Letter from a Marine Parade resident...

[Shull]

I'm sure she is not the only Singaporean to face this problem..

 

Subject: letter from marine parade resident

To:

Date: Thursday, 28 April, 2011, 11:35 AM

MParader

There are 420,000 blue collar workers. Change the collar colour to white n put them in education, health, IT, financial sectors? More IRs perhaps? Easier said than done. Good topic for debate on economic restructuring. But Think before you leap. --- gct

 

One of the comments:

 

Yi Zhu Liew

 

Hi Mr Goh, I read your comment in ST actually but decided to come and post here to give you a perspective.

 

This is really from my heart because my family wouldn't want any of this out here in this way.

 

All my family members had voted for PAP throughout every single election. My grandmother was highly active in the women's wing from its formation till her death and had nothing but good words to say abt its leaders and their dedication. We grew up hearing those stories.

 

I can say my hsehold are white collared folks - well, originally at least.

 

My mum got retrenched in 2009 after working almost 30 years for the same bank. Right after retrenchment aged in her late 50s, she cannot find any other job. It's almost heartbreaking seeing her waking up every morning at 8am and faithfully sending out PDFs (yes, she is PC-literate and had to learn so much of the gizmos on her own) after PDFs to any employer that she can find on the newspapers, online etc. She had even signed up for e2i, NTUC, NE district..whatever.

 

NTUC in particular, held a job matching programme and told her to turn up at 10am but saw her only at 5pm..for almost the whole day, she sat there not daring to leave just in case she loses her place in the queue, not eating lunch. Unfortunately, it resulted in nothing.

 

All that she has yet to do is probably go and see the MP. So for 2 years now, that's her routine.

 

Initially, she came across adverts put up by hospitals for patient admin clerks..she applied for that but heard nothing from them. When she went to the same hospital for her medical appt, she saw Filipinos manning the very same counter for which the job advert was placed and upon enquiring, found out they were recruited +/- the same time as she had applied.

 

What are we to think? The only job she could find was a data entry clerk - and this, we are talking of an ex-VP of a bank. So she swallowed her humble pie and took it. To her horror, the supervisor of the data entry pool is a Filipino! What's happening here?!?! You mean to say, there are no Singaporeans who are able to work as a Supervisor? I think therein, my mother felt betrayed and if she doesn't, I would feel so on her behalf. Regardless, she ploughed on. This as a contract staff with no benefits whatsoever such as medical leave (something that's so basic). When she has the flu, a cough, whatever, she worries for her daily-rated job.

 

I've told her to give up, don't do cos it's so miserly- $4/hr, but she says, she doesn't know what else to do and if she doesn't work, she would really be very bored. For your added benefit, this job was found not thru' any of the aid agencies but on her own. Even so, it's nothing secure. The projects come and go for a few weeks. A sprinkling here and a little there. By the time she takes the bus and MRT to her workplace, I really don't know why she bothers.

 

Are we the only ones suffering like that? No...my mother also had her peers who were similarly retrenched by the same bank. They too, have found jobs such as night-time taxi driver, food court supervisor (sounds nice but it is actually i/c of clearing tables and spit).

 

Why are things like that happening? I am sorry for this long rant here but I hope that you do not sugar coat what is happening, the painful examples that abound. So maybe my mother is now the 420,001th blue-collared worker but she at least, would hope that maybe what Mr Tan says has merit so she can continue to work in the capacity that she has trained for.

 

BTW, this is not abt money - she had left the bank with compensation, but it's abt your sense of worth as a human being...sometimes u wonder if all u are capable for is clearing a plate on the table or punching in mindless numbers.

 

Therein lies the daily torture. I am finding my feet in the working world but now, I worry alot abt my own future. After a degree and all this, don't tell me one fine day I have to eat the same humble pie and settle for something beyond mediocre? Also, we have nothing agst foreigners per se, so don't get me wrong. We just think that somewhere along the way, a particular govt policy is to be blamed for our predicament. Don't you think so? Why don't you just seriously read what Mr Tan had taken pains to write, contrast it with what your cabinet has set out..find a middle path maybe? Rather than dismiss it immediately like that as something without merit. Please reconsider. Thank you and so sorry once again for the length of this post.

 

 

"The people who are laughing all the way to the bank are foreigners (PRs) who work and earn their wages in SGD but get to retire and cash out their HDB flats when it's time for them to go back to their home countries, without any liabilities at all."

 

https://www.facebook.com/notes/vanessa-teo/...150165135386148

Edited May 6, 2011 by Shull

[Bystander50]

I worked before as a temporary data entry clerk while waiting for my `O' level results in the early 90s.

I don't think it is that difficult to recruit locals to do the job, back then or now.

Many `O' or `A' levels holders are more than willing to take up this job.

At that time, housewives also took up the job by using their home PC to do the data entry and submitting on floppy disks. Still remember merging their data into the main database every 2 weeks.

 

Comparing the author's mother's pay, it is damm pathetic. I was paid $4.50 per hour back then, and after 2 decades, the hourly pay went down instead.

This is one good example how these foreigners are depressing our pay.

 

 

[LoverofCar]

We are worse than 2nd class citizen!

[Gearoil]

Serves those who voted for the Pappies right...

 

They took away their jobs...gave away their kids scholarship and to rub salt into their many wounds..

 

Told these used to be loyal Pappies voters to keep on re-training ( a false hope to sustain them) and..

 

TO EXPECT TO WORK LONGER.... WELL PASS THEIR 60s and NOT BEING ABLE TO EVEN SEE ALL THEIR CPF HARD EARNED MONEY EVER COMING BACK TO THEM!

[Donut]

There is a true story where they reject a local gal with a nursing degree from australia, and they prefer to recruit nurses from china and philipino.

 

How good can those, compared to an aust nursing degree? No matter where this australia school come fro

, it is still better than chinese and filipino

 

There is something seriously wrong with our system

[Itsec]

an ex-VP cant find a decent job.. wa lau... what's gonna happen to me when i reach her age!!!

 

I cannot get a job, and i cant get my $$$ out... see cannot touch!!!

[Kiadaw]

Everywhere is foreigners taking relatively less laborious jobs like cashiers. Some even have problem speaking English. Yet, I see our Singapore ah Mahs have to clean table, AH gongs sweep floor.

[Assaxefour]

Like i said before, people who still want to vote for PAP are people who hasn't got burn like her mother. To those who choose to vote for PAP your time will come..

[Tigerwoods]

But they got Upgrade your Lift to stop every floor... everything you all also want - buay Pai seh one.

Since got retrenchment payout bored at home and backside itchy wanna work ah ? We told you that you need to work till 65 yrs old but we did not say anything about Iron-rice bowl... those lucky can work till 65, 70 yrs old they heng lor but you kena retrench and not lucky to get job from career fair means too bad lor... we never guarantee everyone can get VP job again we only ask you to continue to work ... I say work means any job also work... washing toilet clean table, massuese also work, prostitute also work...

 

You see what I mean ??

[Babyt]

i hope they keep the taxi drivers to locals only. i often hear stories of how educated ppl are becming taxi drivers cos they cant find job!

 

last time we tot taxi drivers are low educated uncles but now they are not!

[Windwaver]

Everywhere is foreigners taking relatively less laborious jobs like cashiers. Some even have problem speaking English. Yet, I see our Singapore ah Mahs have to clean table, AH gongs sweep floor.

 

My office aunty got ACCA , serious, not kidding. She got it in 1975 but is cleaning aunty now cos nobody wants to hire her for anything else.

[Vooth]

That is really sad! ACCA is not easy....

[Vid]

This is a sad country. That letter was very written with anguish, anger, despair and hopes for a change, for a better future. It reflects the cruel society in elite-only Singapore where there is no heart but money.

 

Ministers are all about money. They say need to pay high salaries so they will not be corrupted. I say their hearts are all corrupted and they are blinded by their high salaries to see what is really happening on the ground. They think they are playing god. They think they can control their "masters".

 

Vote wisely my fellow countrymen because if we don't help our country, nobody will, especially not the elites.

[Stingerquek]

Like i said before, people who still want to vote for PAP are people who hasn't got burn like her mother. To those who choose to vote for PAP your time will come..

This is not the worst!after you're cornered to such suitation,you run out of idea and decide to go to their"Meet-the-people"session to get help and they will question you: Why you didn't go upgrade yourself?Why can't you work more than 8hrs/day as many (FW) are working more than 10hrs/day!Why are you asking for $5/hr for the job you are applying?it's too much because someone else (FW) can do it with $2.50/hr. And the best part is::Don't get it wrong,it's not because of your age people don't employ you,it's because you are not competitive enough!!!

[Kopites]

My office aunty got ACCA , serious, not kidding. She got it in 1975 but is cleaning aunty now cos nobody wants to hire her for anything else.

 

 

level 1, 2 or 3 ?

[Kopites]

This is not the worst!after you're cornered to such suitation,you run out of idea and decide to go to their"Meet-the-people"session to get help and they will question you: Why you didn't go upgrade yourself?Why can't you work more than 8hrs/day as many (FW) are working more than 10hrs/day!Why are you asking for $5/hr for the job you are applying?it's too much because someone else (FW) can do it with $2.50/hr. And the best part is::Don't get it wrong,it's not because of your age people don't employ you,it's because you are not competitive enough!!!

 

Correct me if i am wrong.

 

I heard during meet the people session all letters are written by ka kia and the MP just need to sign on it. So totally depend on how ka kia phrase the letter for one predicament.

 

Some time u don't get to see the MP espeically in those GRC. The particular MP assigned to a particular cluster will need to alternate he/her presence in between estates. So when the MP not around that particular week Ka kia would take charge; write letter and sent it to MP for singature.

 

Like this si bei eng lah.

 

No wonder TPL want to take up this job. :angry:

 

[Ender]

Ex- VP cannot find job, means her networking skill not too good..

[Topgun]

Seriously, how many people have actually gone to the meet-the-people sessions and seen a Minister face to face with their problems?

 

How many times a Minister will make himself available to attend a meet-the-people session in a month, in a year? How often he does a walkabout in his constituency?

 

I'm talking about the occasions and time, when a minister, as an elected MP, really are working to help his people?

 

Please discount all the festivals, RC dinners, school founders day, and celebrations when they go around waving, shaking hands and carrying babies hor