 |
| Is driving a taxi the only skill you have left to offer? |
What on earth is going on in Singapore then? Well, a fellow blogger of mine was circulating a piece today which essentially blamed foreigners for the situation. Many of her readers essentially got on this anti-FT/anti-foreigners/anti-PAP bandwagon and just blamed the government for opening the doors to so many FTs. It does seem like a simplistic solution, to blame foreigners for the problem. Xenophobia is a response that is quite common in times of hardship and indeed, it offers a rather simplistic solution to a complex problem. In the UK, the political party UKIP wants to get the UK out the EU because it blames European migrants (particularly Eastern European ones) for a lot of the problems in the UK - but they don't really have any practical solutions about how to fix the problems in the British economy even if they do succeed in kicking out all these migrants. Blaming foreigners does tantamount to playing the victim's card: the victim's mentality when you say, "it's not my fault, someone did this to me, Don't blame me please, I did nothing wrong! I am the victim here." But wait, what if it is your fault? What if Singaporean PMETs brought this upon themselves? Well, I have had three Singaporean readers offer me their perspectives on the situation.
Firstly, my reader Wei Ping Toh offered this explanation:
"Those PMETs that lost their jobs and could not rebuild their careers, in the first place, do not possess adequate skills to continue on in their industry. My mother, who is still currently employed as an engineer in Singtel, shared her workplace story with me that she has this coworker, who is literally technologically illiterate and yet, holds the position of engineer in Singtel. Singtel is unable to give this engineer the boot due to the employment contract that was signed many years ago. In the past, people without the right skills in Singapore, are able to secure employment based on academic merits. Such are those PMETs mentioned. When the economy is well and the corporates are still making big profits, they can ignore the incompetencies of their employees. But when the industry starts to change, and there is a need to streamline all workflows, incompetencies get exposed and such PMETs get the boot (Software industry is one of the earliest to encounter this). I feel rather offensive, when someone claims that they are a highly-trained software engineer based of their total years of experience, when all they just do is repeat that single year of experience many times without improvement."
 |
| Why are incompetent people allowed to get away with it? |
My reader Choaniki also offered another story:
"I met a lady who had worked in HP for 23 years and recently got retrenched. At 47, she had 2 kids studying O level and A level. She had quite recently move into a new condo. Her husband work for SME. Initially she was keen at our DR course but the monthly allowance of even $2.5k cannot afford her lifestyle. She doesn't understand the current economy restructuring is different from '97. A lot of jobs r going to be lost because MNC r moving out of Singapore. Everything is going into China. I don't know people like her r gonna survive."
Another reader, Chin Lam Toh, offered this perspective:
"Take an example of my friend from the 1980s (similar to your friend) who studied Econs/Stats in Australia & was offered a job there, but returned to be a trainee manager at one of our major banks. He climbed his way up to Vice President at one of the branches, stayed for 20 years then got retrenched. So he trained at NIE & became an English teacher in sec sch. Worked his way up again, became one of the Heads in the Discipline committee. But couldn't take the education system and school politics, so he quit and toyed with driving a taxi but dismissed it. He's now working for himself, freelancing around with various small businesses, but has to cut down his expenditure a lot (gave up his car etc). This is not an isolated case and is a perfect illustration of the plight our generation is facing."
I admit, I had a rather naive outlook on the issue initially, believing that these older PMETs could actually reinvent themselves and adapt to the modern world but it is clear from the stories offered by my two Singaporean readers that they are clearly incapable of doing so. I do find it shocking that people do get away with being incompetent in a place like Singapore - whatever happened to meritocracy or the free market? Surely the very basic principle of economics would dictate that if an employee is not pulling his weight, his salary cannot be justified and thus he needs to be retrenched and replaced. Why would any company hire someone who looks good on paper but is ultimately incompetent at his job? And I can understand if there were one or two who have slipped through the net, but for this to be commonplace, even 'normal' in Singapore - so what the hell is going on here? How did this happen?
Who do you blame then, when these incompetent, older PMETs get retrenched? Do you blame the company's poor HR practices for having given them the good job in the first place? Do you blame the culture for putting so much emphasis on academic achievements? Or do you blame the individual, for failing to adapt to the modern world, to Singapore in 2016? Do you blame the government for not having these older people back into gainful employment? Or, do you blame others for having the audacity to be well educated, well trained and actually be much better at their jobs? Or do you blame the culture of ageism, for discriminating against older professionals? Do you blame the influx of foreigners in Singapore who have increased competition in the job market or do you blame the government who have let in these foreigners in the first place? Who do you blame then, if we were to try to play the blame game?
Perhaps it is my experience as a gymnast which has shaped my view of the world, the way I face up to competition. Let's take the example of the vault - one of my favourite disciplines in gymnastics. It used to be a fairly simple apparatus in the 1950s and 1960s when the vast majority of gymnasts simply jumped over the vault using a front handspring. So you jump from the spring board, put your hands on the vault, pass through handstand, flip over and land on your feet. Nothing fancy, you were judged on the quality of your form, your landing, the height and distance. Then in the 1972, Japanese gymnast took vaulting to a whole new dimension by adding a half twist before placing his hands on the vault and then doing a full one and a half back somersaults off the vault. The other gymnasts looked in amazement and shock: but they also realized that Mitsuo Tsukhara had taken vaulting into a brand new chapter and his name would be immortalized each time a gymnast tries to learn 'his' vault - the Tsukhara. The rest of the world had two choices at that point: either try to learn what Tsukhara did to keep up with him, or do vaulting the old fashioned way and lose to the Japanese. But that was back in the 1970s. What was revolutionary back then is considered so simple even an old man like me can do it. I'm sure you've heard of the great Nadia Comaneci, well here's my Tsukhara vault (remember I'm nearly 40) and Nadia's Tsukhara from the 1980 Moscow Olympics. How about that?
Then in 1983, another major revolution happened in vaulting, Soviet gymnast Natalia Yurchenko invented a brand new vault: adding a round off (like a cartwheel to finish with legs together) onto the springboard, then flipping backwards onto the vault before adding one and a half somersault off the vault (Yurchenko performed it with an addition full twist as well). The rest of the world gasped in disbelief as the vault was so complex, difficult and dangerous it opened a brand new chapter in gymnastics: As with Tsukhara just 11 years ago, they knew deep down inside that they had to learn what she did if they wanted to win like the Soviets. Some coaches and judges actually argued that the vault should be banned as it was way too dangerous and could lead to accidents but to no avail (in fact American gymnast Julissa Gomez was left severely injured and paralyzed after she broke her neck whilst attempting the vault, she died 3 years after the accident): eventually within a few years, the "Yurchenko" became a very popular vault used by gymnasts around the world. Here's the original Yurchenko vault and a video to show you how dangerous it can be when Miho Shinoda of Japan got it horribly wrong at the world championships in 1987. Her foot overshot the springboard the same way Gonez's did and it is a miracle that Shinoda didn't hurt herself seriously when she fell.
Having grown up in the gymnastics environment, I basically just accept that gymnasts are always going to come up with something new, something better, something more difficult if they want to win the next world championships or Olympics and when that happens, the rest of us are just going to have to accept it and play catch up. Gymnastics is one sport that probably has evolved far more than any others: I may have been a former national champion of Singapore back in the 1990s, but if I competed those same routines today, it would be insufficient to get me even onto the national team as the sport has evolved, standards have risen and what was great in the 1990s is woefully insufficient in 2016. And here's the thing: I spent the majority of my competitive gymnastics career in Singapore, that's right - it was not like I was training abroad and in a totally different environment. I learnt those valuable lessons about being competitive in Singapore. I probably learnt far more valuable from gymnastics as a young person than I ever did in a classroom. This is why I am so very frustrated when Singaporean parents refuse to let their children do competitive sports because they fear it would be a distraction from their studies.
Perhaps this is why Singaporeans are so ill-equipped to deal with competition in the working world: they are simply not put in situations where the competition is unpredictable. Singaporean students spend so much time trying to control the exam process by making the outcome predictable: students are bludgeoned through the infamous 'ten-years series' whereby they try to answer every single questions that could be asked about the topic. Teachers go out of their way to prepare their students for the examination process with tests and mock exams, so they take the element of surprise out of the examination process. This is a far cry from sportsmen who show up at a competition with no idea what the competition is going to be like - this is best experienced in sports like table tennis, tennis, badminton, boxing and judo where you come face-to-face with an opponent, so close you can literally look into their eyes, trying to guess what they are going to do next. I often only got the first look at my opponents when I show up at a gymnastics competition and see for the first time, what skills they are capable of and that's when I do my mental calculations to figure out what my chances are: can I win? Can I hope for even a bronze medal? But isn't that what life is like - the goalposts are never fixed, it is completely dependent whom you are up against. When you apply for job, it doesn't matter how good you are - it really depends on whether there is someone else more suitable than you for the job.
So there you go - the problem is not so much that older Singaporeans are not highly educated or skilled, but simply that they have not developed that killer instinct to deal with the competition, something that cannot be taught through the traditional education process which takes the element of surprise out of the equation. Perhaps the best way to deal with this is to have random exams throughout the academic year, whereby students will be made to sit for the exam at a moment's notice, with no preparation whatsoever: then you will actually find out what they actually know about the topic (rather than what they have memorized from the last few days of intense revision). Oh, that would also free the students' time up, they would no longer have to spend so many hours doing revision and with that free time, they could actually then go do some sports and learn some precious soft skills that will prepare them for the real working world out there. Do let me know what you think about this issue, please leave a comment blow - many thanks for reading.
 |
| The consequences of not being able to keep up with the competition. |
Okay, I can understand that in Singaporean society, Asian people place a lot of emphasis on academic achievement and I don't believe that there is completely no correlation between good academic grades and the ability to do one's job. Quite simply, you don't get straight As and a degree from a top university by being stupid and lazy. However, one's degree is only the first step to get you your first job - after that, so much of your career is based upon what you do with yourself at work and your work experience becomes far more important than whatever you have studied at university all those years ago. Whilst Choaniki and Wei Ping have helped opened my eyes to the situation in Singapore, I still find it unreal that such a situation has developed in the first place: that these essentially incompetent people can manage to find their way into (very) senior positions in the first place despite being terrible at their jobs.
 |
| Who are you going to blame? |
Blame isn't a particularly helpful reaction: allow me to talk about it as a gymnast. I hated losing at competitions - but what could I do? Could I blame the opponents for being better than me? How ridiculous does that sound? The only sensible response when I lost was to blame myself for not having been as good as my opponents and resolving to train harder, so that I can be as good if not better than them. This is why I roll my eyes in cynicism when I hear people like Gilbert Goh blaming the foreigners in Singapore for having the audacity to be better than the locals. So the government should not let in these more talented foreigners, so the local companies would be forced to employ totally incompetent Singaporeans instead. Right, let's see how that strategy would work out for Singapore's economy: it would be just a recipe for disaster when you start allocating jobs according to nationality rather than meritocracy.
Perhaps this is why Singaporeans are so ill-equipped to deal with competition in the working world: they are simply not put in situations where the competition is unpredictable. Singaporean students spend so much time trying to control the exam process by making the outcome predictable: students are bludgeoned through the infamous 'ten-years series' whereby they try to answer every single questions that could be asked about the topic. Teachers go out of their way to prepare their students for the examination process with tests and mock exams, so they take the element of surprise out of the examination process. This is a far cry from sportsmen who show up at a competition with no idea what the competition is going to be like - this is best experienced in sports like table tennis, tennis, badminton, boxing and judo where you come face-to-face with an opponent, so close you can literally look into their eyes, trying to guess what they are going to do next. I often only got the first look at my opponents when I show up at a gymnastics competition and see for the first time, what skills they are capable of and that's when I do my mental calculations to figure out what my chances are: can I win? Can I hope for even a bronze medal? But isn't that what life is like - the goalposts are never fixed, it is completely dependent whom you are up against. When you apply for job, it doesn't matter how good you are - it really depends on whether there is someone else more suitable than you for the job.
 |
| Do you have the killer instinct to face up to the competition? |
So there you go - the problem is not so much that older Singaporeans are not highly educated or skilled, but simply that they have not developed that killer instinct to deal with the competition, something that cannot be taught through the traditional education process which takes the element of surprise out of the equation. Perhaps the best way to deal with this is to have random exams throughout the academic year, whereby students will be made to sit for the exam at a moment's notice, with no preparation whatsoever: then you will actually find out what they actually know about the topic (rather than what they have memorized from the last few days of intense revision). Oh, that would also free the students' time up, they would no longer have to spend so many hours doing revision and with that free time, they could actually then go do some sports and learn some precious soft skills that will prepare them for the real working world out there. Do let me know what you think about this issue, please leave a comment blow - many thanks for reading.
Well our government's solution to a society obsessed with paper qualifications is more paper qualifications. Which is why they came up with the skillsfuture scheme from this year http://www.skillsfuture.sg/
ReplyDelete*facepalm* If you ask me I doubt it for a moment it will work. But our government's solution to all problems is to throw money at it and hope it goes away.
I just think that the whole approach to bringing up and nurturing children and young people is just so wrong in Singapore. I remember in 1987, watching Miho Shinoda nearly snap her neck at the World Championships. Guess what? She got up and did it again and landed on her head the second time. I was 11 and Miho Shinoda was 15 at the time - and I thought, yup, that's what you have to do. You nearly break your neck, not a tear shed, you get up and do it again. OK shame she didn't get it right the second time, but how many kids would be crying and begging their coaches "don't ever make me do that dangerous vault again?" Thus I felt gymnastics really shaped and nurtured me so well - what can you possibly learn about real life from studying for exams?
DeleteLIFT, your blog and the comments section have probably uncovered more insights than the expensive think "tanks" and so-called public dialogs!
Delete@choaniki Well, the only solution the government has ever known is to throw money. Why do you think they insist on maintaining a huge amount of reserves at the expense of everything else?
DeleteToday, I saw this on my facebook: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/19-schools-to-offer-programming-at-o-levels
While I applause the effort, but it really feels like a knee-jerk reaction move, that has no form of proper preparations. So they decided to assess one's ability to program using python and expect students to be able to learn programming within 2 years while having to take lessons of other subjects and to juggle their CCA. How are they going to assess the program? By forms of standardized testing? Then, soon, there will be *by no surprise* Python TYS. The things that one can cover within 2 years is just really a tip of the iceberg.
The burden is not just on the students, think about the teachers. I can sort of imagine that the teachers, themselves are just as boggled by O'Reilly's book on Python before they can themselves teach how to use Python.
Then, we will have a cycle of mediocre engineers teaching students, producing more mediocre engineers, that in turn, will repeat the process. It feels like an education plan that is drawn by someone who is absolutely clueless about how the tech industry works
In a previous life I was in the IT industry, so my first qualification is in IT. It is impossible to teach programming in a vacuum. I think I only started programming modules either in sem2 year 1 or year 2. The basics like computing maths (binary calculations), user interface, etc need to be taught first.
DeleteAlso all lecturers have industry experience. You want an NIE graduate with not even postgraduate qualification to teach programming? I what kind of programs do you expect students to produce? Probably printf or simple loops plus simple functions. Not very useful for the industry at all.
Putting aside industry experience, how are they expecting students who are experiencing problems comprehending algebra in 2 dimensions, to manipulate data matrices that are usually more than 2 dimensions?
DeleteLet us wait till we see the details of what they have in mind for Secondary schools. Python? Seriously?
Back to the issue of industry experience, Python? one of the WTF languanges out there where the compatibility within its own minor revisions is near to non-existent. Are they in the right mind?
While I agree Python is hardly the most advanced programming language out there I don't see why it's so laughable to start secondary school students on it. It's a good gateway language and a significant number of industries uses it. Heck I use it and its various related frameworks in my everyday work (Visual Effects). I don't deny there it has problems but it's hardly crippling to the point that it's unusable.
DeleteGet them started on understanding the logic and structure of object oriented programming, if they are interested they could go on to learn the more advanced codes and algorithms, they're just 12-16!. Being able to learn Python in secondary school is going to be a luxury even in First World countries. I work in San Francisco and I know it's still not very common in the middle schools here.
I much rather focus on their teachers. Are they going to be just receiving a couple of crash courses in NIE and considered knowledgeable? Or is the intention to be more relaxed on these subjects and allow people with the relevant working experience to teach them? If we're still insisting that the teachers come from NIE on these subjects then yes it's a massive waste of time and resources.
Just as you mentioned, they are just 12-16. I would not expect them to be able to comprehend the basics of variable manipulation on more than one dimensions, let alone the logic and structure of any sort of programming paradigm.
DeleteIt is already pretty hard to find good software engineers residing in Singapore, let alone, resident software engineers who are willing to teach as a profession. So there is a high chance that those teachers will be churned out by NIE using some sort of certified 2-3 months crash course on Python.
Now, back to flaming Python, what kind of stupid language design that uses indentation as scoping indication? Didn't the language designers realize that on different OSes, there are different text formatting that might cause conflict on interpretation of whitespaces and indentations. And yes, I am flaming those stupid decisions on using Python for any critical back-end services. It is fine if it is used as a simple scripting language for ever-changing business logic but to use it for system-critical stuff, they need to shoot themselves in the head. If you want to, we can continue our "discussion" on python in thedailywtf.com, there are more users there that burn every single possible language that is used in programming due to stupid design decisions.
Choaniki, I had checked on skills future scheme. It is not about getting more paper qualification. it is to encourage life long learning. What the government is doing on skills future scheme is just providing the many different type fishing rod to the mass (Such as provided $500 SkillsFuture Credit).
DeleteThe onus now lie on the public to learn which type of fishing rod is suitable for them to get the fish.
The scheme cannot really replace the degree courses but it can help you to boost your soft skill.
https://vulcanpost.com/539521/s500-skillsfuture-credit-enough/
@Kelvin Tan Singaporeans are still a pragmatic lot. Most of them will use the money to obtain certification to in their current industry like 6 sigma green belt, CCNA, etc. If the government's intention was to widen the skillsets of Singaporeans why restrict the list to a limited range of courses. Why no dance, arts, sports classes? So the message being sent is still that these so called white collar technocratic skills are still more valuable than creative, sports skills
Delete@Choaniki: At least it is a good start for the skill future. These are the skill which which many industries are looking. I am sure the government had consult many different industries and get the list of things which the public can use for their career.
DeleteOn dance, arts organisations sports class, is it really important to have a certificate to put into your CV?
For sports, the government also introduced a scheme where they offer $100 for people to use to pay entry fee for public swimming pool, public gym as well as public sports facilities.
Study hard, follow the rules, colour inside the lines = success = BIG $$$$ = MAKE PARENTS HAPPY. When the game changes, Singaporeans don't know how to play. They whine and cry.
ReplyDeleteGood point but those gymnasts are poor example becos they are exceptional individuals. Besides, there is only so many times one can retrain and reeducate to make one completely relevant to whichever industry. The natural progression would be increasing irrelevance when one gets older but not completely so. There are plenty of "old fogeys" holding jobs in the UK even in the most competitive industries, despite immigration.
ReplyDeleteWhere some Singaporeans lose out, was the inability to bend with the wind. One can take a robust attitude towards bosses and colleagues when young but less so when one gets older. This is also a natural progression which some cannot compromise with, thus losing "sponsorship" and support among bosses and colleagues. On the other hand, I also agree and have experience with many colleagues - when they reached a certain level or achieve their ideal or dream job, they became complacent.
One final point, natural progression in Singapore is accelerated by indiscriminate hiring of foreign PMEs. Cost is the paramount concern so it is not as if our older "incompetent" local PMEs are replaced by younger "competent" foreign PMEs. Too many of them are unsuitably qualified and hired by their own kind. Before 2000, foreign PMEs can be said to be very professional but not so once the floodgates are opened.
Chris, I've been so busy at work I've yet to get back to you.
DeleteI'm sorry I don't agree with you - individuals have to be exceptional if you want to be successful in life: whether you're talking about gymnastics or engineering or medicine or whatever field in life you wanna turn your hand to, mediocrity is not an option. If you cannot reinvent yourself and make yourself relevant to the modern world we live in, then tough shit - it's your funeral. As for old fogeys holding on to their jobs despite them being woefully out of touch, well, I'm not defending that practice but I'll like to see how long people like that can survive during hard times when companies are looking to get rid of the useless deadweights who are not bringing in any profit. No tears are shed for old fogeys when they are retrenched - I say boo-fucking-hoo, have you considered early retirement? Don't get me wrong, I've met plenty of older folks who have managed to reinvent themselves all the way into their 60s and 70s and they are fucking amazing; I just have no sympathy for those who can't be asked to try.
As for unqualified foreigners, well - as a boss of a start up now, I would NEVER in a million years shoot myself in the foot by hiring someone who is bad at his job. Why the fuck would I do that? If I wanna feel Asian, I'll go to Chinatown and do Chinese things. But to sabotage my own business by hiring someone who isn't good at his job?! Like seriously, I put my business interests FIRST and any ethnic affiliation goes out of the window: I'll gladly hire a team of Hebrew speaking Israeli programmers if they are the best in the world even if I have zero cultural affiliation with them. Any company who hires people based on their nationality or ethnicity is just fucking stupid. I still don't understand why people do fucking stupid shit like that - but then again, not everyone is as brilliant as me. What can I say, there are some fucking stupid companies out in Singapore. It's their funeral, not mine. Boo-fucking-hoo.
"fucking stupid companies", yup, Singapore has plenty of those. Rather than the companies being stupid, I would say that it is the management that is dumb. Again, based sole off my experience in various Singapore companies, I remember times where I keep sending feedback to the bosses, regarding certain deadweights in the team that I have to cover all of their tasks too. Alas, my feedback was never appreciated. The reason development costs were so high was because of these deadweights not producing anything at all, no wait, it is best if they do not produce anything, anything they produce is counter-productive.
DeleteHere is one of the many reasons that the bosses gave me why they are still in the company:
They were hired directly by the bosses, by announcing that they are deadweights would infer that the bosses are incompetent (on the contrary, my thoughts were if you keep them in, then you are incompetent as a business owner).
Supporting article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nokia-ceo-ended-his-speech-saying-we-didnt-do-anything-ziyad-jawabra
ReplyDeleteLIFT, I may have an example here that is somewhat relevant. It is not just the "dinosaur-era" PMETs who are lacking "killer instinct". Let me share my past experience as a talent acquisition personnel in the IT industry.
ReplyDeleteA couple of years back, I was sourcing for IT engineers for numerous ongoing projects and having sifted through hundreds of CVs from both local and foreign applicants, a clear pattern emerged. In general, I am sad to say that a typical Singaporean applicant does not compare well with a typical foreign applicant.
Firstly, as other fellow readers here have pointed out, our sterile education system tends to create drones who are rather placid and reactive when it comes to personal development. Students would "study hard" because their parents/teachers told them to, without ever thinking much about what they really want to do with their lives. From my observations, many of them took up certain diploma/degree courses just because they happen to excel in certain subjects at school (even that is contentious as pure regurgitation of facts isn't really "excelling" in a field, but I'll shall not digress here). Not because they are passionate about anything in particular. However, the system continues to indoctrinate us to "study hard" so that we will get "good" jobs in the future.
As a result, many of these drones simply went through the motions at school without spending much effort in obtaining extra-curricular certification or internship experience relevant to their subject. When they graduate/complete NS, they come looking for jobs with paper qualifications and nothing else. Comparatively, a typical foreign applicant for the same job has years of experience and is Microsoft/Cisco-systems certified.
Ok so if you lose out on credentials, surely you would have to up the ante and at least show a better attitude towards work? Unfortunately, the Singaporean applicants I have seen tend to fall short in this category as well. Many were not open to working on weekends, doing shifts, or working in sites that they consider "too far" away from their homes. All of which the typical foreign applicant will gladly accommodate. How about customer service standards? Are you as eloquent? Can you take as much pressure from (oftentimes) unreasonable customers? Will you be as professional and dedicated? These are questions my local job seekers should - but do not always - consider.
Ultimately, while certifications may land you a job, whether or not you excel in it depends entirely on your actions. There is a culture of entitlement here that has to be broken. Nobody owes anybody a living. Foreigners cannot steal your jobs if you are competitive enough. Suffice to say, it is not always "ageism" or poor hiring practices we are dealing with here.
Well said. Thank you for your perspective.
DeleteHello Limpeh, have been wanting to see what you'll write on this topic after seeing what you posted on Jeraldine Phneah's page. I have got to agree in part with Chris above that cost is an issue and a lot of PMETs are hired externally because they are cheap.
ReplyDeleteHowever that doesn't take away from the gist of the article. I work in the manufacturing sector and can identify with many of your points. Sometimes, it is not only the over emphasis on academics and a lack of soft skills. It can be also a failure to adapt to any form of change, even if technical skills are what's required.
We all know that companies and industries rarely stand still. Especially in the internet age. Companies are constantly rolling out new tools and initiatives to help their businesses. It could be implementing SAP, or putting their files in the cloud. Manufacturing is full of local PMETs who cannot or will not adapt to even such simple changes. In some cases, it may be even to brush up their standard of English to send a proper email, or to learn how to work an excel spreadsheet properly. Many know their weaknesses but choose to coast along, relying on younger colleagues to do things they refuse to learn for themselves.
I've also come across line technicians who, by the age 35, have decided that working the same line and staying on a shift pattern is all they are going to do. They do not even upgrade the technical skills needed for more sophisticated line work, for instance, instead choosing to rely on avenues like clocking overtime and staying on the graveyard shift to earn extra cash. Which comes at a cost to one's health and social/family life.
These people perhaps have the notion that what they do will always be there for them, and that their years of experience will always stand them in good stead. However, they do not realize that in time, younger colleagues, or even cheap FTs may one day acquire the same experience as they do. And be better off with the additional tools and skills they've equipped themselves with.
Inevitably, the question of whether to blame PAP comes in. In a way yes, because it is after all the PAP that has created the system from the very start. One that relies on academics, or allowing a lack of progression to take root in many industries. In fact, many "old fogeys" are still in their jobs in Singapore and its not that they have been systematically retrenched or something like that.
It takes 2 hands to clap, as always. Which brings me to the point that while a lot of PMETs now complain about the system and the PAP, it is not that they want to break away from this system. They too can see how the world is changing and how different skill sets and mindsets are needed at the workplace today. But they simply refuse to adapt and instead, despite knowing that the PAP has in part created a one dimensional, motherhood type system, expect that this system continues to babysit them. On this blog, you have mentioned countless times that "if you think Singapore gives you a bad deal, leave." Many of such PMETs will not take the plunge in anything, much less leave Singapore. In fact they are happy to continue in such a way so long as the PAP continues to give them what's theirs. This is why I also reject the way some pro-opposition people portray themselves as always being more progressive and enlightened, as I know first hand that some are simply not happy because they want an easier deal for themselves. But that's a matter for another time.
Couldn't have said it better myself Raymond.
DeleteIn all the companies I have worked for, there are always mindless corporate minions who coast through their day maintaining status quo. Any slight aberrations from the norm or changes to schedules will throw them into a panic. And when you suggest upgrading courses for these personnel, they would be non-committal and disinterested. Little wonder why they cannot find any other job outside with their inflexible mentality and 80s skill-sets, and have to resort to driving cabs after being retrenched.
And these are not just public sector organizations or Mom & Pop SMEs mind you. Big Fortune 100 MNCs have their share of dead-weight as well. (As a matter of fact I used to report to one!)
In general, many Singaporeans need to wake up and smell the proverbial coffee. Instead of complaining about competition from PMETs, they should be looking into the mirror and consider what they can do to improve themselves.
One very telling happening was the reaction by people when the government said they wanted to create multiple paths to success and that not everyone will need a degree to be successful.
DeleteSure, this was the PAP govt doing a u-turn on age old beliefs and way of life here in Singapore. But creating multiple paths to success is a good thing. We in fact should be demanding the govt do it, it is long overdue.
But guess what, cue the usual responses of skepticism, bullshit, talking about salaries, etc, that we see online.
Skepticism about whether these multiple paths to success will be created is one thing. But the response I see from many netizens is they doubt that there ARE multiple paths to success out there. And that alone already belies the mindset that they subscribe to.
I am more skeptical about the government's ability to do the u-turn on the beliefs.
DeleteCome on, who are we kidding here? Applying for positions within the civil service still has an outdated requirement of producing you 'O' level results. I don't even know where I have dumped that useless certificate after so many donkey years.
If they are truly sincere about this, they should be focusing more on interviews and prior work experiences(if applicable). Create internship programs for undergraduates that help select potential candidates irregardless of their academic ability but of the ability and proficiency of work during the internship.
I can understand why people might be skeptical. It is one thing to say "oh we are encouraging multiple paths to success!". But when your own highly paid cabinet, management and senior staff in GLCs and other boards are mostly governmental scholars (and at the very least good undergrad degree holders), well, its not going to persuade everyone that you mean what you say.
DeleteHowever, criticism of the government aside, this is not the main issue here. We should not use this opportunity to promote the lack of accountability and ownership. Let's not forget that "multiple paths" doesn't mean that the government will save you and give you cushy jobs when you are lazy, uninspired, incompetent or just plain out suck. No matter what path you take in life, you have to work hard/smart to succeed. It has always been this way (anywhere in the world I might add), before the government went on this whole "multiple paths to success" spiel.
Don't want to be a corporate minion? Don't want that boring 8 to 6 job? Well you have to ask yourself if you have the talent and drive to succeed in another field. Want to be a professional artist/musician/sportsman etc.? Better make sure you are a damned good one - which takes hours and hours of hard work and training, something most of the mediocre masses aren't very good at committing to.
Hence the skepticism and talk of bullshit. It is so much easier to blame others for their sad little lives than to take accountability for their own inadequacies, laziness and poor decisions made when they were younger.
@Wei Ping when i applied for a career switch to healthcare MOH were still interested in my O level results. I had to bring down my original copy of that certificate, which was yellowed and slightly illegible.
DeleteDuring the interview they didn't care or ask about my previous 10 yrs of IT industry experience. All the panel wanted to know was if i would have trouble studying after being out of school for so long and whether i could communicate with the fresh A level holders who would be in the same course.
Alex, there is another article out there that is describing the same problem as this article.
ReplyDeletehttp://crazyrandomchatter.com/2016/02/18/young-workers-crossroads-transferrable-skills-career-identity/
Thanks for the article it's a good read.
DeleteThe writer does point out something that I've suspected for a while in that the PAP government is just too effective (That's different from saying they make good decisions or even carry it out well). It's behaving too much like a sledgehammer, while it could kill the bug (the problem in question) it breaks everything else as it blunders about.
It doesn't allow room for the people to organically come up with their own solutions. I mean there was a time in our history where clear decisive decisions were better than wasting time debating about it(For example, making English our main language of us). We needed an education system that could churn out the workers that the modern economy wanted, a fixed education system of rote learning and practices but they kept trying to add more materials to the point that it was easier for the students to memorize rather than absorb it. You can't expect students to learn how to swim when they're already trying not to drown.
Don't blame the system Bay. I am a product of the Singaporean education system too you know, I am from Ang Mo Kio. I did primary school, secondary school, JC and NS in S'pore before I finally left Singapore.
DeleteI prefer the analogy of education systems to a railway station. Schools are simply different ticketing salesperson or machines. Each salesperson/machine sells you different tickets to different destinations in life. What they can only do is to sell those tickets, and it is always up to the individual choice to buy his/her individual ticket. In Singapore, most people defer their ticket choices to their parents who are only familiar with only a few destinations.
DeleteWith reference to this context, Alex probably traveled some way down to an interchange and hopped on a different train to a different destination. I, too, made a decision to change onto a different train some time ago.
At the end of the day, your destination and routes are all up to you. Education systems are just stations in life journey.
This is a nature vs nurture issue. Some people will find success whatever the circumstances of their birth. You can be born and raised a heartlander Ah Beng/Seng/Lian/Huay but if you are passionate, hardworking, intelligent and/or talented enough, you will find success regardless.
DeleteIt is true that our education system is antiquated and badly in need of revision (and more stringent Quality Control - case in point, the atrocious standards of our English teachers). That said, I also believe strongly that even with the best education system around, we will be casting the proverbial pearls to swine for the most part. Not everyone have the "nature" to succeed. Most people are simply not hardworking or talented enough, and will eventually end up as part of an average, unremarkable demographic.
And mind you there is nothing wrong with that. I am pretty average myself. However, if you are going to blame the world for your own failings, well, let's just say that you are not going to be my favorite person.
@Weiping - I love your analogy.
Delete@BFL - I see myself as a heartlander Ah Beng as I was raised as one, just one who has spread his wings and flown away from Ang Mo Kio. Ah Bengs are tough guys, they are not the geeks with glasses who are meek and follow the rules. We say shit like, "kwa simi kwa, lu kiam pa izzit?" But yes, I totally agree 100% with the part about taking responsibility for your own failings. Don't blame anyone.
I think the killer instinct you are talking about also exists in the public sector, except it is more difficult to retrench them.
ReplyDeleteInability to adapt also exists in other developed countries. It is not a Singapore phenomenon. Although their governments are less likely to bring in foreigners to replace them.
The killer instinct I feel is one of those "be careful what you wish for" sort of thing.
DeleteLook at countries that we consider to have the killer instinct culture.
China, India, US (I'm pretty sure there's more, but let's just stick to the more popular choices)
Their systems are pretty scary if you're living in it. It's near impossible to set up a business that's complies with every single law(China/India) let alone thrive and prosper while in the US you're in deep trouble if you don't cover every single base in your contract clauses. The US bureaucracy is pretty terrible too, especially if you're a foreigner(but if you're good in spotting the loopholes however...etc)
The returns are great, don't get me wrong. But we idolize the winners and ignore the piled up bodies beneath them. We complain about Singaporeans lacking the killer instincts but that comes from growing up in a safe environment which the PAP government did provide but over did it.
I do believe that Singapore needs a healthy mix of foreigners to shake things up but has yet to find a proper balance.
Hi Bay, I feel I almost wanna do a whole post in response to you but as I have a very important report to rush out before Friday, I am just gonna have to do a quick reply here. I am gonna respectfully disagree with you as I feel that you are wrong - but then again, I am an entrepreneur working in a start up right now and previously I was self-employed and before that, I was a salesman working on commission. It is probably the kind of path that would scare the vast majority of Singaporeans who would prefer to have the financial stability of a paycheck at the end of every month but I have done stunningly well following this route and am a multi-millionaire today. I have "killer instinct" coming out of every pore in my body and I am currently sitting in an office building with other start up companies and there is a killer instinct overload here. I am currently looking across the room at this rather eccentric Israeli guy who came to the UK with like £100 and built up a high tech company from nothing and he is fueled by his brilliance + Israeli killer instinct. Singaporeans are brilliant - they just lack the kind of killer instinct that say, the Israelis have. Israelis have fought so hard for Israel to even exist over the decades, that has moulded their identity and mindset.
DeleteWhen I told my dad about my start up, he didn't go as far as to tell me not to do it, but he expressed cynicism and worry - my parents are retired primary school teachers from Singapore who were good at their jobs as teachers but they have never done anything vaguely akin to business: so the thought of taking such a big step scares him quite frankly. My two sisters have good jobs, but they are paid good money to essentially work for a company or the government and what can I say, we used to joke that my parents picked me up from the 'la ji tong', that I was a baby found in the dustbin - I have no freaking clue where my killer instinct came from. If we were to dismiss their la ji tong theory, then I can only suggest that my killer instinct came from my experience in competitive sport and that it is something that can be taught and nurtured if the individual is put in the right environment.
I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with people like my parents or sisters whom I think do lack the killer instinct (they are very Singaporean by that aspect), but those who do dare to do what I do usually have the balls to make it happen and quite simply, we reap what we sow. I could be meekly working for someone else and getting paid a salary for it, but I am turning 40 this year and I'm like fuck that shit, it's time to be a towkay.
My take on the lack of killer instinct is that the competitive base in Sg is relatively small. Growing up in an environment where its obvious that the higher ups want instant immediate results rather than allowing you to explore and be allowed to fail, most students and young people of average means would already have that primordial killer instinct overwhelmed by pragmatism. Among my own peers and friends, those that had gone out into startups or took a different path tended to be from backgrounds where their families were sufficiently well off to allow them the room to experiment. All of them faltered along the way but picked themselves up. Interestingly, virtually all of them were in competitive sports like track and field, tennis, heptathlon and even figure skating. To be fair, I wouldn't say Singaporeans lack the killer instinct. Reality is that in this age, we tend to celebrate the winners but forget that for every winner, there are tons who did not make it. There is only one Ma Yun and Zhang Yining from China but how many other entrepreneurs and table tennis trainees under the PRC system were dropped at the wayside? Of course those that have stronger survival instincts, brilliance like the Israeli guy will be better equipped to win. Folks like this unfortunately will be extremely independent minded and in the uber control freak govt environment of Singapore, I suspect that those with such mindset would either have packed up or been subsumed under the govt system before they can go wild.
Delete@shane chua, you have hit a big nail very hard.
DeleteTo add on from Shane chua about startups being from families who are sufficiently well off, yes, but why? One huge reason is our cost of living. A simple built to order punggol 4 room flat will already set you back at least $350,000 conservatively speaking this is excluding renovations, stamp duties, taxes, lawyer fees and whatnots. A simple Toyota Camry is more than $100,000 excluding the ever so high COE. With these loans and together with the costs of raising a family, how many people can dare to fail? How will you pay your bills if you fail?
DeleteStartups from rich families, can fail 10 times and yet continue to fail until they succeed and let's say they are so excruciatingly stupid that they fail until they are in their 50's, there is still the final big pot of gold left behind for them called inheritance.
In a nutshell Leonard, you're wrong. Soooooo wrong.
DeleteBut I don't have the time to correct you now. Maybe later.
Later then.
DeleteOK Leonard, my meeting has been postponed 20 mins so I can indulge you.
DeleteI think you're so wrong on so many levels but allow me to explain why.
Firstly, cost of living? It's the same in any big city in the world from Singapore to Sydney to London to New York to Paris to Tokyo to Berlin to Los Angeles - get used to it. Successful professionals like me have no problems buying property (I have a sizable London property portfolio) because I am good at what I do and I am good with money. If you can't afford a flat in Punggol, it is not because it is too expensive - it's because you're too fucking poor and you're not earning enough money. Don't blame the property market, don't blame the government, blame yourself - duh.
As for raising a family, you should do it only if you can provide for your family. It is fucking stupid to get married and have three kids if you can't even put food on the table or pay for their school fees. It is called taking responsibility for your family and if you don't make enough money, then keep your dick to yourself and don't impregnate any women for crying out aloud. Only do so when your bank balance is healthy enough to do so - in the meantime, please wank into a wad of tissues.
You also have a very romantic idea about 'Mark Zuckerberg' kinds of start up whereby someone young has a brilliant idea and then creates a business out of nothing. Older folks like me have worked hard in our respective fields for many years (I'm 40 this year, my business partner is 49) and we have decades of work experience between us, enough to make sure we do NOT fail. As you say in Singlish, we "don't anyhow hantam one" - we are not fucking around with our investment seed capital, we are getting it right the first time, there is no plan B because plan A is going to work and given that I am writing this is a very sleek office in central London, it is looking pretty good at the moment. Yes the stakes are high - hence people don't "anyhow hantam": you don't even try to do a start up unless you know there is a very, very high chance that you will succeed in creating a viable, profitable business and I was in the right place at the right time - someone had a good business idea and I loved his concept, so I said I'll work with you, I'll bring my brilliant business acumen to bring your technology solutions to the market. I wouldn't do this unless I knew it had a 90+% chance of success.
I'm not from a rich family Leonard. I am one of those guys who turned up in England on a scholarship, then stayed on after I graduated because I was lucky enough to get a job - I then worked one job after another and climbed my way to the top, step by step in a world so far away from Ang Mo Kio. I'm not a rich kid spending my family's fortune on a start up - let me be frank, I have a disabled nephew whom my parents adore as the only grandson, I have a feeling they will think "oh Alex is doing okay, he's a smart kid who is hardworking he can fend for himself" and then just leave everything to my nephew (and I'm okay with that). I'm the total opposite of the kind of 'rich kid from a rich family' you're describing - I'm living proof that your theory is wrong.
Stop finding excuses for yourself Leonard. Get on with your life. Now I have to get on with mine and run to the next meeting.
Fair enough LIFT, but then again not many geography graduates are as successful as you. Hope to get inspiration from people like you though and really thanks for the fast reply!
DeleteAiyoh, let me be the first to say that my geography degree was totally fucking useless - I partied a lot at university, did a lot of sports and then got my first job in sales which was, surprise, surprise, absolutely NOTHING to do with geography. I discovered I had a natural flair for sales, marketing + biz dev and pursued a career in that direction despite not having had a single piece of paper qualification associated with that. In hindsight would I have done a geography degree? Probably not. But that degree was done on a scholarship, my university was happy to pay for my degree so it was a way for me to get into the UK (I was so desperate to get out of Singapore after NS.)
DeleteAnd just to follow up on my previous post: why am I able to do a start up at this stage in my life? I have built up enough personal wealth through years of working very hard, I have savings + a property portfolio (= rental income, my tenants pay me good money) - thus whilst we have sponsorship and capital for the business, I am NOT drawing a salary! Every penny we have goes to the business and I am not paid anything until we get the business off the ground. The plan is of course to build it up, create a commercial viable product that eventually creates a regular revenue stream or we might sell it off at some stage for a big 7 or 8-figure sum. My business partner has done that before so I am partnering with someone who has a v impressive track record. I stress, we are older guys who have proven ourselves the hard way in the working world and have the resources to take the gamble and do a start up together. Neither of us came from rich families (quite the opposite in fact!!!!), if anything, we're doing this IN SPITE OF our backgrounds rather than "because of" our backgrounds. Huge difference.
HAHAHA..... You really say it as it is.
DeleteLimpeh bu gei mianzi one.
DeleteLi wu yah sibei guan lan but li gong eh wei sibei gam tia. Dengjin.
Delete@ Leonard
DeleteIf you have spent time out of Singapore, you'll learn that our cost of living isn't exactly very high. Property prices in close proximity to the city centres will cost you an arm and leg. And by "close proximity" I mean distances from Jurong West to Changi. For example, a 3 bed-room apartment in a suburb like Parramatta, Sydney (20km away from city centre) can set you back upwards of AUD700k to AUD800k.
I have made a series of comparisons in the comments section of LIFT's article (http://limpehft.blogspot.sg/2015/12/now-one-of-my-fellow-bloggers-has.html) You should have a look if you are curious about how much it costs to buy properties in other major cities around the world.
As for personal transport, well, if it is affordable to everyone you'll end up having massive traffic jams the entire day. Londoners take the Tube. Parisians take the Metropolitain. Ditto for people staying in New York, Barcelona, Tokyo etc. Nobody drives to work due to insane traffic. We have the MRT and when it doesn't break down, it isn't that bad honestly. Having driven and taken the MRT/bus to work before, I can honestly say the difference in experience is generally negligible and not worth complaining about.
Regarding parenting in Singapore, it is only costly if you join the Rat Race and splurge on unnecessarily exorbitant expenditures. I have older colleagues who go along with the bare minimum (i.e. public schools, no tuition, no ballet classes, no piano lessons etc.) and their kids do just fine. On the other hand, my Primary 1 nephew is spoiled silly by his parents so much so that he is extremely self-entitled and will probably grow up to be a loafer or worse (he is exhibiting worrying signs of budding psychological problems but his parents just sweep everything under the carpet... ok enough of airing dirty laundry...)
Tuition is grossly overrated in Singapore if you ask me. If your kid isn't good at mathematics, why pay hundreds just to get a babysitter to force the lazy bugger to do homework? You should make your kid understand why it is important to do well at school (and he/she will auto-pilot naturally), or alternatively accept that your kid isn't cut out to excel in school. It is just the way it is. Tuition wouldn't change a damn thing. Smart/hard-working kids will excel with or without tuition, and no amount of tuition will make uninspired/lazy kids succeed in life.
You should instead encourage your kid to learn a craft and pick up some life-skills. Who knows? He/she may have astonishing talent in something out there, but their potential will never be realized if you bog them down with your own pre-conceived notions on how a life is to be led.
Finally, your comment about "excruciatingly stupid", "rich failures" is a generalization that is most likely based on a limited personal experience. How about stories of rich heirs who actually succeed in life to have a balanced view?
http://mustsharenews.com/heirs-to-billionaires/
Most truly wealthy people have heirs who are, quite obviously, groomed to be successful people so as to protect the family wealth. They may keep a low profile, but are quietly influencing momentous events in the background. The "wastrel heir" is nothing but a boring cliche.
I realize that this has become a bit of a rant. Apologies to anyone who feels that I am going overboard here. I'm just really, really tired of people who complain about their lives when they should be looking at the mirror for solutions.
Bear Face Liar, thanks for your rant! I do appreciate it.
DeleteI'm afraid Leonard does come across as a young Singaporean who is too busy making excuses for not having achieved more in his life. I suspect he is probably still in school, he does sound like a student, so I don't even know what he is making excuses for, since I doubt he has even started working. But his attitude does seem to be the biggest problem: to blame the system for your failures instead of taking personal responsibility for not succeeding - perhaps therein lies Singapore's biggest problem: this refusal to take personal responsibility.
Alex, another problem with Singapore society now on not taking personal responsibility is that they like to use the "70% vs 30%" mentality where any thing wrong just blame the 70% who fuck up Singapore by voting in the PAP to be the government.
DeleteIf I didn't do my TYS, I would definitely have flunked my emaths exam. There is no choice in this.
ReplyDeleteYou see Dakota, that's the problem with Singapore's education system. We were always led to believe that rote learning and constant practice are the only ways to excel in school. So instead of producing students who are capable of understanding the subject matter at hand, our schools are creating drones who are only good at regurgitating facts and cannot think outside the box.
DeleteFor the record, I (and I'm sure countless others) didn't do any TYS and got an A1 for e-maths. As long as you understand the principles behind the problems, mathematics (or any other subject for that matter) cannot daunt you.
Besides, even if someone doesn't do well in examinations, there are so many other routes to take to achieve professional success. To me, MOE's biggest crime is to perpetuate the belief that the only way to do well in life is to study hard at school.
Based on my personal experience, I had this Primary School classmate who was pretty well-off, he was the one with all the latest gaming gadgets at that time. I remember going to his home after school to play games. We were compulsive gamers at that time. Right before our PSLE, I still held on to the routine of going to his home to play games till evening, while he would continue on to late night. When we took our PSLE, he, who has been playing games over the night, scored better than me in most subjects.
DeleteJust by mindlessly practicing on your TYS would not improve your problem solving skills, sometimes, problem solving skills are cultivated beyond your academic activities.
@wei ping toh, This friend of yours is a genius lah. Over gaming doesn't make one score better in PSLE. LOL
Delete@LIFT How to have killer instinct when we are always afraid to fail?
DeleteLeonard, yes there is the culture of being kiasu in Singapore and there are people like my dad who are so totally afraid of failing. My parents tried so hard to discourage me from doing competitive sports when I was a kid because I would get upset when I didn't win and they thought that simply by not taking part (or exercising on a recreational-and-not-competitive basis) would spare me the disappointment of not winning. But if you don't take part in the competition, then you will never experience the joys of winning either.
DeleteHowever, why do I have such a different cultural outlook on the issue of taking risks compared to my parents? After all, they brought me up - they had a huge say in what I did, what I learnt, even what I ate and drank as a kid; yet I grew up with a lot of killer instinct despite their best efforts to kill off any killer instinct I had - I don't think they were trying to fuck me up; they thought that being risk-averse was the path to happiness, as it had worked for them. All I can say is that with some people, you can go out of your way to try to suppress their killer instinct (as in my case) but it will still come bubbling to the surface one way or another. With others, you can do whatever you can to try to cultivate it but it will never be there if it is not in the person's character to have any killer instinct. If you don't have any killer instinct for whatever reason (nature, nurture) then that's just the person you are. Nobody can make you change. Such is the nature of the world: some people are natural born leaders, others are followers - we can't all be leaders.
I think that really nips the bud. KIASU. We may have been too cuddled, too protected, in fact when we want to take risks, we will always go for calculated risks and sometimes over calculate and do not take any action because of the fear of failure even with fair odds of success. LIFT i think you can open up a killer instinct school in singapore, with our total lack of it i bet you can get many students, even government sponsorship to boost entrepreneurshi.
DeleteHaha. Not kidding.
No, it is not a problem I (or anyone) can fix. The problem is with the culture in Singapore - my parents don't see anything wrong with being risk-averse and being totally devoid of any killer-instinct. I'll like to see you try to tell my father than there's something wrong with his mindset. I can't change the minds of so many people in Singapore if they are all agreeing with each other that they don't need any killer-instinct.
DeleteThe flipside of that is that anyone with any killer instinct is going to rise to the top quickly, if everyone else is going to be as meek as sheep in S'pore.
KIASU, Killer Instinct Absolutely Simply Unavailable
DeleteKIASI, Killer Instinct Absolutely Simply Impossible. LOL
DeleteHi all, thanks for your comments. I am juggling a very busy work schedule and trying to settle into my new home - it's so so manic. I will find some time to respond to y'all real soon. Cheers for now and keep the conversation going ;)
ReplyDelete@Bay, in China, India, US, it is not difficult for their locals to set up businesses there. But as a foreigner, there are tons of red tape and bureaucracy, do you know how difficult it was to set up a simple trading company in china shanghai 6 years ago? OMG! And because of that if you can manage to enter their country, you are halfway profitable already because of their large market and boundless opportunities. In singapore however, we are simply too open and too small. I'm sure you know PRs can set up pasar malam stalls, foreigners can easily have entrepreneur passes to set up one man operation companies, hell, if you walk around bugis village, i would confidently say that 90% are foreign own businesses and we haven't start talking about the job market yet.
ReplyDeleteSingapore has been voted the 2nd most competitve economy year after year. But can we take the heat?
Limpeh is an Ah Beng from Ang Mo Kio leh, yet I am working in a start up in London. But who cares where you are from as long as your business ideas are good? The Israeli guy opposite me in the office is from Tel Aviv and he wasn't born in the UK too - yet his technology solutions are so totally brilliant and he is able to create something that is so right for the UK market. What pisses me of is when people start making lame-ass excuses about competitiveness and red-tape but at the end of the day, there's nothing that a bit of chutzpah and killer instinct can't overcome and Singaporeans simply have no balls (sorry, but that's the sad truth).
DeleteThe only time when it becomes harder for foreigners to work in start ups is in the sales/marketing role when local knowledge and language barriers can prove to be a barrier to entry. But fuck that - Limpeh is from Ang Mo Kio, and I'm working in sales/marketing and I've done that so fucking successfully in Europe in the UK, France and Germany: yes in French and German speaking work environments. So what's your fucking excuse then for not succeeding?
Singaporeans have culled balls actually,so how to grow the molecule back into a small seed? That may be a daunting task but never say never.
DeleteBy the way i say youtube video on speaking different languages. A total killer and all self taught? Wow....
DeleteI studied Chinese (Mandarin) at school, did French at university (and lived in France) and studied Welsh. The others are all self-taught. So for example, I speak Spanish quite fluently - never ever attended a class in Spanish before. Likewise with Italian - self-taught, figured it out. Malay is another one I speak reasonably well - again, never attended a single lesson of Malay in S'pore, I just figured it out on my own as I grew up in Singapore. German I pretty much learnt on my own whilst living & working in Germany. U get the idea.
DeleteHow the hack do you do all these? You are a natural linguist without a doubt. This is neither luck nor enviornment for sure. I hardly see Singaporean chinese speak more than just hokkien, chinese and english. We have a multi racial society but we keep within our own realms.
DeleteYes there is some natural ability I guess. It's like the way I just speak Malay because I grew up in Singapore - my sister actually did classes in Malay but she still can't communicate with her Indonesian maid whilst I can happily chat to her maid in Malay despite having lived half my life in Europe. Go figure.
Delete@Leonard We are much more flexible and adaptable than you think. When forced out of our comfort zones, we learn and adapt to it. Quoting language as an asset or liability to work out of Singapore is just simply not valid. Take Alex for example, he has to pick up all these languages by himself, when he is working in the various countries. I, too, brush up on my Japanese, now that I am working in Tokyo. The same would apply probably to most people who work overseas. We are forced to learn all the different languages native to the places where we work. If we can't adapt, we would probably lose our place in those countries.
DeleteBased of my personal experiences, natives are usually much more receptive when you actually produce your best effort to communicate in their language and help correct your mistakes along the way, which can be a great learning experience.
I think Leonard's making the mistake of seeing the world through his own point of view only, rather than through the POV of others. He thinks, "if I can't do it, then how the hell did you do it?" Rather than, "wow, teach me what you have done, so I can do it your way". It requires just a bit of humility and common sense to stop seeing the world from ONLY your POV and consider the POVs of others around you - you may have a lot to learn from them, especially if they are more successful than you.
Delete