Friday 6 May 2016

Why can't this guy get a job then?

Hi all, once in a while, I come across a piece on social media and I can't help but want to respond. Today's piece is a response to "Highly qualified Singaporean PMET applied for 1000 job openings but rejected by all." I actually read it and laughed because it was so poorly written - not that I doubt the story, I am sure that this story is 100% true but I found it hard to feel sorry for the guy in question (a Mr Farhan) as there was a huge element of 当局者迷,旁观者清 (those closely involved cannot see as clearly as those outside). It is in fact so tragic that I found it funny, so please allow me to as an outsider, offer my insight into this guy's situation and I will explain what is actually going on here.
1. Beware of whom you approach for help

I am quite skeptical about all these career advisers/coaches who dish out generic advice about writing resumes/CVs and attending courses. Mr Farhan (our protagonist, who also goes by the handle 'Hate FT') clearly realized that these people were pretty ineffective in terms of giving him any kind of useful advice, yet he kept going back to them for more help - why? Perhaps he had ran out of options, but if they were not able to help you the first few times, then what makes you think anything was going to change if you kept going back to them? If Mr Farhan came to me for advice, I wouldn't be able to help him either for the simple reason: I don't know his industry well. I would simply tell him to go talk to someone from within his industry instead of trying to give him generic advice. Who are these career advisers/coaches anyway? What kind of track records do they have - are they that amazing/successful people in the first place? Why are you placing so much faith in their abilities to help you anyway?

These career advisers are no substitute for a proper mentor: a real mentor is someone who knows you personally, your strengths, your weaknesses and will be able to offer you meaningful advice about what kind of jobs you are best suited for (and by that token, what kind of jobs would be wrong for you).  You have a meaningful relationship with a mentor whilst to a career adviser, you're just another file in their to-do list. What Mr Farhan has done was run from one person to another - he would have been better off sticking to one adviser who may be able to develop a deeper understanding of his situation for each time he runs to a new adviser, he starts all over again from scratch. His rather fickle nature has prevented him from developing any kind of meaningful relationship with any kind of mentor - he simply blames them and moves on to seek help elsewhere when things don't go his way: clearly, that approach has not yielded him any results. Really, Mr Farhan is making things far worse for himself this way, that he is being his own worst enemy? He needs to solve his own problems, rather than expect a guardian angle to wave a magic wand.
2. You're highly qualified - big fat hairy deal. So what? 

Mr Farhan claims, "I have a Masters Degree in Management, Bachelors Degree in English, Diploma in English and a Diploma in Business Administration." And my response to that is, so what? You think you're the only person in Singapore with paper qualifications? More to the point, where are his degrees from? Are they from a reputable university like NUS or some degree mill that renders his degrees not worth the paper they are printed on? You see, in this day and age when every Tom, Dick and Harry is a graduate, us gatekeepers are a lot more discerning when it comes to looking at CVs and ensuring that the applicants are indeed of high quality. I find it quite astonishing that Mr Farhan has failed to get even a single interview thus far: might this be due to the quality of his degree? Without any more information, I am not able to say for sure - but I suggest that it could be a factor as to why he failed thus far.

3. Your English sucks - and you have a degree in English?

How about the fact that Mr Farhan is trying to seek a job in education yet his English is riddled with errors? Take this for example, "Is there any particular reason of not being selected?" That's plain wrong: he should have written, "is there any particular reason why I wasn't selected?" And here's another example of Mr Farhan's bad English. "No agency is able to help neither me nor follow up with me." Like seriously, most primary six kids can write in better English than that. I think he was trying to say, "There isn't an agency out there who can help me or follow up with me." So how about this Mr Farhan: if you're applying for these jobs in your terrible, awful English, riddled with errors, then no gatekeeper is going to take you seriously. Stop blaming everyone else, how about blaming yourself for not bothering to proof-read these applications your are sending out for grammatical errors? Dude, your English sucks so bad - he has a degree in English? I'm wondering how he even managed to pass his PSLE English exam - and it is evidence like that which suggests that he got his degree from some bullshit chapalang degree mill and it is not worth the paper it it printed on. And yet he wonders why he isn't even granted an interview after so many applications.
4. The job market: a question of supply and demand. 

You may have certain dreams about what your ideal job would be - but have you considered this: whether or not you can get your dream job depends a lot on whether there is a demand for people with your kind of skills at the moment. This is why I say this time and time again: nurses and doctors are often in the best position when it comes to job hunting as there is always a shortage of nurses, doctors and other medical science professionals. Mr Farhan wants to be "a Vice Principal (Administration) with MOE." Well, how many vice principals are there in Singapore? What is the demand for vice principals in Singapore? How many vice principals does the MOE employ? Mr Farhan has set his eyes on a fairly narrow target and that's part of the reason why he has yet to find himself a job. By that token, even if Mr Farhan is perfect for the job, if there are just so few openings available, then Mr Farhan could be in for a very long wait if he is not willing to consider other alternatives. He is literally waiting for a vice principal to retire or resign.

Let me give you a simple example from my sister in law's village in Scotland - she lives in a small town in the middle of nowhere in rural Scotland. One of the local men married a Portuguese woman who worked as a high school teacher back in Portugal - initially, she thought she could teach Portuguese as a foreign language at the local schools. Portuguese is spoken by over 250 million people (mostly in Portugal and Brazil) and is indeed available as a subject in the Scottish education system. However, there was absolutely no demand from the locals for Portuguese lessons - no one was interested in learning Portuguese and even those who wanted to learn a foreign language were more interested in other languages like French, Spanish, German and Russian. So it wasn't that this teacher wasn't highly qualified to teach Portuguese (indeed she is a highly qualified teacher and a native speaker), there simply wasn't a local demand for her services - thus she had to find something else to do if she wanted a job in that community. 
4. And if you keep failing, it is a sign you should not ignore. 

Mr Farhan strikes me as an incredibly stubborn person: after a prolonged period of unemployment and over a thousand rejections, he still can't take the hint that he is most probably barking up the wrong tree. If you apply for a job and don't get an interview, there could be a whole range of reasons why you weren't even taken seriously. But if you apply for a 1000 jobs and rejected each and every single time, then there is a pattern that has clearly emerged and you would be a fool to ignore the evidence. There is really no point in flogging a dead horse (whilst you remain unemployed). Now I am only going on the information supplied to me in the article - I don't know why Mr Farhan has had such a dismal track record, but it suffices to say that he is clearly barking up the wrong tree if not a single prospective employer he has contacted thus far thinks that he is even credible enough to warrant an interview. Take a hint Mr Farhan, the writing is on the wall. Heck, even our Portuguese teacher in that Scottish village has long given up trying to teach Portuguese there. She's simply being pragmatic.

5. Take responsibility for your situation

What irks me is the way Mr Farhan has blamed the very people who have tried to help him - talk about biting the hand that feeds! "I have been to MSF, WDA, CaliberLink, and E2i. No agency is able to help neither me nor follow up with me." Now, all I hear is a list of people Mr Farhan wants to blame: these agencies, the employers who won't grant him an interview, the FTs in Singapore, the PAP, Singaporean society in general - oh he will blame anyone and everyone except, of course, himself. Now this comes across as a huge character flaw to me: when things go wrong in life, yes it is human instinct to blame others, but how could he not even accept a single ounce of blame in this situation? Does he honestly think that he has not done anything wrong in this job-hunting process? Does he genuinely believe that he is but a blameless victim and this is all someone else's fault? Why does he still insist on playing the victim's card then?
- More at AllSingaporeStuff.comhttp://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/highly-qualified-sporean-pmet-applied-1000-jobs-openings-rejected-all
FB: http://fb.com/allsgstuff
Mr Farhan is being his own worst enemy: after all, when things go wrong in life, when things simply do not go according to our best laid out plans, the least we can do is to accept responsibility for our failings. That is the first vital step for us to learn from our mistakes and then we become wiser as a result of that. However, a person who refuses to accept any responsibility when things go wrong will never ever go through that process of learning from his mistakes - thus he will be stuck in a vicious cycle where he repeats the same mistake over and over again because he is always blaming someone else when things go wrong. When you get rejected 1000 times, then it is clear that you are indeed doing something wrong - gatekeepers are not obliged to tell applicants why they are rejected, but I doubt Mr Farhan is willing to listen to them even if they were kind enough to share that information with him. No, he's too busy blaming everyone else but himself and he wants to seek 'fairness'. Yeah, right. What a total joke this guy is. 

Perhaps some of you may think that I am extremely harsh and unkind in reacting like this to Mr Farhan's article, but there's always two sides to every story and in this case, I'm sure there's a very good reason why Mr Farhan was rejected over 1000 times. Oh well, Mr Farhan was an army regular - perhaps he can return to the SAF or in a worst case scenario, he can always drive a taxi! Isn't that the norm in Singapore these days? Oh and people wonder why so many middle aged Singaporean men end up driving taxis after they get made retrenched, duh. And you wanna play the blame game instead of blaming yourselves? Or am I being an nasty bitch in not having any compassion for people in such situations? Do let me know what you think guys, please leave a comment below. Many thanks for reading. 

37 comments:

  1. I think Farhan is simply the handle that the author of this site uses to post all articles. Just take a look around, all have this name.

    Like you mentioned in your post, the position being applied for is not in demand. I happen to know that due to falling birth rate, schools are straight up merging or closing. The intake for NIE to train teachers is at an all time low currently.

    Also, the economy for the past 2 years hasn't been doing fantastic so employment figures will remain flat for sometime to come.

    Personally I have never been out of a job a day in my life. After NS I worked a variety of industries from F&B to retail to IT. But I keep up-to-date with news in my company so a few of my ex-companies i jumped ship before there was a remote hint of being made redundant.

    Just off hand, the 2nd company I worked for is no longer around. It had been bought over by a bigger GLC and the old name has been wiped clean. I caught wind of an M&A while I was at HP, my next workplace. I left them and less than a year later they bought over EDS and started a huge round of redundancies. The very last company I worked for also went through an M&A as you probably heard from me. Just last month I found out my ex-director was no longer working for the company! I was shocked since that guy had been through 1 buyout and 1 M&A so he had probably been there close to 15 years. He told me shortly before I left that he would never leave the company and they would have to fire him in order to get him to go. I recently contacted him on LinkedIn and he said he still stands by his words but refused to disclose the reason for the departure. So I hypothesize that the board probably offered him a deal to get him to leave. So I guess it was good I left when I did.

    If someone like me (who doesn't have a Masters or that many number of qualifications) has no trouble finding employment one after another, what is stopping FT hater from finding one?

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  2. Hi Limpeh,

    I have read the letter, and I cannot deny feeling a rising level of anxiety.

    Moreover, his attitude looks quite weird, IMHO; for instance, I feel begging for the MP's and/or PM's help is quite useless: public officials are not supposed to help you land a job, are they?

    Anyway, I agree with you: Mr Fahran should widen his own horizons.

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  3. Some people are just ignorant - he lacks self-awareness of his skills and marketability. Becoming a vice-principal with such standards of English is just wishful thinking. Someone needs to tell him he is not as good as he think he is.

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  4. LIFT, I know this is off topic, would you mind sharing your views on the what factors led to Labour winning this London mayor election and UK has it's first muslim mayor?

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    1. Hi Colleen, I am doing a "Limpeh answers your questions" part 2 on my vlog, so I would answer your question there. But I have been left confounded by the election and the reaction by a lot of my friends. We kinda knew Khan was going to win - the opinion polls + the bookies were showing that he had a big lead over Goldsmith going into the election so the results were a forgone conclusion.

      I think people voted for Khan for the wrong reasons - that's NOT a reflection on Khan per se, I have read up on his background about how he came from a migrant Pakistani family, grew up in very humble circumstances, went to work in the legal profession dealing with human rights cases - all very noble of course. But no, people were saying, "vote for Khan because he's working class and will understand the needs of working class folks." And I'm like, that's the wrong reason to vote for someone - vote for him because he's proven himself, not because he's working class per se. I want someone smarter than me, more capable than me, more intelligent than me to be my mayor/MP/PM, I don't want someone "just like me" to understand me. Perhaps that's just me being very Singaporean of course, we all want the next LKY to become the next visionary leader - LKY made no bones about being extraordinarily intelligent. But the British voters have confounded me. Truly. It seems a lot of working class voters voted for Khan because of his social background and a lot of richer folks did the same and voted for Goldsmith because he was from a rich family. And I'm like, guys guys guys - look at their policies for crying out aloud. Don't just focus on social class! But that's the way the UK is, people are obsessed with social class. I did toy with the idea of supporting Goldsmith, but the moment he came out in favour of Brexit, I dumped him as I am pro-EU.

      The fact that he's Muslim is neither here nor there - Khan won on the working class vote, not the Muslim vote. Did you know that the new Mayor for Salford (in NW England) is openly gay? Gay, Muslim ... doesn't matter in British politics. It seems the only thing that matters is your social class if you wanna win.

      For the record, I backed neither Goldsmith nor Khan. I voted for the Lib Dems and Greens.

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    2. Oh, the previous mayor Boris Johnson has also proven to be a let down and so the people of London were so fed up that they were ready for change. Think about how George W Bush was such an awful president that it made America ready to elect and embrace a black president. Johnson was so awful that he made London ready to elect and embrace a Muslim mayor.

      I think I'm somewhat cynical about Khan because he lacks the kind of charm, style and flair that I think good politicians need to have (like Obama). Now Obama oozes charm and confidence, Khan simply doesn't inspire confidence on that level and that's the kind of thing you can't learn. But then again, he's a mayor not a Hollywood star, so perhaps I'm focusing on the wrong issue here.

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    3. That's a valid point but look at where has consistently voting for "more intelligent" folks brought Singapore? A political scene dominated by scholars and social elites from the same dictatorial, draconian dynasty.

      I agree that it is important for our leaders to be capable. That said, I believe it is just as important for them not to lose their connection to the people.

      The point is moot though. Evidently, up to 70% of Singaporeans are content with living in an oppressive regime as long as their HDB estates are upgraded every couple of years. So perhaps the PAP has not lost their connection to the people of Singapore after all.

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    4. Most "70%" voters understand what you said. It goes beyond an upgrading programme to be honest.

      For me, I am aware than my continued endorsement might send the wrong message to the government that it is alright to implement draconian measures.

      But I maintain the faith that with adequate checks and balance, coupled with the desire to remain popular, the government will evolve, albeit slowly, to fit what the people want.

      It could be naive. But I cannot bring myself to endorse FULLY an opposition that till this date, still has large chunks of its rank and file, plus supporters who see fit to associate with and even propagate the nonsense that the above article highlights. Not even willing to find a real life example. Instead fabricating some rubbish that as proven here, only takes a few readings to poke holes in. And they are calling this free speech, speaking up, speaking truth to power, etc. I support some elements of the opposition, but never wholesale because of this.

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    5. Hi Raymond,

      In all honestly, the last bit was tongue-in-cheek.

      That being said, now that the topic has been raised, it does not make sense to me for you to vote conservatively when you do not want to send the "wrong message" to the incumbent. Your endorsement allows them to continue with their ways, whether or not you are internally opposed to them on any number of issues is besides the point. Kenneth Jeyeratnam was right - "Singaporeans get the government they deserve, so I don't want to hear anymore complains".

      So if you have voted for the incumbent in the hopes of them growing a conscience, bro I'm sorry but you need a reality check. The track record shows that they will never get their act right if their mandate remains strong. Stop committing the Gambler's Fallacy. Your ship is never going to come in if the incumbent has a comfortable market share. Why would they, when they can continue to draw multi-million dollar salaries? Why would they, when stat boards, GLCs etc. are all chaired by their family and friends?

      On the other hand, any single opposition party will not be able to take charge simply because the number of seats they are contesting is way too small. Even with a united opposition force (which is extremely unlikely considering their long history of bickering among each other), they will be hard pressed to make any of their "fabricated rubbish" constitutional as they are losing in the numbers game. Your fears of an over radical government should the opposition start winning seats are unfounded. Do you think anyone can reverse deep-rooted policies overnight? Your best example is WP - lacking the necessary expertise to draft and administer alternative policies, they are nothing more than silent partners to the incumbent after 2011's elections.

      In summary, you do not need to "fully endorse" any opposition party to vote for them. The way I see it, a vote can be made not for the opposition, but rather one against the incumbent.

      I wish that your faith is not unfounded. Personally, I am not one to wait for Gordot. The only reason why I'm still here is because I happen to be relatively comfortable with my current lifestyle. Otherwise, I would have skedaddled a long time ago.

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    6. The thing about free speech is that everyone gets to express their views, illogical, emotional, radical or otherwise crazy. In Singapore, the ruling party has always imposed their view on everything and moderated every aspect of life and politics - yes, there can be an Opposition but only if they meet a certain criteria, yes there can be somewhat free speech but it has to be of a certain criteria.

      The Singaporean is a moderate citizen, very rational, unemotional and pragmatic -> it is the citizens/electorate who have been molded into what the government wants.

      BFL has valid statements about voting for OPs - and WP has become the "model" opposition party.

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    7. Sorry, didn't realise this thread was still ongoing. Will post a quick reply as LIFT has moved on to other posts.

      BFL said that you don't have to fully endorse all opposition in order to vote for them. I agree but in a different way. I endorse certain opposition members fully, and would consider voting for them. But I do not endorse others fully, and so would not vote for them at all. There are a hodge podge of opposition parties anyway, so there has to be some pick and choose among them. Unless you mean lumping all "opposition" as one, and voting for them by default. That I will not do.

      BFL also said that it is not always a vote for the opposition but also a vote against the incumbent. To me, that's one of the fallacies here. In most other cases and countries, a vote for a candidate is an endorsement of that candidate over the others. Here in Singapore, people say that it is non democratic, non this or that, but then they regularly encourage voters to use the opposition as nothing more than a stick to beat the PAP with, to get them to improve. Isn't this already recognizing that the opposition is incapable, and that only the PAP candidate is fit to be elected, just that oh, we ought to give them a smaller margin so they will "get the message" to work harder?

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    8. So to build on what I said. If its just about a vote against the incumbent, so that their mandate is weakened and they wake up and perform better, I could follow that logic somewhat, but then what's wrong in this case with wanting to be selective about the opposition? If majority of Singaporeans consider the WP to be the "model", and thus help them grow, and use them as the pressurizing factor against the PAP, that's great isn't it?

      And Ling Ling, you are right about free speech. Everyone expresses, however crazy. But it also means they get shot down, they get called out for what they are, and for the ones crazy enough to think they should get elected, they get beaten badly at the polls. This is not just the case in Singapore but elsewhere. In this case, by forever pleading a lack of free speech in Singapore, sites like ASS publish dubious articles and sometimes exhibit poor journalistic practices. But it is what it is. Bad reporting is bad reporting whoever it comes from.

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    9. Guys feel free to keep discussing, I've just taken a step back and am focusing on writing my next article and creating my next vlog already. Thanks.

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    10. Hi Raymond,

      I reckon that you will be right elsewhere, but Singapore is not like "most other cases and countries". Name me one other first world nation with a government that consistently and consecutively wins over 70% of the votes for decades upon decades. Name me one other first world parliament with a flawless track record for voting in unison across the board, to the point that it seems almost indiscriminate. Be it via capable party whips, or through merits of an overwhelming majority, make no mistake about it - endorsing any candidate fielded by the incumbent IS a vote for The Party. Our political scene is simply not mature enough that any single MP can go against The Party without career repercussions.

      Being that the opposition voice in parliament is as ineffectual as it is, I don't see why we cannot "lump" opposition candidates together for them to have even a modicum of significance during parliamentary debates. Otherwise, these "debates" remain the farcical paper exercises as they have been for the past few decades. Furthermore, isn't the phenomenal of "lumping" candidates together caused by the incumbent-implemented GRC system in the first place? Marine Parade wants reliable old Mr G, and unknown/untested/unlikable/unwanted Ms T goes into parliament as a result. I'm sorry but you don't get a choice, its a bundled deal. *Golf Claps*

      There is no other democracy in the world with GLCs accounting for 37% of stock market value, and GLREITs dominating 54% of the real estate investment market. This might be me putting on my tin-foil hat, but it looks like the government has ensured that Singapore's economic health is contingent on the former's continued success. For the foreseeable future, I believe that it is extremely unlikely for any meaningful paradigm shifts to occur in Singapore's political scene.

      I concede that if the opposition is used as an incumbent-beating "stick", we have recognized that they are weaker. I'm not one to wear rose-tinted glasses, and can see the current opposition for what they are. At best, they are largely well-intentioned, but sadly unrefined and incompetent. That said, as long as they can provide some measure of opposition against an otherwise uncontested, authoritative regime, wouldn't they suffice for the time being? In any case, why would anyone expect a capable opposition when the country's brightest, most talented and competitive youths are constantly indoctrinated/funneled into GLCs (and by proxy, the incumbent) via government scholarship schemes year after year?

      I agree that one should be "selective" over political candidates. There is nothing wrong with that per se. However, while it is laudable for someone to hold onto their principles, I find the rationale in this case to be too idealistic and, I'm sorry for saying this, a little naive.

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    11. @ BFL. Interesting perspective on lumping all opposition together. Because come election time, many opposition supporters will tell you NOT to lump them as one.

      You also said "That said, as long as they can provide some measure of opposition against an otherwise uncontested, authoritative regime, wouldn't they suffice for the time being?"

      I agree totally. Against, that's why we can afford to be selective with them, because we don't need all 84 of them to be in parliament right? We only want the X number of the best of them to either do well, or get in and be the pressurizing factor on the PAP.

      So its a bit hard to say on one hand we lump them all together, and offer total support, and on the other hand also want to be selective and have them play the role of incumbent beating stick. Just doesn't go hand in hand, I feel.

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  5. Thanks for your sharing. I feel a drift in how the population around the world had been at the ballot boxes. People are getting more and more irrational. But at the same time, there's not much choices as well. I see America stuck between a rock and a hard place having to choose network Clinton or Trump.

    Locally in Singapore, the BB by election seems to be in the same situation. Don't want the same old same old PAP but don't want an irrational man who is definitely not going to hear the ground and speak for them. Not much of a choice at all.

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    1. I sense a blog/vlog post coming up on the issue as it has bugged me a lot.

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    2. Hi Colleen,

      If I were a discerning BB voter, I thought the choice would be clear enough. As the cliche goes, insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result. If you are content with the status quo, vote for the "same old same old". If not, perhaps an "irrational" man might just be the person to shake things up in parliament.

      Honestly though, even if Chee gets voted into parliament, he is one voice against the multitude. It is not as if there will be earth-shattering changes in Singapore's political scene if this seat goes to the SDP. I reckon this may even spur the incumbent to run a tighter ship (like y'know, stop literally screwing grassroot members for starters...) for better results the next time around.

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  6. Hi LIFT, I suspect this article was fabricated. Just like any other other so-called "open letter" that sites like ASS and TRS love to publish, this one is full of inconsistencies and most likely another piece written up to stir sentiments.

    1. "Farhan" claims to have had 17 years of work experience and is 34. That means he has to have started working at the age of 17. In between he has to have taken a break to pursue his diplomas, bachelor's and master's degrees. Unless he pursued all of his educational qualifications while working part-time?

    2. He claims to have worked in the Army as a regular, yet also claims to have had 8 years in the educational sector and 12 years senior management and admin experience. 12 + 8 + his years in the army (minimum 3 years, even more if you're bonded) =/= 17 years work experience. Or did he somehow fail his PSLE maths too?

    3. It is impossible, with his standard of writing, that he would have ever done well enough in his B.A in ENGLISH to be able to pursue a Masters. No way.

    I feel you've given very good points that may be helpful in getting a real person in "Farhan"'s situation to get their act together. However I personally wouldn't have even given this article an ounce of attention. Clearly the ASS editors trying to stir up shit again.

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    1. Hi Delia, good work on the maths.

      And you're right the numbers just don't add up - I should have picked up on that.

      But here's the point - there's no shortage of unhappy Singaporeans out there, why make up shit like that when there are real Singaporeans who can give you their sob stories?

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    2. Personally, I don't read any rubbish from ASS and I did not read any rubbish from TRS either. Even if you are pro opposition, read sites like TOC which at least try to attempt to adhere to journalistic standards.

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    3. It seems that to ASS, getting Singaporeans to hate the incumbents is more important than giving Singaporeans an alternative platform to air their views. If they really wanted to help Singaporeans, why would they cry wolf like that- not only killing the whole site's credibility but also makes the rest of the Singaporean population more cynical about those real stories of hardship and unemployment out there? Who will want to sympathise or help the next time Singaporeans come across a real "Farhan"? "Oh another jobless guy, must be another TRS contributing whiner."

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    4. Hi Delia, to play Devil's Advocate:

      1. Part-time studies. "FT Hater" could be doing night/weekend classes to get his diploma, degree and even masters. In fact, this is extremely likely, given how his academic credentials appear to be from degree mills.

      2. Possible if "FT Hater" counts his time as an SAF regular as "senior management/administration" experience. This will be technically correct if he is an administrative manager in MINDEF or the HQ of obscure unit.

      Also, the "education sector" years may overlap with the "senior management/administration" if "FT Hater" is posted to MOE HQ after his stint with the SAF. Note that he uses the term "education sector" instead of outright saying that he is a teacher or lecturer. He may well have worked in administration in MOE. This is likely because SAF is known to transfer ex-army regulars to other public sector appointments.

      3. Not impossible, given the way common Singaporeans speak/write. If we are going with the "degree mill" premise, it is plausible for "FT Hater" to get by with his appalling command of the language.

      In summary, "FT Hater" could be an impressionable young NSF who signed on with the SAF during NS, worked in MINDEF HQ in administration, got transferred to MOE, and left because he couldn't hack it in the real world (SAF is an extremely sheltered environment btw). In this case, it is not a clear-cut matter of 12 + 8 + NS years when the variables overlap.

      #elementarydearwatson

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    5. It seems that the Singapore Dream is to be a Principal or VP at an MOE school, 'cos Principals earn a five figure salary. MOE has a list of overseas/offshore universities that are considered "legit" and they are stringent about the qualifications. Plus, part-time and distance learning is usually disregarded. Well, it's too bad, because caveat empor, you can't land that cushy civil service job... Just because the particular institution was allowed to award degrees and such in SG doesn't mean MOE is going to recognize it when it comes to hiring. Education is a shady business!

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    6. " My dream job was to be a Vice Principal (Administration) " - note the "Administration" suffix. If that's what SGporeans aspire to, well...

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    7. And part of my job entails making human administrators redundant via automation. Even if our dear OP gets his "dream job" of a senior administration position, given the push for "Smart Nation" by the G, that position might be made redundant in just a few years time.

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    8. To BFL and Delia, my guess is that the story is not completely made up, but contains a lot of exaggeration on the part of the writer, to make himself seem a lot more credible as a candidate and not a complete loser. People often exaggerate on their CVs and Linkedin profiles. A headhunter/gatekeeper would of course, verify everything.

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    9. "Mr Farhan" is a victim: a victim of the private education industry! Even if he embellish (or not, which is even sadder) his string of certificates, they are a terrible combo. A degree in English? Are you kidding? It's like a bad joke... lagi worse, he is a Singaporean therefore not a native speaker. Doesn't matter that Engrish is SG's official language, you still have to do your TOEFL, ELTs. I used to argue that English was my first language but I realized it's not and proficiency (or lack of) has no bearing on its order. If "Mr Farhan" really really wanted to work in edumacation, he should've gotten a teaching/instructor certificate - English as 2nd Language.

      MBA. That's like the GED/General certificate of graduate school. Well, I might just be generalizing over the MBA-clutching folk I've had to work with ...

      I suspect Mr F, like many SGporeans, have been convinced by the private education agents and brokers to sign up for programs that are pretty much useless. Of course the agents aren't 100% to blame, you can get lists of accredited institutes and programs, learn about the other country's education system (difference between community colleges etc - it's not all bad!) - it takes some effort but it's exasperating to hear a grown man (34!) sound like a 19 year old at course counselling ("Which course can earn more $$ har ?")

      Yeah, this topic gets my goat - probably 'cos I've been on both sides of the story. I feel that for education that goes beyond basic literacy, one needs to have some (just a tiny bit) of that intrinsic knowledge for knowledge's sake. And what about learning a trade? A welding certificate / AutoCAD certification is more useful than those certs this guy has managed to accumulate.

      Well, if LHL himself cannot help you, then die liao lor!

      (Disclaimer: I was a part-time, offshore undergrad so I know what the PSO thinks of those)

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    10. Agree, the article could be real. Perhaps I tend to be a lot more critical of anything that comes out of ASS.

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    11. Hi Ling Ling,

      For undergraduate studies, "English" does not necessarily mean the language per se. Internationally, the term "English" in colleges is more akin to "Literature". In either case, it is not entirely useless considering FT Hater/Mr F's interest in the education sector.

      Also, for most major institutions/companies, we do not require TOEFL/ELTS as long as the school's medium of instruction is in English. Of course, the applicant should demonstrates passable proficiency in the language during his application/interview. "Native speaker" status does not matter unless you are applying for a teaching job outside Singapore (and even then, I have a secondary school friend who is teaching English at high school level in Australia now). "English" is our first language, even if most of us suck at it.

      Your GED analogy is not entirely unfounded. But hey, at least it sets you apart from your Bachelors/Diplomas. The certification should come from reputable schools of course.

      I agree that FT Hater/Mr F is clueless about his situation, and has an appalling command of the language for someone with his supposed credentials. However, he did not ask inane questions like "which course can earn more $$", nor did he use any Singlish (i.e. "har"). So please do not dumb him down and group him with your 19 year olds at course counselling. If anything, I find it ironic that you used more Singlish and colloquialisms (i.e. "lagi worse", "die liao lor") than FT Hater/Mr F in your shorter comment piece than he did in his entire article.

      Also, a welding certificate? AutoCAD? Are you kidding me? Is FT Hater/Mr F an aspiring welder or designer? How are any of those certification even remotely useful for his chosen profession in Education/Administration? You don't know what you are talking about, are you?

      Finally, WTF is "intrinsic knowledge for knowledge's sake"? "Intrinsic" means innate, inherent, something occurring naturally. In this context, I believe you are probably trying to say someone needs to be at least a little gifted to be well educated. Or perhaps you are trying to say that on top of education, one needs to be a little street-smart or have a little EQ. In any case, you should be a lot clearer if you want to get your point across.

      Ling Ling, a bit of friendly advice: People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

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    12. Hi BFL,
      I guess my comments weren't clear enough. And I do like to add in colloquialisms in comments - why not? It's "comments" after all. I brought up the trade skills not in relation to his chosen profession but as alternatives.

      I think Mr F is a 34-year old version of "my" 19 year olds.

      Yup, I didn't proof-read my comment - meant to say "intrinsic value" of learning. Thanks for pointing that out! Appreciating knowledge for knowledge's sake, without getting into WDA slogans, is needed to be in education.

      As for glass houses, at least I use my real name here. Maybe that's why I'm in a glass house.

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    13. Hi Ling Ling,

      I have nothing against people who use colloquialisms, but surely you can see the hypocrisy of slating someone for his language proficiency, putting words into his mouth, making him sound like a complete cretin, and subsequently doing the same yourself. Yes, this is the internet and you are entitled to post your comments, just as I am entitled to call you out on being a hypocrite.

      A welding cert as an "alternative"? You have got to be living in an "alternate" world. How is it feasible for a 34 year old office worker with no prior experience to jump arbitrarily into a hazardous, project-based, blue collared (albeit relatively well-paying) trade? Even your AutoCAD "alternative" is tenuous. If you are going to be throwing out random alternative occupational qualifications, you might as well promote scuba diving certificates, MMA training camps or going to clown schools. Those make as much sense, and sound a lot more fun.

      Never did Mr F once said "what course can earn more $$ har?". Your comparison of Mr F with the 19 year olds is not substantiated. Look, I don't respect Mr F either, but is there a need to make him sound any worse than he actually is? Mr F isn't even around on this thread to defend himself, so ease up on the unwarranted charges yes?

      Lastly, you have got to be kidding me with your parting remark. Good job on missing my point about hypocrisy. Going by your logic, its ok to be a douchebag if I use my real name? And let's get real - "Ling Ling" is about as traceable as "Bear Faced Liar" on the internet. Want to use your "real name"? How about uploading your a scan of your Identity Card and posting a link here? (This is rhetoric btw - I don't actually want you to upload your IC here.)

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    14. I guess my attempt at "irony" in using Singlish was taken as hypocrisy. Oops. No worries about me taking things too literally then. As they say in SG, "Chillah!"

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  7. Ok one final point before LIFT bans me from comments! By my logic it's totally ok to be a douchebag if you use your real name and stand behind the douchebaggery. And we're getting all worked out over what could be a troll post (yes, me the hypocritical troll has been troll. Troll and be trolled). BTW, I didn't "say" his English was bad, just that he and myself are not native speakers, although being a native speaker does not equate proficiency. Singapore's national language is Malay, my native language is Chinese. Both of which I can't use.

    Mr F's post was really asking for it. Maybe it was ASS bait, but I totally fell for it. Doesn't the guy get a hint after sending out *1000 resumes*? Was trying to illustrate a point about being open to alternatives but on hindsight I do sound like WDA in suggesting alternative careers. Laid off as a PMET? Drive taxi lor ... Well, living in SG is like living in an alternate world.

    Nothing I say needs to be substantiated or justified and I'm assassinating a likely-to-be-fictitious ASS writer. As the saying goes "Never wrestle a pig because everyone gets dirty and the pig likes it". (BFL, that was a general statement. Not saying that anyone here is porcine.

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    1. I doubt anyone would ban you from commenting. While we may have a few disagreements. you have been perfectly civil and I don't think anyone is taking offense (unless they are super sensitive or something).

      As mentioned, this is the internet - you say "irony", I say "hypocrisy", you say "poh-tay-toe", I say "poh-tah-toe" - everyone gets to say whatever they want as long as they are open to counter arguments. However, if you really think nothing you say "needs to be substantiated or justified", I believe there isn't a point in continuing anymore.

      Thanks for the discussion and have a great weekend ahead.

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    2. "Let me tell you a wonderful, old joke from Communist times. A guy was sent from East Germany to work in Siberia. He knew his mail would be read by censors, so he told his friends: “Let’s establish a code. If a letter you get from me is written in blue ink, it is true what I say. If it is written in red ink, it is false.” After a month, his friends get the first letter. Everything is in blue. It says, this letter: “Everything is wonderful here. Stores are full of good food. Movie theatres show good films from the west. Apartments are large and luxurious. The only thing you cannot buy is red ink.”

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  8. Hi Limpeh,
    Well I just started working, and guess what? The company make me OT until 10pm everyday even work on weekends, no OT pay cause it's accounting, but never train me despite knowing I'm not from acc degree, and scold me sarcastically like "did the company pay you to make mistakes" when I made mistakes because it's my first week. So I'll be looking for another job, and I tried to tahan but just cannot. Employers expect you to know EVERYTHING, no one wants to devote the time to train you, and if I can't do it then they will just hire Indians or Chinese then. Somemore this job I pick precisely because the contract say until very nice, yeah but not the singapore branch.

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