Unfortunately I have kind of abandoned this blog for the past few months as I had been busy settling down with my new job.

I make it no secret that I love my new job – I love what I have been doing, what I will be doing next year, the challenges and opportunities given to me, and my colleagues who are mostly very nice people. I look forward to going to work each day and learning new things… so much so that now that my office is closed from Xmas till Jan 3, I feel kinda lost just sitting around at home – but I haven’t been wasting time as I bought some books to read over this period.

I read somewhere that the most important step towards success is to love your job. When you love your job, you tend to be more motivated to work, and thus move towards success. Also, when you love y0ur job and enjoy your work, your co-workers can sense your happiness and passion and it does help to make the workplace more comfortable when people react positively to your enthusiasm. I think this is quite true.

However, the industry I am in and my current job pays, sadly, a rather mediocre salary. Hence I am giving myself 1 year to move up the ladder – may sound ambitious, but I think I can do it through delivering results. I gave up job opportunities paying easily 50% more than what I am drawing now to do something I like, but I am not going to be contented with this forever – I want a better future and I am motivated towards career advancement.

I hope I did not make the wrong career choice in the first place.

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Getting used to working with my new colleagues who are mostly very nice people, getting used to having back-to-back meetings all day long.

The only things I have yet to get used to are the constraints of working in a corporate environment – for example, not being able to make decisions independently as I am used to doing while running my own businesses and being my own boss. I hate it that I have to ask permission to do everything. I hate it when I am not being trusted to meet vendors by myself, or when people insist that I copy them in every single email I send out to vendors. I hate the painful process of getting 7 signatures on a simple purchase requisition, and the feeling of being snubbed by some colleagues who think they are smarter than me in every way.

Besides these, I really love my job, I really do.

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But some recent developments really infuriated me and hence I am writing about this now…

First of all I think it is essential to post this disclaimer: I am not being racist or encouraging racism. I understand there are good PRC nationals and bad ones, just as there are good Singaporean people and bad ones too. However, my personal observations as well as this recent development I will comment on in this post shows the typical mentality of some PRC people in Singapore – that we Singaporeans are stupid and jealous of PRC people who are able to do better than us in studies and in careers.

There is an ongoing fiasco involving a PRC student named Jeff who is enrolled in NAFA. Apparently he was caught red-handed when he tried to sell a dog he adopted for $350 for $2,000 – a hefty profit – and in his online advertisements he claimed that he paid $4,000 for it. This matter infuriated dog lovers and netizens who quickly exposed his many lies and identity on a Hardwarezone forum thread. Jeff replied to the thread as well, claiming his innocence and scolding netizens for being “racists”. In his first reply in the thread, Jeff said:

nx time if anyone wants to call my mom, plz make sure ur chinses is gd enough to understand her ok? n i think, only unhealthy minded man will say somethin like “sell half eat half” thing. nv heard of a better version. n wat “rain wanna be”? u digged into my profile, found my pics, which r totally just pics n u say im rain wanna be? did i write anything there? if u r stupid, plz don waste the space here. anyway, i didn not invite u to view my profile n to upload my FRIENDS` PICS! if anyone of u hv a prob with chinese PRC, try shout it out in front of the PRCs n see wat happen. u ve just proved urself that u r a dickless man with no brain. just for ur info, PRCs r always the top student in the schs. u name any sch, there will be a top student being a PRC. work hard ppl n u will be the same, no point being racist here. 吃不着葡萄嫌葡萄酸.

So this is the kind of people we have attracted into Singapore. Congratulations to the Government of Singapore, we have successfully attracted talents from China who are dominating Singapore and doing so much better than native Singaporeans in school and at work... and they are now scorning Singaporeans, laughing at us for being jealous of their abilities to do better than us.

What’s more, some recent online discussions were on how PRC students were discussing on Chinese forums about how to cheat Singaporean taxpayers’ money by leaving Singapore after completing their taxpayer money sponsored scholarships in Singapore universities without completing the requisite bonds. In other words, how to be freeloaders and fleece a free education in Singapore using hardworking Singaporeans’ taxpayer monies and then go back to China or greener pastures outside Singapore.

Jeff is definitely not the only PRC student in Singapore with such an attitude towards Singaporeans. The Government obviously has recognized this problem, and they are now embarking on a (taxpayer money sponsored) program to better integrate immigrants into Singapore society. I’m sorry to say this, but I think these efforts have come a little too late. Look in the local online forums – how many discussions are there discussing Singaporeans’ unhappiness with foreigners?

I do not think Singaporeans are like what these PRCs make us out to be – “jealous” of their success. I believe the problem is more about unfairness – Singaporeans are feeling VERY MUCH SHORTCHANGED and VERY UPSET about the unfair treatment they are receiving compared to what the Government is according to foreigners and immigrants. I don’t think I need to rattle of the entire list of issues but here are a couple just to indicate what I mean – invitation letters for foreign students to become PRs (and eventually, citizens if they like) upon completion of their studies while Singaporeans guys have to spend more than 2 years of our lives serving the nation in NS. Eligibility for PRs to buy resale flats in Singapore while Singaporeans struggle to get queue numbers to buy flats priced at record high levels partly due to demand from new immigrants jacking up prices on the resale market.

I do not blame all PRCs for our troubles. I have Chinese friends, and I am of Chinese heritage (and not ashamed of it in any way). Like I said a long time ago in another post, I love Chinese culture and history, and I love traveling in China. I don’t blame people for wanting to improve their lives by moving to Singapore, just like how I want to improve my life by leaving Singapore. I don’t even blame them for making comments such as what Jeff said, even though I must admit that I am very angry and upset about it. A possible reason why they make such comments might be because of the attitude they receive from Singaporeans who see them as intruders and not respecting enough of Singaporeans. Then again, it is not our (Singaporeans’) fault either for feeling upset and angry about foreigners’ intrusion, competition and impact in every aspect of our lives (studies, work, buying flats, etc).

So, whose to blame for all these trouble and the divide we are facing now between Singaporeans vs PRCs and other immigrants? The Singapore Government should reflect on its open-door policy… instead of trying to spend more taxpayers’ money on “integrating” foreigners, we should think about how the many years of having this open-door policy has negatively impacted native Singaporeans and our children and our hopes for the future. How much is a Singaporean PR or Citizenship status worth today if we are to put price tags to them? When one can become a PR after completing a one or two years’ private school diploma… what kind of talents are we trying to attract? When a PR can become a citizen after several years’ working and competing with Singaporeans in the job market on an unfair basis – what is the value of Citizenship in Singapore?

I have already gave up hope on a better Singapore, or a better life for me and my future family in Singapore. My heart is elsewhere, and my mind is already focused on how to achieve a better future, somewhere else besides in “Uniquely Singapore”.

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I had initially wanted to get a high-paying job in an investment bank or in the government sector so that I can save as much as I can in the first few years of my career. Then, the plan is to get married, have children and save enough to take a masters degree overseas – where I will be able to get a new job and relocate away from Singapore.

I really have to re-think my plans now… not that much has changed but with my current salary, it might take longer to reach my goals. And it is not always about myself – I also have to think about my significant other… this morning HDB launched unsold flats for sale and the neighbourhood where my family got an en-bloc replacement flat in is available for selection… albeit at a price much, much higher than what we paid during the en-bloc exercise.

I called to tell her about it and she asked if we should apply for one… sigh. She knows I have plans to relocate and she is not opposing it, but looking at the way things are, I guess it’s a case of whether we should “resign to our fate” and get a HDB flat, or to hold out for a better tomorrow, whenever it may come.

Comments are welcome.

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The pay is not fantastic, but they are offering me more than what they have originally planned for, and I must say that it is definitely competitive with market rates outside the government and banking sectors. So I am happy with it and excited about starting work next month!

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The irony of it is that they know that the pay is low, probably not even enough to feed a family – they are the ones being unrealistic, not me. Welcome to Singapore, where graduates are expected to earn scarcely enough to feed or start a family.

This afternoon I had a very different interview experience at another company. Unfortunately, the pay being offered is very low again. However, there is a very strong focus on work-life balance in this particular organization – little OT required, plenty of benefits geared towards ensuring work-life balance. I pretty much like the idea of working in this organization… and the job seems to fit exactly what I am looking for. The only downside is the salary being offered. But I might just take the low pay for the benefits.

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About 4 months have passed since I started job hunting. My typical day is spent at the PC, scouring job portals and all the websites of all good companies I can think of for job listings. I am maybe identifying suitable jobs at the rate of 1 job a day, sending out maybe 4 or 5 CVs a week. Not a lot, but I think its pointless to send out CVs for jobs that I obviously know nuts about or am totally not qualified for.

More than 50 applications sent, 12 interviews attended, 1 more scheduled for next week, and countless rejects (and non-responses) – I’m getting used to it. Just received a phone call from Citibank to inform me that, after 5 interviews, they decided not to take me. Just my luck for having an interview with a pissed-off VP who just lost all the data on his laptop harddisk prior to my interview.

Post-mortem of my interviews tells me that out of the 8 unique roles I interviewed for, I probably screwed 2 of them. And of course I got screwed on the Citi one.  I think I also went for an interview where the interviewers gave me the feeling that they had already found the people they needed and were just interviewing me for procedural purposes (i.e. maybe they had to interview a certain number of candidates before they can officially select one). The rest were more of cases of lack of good fit between my background and the roles.

Actually I am a little perturbed about why some (many) companies send me rejection letters without even granting me interviews for their graduate roles – the only plausible reason I can think of is that these companies (i.e., consulting firms) usually would fill their full-time vacancies by offering their past interns first and in times of economic trouble like now, maybe all their full-time roles are taken up by ex-interns. Another reason is perhaps they looked at my degree major and then assumed that it has no relevance to the roles.

No problem at all – I’ll just keep looking. I know I have a good CV, well-written cover letters, strong academic credentials and track record of achievements. I fare reasonably well in interview skills (according to my own assessment and my friends’), and I’m not asking for the sky (seldom do they discuss remuneration during interviews anyway). It’s just my luck to graduate at a time like this when the job market is down.

I am keeping a list of all my job applications’ statuses as well as the companies on my ‘hitlist’ of company web sites to keep track of for job postings. I think being systematic is important to ensure I don’t miss out any good jobs and lose track of my applications.

I’ll be off to Bangkok for the long weekend – actually makes no difference to me whether its a long weekend (or weekend) or not since I’m just bumming around. Hope to return with better luck for this job hunt.

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After a traumatizing massage session, I went in search of some comfort food. Sadly, the most comforting food I could find in Siem Reap was KFC – so I had my lunch at KFC ($4.30). After lunch I got a tut tut to the orphanage to pick up my donation certificate. I decided to give the rest of my USD (just $10) to get some fruits for the children, so I and a member of the staff hopped onto his motorbike to go to the local market to shop for fruits. We bought 10kg of apples and some bananas for the children. The apples, at just $7, was unfortunately of not very good quality – better quality ones cost more than $10 a box and will be outside my budget.

Fruit stall at a local market in Siem Reap

We brought the fruits back to the orphanage and I was given a ride back to the hotel, afterwhich I just lazed around at the hotel watching TV before going to the airport. The flight was uneventful, and that ends my 5 days trip to Siem Reap.

1 Sep Updated: All photos for the Siem Reap trip up!

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It was good fun and interesting – different from the usual sightseeing activities or massages. And it is really good value considering US$12 keeps me busy for 3 hours and then gets me a sense of satisfaction, includes lunch and provides enough food to pack home. I took the class with 4 other people, all Westerners. Apparently they don’t really like the food and when they tasted the pumpkin dessert which I made and recommended to them (I thought it tasted good) they made really weird expressions. Uh, we just have very different tastebuds I guess.

Vegetables for sale at Siem Reap old market

Siem Reap old market fresh produce section

Fresh poultry, anyone?

Making spring roll with shrimp

Spring rolls with shrimp

Fish Amok with rice

Pumpkin dessert

I went to the  central market on my way back to the hotel and bought another 4 T-Shirts – at just $1.50 they make good and cheap souviners.I gave the food I packed to the hotel frontdesk staff and took a rest before going for a 1 hour ATV tour to the rice paddy for sunset viewing.

The ATV or Quad tour is listed as the #1 tourist attraction on TripAdvisor. However, I had a bad experience with its customer service. Although it has 70 good reviews on TA, there were 2 bad reviews and they were about the negative service attitude of the French owner of this business.

The tour began with someone picking me up from the hotel on a motorbike. That was alright. Upon arrival I was surprised that my guide was a Frenchman (not the owner) because usually Westerners are business owners and get their Cambodian workers to deal with tourists. I was given a 10 minute safety and operational briefing on driving the ATV properly.

The briefing consisted of statements like “if you die its none of our business”, “if you damage the ATV you have to pay”, “these things are very expensive and are imported from USA”, “we have no insurance here”, etc. The whole idea they gave was that their ATVs are very expensive and precious and less important is the customer experience and safety.

OK I understand safety is important and being an understanding person I gave the benefit of doubt and attributed the seriousness of the briefing to the importance of ensuring safety for both myself and the ATV. However, when the tour started I had another bad experience.

The guide led the way on a motorbike, while behind me was another motorbike carrying the French owner and his Cambodian worker. After 5 minutes of riding when I suddenly swerved to avoid a pothole on the dirt road, someone shouted at me to stop and I did. The owner came up to me and yelled at me “Right from the start I can see that you cannot drive properly!”, “You cannot drive properly. This guy (the Cambodian staff) will sit behind you to make sure you do it properly”. Then I was corrected on my posture.

I kept my cool and said yeah OK sorry I did not do it properly and now I know how to do it. I said OK I am fine with someone riding behind me since it will ensure safety and that’s alright. The rest of the tour went well with no incident since I managed to correct my posture.

I thought the service is really terrible. This is the first time that I got yelled at as a customer/tourist trying to have fun on a tour. Granted, safety is important but customer experience is also important. The owner of this business makes it seem as though his vehicle is more important than the customer’s safety and satisfaction. One of the reveiwers on TripAdvisor even said that the tour guide made his wife cry when they argued over whether his wife should be allowed to ride an ATV without a staff sitting behind her.

The tour was good for the riding experience, the experience of seeing the countryside and having kids running out just to wave hi, and the beautiful sunset at the rice paddy field. But an otherwise perfect tour was tarnished by the bad customer service attitude.

Sunset at the rice paddy

I rode this ATV

Beautiful Cambodian countryside

Sun setting under the paddy field

I was dropped off at the pub street where I walked around trying to find a decent place (budget and taste wise) to have dinner. Well there was no good choices (since all the reviews on the Internet were mostly by Westerners and the restaurants are mostly operated by and targeted at Westerners anyway so they may not be suitable for Asian palates). I finally settled on a local restaurant with both local and tourist customers. Had a seafood fried rice for $2. It was alright. And a pineapple shake for $0.50. Then walked to the night market to look around. The things they sell there are largely similar to the Old Market and Central Market. With nothing much else to do and not wanting to drink or have a massage I went back to the hotel.

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Sunrise at Angkor Wat

US$3 Breakfast at a food stall in Angkor park

The rest of the morning was spent doing the Small Circuit tour in Angkor Wat (which I had already done 2 years back but this time I am back with a better camera). Since this was my 2nd time seeing the same temples, I took less time than what other tourists would have done and got back to the hotel by 11am. The driver and hotel staff were amazed with my speed, although I thought I am rather slow at climbing.

The sun's reflection on the temple

Nice contrast of colors

Two young kids selling incense sticks to tourists

I rested for a couple of hours in my room before going out for a massage (US$8 including tips for 1 hour) followed by lunch. Khmer style massage is good stuff – similar to Thai style and just as good. I had a Cambodian food platter recommended by Lonely Planet. At USD $7.50 plus $1.50 for a drink, it’s equivalent to 5 meals for me in Singapore. But well I’m a tourist.

Khmer Food Platter at Angkor Palm Restaurant

After lunch I grabbed an ice-cream cone from a nearby cafe (The Blue Pumpkin, $1.50 for a scoop). Next I went to the Old Market to get touristy T-Shirts for US$1.50 each. The midday sun was too much for me to take, so I decided to walk back to the hotel to relax. I took a nap and woke up in the early evening, bumming around a little before taking the 10 minute walk to the town to search for dinner. After looking around for a while I decided to eat cheaply at a street food stall and got myself a plate of fried noodles with pork and vegetables for $1. Pretty decent stuff though nowhere near delicious. Then I sat at a bar for a while, got a beer ($0.50) and some fries to go with it. And then it’s back to the hotel where I chatted with the hotel manager for a while before blogging.

I hope I can sleep well today. I have been having restless nights since I arrived here – I’m just not very good at falling asleep in a room by myself in a foreign land.

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