Stories of bad working experiences in Singapore

[MooMooBird]

My wife used to have a manager who always tried to be cheeky...like always asked her out for dinner and that kind of nonsense. Luckily my wife is steady so she always knows how to deflect but hearing about it just makes me angry. Good thing that manager got transferred out.

It's good that your wife knows how to handle such situations. I've heard stories about married women who don't...and it never ends well.

[MooMooBird]

I found another discussion on the work culture in Singapore. This time it's about a government scholar who had a terrible experience working in the public sector. 

Here are some quotes I'd like to share:

Not all scholars are bad eggs and arrogant. But the ones who are, spoil it for everyone else, and makes everyone hate on scholars for no reason sometimes.
I remember my manager was a scholar and said manager had basically disdain for anyone who was not manager’s superior.
Manager’s treatment of foreign workers was especially bad. Manager once yelled “grab me that bangla”, once asked the workers to sweep rocks (yes, I wonder if scholars have been on construction sites) and banned foreign workers from drinking water from the establishment’s building.
Manager would also pick on anyone, threaten anyone with poor performance so long as you step on manager’s tail (sometimes in a completely non-work related way).

Directors are unfire-able Gods

Unless they commit a legit crime, they cannot be removed.
Where I was, we had directors who felt the need to scold people at every meeting, put people down, belittle people (hello all scholars).
Some will comment on women’s looks, some text at ungodly hours like 11:30pm.
An internal survey actually showed that about 10% of the public service agency experiences harassment, but nothing was done. Because, because … all the directors are good buddies! 

Culture of silence

Honestly, scholars, you know when other scholars are unreasonable, or being an ass. But you don’t speak up. You never call out the bosses, or even your own camarades….because you hope one day you will become director, you will need their support.
[...]
You know deep down the scholarship system is unfair, it rewards those already from privilege, those already with connections. But no one wants to speak because why would we poison the own honey we are enjoying?

The comments from other people were interesting to read too:

My Dad works in civil service as well, for many years alrdy even before I was born.I’m almost 30.
Two months ago he nearly died from a fatal heart attack, which I suspect was brought on by his genetic HBP but more importantly: work stress. He’s not even 60 yet.
His work troubles, which he shares with me every now and then, is very similar to what you’ve described. My Dad is definitely the silent worker, he takes the jobs thats been thrown to him because he got no choice, no one else will take up these tasks, and yet still he gets scolded and sometimes yelled at by his bosses

10 years in CS, non-graduate so I don't have to elaborate more on how me and my peers are practically non existent while still crucial in everything as we're the cogs that keep the wheel running. Do well and credit gets stolen, do badly and it's still used to screw your appraisal 5 years later.

What you are describing happen in private sector too. It's not just about public sector vs other sectors - its about mindsets. The mentality present is simply old-school Asian mindsets which are very hierarchical in nature. Lower down must bow, higher up are gods + everyone is covering their behinds AND people are only taught to talk behind other's backs and not upfront.

These quotes are from here, in case anybody wants to read the whole thing.

[ylhs97]

Thanks for sharing these stories. I think it's useful especially for younger people who don't have much work experience yet.