Local IT Specialist working in MNC: My future is bleak
June 28th, 2011 | 
Author: (This letter was posted on the thread, ‘Painful experience of a local PMET working in financial sector‘, responding to the author of the thread)
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Dear Just an ordinary PMET,
I am in a similar situation like yourself. Having started work in a MNC for 6 years starting from the lowest IT Helpdesk Personnel to IT Specialist (same job, different title), I have always been employed on contract basis, which they have now ironically termed “Temporary Worker”. I guessed I have to be the longest serving “Temporary Worker” in the company.
I started out with the hope that if I work harder, and perform my best, one day I might just be able to make it. For the first 2 years, it was still alright, I enjoy my work and look forward to every day at work, knowing I am contributing in some way to the company.
After 6 years, still the same old thing – contract renew every year, with little to no pay increments – just saddens me. What sickens me also is that in the company, we have a clear demarcation between full-timers and “temporary workers”. We are left out of any (medical, dental, etc) benefits, any recreational activities, any company activities, and yet you have the usual “company loyalty” drilled down to you every now and then. Tell me, how to be loyal to a company when you don’t even care or acknowledge my existence?
A colleague once told me, as “Temporary Worker”, we are just like the manure/fertilizer. We contribute to the growth of the rose but no one wants to touch us or be associated with us. In the company, we are never counted towards the “official” headcount. This perhaps makes it easier for the company to circumvent the ratio between Ftrashes and Locals.
Every week, I see more and more new employees (80% foreigners and full-timers consisting of PRCs, Indian Nationals, Ang Mohs and Pinoys). I have even heard an Ang Moh manager who repeatedly tells everyone he knows that he prefers to hire Indian Nationals!
I honestly have no idea what we are hiring, as the majority of these new hires obviously are not qualified at all! Imagine a Pinoy who used to be a telephone operator now becomes a manager in Singapore! I do not understand why we keep on hiring these people and overlook those “Temporary Workers” like myself? Are we really that worthless in the eyes of the company?
I train these employees in technical skills and yet I know I will never become a full-timer (usual excuse, no headcount), even though I am more technically competent compared to them. And yet, my pay is probably the lowest in the whole company.
My own manager is a foreigner too and he looks down on the locals. Yet, we are the most hardworking bunch. I know because we are doing HIS work for him while he plans his time for vacations or shopping trips! And yet, whenever I bring up the issue of getting a pay increment, it’s always the same excuse (no budget) coupled with a rebuke (“be grateful that you still have a job!”).
Sometimes, I just sit back and reflect upon myself: What have I done wrong? What can I do to better myself? I blame myself for not furthering my studies but when you come from a poor family, do you still want to be burdened by more debts or go to the workforce to help lighten the load for the family?
I am now just waiting for my turn to be made redundant and honestly, I don’t know how to look to the future now, as it seems very bleak and I know that day is not too far…
regards
.
Martin Loh
Posted in 
No voice, no human rights, no labour rights, no justice equal to no bread and butter (job).
Whoever keep saying that they don’t want human rights and just want bread and butter issues are stupid to the maximum. This is what you get when you have no rights!
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@Martin,
I sympathize with you. It is time we exposed not just the manager but the company as well. The Ang Moh manager should be forced to explain his prejudice.
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pap is a singaporeans’-traitor party.
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HA Ha ha !
Poor thing !
Can’t help you !
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A person who feels the constant pressure of no/low job security will not be compelled to perform well or have loyalties and motivation to the company.
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setup a union worker group which really focus on local worker rights! btw wheres our union worker group ar?
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I hereby vow that if i ever become the boss of a company, i will discriminate against foreigners and hire singaporeans only
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If the MNC provides only shitty temp jobs for locals, then what is their contribution to local communities?
East Asian Nations and Emir Arab Nations should team up. Together, these 2 regions are the main upstream exporters of capital, finance around the world. But incredible, most of their investments had been in EUR and USD.
Don’t give me that stupid excuse it is very difficult to monitor more than 2 currencies. Even a first year finance student can create an investment portfolio model monitoring more than 100 currencies.
Invest in your local enterprises, your own local people. When these companies are successful, not only they repay your loan, they also give you 26% tax annually.
Invest in the poor African, South American countries. When these people have money, they buy East Asian electrical appliances and automobiles (and they are far more open to non-Western brands), and then they buy Emir Arab energy products.
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LKY wanted to have NEW CITIZENS to replace the OLD CITIZENS lah !!!
OLD FOX @ 88 is suffering from “KURU DISEASE” !!
Because LKY wanted to “FIX” those oppose to his rule, or his son rule !! Can’t you see the writings on the walls ???
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In my coy, only 7 out of 51 staff are singaporeans.
Sad to say, we have become the minority.
Thanks to policymakers who say they cant protect us because we are a small country.
Thanks to them who bring in foreigners who take up our public housing and use them to churn money.
Thanks for making us young couples being unable to find affordable housing to get married, lest say make babies.
Thanks for making our hard earned money out of reach even when we need coffins.
We aren’t even waiting for stars to be aligned.
We’re just barely struggling to feed ourselves and our parents, competing with tens of thousands of foreigners for our rice bowl in our homeland.
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Pretty sad to hear. Maybe its time to change your career to non-IT related.
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Loh, you should blame the gov, specifically the Labour Ministry for not protecting workers. So that is why, you as an employee cannot do much. You are at the mercy of the company. You cannot even form a union. The company will just take advantage of the workers.(exploit the employees) If you do not want to work, i.e. you resign, they will just hire the keling kia from India to replace you.
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don’t worry guys,WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR THESE ‘FTs to create JOBS for singaporeans’ as promised by his EXCELLENCY,THE PRIME MINISTER OF SINGAPORE,of SINGAPORE?
LIKE THE two-child policy,the FT POLICY is going down our history books as a FAILURE ANF FAILING of the PAPies for sure.
as the PAPies import these FAKED TALENTS in quick lightning speed,so too will these FTs pack and leave with all the monsy they scooped up here- with the courtesy of the PAPies – in double quick LIGHTNING SPEED,SINGAPOREASN ,just you wait and see.
the proportion of FTs and FT-studenst staying behind and help further ‘build our nation’ and ‘create jobs for singaporeans’ will just be less then a handful percentage points;MOST,if not nearly all,will simply say ‘FUCK YOU’ and fuck off!
it is all thanks to those truly daft 60 pct of singaporean voters who screw our lives up.
‘fuck them’!
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Friend – who did you vote for? Who did your friends and family vote for?
Perhaps they’re trying to breed out the local Singaporeans so they can start afresh with new immigrants. We’ve gotten too clever for them.
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well, if u are good surely they need and promote u
if u think like many folks here, matter of time u will be unemployed
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they are practising what the pap government is doing as an example. see the similarity. if we do not change this pap government, singapore will be a pap singapore not a singaporean singapore. want to blame, blame it on the 60%, are you one of the 60%.
we want a singaporean first singapore not a pap or fake foreign talent first singapore.
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…..
Complain to the Ministry of Manpower lah! I dun understand this article at all.
You have to choice to choose who you want to work for, for how much, and under what circumstances. If its all against you, you can always complain the company to the Ministry of Manpower or talk to your MP at the Meet the People Session (although dunno how much this is going to help).
By complaining here, you are just sowing hatred against foreigners because of your own poor decisions and trying to gain sympathy for your “plight”.
If you cannot find a better job or a job that pays more = meaning you already got the highest possible pay you can get for your job; then it would make no sense for the company to increase your pay either.
I still feel that this article have nothing to do with PAP, WP, or whatever political agenda. Its just your own decision to stay and play blind to injustice or ill-treatments which you complained abt.
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Hi Martin,
The only way to break away from this bleak cycle is to create something for yourself. Develop a product and sell it online. Low start up cost, maximum profit potential, the world is your marketplace. Or better still develop a Mac App and sell it on iTune. I’m sure with your IT background, you can venture into many areas. All you need is a little bit of imagination. Or try venturing overseas to get work. The world is the limit, dont under estimate what you can do.
Believer
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this is becoz the government back them up and teach them how to look down on locals.
As mentioned before, SINGAPOREANS ARE 2ND/ 3RD CLASS CITIZENS. I am seriously thinking to take up citizenship in other countries and coming back to singapore as a PR. Then the govt will treasure me and let me do what i want.
Time for you to give up citizenship, go overseas and come back as an expat. australia or NZ seems like a good option
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@ Martin, I totally agreed with you. I was once a junior staff in a so call Big MNC for 5years, those executives colleagues surrounded me mostly from Malaysia, china , ang mo or Philippine..(they are either managers, executives or some senior level).Most Singaporean has been with the co for donkey years and still only junior staff.without promotion. The annual pathetic increment does little help to cope with the high living cost. Worst of all, those so called FT / SPR just ‘tai ji’ their work load to us making us work till the wee hours. This is very sad.
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f u old guy
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You should quit the job long time! Make yourself competent not just technical but your EQ. The longer you stay and less worth you are!
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We all under the mercy of PAP, and with unfair competition with all the F trash neighbours.
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@ Martin,
You are not the only one…It’s just your BAD LUCK if you break your porceliane rice bowl(a Quote from our extraordinary MP).
I used to work in bank where they have employees contracting for 10 years and still a contract staff. I wonder why these contract employee can be there for so many years under such terms and from those ppl I spoke to, they are afraid of changes and the current working environment is still “comfortable”. They told me they had tried looking for a perm job but gave up after severals years. I also noticed that their skill set is not very updated as the company will not send their contractors for skill upgrading and development course. Such benefits are kept to thier perm headcount.
The bank hired almost 95% of foriegner with the “HELP” of employment agencies using their “temp” or “phampton” Singaporean headcount to supply these foriegn thrash to the bank and further suppress Singaporean wages.
I decided to quit after working in the “very Indian MNC” for a year plus and I cursed the bank to collaspe if they continue to operate this way. Guess what, it really happened. Lehman Brothers, Bear sterns and who is next is the IN question during that period.
You can’t stop any cheap skate employer to OUTSOURCE as it is cheaper and more flexible for the organisation to increase and reduce size according to market sentiment. Its also easier for them to wrap and go overnight.
I urged those job seekers not to go through these employment agencies and contribute to their Singaporean headcount. Let them fade off just like our states media.
Unity is the path to Success.
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@ Martin, Pray hard that Mayan Calendar is True. Then everything can starts afresh.
All will be Erased, Deleted, Reformat, Reinstall, Reboot, Reconfigure. Start afresh!
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Martin,
Don’t give in to these people; you are a Singaporean, thus, stand-up and fight them. I used to tell the FTs and FWs that they came here coz we gave them jobs else back in their country they eat grass, dogs, cats…
Find relatives in other countries and try get their PR status.
We, Singaporeans are educated, English speaking, hard working, have skills and law abiding citizens.
I was once like you, but I travel out of SG and make my living abroad, they like me coz they said I am hardworking and skillful.
Remember that!
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June 28, 2011 at 3:36 pm
IT is dead for the locals, all thanks to flooding of cheap FTs with PAP’s pro-FT policy. Next on the list is doctors and accountants…
EVEN IN BANKING N FINANCE,local bosses prefer to hire ah nehs and pinoys.
some singaporeans just need to be screwed real bad by these cheating FTs one fine day.
i hope they get screwed big time,they deserve it for BETRAYING their own fellow singaporean long-time colleagues who work so hard and contributed to their scuccesses no doubt.
MANY SINGAPOREAN MANAGERS IN banking n finance whether working in local banks like DBS or foreign banks like CITIBANK,BNP,STANCHART,HSBS etec all have high content of FTs.
many of our own locla talents have been unfairly made jobless for ‘cost’ reason except the GREEDY AND SELFISH LOCAL MANAGERS themselves who actually ought to be replaced for being over-expensive.They pay themselves months n months of bonuses,so wher eis the cost-cutting these selfish ppl are talking about?
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There is no company loyalty these days. Always keep this in mind. You are repeating the same task during the past six years. HR will consider it as 1 or 2 years experience max.
Why don’t you try to look for new jobs? There are a lot of vacancies in the market now. If you have upgraded yourself in the past 6 years, I am sure you can get better package somewhere else.
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http://bbs.sgchinese.net/thread-4453383-1-1.html
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Francis:
June 28, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Why don’t you try to look for new jobs? There are a lot of vacancies in the market now. If you have upgraded yourself in the past 6 years, I am sure you can get better package somewhere else.
hi FRANCIS
so you are singaporean doing HR WORK??
WHY DON’T YOU PUT UP SOME KIND OF JOB ADVERT HERE?
or are you spllling nonsense.
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Well only in singapore where even if you have a PHD you will still lose to a primary school FTs. I can only congraulate the 60% for being traitors and being a class 1 douchbags.
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Will the government please read this article.
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I must admit that some Sinkies are quite hopeless but a big portion are very hardworking, especially in the PMET category which was once dominated by Sinkies.
However, with the influx of foreigners, a very strange phenomenon had developed that many unqualified foreigners are taking over the management positions in Singapore. If a company is force to employ Sinkies, they are only willing to give low end jobs to Sinkies(even that mean PRs and true blue Sinkies) while they would reserve the management positions for foreigners even when many had proven to be unqualified.
A clear sign of this problem is the HR of most companies. Most HRs(even Sinkies ones) in Singapore seems to hate Sinkies. They will never recommend promotion for local Sinkies staffs which really puzzles me.
There are also others who told me that companies were ENCOURAGED by MOM to employ foreigners because they have to reach the quotas set by the PM of 200,000 per year during the last few years. Gan Kim Yong(ex-Manpower chief) knew he would be in trouble if his did not bring in sufficient foreigners to meet the quota set by the PM himself!
Contact Singapore is one of the those agencies that pours in huge resources to help satisfy the need for the influx of foreigners.
Almost two months after the election, there are still no signs that PAP is willing to reverse their ‘foreign’ policy or any signs of the above situation abating.
There is scene in one of Bruce Lee’s movie ‘Fist of Fury’ where local Chinese were forbidden to enter parks in their own country which was almost over ran by foreign powers. At the entrance of the park there is a sign: ‘NO DOGS AND CHINESE ARE ALLOWED TO ENTER’. While the signs says NO DOGS, foreigners with dogs are allowed to enter, but Chinese will be stopped outside the entrance.
Now the PAP’s slogan is ‘NO DOGS AND SINGAPOREANS ARE ALLOWED TO ENTER’.
However with all that local citizens bullying, 60% of our own citizens are most willing to be of equal status of a dog.
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I know what that fuckup company is:
Hewlett Parkard!!!
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Dear Martin,
Do not give up. Your ability to achieve a dream is determined by you alone and no one else.
If you have a goal, search for ways to achieve it; if your way gets blocked just go by another way. In this world there are millions of opportunities, not only one.
I myself has faced the pain of stagnant wages and foreign competition 3 years ago when the financial instability hit SG. Bosses become very stingy and love to hire foreign labour.
I explained that I can easily do the work of 3 foreign workers because I am productive.
Well, since they do not appreciate my talent, I had to search elsewhere.
That was when I started to search overseas for jobs. Overseas is different from SG, coz they value your talents fairly. If you are productive you get rewarded.
In shitty Singapore, stupid bosses cannot weigh productivity and quality of work. They only want to pay lesser, even if they get crap work.
This has proven to be detrimental in SG, coz the quality of service and productivity has fallen drastically but they are all blind and cannot see the consequences.
Our dumb garmen is also blind. SG standard has dropped and affecting the good image of SG drastically but they just turn a blind eye to it.
My advice to you Martin: try, try and try until you succeed.
Our garmen is not helping by making life ever so difficult in SG, but Singaporeans are very smart, productive and talented bunch; we have an advantage over other 3rd world nationalities seriously, I swear.
All I can say is Singapore garmen is stoopid to mess up the system of singapore until local talents cannot thrive and succeed in our own country. And soon, with the rampant import of thrash into SG the SG passports’ value will go down the drain.
Honestly, if you go out and see the world of opportunities, you will curse PAP even more, coz they are doing everything wrong!! They think they are smart (maybe 20 years ago), but now they are back-dated and out-dated! They are living in their own LALA world~!
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yeoman:
June 28, 2011 at 3:50 pm
EVEN IN BANKING N FINANCE,local bosses prefer to hire ah nehs and pinoys.
some singaporeans just need to be screwed real bad by these cheating FTs one fine day.
i hope they get screwed big time,they deserve it for BETRAYING their own fellow singaporean long-time colleagues who work so hard and contributed to their scuccesses no doubt.
MANY SINGAPOREAN MANAGERS IN banking n finance whether working in local banks like DBS or foreign banks like CITIBANK,BNP,STANCHART,HSBS etec all have high content of FTs.
hi yeoman
what you said is very true.
i personally am a victim.
my boss fired me after i have trained those india indian snake-FTs.
i have been our fo job as my age is a problem each time i went for interview.
i hate singaporeans who betray their own singaporeans,what a shame!
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We the true blue , had to pay the price for not grasping the golden opportunity,we had , and was blown away by the 60 % who screwed it up for all of us ,including screwing themselves too! “the boneheads”.
What goes around comes around too! It is just a matter of time.
Feel sorry for you Martin, but that is the reality all Singaporeans got to face.
Even, the small businessess are taken or run by these aliens.
Situations and miseries in our daily lives makes us wonder always.
While the FT/PR/New Citizens have a motherland of theirs,where they can cling on or which they will always be proud of.
We here seems to wonder where is our motherland?
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@ Martin,
Singaporeans has been trained too well to take all the abuse others mete out. Each time we raise up a point of unhappiness, we will be brushed off as complainers amd whiners. The government will not be taking care of us. We have to take care of ourselves. But look on the bright side, at least you have this foresight to realise that you are already standing on the railway tracks. 60.1% of Singaporeans are still clueless as to what is happening. You have to do something about it soon. I don’t know enough of you to help you out. But desperate times may call for desperate measures. I am not asking you to rob a bank, but you may need to explore avenues outside of Singapore now, or perhaps even switch line completely. As the saying goes, 天无绝人之路，但路是要自己找出来的。
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CONGRATULATIONS !!!
CONGRATULATIONS !!!
CONGRATULATIONS !!!
YOU HAVE ALL VOTED IN DUDS, ALL THESE PAST MINISTERS ARE NOTHING BUT, “DUDS”,
PLAIN TOTAL “DUDS” AND GREEDY, USELESS PIGS
CONGRATULATIONS………
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Looking at the hugely distortion of how we are painted to be loosers – no talents. We are being made use and being dumped aside. Why bother to do NS and go reservist. I think, we are conviently thrown around with no protection for your jobs.
Sad to say, I could see this coming long ago and have long not believed in government policies and bullshit. Just tell the younger ones to wake up. Jobs are given to foreigners on the platter. Equip the young ones to move out as soon as possible. Not valued here, better get the recognition outside singapore.
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This is state of what our singaporen’s had to endure.Whether it is HP,IBM or Opus It services.There are many Singaporens who share the same plight,working for pathetic salary’s.The FT manager’s prefer their own clan,the govt had given green light….No amount of screaming and SHOUTING IT IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE ANYTHING,…..IT IS NOT OBIVIOUS….SPORE NO LONGER NEED’S U…IT PREFER FT’S………….
IT IS TIME TO GET OUT OF THIS GOD FORSAKEN LAND’S………
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What you have done wrong is that you did not leave when they hired a big batch of new unqualified foreigners.
If you agree to slug for them, they will treat you like a slug.
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Dear Martin,
What is the name of your company (if it is convenient to expose it)? I think many readers are interested in calling that company to demand an answer.
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Dear Mr Martin Loh
It is with great sadness as I read your letter and with an even heavier heart writing this post.
In all fairness to your employer, you most certainly do not own the necessary paper qualifications for the job, and thus not justifiable to promote you or even offer you increments.
Having said that, I want to assure you that your greviences against your employer is NOT wrong.
In another time, what you are is the title of an apprentice. Apprenticeship is a time honoured tradition and progress for trades.
Without apprenticeship,many skills would have died out with the masters, or the mere acts of dedicated tinkering over work that often leads to improvements would not have happened, something that one track minded paper qualified robots can never perform.
As you mentioned that you had even trained those paper qualified foriegners, lends credence to such facts.
Unfortunately, you are just not appeciated by your employer, nor given the chance, a case of many in our foreigner infested forsaken land, simply because right now in this world of ours, it is no longer quality one looks for, but cheap workers with papers,even if it is from some dubious college, and we singaporeans have to guide them, teach them and be sacked later from our jobs. Reality is painful.
Our gov’s answer is to go for upgrading. Even though our gov are filled to the brim with scholars, and even foriegn ones at that, they are proven dumbasses that regularly give thoughtless and ineffective solutions, such as upgrading. Bosses may claim otherwise but they are NOT keen for intelligence. They just want CHEAP workers.If that hired foriegner proved an idiot, he simply fires him and hire another CHEAP foreigner idiot. This is how MNCs and SMEs here operates today – no mercy but their own bottomline to indulge in further luxuries for themselves and their families, with a few coins throw to charity to assuage their guilt for not sharing wealth.
There are several ways to rectify this horror to our country. Seek within yourself and you will know what have to be done to get you and many others voice heard. Let me, named Nobody, teach you that.
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If the gang leaders deem the members daft and shuns all responsibility to protect the interests of their own members while enriching themselves overwhelming and the members continue to serve like a loyal dog, what is the outcome?
Other gangsters will take the cue and also treat the members of that gang as dogs.
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MARTIN MY FRIEND,
There are indeed many apportuntie’s out there,u just need to open your eyes and maybe try to adjust TO A new envoriment.IT is a burnt out sector,the large influx of FT had invaded and dominated this sector.It’s time to plan an exit stragedy.Maybe you can release virus into their system’s and deleting their back-data’s before u go (it is just a thought)
1)IT SALES SECTOR : THERE ARE MANY OPPORTUNTIE’S IN THIS SECTOR,SINGAPORENS CUTOMERS ARE THE MAJORITY,THEY PREFER VERY MUCH TO BUY FROM A SINGAPOREN THAN THICK ACCENTED INDIAN FT OR PINOY FT….
(THEIR BASIC SALARY IS AROUND $1800 + COMMISSION RAKED IN FROM THE SALES)IT TAKE SOME TIME,TO GETTING USED TO.
2)SHIPPING COORDINATOR/LOGISTICS COORDINATOR:THEY USE DATABASE LIKE SQL,ORACLE,SAP IN THEIR SYSTEM,U MIGHT NEED TO GO AND TAKE CERTIFICATION OF IMPORT/EXPORT DOCUMENTATTION FROM BMC TRAINING CENTER,U CAN COMPLETE IN IN 3 MONTHS…PAY IS AROUND $1800-$2200…IT WILL INCREASE ONCE U GET MORE EXPERIANCED
BY THE WAY,I WAS JUST FIRED FROM MY IT JOB BY BASTARD INDIAN FT MANAGER,FOR SPEAKING OUT FOR ABOUT OUR RIGHTS(I AM A SINGAPOREN INDIAN)….BUT I AM VERY VERY HAPPY…I GOT MY COUSIN FROM MALAYSIA TO KICK HIS ASS…..HE STILL IN HOSPITAL…HAHAHAHA….I JUST APPLIED FOR SOME JOB’S….TOMORROW MORNING,I WILL BE GOING FOR INTERVIEW FOR SHIPPING ASSISTANT……
—-HOPE U MAKE IT TO BROTHER…DON’T WORRY TOO MUCH….
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it all started when you enlist for NS. The people that torture you there are now in cabinet position in govt and they are still thinking you are just raw recruits to be EXPLOITED TO THE MAXIMUM, to be used as stepping stone for their own high flying career.
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you are a true singaporean !
========================
BY THE WAY,I WAS JUST FIRED FROM MY IT JOB BY BASTARD INDIAN FT MANAGER,FOR SPEAKING OUT FOR ABOUT OUR RIGHTS(I AM A SINGAPOREN INDIAN)….BUT I AM VERY VERY HAPPY…I GOT MY COUSIN FROM MALAYSIA TO KICK HIS ASS…..HE STILL IN HOSPITAL…HAHAHAHA….I JUST APPLIED FOR SOME JOB’S….TOMORROW MORNING,I WILL BE GOING FOR INTERVIEW FOR SHIPPING ASSISTANT……
—-HOPE U MAKE IT TO BROTHER…DON’T WORRY TOO MUCH….
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We are going on a path of destruction for Singapore.
When A portion of Singaporean have nothing to lose. They(we) will do anything to get back the pride that we lost. To do that means to shred blood. Nobody wans to do this. But it will come the day when doing such a thing is the only way out. Remember a portion of us is trained in military warfare. And we will do watever we can to protect our homeland from such silent invasion!!!
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Agreed with @World of Opportunities for the STs:
The world outside is exciting. out govt is already backward and still out oldest serving PAPies still want to lecture to big big countries out there.
I went overseas to search for a different lifestyle and work, not bed of roses initially but it is a very valuable life experience many singkies cannot imagine. Also learn a life long skills like investing/trading, etc. Sooner or later, I will need not a job once my trading skills become more consistent, and whether good or bad economic conditions, I will be able to take advantage of the situation and I just need a internet line and laptop.
If you have the means, go embrace the world outside Singapore…leave your comfort zone…people who never take initiative to leave their comfort zone,,will sooner or later be forced so by external factors and they will panicked.
Singapore is still a very good place to live provided we have more pro-singaporeans policies and lower cost of living and work-life balance.. so we can cannot change GE2011 ..but there is always GE2016 !
Goodluck !
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add on..
and yes after serving my 2 1/2 years of NS, i fxx off from SG and now i am not liable for stupid ICT anymore.used to seeing men in their 30-40 carrying heavy stuffs (combat engineers)…so sad….who are we protecting now and while you get all injuries ..your damn ASS MO say it is ok.
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@RETRENCHED BNP banker
Are you sure it was a local born Singaporean betrayed you? I found that New Converted Singaporean or Foreigners in Management who involve in recruitment are most evil, they will try are ways to get thier own kind from their home countries to replace Singaporean.
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farking FTs are helping PAP to replace singaporean
i am singapore
i farked the PAP
and i have to admit that we have voted for the PAP for far too long
and PAP become too cocky and a bastard
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What has the author done to deserve this ,
(nothing)
(nothing)Is the main reason. So author, please do something?
Your skillsets are probably stuck at where they want you to be. You need to review where you want to be?
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a company hire FT for cost reason…maybe reasonable
a FT manager/director hire FT, especially same country for loyalty reason…maybe reasonable…
Policy-makers making policy that place Singaporean on lower standing…that is unreasonable…
i meant, we r not asking for a better edge over the FT but make them compete on equal ground as us…
well, maybe it’s not policy-makers’ fault…it’t we keep voting them in, and they took it as a sign that we support their policies!!!!
it’s us, draft lesser mortals’ fault….let all repent together…
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One of the pre-requisite skill set that everyone needs to equip themselves with is to know how to SELL and PROMOTE yourself. You need to know how to promote yourself to your prospective employers. I am referring to overseas employers too. Aim beyond Singapore. Be an FT to some countries worthy of your skills and knowledge.
Everyone needs to sell something in order to survive. IT people sell their services to earn a living, a nurse need to sell their knowledge and physical strength to earn a living. No different to a salesman selling a product. Many people has a negative stigma about sales people, yet good salespeople survives better. So, you need to learn how to SELL and PROMOTE. Start with yourself.
Your skill set and knowledge is your product. Customise them ‘creatively’ to suit the wants and needs of the targeted employer. This is what these phoney FT are doing by scamming their ‘questionable’ qualifications to suit the wants and needs of our ku-ku GLCs. If it works for them, then it should work for you too. What more do you have to loss if you really have what it takes to deserve the employment??
Sad to say, the world has arrived to this point where one has to really ‘think out of the box’ in everyway. So my dear fellow Singaporeans do think beyond Singapore, be a FT instead not a push over.
If you alone cant change the govt, then change yourself and move on to somewhere else.
You write your own destiny and chart your own journey. You owe it to yourself, not the govt, not your family, not anyone else. Seek and you’ll find.
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Martin,
If you and your family voted for PAP, you truly deserve your fate. If didn’t vote for PAP, you have the 61% of Singaporeans to blame for screwing you.
Change, we must, even if we have to have wait 5 years.
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I am not an expert in HR but the author of this article, Martin Loh, claimed to be “competent, hard working and loyal”. Aren’t those qualities that all employers want in their workers?
As some comments have already pointed out, there should be more to the story.
My best guess is that he is either the opposite of what he claims to be, as in actually lazy and tries to skive a lot. Or he is not displaying the correct attitude at work; meaning his is breaking social taboos like having punctuality issues, having indecent/coarse vocabulary in daily conversation, constantly having bad odour like the smell of cigarettes or other qualities that might offend his colleagues.
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Dear Martin Loh, your letter made me think very hard about your predicament. I have some experience in handling similar issues as I have been a manager of teams in Singapore, Hong Kong and in country in Asia. I can stay anywhere in Asia but prefer Singapore given its excellent Airport and flight connections. In fact, I moved from Hong Kong a couple of years ago as i found Singapore to be a more convenient place for business.
Now back to your problems. If you are an IT Helpdesk person and have been at that position for 6 years, then you are in a dead end job. There is no progression in this line of work and you need to move. To move jobs (and away from IT Helpdesk) you need skills. I would recommend that you go to night school, or take other short term courses that build up your skill base. Your problem is not your company or your manager but your own skill levels. Best of luck….
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