You’re not a kid anymore, you can make your own decisions’. But he still doesn’t believe that I’m working so hard here. Back in Albania, I was just a student who had never worked a day in my life.”

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“We were broke as hell”

After moving to Singapore, Hermes married his wife Irene, spending $20 on a faux diamond engagement ring. The couple “struggled badly financially”, as Hermes had not found a full-time job and Irene was then a new property agent who was earning less than $2,000 a month.

“You need to earn a lot of money here to enjoy life the same way we did in Europe,” Hermes noted. “My wife and I were broke as hell. We ate $2 chicken rice. I remember it was at Woodlands MRT station near Causeway Point, because we went there hundreds of times.”

Money was extra tight as they also had to pay rent, having moved out of Irene’s family home as her parents disapproved of their relationship. “We rented a HDB room for $700. We were very poor, so we couldn’t even get a comfortable room. Our landlady’s daughter was playing the piano at 7am, but we couldn’t do anything about it,” Hermes recounted to 8days.sg.

He thought hard about how to improve his financial situation. “I was going around Singapore trying to find a job. I didn’t mind anything, I just wanted to get a job so I could stay here,” he said.

He tried working for a pest control company, but was shortchanged by the boss who paid him only $600 for three weeks of work. “I wanted to beat him up, to be honest. I worked super long hours from 1pm to 2am and even helped him make a website. But now I thank him, because I won’t work for anyone again,” recalled Hermes.

That experience pushed him to start his own business. “It came to me, why not do air-con repair? Air-con is a necessity in Singapore. I did my research — there are 8 to 9 million units here,” he said. 

The perpetually humid weather meant that Hermes could have a steady income if he played his cards right. In 2016, he set up his own company called Lion City Aircon offering installation and repair services. “I was a computer guy. I didn’t know what I was doing. But if you want to do something just go for it man, figure out the issues later. If you worry too much about the what-ifs, it’s never going to happen,” he shared with 8days.sg.

The “ang moh” air-con repairman 

Hermes rented a Honda Fit, “put a bunch of tools in it”, and began hustling for business. He roped in a local air-con technician and learnt how to do repairs and installations from him. “I was very interested. Two months is more than enough time to learn a new skill,” he said.

Being an “ang moh” repairing air-conditioners was a novelty, which made Hermes’ company stand out. “Some clients were shocked when I arrived at their house. They were like, ‘Eh? This ang moh come to my house you know’,” he said. But it was a double-edged sword, as he observed: “It’s very easy to remember a white guy fixing the air-con, so I need to make sure that I do my job well.”

For this story, 8days.sg shadowed Hermes for an installation job at a Choa Chu Kang condominium, a very messy affair with dust, dirt and lifting of bulky compressors that weigh up to 80kg each. And no air-con. “Because I’m the one installing it,” he laughed. “The first few weeks on the job I was shy about using people’s bathrooms and stuff, but I got used to it.”

He remembered a particular job at the home of a fellow European. “He was British or German, and he kind of looked down on me. He kept asking how much I was making, and I just said enough to pay my bills,” Hermes shared.

Pandemic business 

In 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. People started working from home. It was during that time that Hermes saw a huge jump in business. “I had more jobs because everyone wanted to make sure their air-con was working properly. I applied to MOH and thankfully they gave me a permit to work on urgent cases [as an essential service]. I was working throughout and didn’t stay a single day at home,” he said.

Air-con repair can be very lucrative, as he found out. “If you work very hard six days a week, all day from morning till night, you can earn up to $15,000 a month. That was when I realised that I shouldn’t be worried or ashamed. I don’t mind going to Orchard Road in my safety harness,” said Hermes. “But I had to work like crazy. There are some installations that you have to do all night. I have not gained weight since I started this company. I don’t have time to eat, so it’s like doing intermittent fasting (laughs).”

He now drives a BMW

Some seven years ago, Hermes was relying on $2 chicken rice to get by. These days, the Singapore PR drives a BMW 216i Gran Coupe and lives in a rented landed property in Upper Thomson, which he and his wife also use as a home office and warehouse for Hermes’ air-con paraphernalia. The couple is planning to buy their own place soon. 

In 2021, they started a co-living business called Expats Coliving, where they rent properties and sublet them to tenants. “People need air-con, and they need a comfortable place to stay. My wife is a property agent, so she knows all the rules and regulations,” said Hermes. 

That also took off during the pandemic, when demand for room-renting increased. Hermes and Irene now manage 10 properties, which they furnish and decorate themselves. “How you group potential tenants together is an art in itself,” Hermes said.

“If you work hard, Singapore gives you the opportunity to make money”

Financially, Hermes is now doing “much much better”. He upgraded Irene’s engagement ring to one with a real diamond. He added: “I can buy a company van, own a car and support my family back home. In Albania I would have been working as a computer engineer. The starting salary is about S$600, but no matter how many times you get promoted there, it doesn’t compare to working here. If you work hard, Singapore gives you the opportunity to make money.”

His air-con repair business has brought him to this island’s wealthiest districts. “I went to good class bungalows, houses where people are paying $45,000 a month to rent, and fancy homes in Sentosa Cove. There are very cool places in Singapore, so it’s inspiring in a way. I would like to have a house like that someday, so it pushes me,” he mused.

According to him, the good thing about his job is that he gets to meet a lot of people. He recounted: “The rich ones are super humble. Some of them would bring me a beer. After interacting with rich clients, you see that sometimes it’s not just about working hard, it’s also about working smart.”

But he also had his share of nightmare house calls. “The worst one was a foreign student who had a pile of rubbish in his room that was a metre high. He even ate bananas and threw the peels there. I swear to god, how could he live like that? His air-con was on top of the pile and he wanted me to repair it. I was like nope, you clear that pile and I come back tomorrow,” said Hermes.

Singapore from a European’s perspective 

Another thing that made an impression on him was Singapore’s safety. “I once left my car boot open, took my tools and forgot to close the door when I went off. When I came back, nothing was missing. I also dropped my wallet a few times at the bus-stop and there were people chasing after me to give it back. In Europe, someone would have picked it up and ran in the opposite direction. It’s something you only appreciate if you have lived overseas,” he reflected. 

He now speaks Singlish like a Singaporean, and has also made peace with steamboat, a concept which thoroughly confused him when he first moved here. “How can you put fish, pork and beef in the same pot and eat from it? Then the fish will taste like pork and the pork will taste like beef. In Europe we want to taste the beef. We don’t even use chilli. But now I’m cool with steamboat,” quipped Hermes.

Out of “nostalgia”, he still drops by the $2 chicken rice joint at Woodlands MRT station occasionally for a meal. “The chicken rice is probably $3 now,” he commented. “Now when I think about it it sounds funny, but back then I didn’t have a choice. I came here broke as hell. But life will be better when you work hard. Maybe not immediately, but in the long term if you keep going, eventually it will work.”

To engage Hermes' air-con services, WhatsApp 8818-5781.

Photos: Kelvin Chia 

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