Slog
You know, Asia is a terrible place to work in.
The Asians are well-known for doing a lot of dirty work for very little money. It’s only in Asia that you get people working almost every day of the week, forfeiting time with family, sleep and any recreational activities for the sake earning a miserable pay just to put food on the table. Okay, maybe in other continents, they do that too, but somehow, Asia is a well-known place for exploiting human beings.
And it’s not just in third world countries; even in developed countries, such things happen.
So I was at work today, and as it’s still CNY, many people are on still on leave, enjoying the full mood of this festive season. (And to show my team spirit, I decided not to take any leave so that those with children can have a longer period to rest). Big-Ass customer (BAC) called up to arrange for some deliveries tomorrow but I told them we’re unable to deliver as per usual, early in the morning, because our logistic provider (LP) is facing a shortage of drivers. Apparently, some of the drivers are still on leave and LP has to manage with a smaller pool of drivers.
BAC was not ready to back down and insisted they must have all their deliveries within the same hour. Of course, I communicated the same to our LP. LP said if that’s the case, he would have to recall the driver back, thus eliminating his leave. The leave that his company had promised him.
It made me so sad to hear this.
I was brought back memories of those times when I was working with an LP myself, and my ops manager would tell me how little the drivers earn. Each container that they send to port would earn them only 4 bucks per trip. That’s soooo fucking miserable. When they ferry a different type of container, they get a bit more, but that’s still so little. Their company, on the other hand, is charging customer between 80 to 120 bucks per trip.
Most of them would get to rest only during CNY, and some of them don’t even do that, because vessels call our dear port every freaking day, and people are needed to send the containers to port.
But I know that in giant-sized companies, they don’t care about such things.
“You’ve signed a contract with us; so you have to deliver. We don’t fucking care if your people are not resting enough or don’t have enough time for their families. We want to earn our millions or billions of dollars, so we do not give a damn about your workers’ welfare.”
It is times like this, that make me feel that sometimes, being in a small company is better. Generally, in small organizations, the bosses tend to be closer to their employees and are more concerned about their well-being. Of course, not all bosses are like that. But I have been really fortunate to have been in small companies where the bosses are concerned enough when you don’t look well and seem troubled.
But, this is still Asia. My sources and my experience tell me that in US, Europe or in Australia, anytime you mention you have family trouble, you will be released from work. Cos nothing else comes first. And nothing else should.
So I guess unless I decide to move overseas, I have to be working my ass off every day. This really sucks.
posted by Adrenaline at 12:35 AM
10 Comments:
sorry to hear =( it is definitely true about the diff work culture but if you work for an American/European co based in Sg then they should also respect your family time. Altho I guess that's not so possible in your line of business.
When I was in China recently, the grad students I talked to said that now they prefer working for European multinationals over American ones bcos they get more leave etc.
Aiyah, the grass is always greener on the otehr side lah. My ang mo prof in uni told me he migrate from UK to here because he buay tahan the taxes and other shit!
THe most important thing is that when you become a BAC next time, must remember dun be a backside hole :)
Actually if I am not mistaken, the drivers don't actually earn that little per trip they go. In fact I heard they earn a lot leh, it seems. But of cos yours is the first hand info, should be more accurate.
I agree. Family and friends should always come first.
Only reason why i work so damn late is because i'm single and therefore, have no life. That means i have plenty of time to which i can throw myself into work. Of course, one of the 'benefits' of indulging in work is that you forget about everything else, including painful memories. >.<
i guess it is true. thats why 1. if you got into trouble during holidays in Ang-moh Land, you can only use your own hands to dig yourself out, since there are NOONE working at all on public holiday down under. 2. work/commitment is up to individual - work is 9am-5pm for Ang Moh. 3. i am typing this from my office.
dont worry, i am studying to be a broker, therefore i wont have any hair left in 10 years time. and it will be a great saving on shampoo.
ps. drivers here do earn a fair bit.
ps.ps. Western Australian truck-drivers for mining co. earned 60-80K AUD for driving a big ass truck and putting up with 40 degrees heat temperature.
It is not very true that working in small companies (sm) is better.
As small companies are not as rich as MNCs, staff in sm often have to take on multiple portfolios. I have worked in 3 small companies before. I was admin cum accounts cum PA cum coffee lady in 1 co and a/c cum mail lady in another. Now I am a/c cum admin cum coffee lady when my colleague is not in.
Also, as manpower is limited, there are only about 2-3 staff in a dept. Thus when my dept colleague is on MC, even if I am very sick, I also cannot report sick.
Maybe I am suay, but none of the 3 bosses are nice. They are miserly, calculative and quite heartless too. 1 is German, 1 is Italian and another is from Hong Kong (the utmost chao-pui-nua-worst of the lot).
Hmmm. Working in an SME can be quite shitty sometimes too. As mentioned by anonymous, you do have to multi task, meaning that you actually end up with more work. There's only two in a department and if the other is on leave, you can't go. Period.
As for the big evil corporations, I think their reputations are undeserved. The driver could go, you know what? Fuck it. I'm on leave and you can go suck my dick. It sounds harsh, I know. But the Big Bad Corporation is think I'm paying you to suck my dick, so do it! And it doesn't matter how much the company earns on the labour of others, because when you think about it, the people are there earning the money of that company, and they would be worse off without it.
I know it sounds mean, but I'm trying to present another side. For good or bad, capitalism (like all other matters) brings along a double edged sword.
Eventually, each of us has a choice, to prioritise quality of life or quantity of assets. One chooses and lives with the consequences. Life is hard that way.
"Oh, if I had so and so much money with this and that, I'd do this and that for/with so and so." The fact remains that most of us don't. In fact, bill Gates probably worked very hard, schemed, plotted, had sleepless nights to account for his wealth.
On the other hand. "Oh I'll go work as a security guard with fixed timings, plenty of spare time. We could go fishing and bring the kids to the park. We'd have to take the bus or even walk. And forget about that PSP, we can't afford it."
And then there are those who work so damn hard everyday. Honestly, giving their all, and putting the best foot forward each and everyday. No recognition, no equivalent pay; they don't starve and that's about it. They deserve more, but it's not coming.
I understand your post. Life is really unfair. Enough to make some want to hate it. What's the alternative? Death?
Death is superbly fair. It gets around to everyone eventually. Does one then embrace death?
So the fairest and best leveller of people is not the pregnant mother who brings a random life into the world, nor the judge who could never truly give fairness to all; but the serial killer who kills indiscriminately. The killer is not perfectly fair but he would come closest, yes? Twisted logic, but that is what could result in the pursuit or relentless fairness.
Good intentions could always result in bad consequences. And the fault would still lie with the good man who started things. Does that mean we stop trying to do good?
Life is often contradictory with many ends at odds with each other. It can be hard to reconcile all these.
I feel sorry for the poor driver. It really doesn't help that there isn't sympathy from the haves for the have nots. And sometimes people really cannot be blamed for not being the rich one.
I think what we can do is try to to make the drivers life a little better. Smile and say thank you when they do their job. Ask how their day was. Ask them to leave early if they look unwell. The same goes to the cleaner at the coffee shop. The man bringing you the coffee. That salesgirl at the one dollar shop.
It's the little courtesies that lubricate life. And maybe we could all add to our own quality of life.
gracie: actually, i think whether u get the family time or not doesn't lie so much with which continent the org originate from. Rather, it's the personality and upbringing of the direct supervisor.
sian: hmm .... so why are you a backside hole when u're not a BAC??
Binny: erm, it's not 4 bucks a day leh. it's 4 bucks a trip. they can go on ten trips a day, so that means 40 bucks a day.
ensui: eh .... wah lau, i dunno how to reply to your comment leh. Should i encourage you to work harder to forget painful memories or you should get a life by doing more leisure activities which in the process might bring out painful memories?? i really don't know.
imnothere: yes, you're right. But if u live in such a land, u'll have little chance of running into shit (work wise) cos u'll be off too. heheh ....
Yes, i would believe the australian truck drivers earn that much a year, but they also pay like 30% tax a year, not to mention that other than orange juice, cheese and milk are cheaper than stuff in singapore, nothing else is. They won't be buying houses or cars i think.
anony: Yes, you would have to multitask. But don't we all do that, even in MNCs as well?? i'm not saying it's better to work for SMEs, it's just that the SMEs that I used to work for, somehow allows more bargaining and negotiation. Of course, there are also many SME bosses who only want to suck their employees dry lah.
ogre: kaoz, u too long never blog, issit?? leave such a long comment. i'm reading this during work, u know?
i think we've had discussion on this before.... on the choice of life, the unfairness, and so on. But you know, the guy who chooses to be a security guard probably won't take the kids fishing becos it's costly to fish in singapore, u know??
but your illustration of fairness with a psycho killer is pretty apt. That was a good one.
Adrenaline: My backside hole very clean one. Most of the time :)
Green Ogre: Your comment is sibeh blog entry like. Post it! Have you been watching too much Hannibal Rising? Heh.
Adrenaline- Heh, all I was trying to say is that the best that we can do is be nice to the poor truck drivers and stuff. And that the value of a good life could just be working hard and enjoying working hard. Kind of like going for a marathon. It doesn't matter whether you won and get paid millions, or whether you just get one lousy ikan bilis thank you. You've run the race.
And sorry if it's long, your entry sparked those thoughts and it just flowed. :P
Sibeh Sian- Haha, I sometimes talk like the way i blog. It could be very disturbing. And I really had that dream where random people started insulting me because I trashed your blog. :P
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