GONE are the days when he broke his leg in a Sembawang shipyard, fell out with his employer and had to sleep on the streets of Little India here.

Bangladesh national Nazmul Haque, 33, has literally sung his way from rags to riches.

He is now a singer back in his home country and has sold 10,000 records.

He has also set up a welding school in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

His dramatic change of fortune was told to The New Paper when we spotted him hanging around other Bangladeshi workers along Syed Alwi Road in Little India.

With long, curly hair and a boisterous personality, he was definitely a head-turner.

His friends know the jovial man as 'Nazmo'.

But he wasn't like that in 2002.

Mr Nazmul was a welder in a Tuas shipyard then, earning $600 a month, or up to $1,000 if he chalked up extra hours.

One evening, he tripped, fell and hit a metal bar.

The work permit holder, who first arrived in Singapore in September 2001, dislocated his knee and had to be hospitalised.

Doctors ordered a three month period of rest and subsequently scheduled him for an operation 14months later. Mr Nazmul had to walk with the help of crutches.

Of the incident, Mr Almas Gazi, 32, a marine worker and ex-colleague, recalled: 'We were all there to witness the accident and really pitied Nazmo then. He was walking in crutches for many months and we were all very upset for him.'

Like many foreign workers who have been victims of accidents here, Mr Nazmul found that his employer stopped paying his salary because he could not work.

Mr Nazmul reported the matter to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), and this prompted the ministry to investigate him and his employer.

He fell out with his employer and he claimed that he was also kicked out of his living quarters.

He then sought help from the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, and got a bed space in its Little India shelter.

But because demand for beds were high, he eventually rented a room on Desker Road nearby for $150 a month.

Mr Nazmul, who said his parents have both died, also slept on the streets while waiting for MOM's investigations to be over.

He was left idle for months, so he hung out at coffee shops in Little India, sitting alone and singing to himself and soon gained an audience.

Mr Nazmul said: 'I was sitting outside Mustafa (Centre) singing to myself. Then some people stood (around me) and listened.'

Day by day, more people gathered.

'Once, there was a crowd of about 200 people,' he claimed. 'It was incredible.'

In 2003, when a Bangladeshi vocalist, Asif, held a concert in Little India, Mr Nazmul got lucky.

The audience, who chanted 'Nazmo, Nazmo', asked that he sing on stage too.

Asif answered the audience's calls and invited Mr Nazmul, still struggling in crutches, to sing a number.

He exchanged contact numbers with the rhythm programmer, which he said was called Mr Manik, but they did not keep in touch.

In Jul 2003, when he received his insurance payout of $62,000, Mr Nazmul returned to Dhaka.

A year later, he decided to start a school and found an investor who was willing to put in $30,000 for the project together with Mr Nazmul's money.

In 2005, they opened the NS Technical Training Institute of Engineering Works in Uttra, near the Dhaka airport.

The school charges students $700 for a two-month training course.

That pays the bills for Mr Nazmo, his wife and their 3-year-old son now.

During that time, Mr Nazmul also bumped into Mr Manik at the Mujak Market in Dhaka.

He said he hadn't looked up Mr Manik at all when he returned, but after they met at the market and Mr Manik asked him to visit his office, Mr Nazmul did so.

Mr Manik encouraged him to join a Bangladesh TV singing contest, which was part of an entertainment programme called Shopathadinga.

Mr Nazmul ended up beating some 100 other contestants to win the contest.

Later, he signed a singing contract with Melody Music on Mr Manik's recommendation.

Mr Nazmul started touring with the recording company to areas such as Chittagong, performing as an opening act that earned him an extra $2,000 a month.

Last year, he released his debut album, NH Ruadra - Konna Tomay Mone Porwe (or 'Girl, I Remember You').

Mr Nazmul said all 10,000 copies of his album have been distributed.

He claimed to have pocketed about $500,000 takas ($10,000) from the contract.

Another contract with Melody Music to record two more albums and four music videos are in the works.

This month, Mr Nazmul is in Singapore for checkups and treatment for his leg - and he is footing the bill from his own pocket.

When he first arrived, he had visited his ex-colleagues at his former Tuas Circle workplace and distributed his music CDs to them for free.

Holding Mr Nazmul's CD in disbelief, Mr Fakir Makfurul, an ex-colleague, said: 'This is the best that could have happened (to him).'

Mr Nazmul said: 'I was an injured worker with no future. Now, everything is happening for me.

'I was in a total rut at the lowest point in my life. And I thought it was all over.'