poodlek wrote:baba_ali wrote:
You do realised the difference between doing something for survival and love right? If all Canadians do what they love , would things have changed? Probably not. If Singaporeans do what they love , who is going to fill in the blanks? Such as cleaning toilets and so on. In Singapore , you fit the system , elsewhere the system fits you.
Can you guarantee that North American will do the project within 10 hours? If not we kill him? If this sounds extreme , then think about Singapore. If Singapore roads aren't spotless clean and everything else is same as Malaysia , all the companies would move there. Then you won't be in Singapore at all.
In my husband's company, they employ many Singaporeans in jobs at which they are completely incompetent, (not to mention unqualified wrt technical skills). The only reason they are there is because they are Singaporean and they have a bachelors or masters degree. So yes, I can guarantee that the right North American (or European, or Indian or Chinese), even one without accreditation could get their jobs done much faster and with fewer mistakes. The only reason a Singaporean can't do it is because the technical training for such a job does not exist here. Everyone wants to be banker or executive, so that's what they train for. It's ridiculous. That's just one company here, but I've been told that this is pretty much how things work here. Hard work is much more valued over smart work. It seems even that the output is not as important as the image and idea that "here are a lot of people working REALLY hard."
At one point someone pointed out to my husband's boss that the marketing for their project was getting terrible results--which means it was completely ineffective. The boss' response was that "our marketing department is working very well. We spent over $2 million dollars so far this year."
How they can not see that their input is not coming close to equalling their output is beyond me. The important thing to them is that it looks like they're doing something.
I think my point is not reaching across here. Heard of the saying goes something like "Nothing will go wrong buying IBM"??
I have a diploma and I know Linux damn well and slashdot too. But no I don't get any job because I am only a diploma. So lets not see my reply as a defend of the HR dept in Singapore , which I hate to the core.
Some of my colleagues are O'lvl drop outs and one has master from India , all doing the same thing and same pay.
If you want to see the reason , you got to understand the culture. China and Chinese have traditionally been "Scholarship" system. Meaning who can memorise the most wins. Most Asian countries still are. It is still the yardstick. And of course money too. But status/face counts alot here.
I used to have American friend who had engineering degree and been to France , and everywhere I don't know , never settled down here. He is excellent IT guy. He is friendly , very knowledgable and better than most Singaporeans in IT. But he never get a job here.
The word he said before he left for US , "Singapore is so hierarchal" stuck me. You guys either love it or leave. It would be like Singaporeans go US to complain about Iraq and Goldman Sach. Oh and according to HSBC , US and UK ranked lower in term of expat experience than Singapore. Does it mean it sucks more to be an expat than here?
http://www.offshore.hsbc.com/1/2/intern ... eport-2010 (click on league table)
Btw , to those who are complaining about Singapore standard , how long have you been here? I been here for 16 years. When I came here population was about 3.5m. Things were much better than. But things been going downhill since the govt open the floodgate around 2004/5. In 2004 , population was about 4.16m , just 5 years later in 2010 , its 5m.
It wasn't very very friendly like Japanese but it was definitely not a rude place when I arrived.
http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes ... /popn.html
