Thanks for your views on Russia. Ya what you are doing is highly risky both in scope and magnitude.

Maybe we all have a morbid image of Russa – cold war, standoff and secret services sure doesn’t help to sooth the frightening thoughts.

I also have thoughts of doing something on my own having work my socks off for the past 20 over years and not getting any richer or wise.

The poor employment climate in Singapore also doesn’t comfort those who are in his 40s and unprofessional (not a doctor, laywer or architect).

When you are older, employers tend to pay you lesser as you are deemed over the hill and undrivened.

Whatever you do in Russia is certainly interesting though my poor business sense could not comprehend what you are trying to do that.

Anyway, do take care and my best wishes to you in the Red Square.

Anyone who is 40 years or older is seen as an equivalent of a leper in the working world. Suddenly the company seems to think you’re irrelevant, out-of-touch, too set in your own ways, inflexible or just plain obsolete.

I’ve seen it happen right in front of my eyes during the dark days of 2002/03 when senior and respected colleagues with years of industry experience were given the big envelope. These folks literally were the founding fathers of the business and instead of tapping their knowledge to keep the company steady, they were the first to be let go. It happened then, it’s happening now. Bloody hell! I want to tell those SOBs with the MBAs out there : you may be young now, but one day you will grow old, and when that day comes for you to take the big envelope, someone will be waiting outside the door to spit on your frigging face! What goes around, comes around.

That’s to say the buyer may not have hard currency, but what they do have is lets say 2 or 3 warehouses of iron billets or even a couple of warehouses of phosphates (fertilizer) – this sort of trading is especially common in the caucasus starting from Montenegro right up to Romania – where much of the central and public services have really being left to decay – now it takes a bit of luck and opportunity to set up these deals and considerably more time as here the buyer may very well be something very similar to a TC’s or maybe a consortium that is partially state funded and how it works is lets say; they may need X number of capacitors for their power grid or maybe Y quantity of co-axial cables or Z lengths of railways stock – problem: no hard currency or maybe the Russian mafia shot up the bank and everyone has decided to go on permanent sick leave or something (sounds like a good idea), but they still need the stuff to keep the state running.

Now the problem there is you cant just put a warehouse of iron billets or sacks of fertilizer into a samsonite and just step on board a plane and go; so those sort of deals require a bit of logistics and material handling knowledge etc.

Pays also if you got a bit of commando training. That always comes in handy in those parts.

But you get my drift, my hope here Gilbert is really to start the ball rolling by throwing out a few ideas that some people may want to toy with – remember everything starts small and small is always beautiful.

SD

It would be my pleasure. Only I really dont know where to begin. You see Russia is not like China – for one it defies generalization. I guess if one really wants to glean out business opportunities there; then a bit of leg work would certainly come in handy and networking is really a must; for example; I happen to know a Malaysian and Singaporean based in the Ukraine who actually deal in second hand tractor parts; they seem to buy it by the kilogramme and resell it to the gulf states and India for a hefty profit; then there is another chappy I happen to know who deals with LPG kits that I believe he gets them from Australia or Germany and he is reselling them to Georgia and the Balkan states.

So if you really patch it all up Gilbert its really horses for courses; but I dont really recommend anything capital intensive in Russia; its just too risky and we are not only talking financial risk here but also legal blind spots that you need to be so open minded abt your brains are literally failing out; the law in Russia is in a mess; that always needs to be borned in mind – so the risk veers to the moderate to high.

But anything where the buyer is able to come up with a LC (Letter of credit) that can be factored locally or in any part of the western hemisphere, I guess is a good model.

I hope that points the way; thanks for asking Gilbert and I wish you luck.

SD (Internet Liaison officer of the brotherhood)

What can you do in Russia?

Business? But what kind?

If you tell that your story to the many foreigners here. They will just laugh at it. Yet we need foreigners here as educated to us by the higher-than-thou talent.

Veerasamy, those people you are arguing with are mechanical devices being programmed with outdated paradigm which unfortunately is still running unless and until one fine day they are being fed with new programme instructions. To put in it bluntly, they are being rewarded and compensated for sticking to rules and regulations.

You know this may sound crazy, but if its any help, it may fly – in russia, it doesnt matter whether you are declared a bankrupt – you see the laws there are pretty elastic – so you may want to consider that is your next port of call.

Dont shoot me, I am just trying to be helpful

PS: lecturer are you there? Yooooooooooooh! LOL

SD

Ya it is true that sometimes our govt is abit sticky and rigid with rules. Our employment act is also needs alot of revamping due to it’s pro-employer policy.

It is no wonder that every year tens of thousands of Singaporeans are leaving our country as if our country is a very lousy place to live in. So many of my friends have asked me how can they get a work permit or PR in Australia. Mind you, these are people who are already working in decent jobs and certainly have a place in society. So it is quite shocking for me.

I am unsure whether the grass is always greener elsewhere. There are the intense adjustment period (can be betwwen 12 to 30 months) and you miss home and friends. SO i go back regularly to visit my mum and friends. The regular haunts do make me yearn for them when I am abroad.

I wish you all the best and take good care of your family.

Russia is a very nice place. I’ve been there at least 3 times and its good everytime, even when its -30 in winter, its good.

SD

Ya I can understand your sentiments. I too live abroad now and though my heart is with my country I really doubt that I really like the pace and culture there.

We need to work very hard (not that I am lazy) but I feel that there is no balance in SIngapore. We all overworked and became very materialistic due to a very goal-oriented society. We are also selfish and self-centred.

Our marraiges break up easily due to the long hours we spent at work and the stress we carried to our homes.

You are right also to say that we have a certain bias against age when we employ. Frankly, something is very wrong with our employment practices and this can’t go on forever. We have wages that do not commensurate with out experience and skills.

It is high time that we have some form of minimum wage system like Australia or US. Our govt is geared towards protecting employers so that their operating cost is lowered. The hiring of FTs also does not help the siutation as wages are constantly being depressed by foreigners who are willing to work at lower wages.

All the best to you in wherever you are. Though you are abroad, do not stop loving your country.

I retrained using my own money but this was of no use.

Often you are told that you are too old for the job.

MOM officilas are equally useless in helping you with anything.

So in 2004, I left Singapore leaving behind my wife and two small children

I took the biggest gamble of my life by going far away and trying for a job.

After five months I got one based entirely on what I knew not who I knew or how old I was.

After settling down here, my wife and children have since joined me.

I could not have asked for a more peaceful life.

Spending time with your family is more important here not going home at 10 pm or coming to work on the weekends.

MIcromanagement of your sub-ordinates is not welcome but owning up to your mistakes and proactive attitiudes are welcome

I often think about my home country and when I could go back.

But another economic recession has taken place.

More wealth belonging to the people have been lost by so called brilliant scholars.

Which means only one thing, I could think about Singapore but never think about going back.

I can understand some sentiments here, like N Veerasamy, logicalman, patriot et al. What I dont understand is why someone like singaporedaddy, who seems to be quiet an intelligent and resource chap even wants to go to a place like russia.

That I cannot understand. nevertheless to each his own :)

While working part time as a population census taker, I had the privilege of meeting a former principal of ACS. He shared with me a simple truth that remained firmly etched in my mind. He said, “Health is wealth. Don’t spend your health chasing wealth, because by the time you have wealth, you have lost your health.”

A book that changed my focus several years back was “Half-time” by Bob Buford. It deals with the 2nd half of one’s life. I could go with the flow, continue in my challenging and satisfying job with a top corporation, bring home the dough, enjoy some weekend sports, raise my kids and mind my own business, but that sounded all too hollow to me. It might be the practical thing to do, but will I recall this with fond memories on my death bed, or would something more meaningful be in order? Would I have made any difference as a regular indistinguishable corporate guy?

I chose the meaningful option. Though I spend 3 hours commuting by bus and trains daily for the last few years and I found much more time to reflect, plan and refresh myself for each day. I find myself more patient and learning to see things from different perspectives, instead of making curt statements like “we don’t grandstand”.

Like what Gilbert says, reflect at every opportunity. We’ll see clearly to make the right decisions instead of just moving along like everyone else or making simplistic decisions based on one dimension (think IR).

Welcome to the club of helping many who are jobless here.

I guess we all need to help each other as much as we can as Singapore enters into it’s worse recession in decades.

You must have connect with Andrew already and he will see to it how you can help here.

Like you, I did alot of soul searching during my long periof of unemployment and chose social service as I was helping out in my church all along as a volunteer.

I am glad that you have taken this path on the helping profession and it is an honourable one. There is immense work satisfaction.

Many here who are jobless can take this opportunity to reflect on what we really want for the latter part of our life. Some may want to take this chance to do something that we really want but never could due to our crappy job that pays the bills. People like Singaporedaddy who all along wants to do some business in Russia can now go and realise his dream after being retrenched. So there is something positive out of retrenchment as we can reflect and take action on our dream which we all along could only fantasize.

Dick Bolles in his book “What colour is your parachute” – a must-read solid job search manual book, asked many who are jobless to go and search for our life calling. Many of us have certain gifts and talents and inclination for certain vocation. Like Logicalman here, he has somehow found his goal in life by embarking on what interests him all along. Sometimes, we go for a job that pays well when we can actually do something that we like and desire. Work becomes less of a chore but more of fulfilling one’s mission in life.

As many of us here may be retrenched or facing the axe soon, it is timely to reflect and ask orselves what do we really want out of our life? Do we then have the skills and talents to carry out the job? If not, we can embark on some training courses so that we are equipped for the vocation we desire. There is thus some form of fulfilling one’s life mission.

Thanks again Logicalman for your encouraging piece. It sure make my day here.

Hi I know your sentiments about upgrading as it is as if after you get the cert what next?

The govt has being encouraging all kinds of upgrading courses but like you, I am sceptical about one getting employment after that.

I guess the important thing is whether one knows where the vacancies are in the job market before embarking on any upgrading courses. Of course, sometimes this is easier say than done.

The social service sector always has quite alot of vacancies due to it’s relatively low pay and hectic work pace due to it’s stressful job nature. If you don’t mind, let me know if you are keen so I can assist you further here. The job however does need one to be passionate about it as it involves alot of heart rather than the mind. But the job satisfaction is immense and that is what money can’t buy.

Some VWOs (voluntary welfare organisation) do not mind employing someone but lacking the certification. I was a social work asst working in a FSC (family service centre)and I studied PT and worked while I get my diploma in counselling. Do email me at goh_gilbert@yahoo.com if you need further info on this. I see how I can link you up with some welfare centres for possible employment. This of course depends alot with the person interviewing you.

The teaching profession also needs alot of PT teachers for the private school market. I did quite alot of teaching on English to foreign students in private schools the past year. I even taught in China for a stint. You do not need a degree to teach but one does need to be slightly better in the language and some teaching experience is helpful e.g. tuition, PT teaching, etc. Do email me if you need me to help here.

I guess in this down time it is never easy to look for the right job. Several kind of work that can be readily available but temp in nature includes:

1. Telemarketing – this is one vocation that is always in need. They can either be perm or PT work. I also did a few PT work in this area and pay can either be hourly rated or monthly.

2. Home removal – this is almost recession-proof work as people want to move house anytime of the year. Pay is so so around $50 a day and the job availability can be found in paper advertisement throughout the year. It is tough work but important thing is you get paid daily.

3. Tuition – this is almost available round the year as study-hard Singaporeans sought for extra coaching especially during holidays. Again one does not really need a degree to teach in primary schools. You can email the many tution centres round the island to signal your availability. If you can find your own students if ideal. The pay is by subject and frequency.

I hope that helps you. Do let me know if you need further assistance by emailing me. All the best! Keep the chin up!