The writer of this article wishes to remain anonymous.
For the coming batch of fresh graduates, there will be no doubt that employment will be the biggest worry on their minds. With the financial crisis, companies will be facing serious cash flow problems due to stricter lending policies by the banks. Not only are the banks (one of the biggest employers in the past) cutting the number of graduate hires, corporations in other industries will also be doing the same. In addition, retrenched workers will inevitably be fighting for a smaller number of jobs with fresh graduates.
There are serious implications to the graduate glut this employment season. For one, we are sure that many graduates will be forced to take on temporary contract assignments. What about the graduates who fail to find any decent employment? Are they expected to work on temporary assignments for say, $6 – 7 dollars an hour? How will this pay enable them to pay for sustainable support for their retiring parents and their marriage plans?
A decision to take on an undergraduate degree programme is an expensive one. The opportunity cost is 3 to 4 years of experience and wages applicable to an A level holder or a diploma holder. Assuming the prospect works for $1500 a month for that 3 to 4 years (including a compounding rate of 4% to take into consideration inflation rate and real growth rate of money), the amount could be up to $73,000. Along with this opportunity cost, we add the tuition fees of approximately $30,000 for a 3 to 4 year course in a local institution and we discover that the real cost of undertaking a graduate programme is about $100,000 SGD. With this amount of investment, how do you expect any graduate to even consider marriage, child birth or taking care of retiring parents? To add to this amount, we know to consider that a tuition loan charges the graduate interest soon after his graduation, therefore the expected amount might increase even more!
As an undergraduate leaving school in the coming month of May, I worry about landing a job and facing the huge tuition loan ahead. At the age of 24, I also wonder how long before I can even start thinking about getting married and having my first child. In this light, I can confidently say that the birthrate will not increase. The quality of life, which is heavily dependent on job security, will be affected. With more stress and uncertainty, our work efficiency will also be affected.
The process of graduate recruitment is at best, at a crawling pace. The graduates and the retrenched are now fighting for a smaller pool of jobs. I wonder if the government will address this pressing issue soon. On a final note, finding employment, to a graduate, is not just about finding financial independence. It is the answer to one’s social and emotional security, the solution to retire their tuition loans and the only tool to start a family and to support their retiring parents.
———–
About the author
The writer is a first class honours student from a local university with double majors in Banking and Finance and Marketing. He remains jobless at the point of writing this essay. Graduate recruitments programmes usually end around November to early January period.
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Suck it up my friend. I graduated in 2002 when employment prospects were just as bleak if not bleaker with SARS and all. I had an overseas degree so it cost a lot more than $30,000, and was aged 26. It’s not all that bad for you.
— “Are they expected to work on temporary assignments for say, $6 – 7 dollars an hour? How will this pay enable them to pay for sustainable support for their retiring parents and their marriage plans?” —
Yes. They won’t be the first and they won’t be the last. I did precisely that in a field totally different from what I studied, but hey, a man’s gotta pay the bills right? More importantly, being employed (albeit temporarily for low pay) keeps your mind from wandering (possibly into depression). I know how it feels, I’ve been there.
Temper your expectations, a lot of graduates come out expecting their dream high-paying job to land on their laps. The reality is, they’ve got no experience except in studying, competing in a world with lots of older hands who’ve actually worked before. So don’t expect too much.
I needed 8 months to land my first real job, in a different subsector to my major, before an offer came in from the industry I was looking for the next month. Chin up, it never rains but it pours.
I sympatise with you and all the new graduates in the face of an ever worsening economy.
However, if one is not fussy, one can try all kinds of jobs, even on short term contract. Make the best of it, even if you think it is going to be temporary, because when the economy recovers ( as sure as the sun must rise ), you will stand a very good chance to be placed on a permanent basis. At worst, it will instill in you the kind of work discipline that only experience can give.
We all, or at least most of us, have gone through bad times, and for people like me, many times. I went to the U at the age of 31, already with a wife and two children. Singapore was also going through a tough time with the Iraq – Iran Gulf War and oil crisis of the late 70′s and early 80′s. It was tough, but my family and I managed.
Sometimes, tough times bring out the best in people.
Don’t give up on having a family. It is the best present you can give yourself, and your loved ones. My best wishes to you.
Recession or not, there are many ways of making money. People are still going to need certain things in a recession, one of them being tuition. Being a tuition coordinator will certainly make you more than $6-$7 an hour, so will giving tuition yourself. People love their children. People will invest in their children’s future.
Take a look at the Google advertisements on the right. Sometimes, there would be some advertising about “stomach fat” or “o level woman makes money online”. These ads cost money, and yet they are still there. This means that they are making their owners money. And these two particular ones are not particularly good: the “stomach fat” one is overcrowded with too many affiliates and the “o level woman makes money online” looks to me to be a pyramid scheme.
But there ARE ways of making money online. This is based on the principle of niche markets. Certain niche markets are just not viable for big firms to target specifically, but they are viable for small entrepreneurs to target and make a decent passive income. Examples include:
1. people who want to make crafts with dried poppies
2. people training their parrots to talk
3. people looking for vegetarian food that tastes like real bacon
4. IT people looking for very specialised IT training
and so on. Solving the problems of these niche markets will allow you to derive passive income from the huge market online because of the long tail (Google it, it’s a new media concept).
Due to the weakened economy, more people will be on the Internet next year than ever. They’ll be using their computers for everything from bargain hunting and product research, to finding ways to upgrade their skills, to searching for ideas for new ways to make money. So your chances of making more profits online next year are very good.
I am not going to teach you how to be a tuition coordinator. I am also not going to post some lame affiliate link here to “teach you how to make money online”. You are smart enough. Figure it out yourself. Nobody owes us a living. Time you woke up your idea and realised that. You can also go into teaching or the civil service if you’re not businessman material.
I dropped out of NUS law after one semester because I am an idealist who believed in perfect justice, which is not available anywhere in the world, either in the US or the UK. I also believed that there are easier ways to make money than exchanging your time for money to enrich someone else. I have been in NUS FASS studying Psychology ever since, graduating from a 4 year course in 3 years.
Unlike almost all my peers, I believe that the primary purpose of education is to train the brain. Taking modules like Logic and learning about the scientific method in my psychology modules have opened up to my eyes and my brain. Logic was not a required module during my time in law, and the scientific method and way of thinking was grossly untaught in my time in VJC (and, I’m sure, most other pre-U centres all around the world, not just in Singapore).
Will my future employer be impressed by my logic? Will my future employer be impressed by my scientific skepticism? Of course not, but I am eternally grateful to receive a real education and acquire an empirical way of thinking. Education is for ME, not for my employer. And when I’m an employer, I can use logic and empiricism to drive the idiots out of business with my own business.
So there, you can join the civil service or teach or try out any of the methods of making money I’ve just told you about. Or you can apply for a local law degree! Just passing 50% of the modules will guarantee you a job for life. Whatever it is, stop complaining and start waking up your idea. Take responsibility for your own life.
Chung Ren Long
The graduates and the retrenched are now fighting for a smaller pool of jobs. I wonder if the government will address this pressing issue soon.
From this above statement and the general message of the article, it appears as if the author (who could at least give a pseudonym) expects some sort of entitlement. That is, graduates ought to earn this amount, they ought to have jobs within so many months, and so on.
Now, since we’re in a recession, I suppose it’s reasonable to expect lower pay and probably longer period of seeking employment. But as with money management, there’s always the other side: expenditure, and certainly that is more within the author’s control.
As for the emotional security, yeah, I admit that’s a valid point, but then again, I’ve gotta say that this is the real world: you’ve gotta handle it. As sobri mentioned, your family will give you the best support.
The author is a first class honours with double majors, graduating this May from a local university. I’m graduating this May as well, but doubtfully a first class honours – second upper more likely – with only one major. So at least the author can take comfort that I’m probably worse than him! :)
Hi,
is it not news’d that there are so many jobs?
is it not news’d that there are jobs like tele marketers jobs?
so, why complain no jobs?
Graduates, work as tele marketers lor. Air-conditioned and some even work from home. White collar worker.
1st world. 1st class. jobs for all.
I advise the author
not to get married soon.
1st get a job. pay off your study loans. save for hdb, and then think about marriage.
by then, you should be over 30.
happy happy.
yeah.
I am also graduating next year and feels the same way as the author.
I have been looking and applying for jobs to many companies since august, only to receive generic rejection emails a few months later. I am not deluded into thinking that my resume is of top quality. But the ‘crawling pace’ of the process is certainly frustrating.
Going a bit off tangent, I’ve heard from people working in big companies saying that their employers are still going ahead with campus recruitment fair in local universities and carrying out interviews and assessments just for show. In actual fact, they have already frozen headcount. Demoralizing indeed.
While I am aware that temp jobs and contract work are available and one can learn many things even in a job that you don’t like, many of my peers and myself can’t help but to feel disheartened at the current situation. I do not think it is unrealistic to have some sort of expectation after working so hard in school and developing a career plan for ourselves based on our own personalities and interests.
I guess we could only be resigned to reality and hope things get better real soon.
Dear writer,
I too, graduated with first class honours from a local university, and I suspect it’s the same as the one you’re associated with.
We have been fed too many lies about the hot grad who gets that $100,000 a year job. These are few and far between, and usually due to some other personal reasons or connections. The truth is, almost all new graduates start out as miserable, lowly-paid grunts making $2000-$2500.
Despite my degree, I was jobless for nearly six months! And that was in 2006… Granted I was fussy, I didn’t want to work for an SME or government-linked firm. Ended up taking a job unrelated to my studies, and paid less than my equivalents working in banks and consultancies. But my life was well balanced and healthy.
I enjoyed my new job and got a good raise in 1 year. Then got an offer from another firm, with a 25% raise and promotion, 1.5 years after i started work. So sometimes you’ll never know what you can get if you work hard and pay your dues. The path you thought you’re set for may not be the best in store for your life.
You might also want to think about the role of ‘job’ and ‘marriage’ in life. It saddens me when my peers are working in banks till 11pm at night, and to them knocking off at 7pm is a luxury. A person’s lot in life is not a working machine! We need to live all colours of life, and work is just one small part of the experience.
As for marriage, let go of the Singaporean conditioning of “after graduate must marry and have babies”. So what if you marry 5 years later? Or have a budget marriage? There are 101 ways to cope.
Don’t worry people , there going to be 101 new positions every week in full page ST job classifieds from semi-private statutory boards looking for executive @ Tiger Airways, SBS, SMRT, DSTA, MNDEF, MOM, MOE, Home Team, PUB, HDB, etc. who says there aren’t jobs in las vegas asia in singapore?
hire fresh grads singaporeans and replace expensive older singaporeans may be the answer for more bonus or profits for companies struggling to survive.
why pay more? so many FTs easily allowed to come in to work here long term.
why not have more profit? no one owe you a living right? loyalty?
i no no lah.
the graduates have already being unemployed more or less 5 years ago
looked @ the numbers of graduates/year
take a looked 2 our very owned industries
in the olden days
we have so many manufacturing sectors
practically in every housing estates
i started in jurong/tuas
worst of all
even my bloomin NS days was in tuas
upon ORD
i went back to tuas again
because that WAS my skills
unless you all says kallang river can built boats lark….
that was also the FIRST time i saw indian foreign talents replaced my team/my masters/mentors whom i owed my skill/trade/friendships to….
when its time for me to go (retrenched if its make you happy)
i changed to my neighbourhood factories
which i enjoyed working very very much despite my wages dropped by 40%
yes 40%….
why?
1) i don’t have to take a 2hour lorry ride to work
neither do i need to sleep on a lorry to come home
2) i am not worrid about lunch/dinner
i just walked home to my grandma cookmeals
3) the factory have 1000s of beautiful mostly malaysian girls for me to lust/frown upon…
but atlast
we have no dream to achieve
simply because our great mental1 decided that its time to kick out foreign bigtimer investor when their 5 year taxfree lease is up
when the kwailohs left one by one and start shifting their interest to aseans neighbours
the mental1 waltz in with a bargain
bought every foreign interest with peanuts payout
make it singapore tech inc…
its was booming still
many of our graduates endup working for them
not too bad
graduates still have decent graduates salaries
the only problemo
is that they can never climbed any higher
all high positions are reserved for ex-saf major rank above officer to be head of singapore tech inc
i know because a few of my fellow signon recruit mates were among them
its was the days of wines and songs
till the mental1 reliased
this is not healthy
he know all this ex-saf scholars are really really useless deadwoods
so the mental1 challenged
as usual in his annual dinner showoff fair
he asked
would any of this ^talented^ ceos/head were to venture out
and start be enterpreneur if given the chance
with government ready to sink funds
(@ the extend of $ for $ deal)
in europe
it was a great success
meaning
if you invest $100,000
the government give you another $100,000
to setup your enterpreneurship
(this too i have experience in realive london
when my supervisor took up the challenge and start on his own)
i support him by leaving together with him
with a few of our fellow colleagues
till today he is flourishing BIG time
and we still communicate
he asked me to return to london
worked WITH him again
i says no
here in singapoor
this is the place i want to retire/die
on my own homeground
back to discussion
as th sayins goes
if you cannot forced a donkey to dangle the carrot
replaced the donkey with a caterpillar
so singapore tech inc start dismantle
moving their interests overseas
see they also know jtc/ura is highLEE costLEE to maintain
not forgetting the levies they had to pay
on top of useless ex-saf scholars deadbeats
who realLEE know nothing @ all
today where are all this ex-ceos of singapore tech inc?
some become taxi driver
some become mlm ^CHAIRMAN^
as you can see around us
how many factories we have left?
without the factories
what are our newly graduates gonna do?
by becomin tution teacher/bonds sellers?
for those graduates who have rich parents who owned shops/factories
they are lucky
can alway worked for daddy with high salaries?
not on your nelly
a few of my rubshoulder millionaires
tell their kids
you start from ground ZERo
just as i started
then we talked
BASED on your performances
mustafa himself did that to one of his son
by making him a STOREMAN
not a store manager hor…
now if you are a GRADUATE
would you be a storeman?
if not why not
mustafa junoir did that
and his father assets is worth $800 million$…
Dear Author,
When there is a will, there is a way. This is just a brick wall for you to climb over. If you need motivation, you can view Randy Pausch’s famous lecture available on youtube titled “The Last Lecture” and then realise that nobody can help you but yourself. Be optimistic, buddy.
I graduated 1.5 years ago, got a job, and tutored 3 kids at night. I enjoy the tutoring part so much during my undergraduate that I continued when working. That said, it was actually necessary for me to achieve my dreams of getting married and having a kid with my gal. But I also realize that my dreams cannot be achieved within days or months. Earning money is not everything, take things as they come along. Always feel POSITIVE, buddy.
Being a 1st-class double major, didn’t you apply for a scholarship or bursary etc? I never had good enough grades or participated in enough school events to earn one. Guess the scholarship committee don’t count tutoring kids outside as meritorious activities.
The world is big out there. Pack your bag, borrow some money and go to Europe or the states. There are still people there willing to pay for your talent if you are willing to climb the brick wall and look for them.
Best regards, good luck and don’t forget to enjoy the festive season,
DB10
I agree with DB10, but I neber work so hard like him.
I just drive my rich father car and attend elite schools all the way.
Long live the bourgeoisie!
I may be wrong, but the article sounds inconsistent to me.. and whenever the article seems doubtful, I doubt its authenticity. If the author is graduating next year, how the hell does the author know that he is first-class-graduate? Does it mean that the author already graduated this year? or the author more or less know that he/she “thinks that he/she belongs to first class graduate”
Stop putting rosy assumption like inflation of 4% or A-level getting 1500 per month. This is a “rosy” assumption and the assumption are exxagarating. Please do tell who right now employs A-Level graduate with 1.5k and 4% increment every year without fail? Let me tell you a story, when I graduate (first-class-honour) during tough time, I earned less than 2k during SARS period. However, I can proudly says that I earn substantially more than triple my first job pay. Fresh graduate on good times after SARS earn around 2.5k or more afterwards.
Like what earlier comments stated, when there is a will, there is a way. Stop complaining and suck it! Time is tough, and if necessary, do that $6-$7/hour job. Even if it means stepping down your foot on Earth again, at least it pays the bill. Rosy time of Heaven is the past, now is the time of reality in Earth. To put it more blunt, no one owes you a living in this world. Don’t expect the government to spoon feed you just because you (think you) are first class graduate..
Alternative media always criticise the ST. But the ST requires that its news stories are verifiable.
As one commenter noted, online business is very low cost and profitable. The TOC is run by one “Choo Zheng Xi”
I applaud the TOC for its business sense.
It is true that during trying time like this where retrenchment news is the call of the day; it is undoubtedly difficult for young graduates with little or no working experience to find the job of your choice and even if you have landed yourself a job, chances are it is an uphill struggle. Over the past decade, Singapore has changed much indeed. It had become a very cold and selfish place.
Here’s my humble advice to my fellow young graduating Singaporeans. If you can, gather your strength (with your fellow graduates with similar interest and the will to take small risk), be courageous to start a small business that you think you can excel in. Your working life does not have to start as an employee. You can apply for the SME funds with a business plan, (I think there is one available in Singapore ~ similar to what the Hong Kong government is offering to its citizenry. Correct me if I am wrong) to help you with your start up. if you do not know how to, politely and humbly seek advice from people you know who had done that to share with you.
Yes, it is a risk and it is not easy and it takes many trials and errors to make it. But the beauty of it is; at the end of the day, you gain the exposure, experience (learned as you go along) and your struggle might end up as success. You labor your own fruit. When you actually make it, you own your achievement rather than struggling and make it as an employed person that can be replaced when the going gets tough again.
At your young age, there is really nothing to loose for you at moment, even if your first try is a failure. You need continue to try to maintain a positive attitude and be adventurous and courageous. Your dream can only come through if you can keep trying. If all else fail, you can still opt to find for a suitable job when the recession has subsided. The next two years are trying time and it is with this where opportunities are there for you explore if you are willing to take risk and go for it.
Whether we are working as employers or employees, there will always be ups and downs in life, even in good times let alone now where the recession is here to stay for at least till end of 2010. However, if you take charge of your life rather than leave it to the mercy of others, the difference is, you will feel proud with even the tiniest achievement you have made, because it is your effort, your sweat and hard work. You own it.
There is no need to be unduly worried about the lack of jobs in a recession. Recession is a natural component to a economic cycle. I think all of us here have gone through a few ourselves.
The low pay from temp jobs you do now will be compensated by the great pay you will earn as a graduate during a boom. It is a marathon you are running here, not a 100m dash.
The key is to spend wisely and save money during a boom, and use the saved money to tide you over the recession.
Good afternoon anon writer,
Yes, I can understand your anxiety. Let me just say, that’s perfectly natural.
As this recession is slowly and surely seeping through the bed rock and affecting almost everyone. It’s even becoming something akin to the tragedy of the commons, which asserts that ALL human beings will always remain prisoners of market forces.
Anon writer, one way to ride out this storm, may be to spread your net wider; if you look ONLY within Singapore for opportunities; then I think, you may be setting yourself up for the fall.
The banking sector is creamed and thats really how I see it.
A better strategy may be to consider hedging your bets by looking elsewhere like Africa or the Balkans. Or wherever no one wants to go too. I happen to know of a certain someone who I cannot mention here who did exactly just that; only I believe he was booted out by his evil boss; or maybe he was trying to run away from a girl; his story would certainly have given you some insightful pointers on how to take the first step in this less traveled road.
But let us leave that as it may. As for me, I don’t personally have much experience in this area; things went quiet smooth for me; so I wouldn’t even bother to give you any condescending suggestions.
I wish you well and do keep your spirits up – remember, we all make our own luck.
SD
I like Africa! The sun, the lions and the lovely sand!
As someone already pointed out, the author isn’t the first or only graduate to be jobhunting in a recession. I graduated in 1999 and the market was just as gloomy which led me to consider doing a postgrad degree. At the same time, I also applied for an internship while I was in my last semester to get some industry experience. I was prepared to work for FREE for several months before going back to school. But as luck would have it, I was offered a full time position just after the first month. It wasn’t a great paycheck but I WANTED that job – not necessarily for life but for the time being.
I know not everyone can afford to work for FREE but as they say: Do what you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life…
“We have been fed too many lies about the hot grad who gets that $100,000 a year job. These are few and far between, and usually due to some other personal reasons or connections. The truth is, almost all new graduates start out as miserable, lowly-paid grunts making $2000-$2500.”
It does show your disconnect to this world. Have you met local scholars who work during the weekends throughout their studying life?
Have you met those that pay for their own education by working full time and studying part time? Other than a sales job, not many jobs would pay over 2.5k yet these students are able to tide past.
If your intention was to get a family early in life, when you embarked on your uni life, did you calculate the cost of education? or your calculation now is in hindsight?
it makes a difference. It is totally off tangent when you speak of education like a way to success and jobs, nor is it correct when you speak of the cost of education like it is a liability. It is actually a purchased asset.This is the reason why, I feel that singaporean university students lose alot of edge compared to the ones overseas. How many measure the cost of things? How many get blindsided by only the promising things.
Suck it up, for the double major and being part of the “prestigious local uni”, you could do a lot better in thinking ahead.
When times are good, nobody gives a non-graduate a chance even though he holds alot of practical knowledge as employers pay premiums for experience. In bad times, employers pay the same pay to recieve higher experienced staff who have been retrenched (think lehman bros ex staff). It’s easy to complain isnt it
I too am 24, getting married, graduating with a part time degree with distinctions, and worked in a european company with exposure to European university students.and yes, i served NS and i am a SIngaporean.
the short of it.
How many of you, at the age of 24, made choices and took choices before you realize that you are left with no choice or few choices?
Some countries have their youths growing from 17-18 making choices and paths of their own, our males unfortunately start after 24-26 after they get the message “welcome to the real world”
14) doubtful
“if the author is graduating next year, how the hell does the author know that he is first-class-graduate?”
he will know his standing if he knows his past GPA that may allow him to get a 1st-class honours, and of cos it is not 100% guarantee it will be 1st-class since if the worse scenario happens, he screw up his final sem and cost his GPA to drop below a first class requirement.
however mr author, the choice you have made is yours, and the opportunity cost that you have to forsake, well, you can’t get it back right? since you are a first class honours grad, you will still stand out against others, since it is not easy getting one, and that may provide some advantage when looking for a job.
“I wonder if the gahmen will address this pressing issue soon.” i won’t depend on them too much. waiting for their assistance is really the last straw for me
[i]singaporemummy on December 23rd, 2008 3.05 pm I like Africa! The sun, the lions and the lovely sand!
[/i]
talking about africa
south africa i meant
6 months back
i was intro to an ex-south african jockey
who was holidaying in singapore
shoppin for spares as well
as mentioned before as well
i get to rub many great smart enterpreneurs’ shoulders
not that i want to
but because of the 3rd eyed vision i have
he too was impressed with my 10 mins adhoc job
and want to ^buy^ me over to south africa
i asked him
how much capitals
he is preparin to layout for a start
as the sayins goes
NO MONEY
NO TALK
he asked me in returned
how much is needed
i told him
let start @ $300,000 for a start?
and no
i do not want to be YOUR partner
i am just your 3rd eyed vision
if you are ready
prepared to loss this $300,000
in which
you assured me
you will make a bundles
based on MY abilities
but he also warned me
in south africa
i can pay you
what you asked
(US$3500/month nia)
but i would not guranteed your safebeing
you will/can get shot anytime
if you are not
ARMED
i replied
heck i am bulletproof
but all i need from you is
i tell you
what/where/when
and if you can meet this minimum conditions
in which you are solely responsible
than invite me over
just an airticket nia mah…
no needs 1st or buisness class
i am more than comfortable sittin in the jumbuan seat
till today
no picture
no sound
Hi Fresh grads!
now, if you tell your friends you still not found a job after they found job,
paiseh right?
young people also feel paiseh wan.
i tell you how to overcome this.
go to register a sole proprietorship and tell people you no longer unemployed.
on paper, you changed status from unemployed to self-employed.
the good thing is even if you do not perform business activity, oso mean you are the boss. can even call yourself Managing Director or Chairman or CEO. shiok hor? like this help show nicer unemployment stat ? i no no lah. u tell me lah.
2nd lobang for you:
continued education. go for MBA or PHD. very good wan. study study many many years. no longer unemployed but working as a student. pay not included.
like this at least you no need tell people you unemployed and feel paiseh mah.
oso good for unemployment figures.
i no no lah. do wat the …. u wan lah.
i go happy hour liao lah. babes man!
24) moshedyan on December 23rd, 2008 7.17 pm
got no lion in your poem! I don’t like!
[i]singaporemummy on December 23rd, 2008 7.37 pm 24) moshedyan on December 23rd, 2008 7.17 pm
got no lion in your poem! I don’t like![/i]
actualy hor
you didn’t asked
what do the ex-african jockey do now for a livin?
you would be surprised
he is really a lion hunter
yes a real lion hunter
but he ain’t no bullet shooter
he a safari/camera hunter guide
he run a small chalet cum hotel in the countryside
you all tourist
booked in his familly chalet
he bring you shooting on an open landrover jeeps
for a 4/5 day camping in the safari tour
which is why he came to singapore to buy
the open grps/gps satelittle map trekkin system
he wants me to be
his engineer/backup cum seller if he setup shop in johannesburg shoppin centre
don’t expect me to troubleshoot the hardware in an open safari park
where to plug the 13amp power point?
remembered the cococola story where the bushman tried to dispose of the empty coke bottle?
do i looked liked him @ all
well beside he is ^black^
so don’t says i no give you lion story lobangs
but you better buy lion bite insurances in singapore 1st hor…
don’t buy from AIG hor….
“We all, or at least most of us, have gone through bad times, and for people like me, many times. I went to the U at the age of 31, already with a wife and two children. Singapore was also going through a tough time with the Iraq – Iran Gulf War and oil crisis of the late 70’s and early 80’s. It was tough, but my family and I managed.”
The problems of the 70′s and 80′s were nothing compared to the present crisis. Ask around and you will understand.
“The problems of the 70’s and 80’s were nothing compared to the present crisis. Ask around and you will understand.”
Different timelines will always present different difficulties one faced but the truth is how you handle hardships and how you come out of it.
I’m not a graduate so maybe I don’t know quite well what is going on with the author. Had my share of hardships though. Worked 2 jobs for 2 years supporting my family of 5. It was really tough for me back in the 90s but somehow survived.
Everyday is a blessing and a lesson to be learned. Take heed in some of the advices these people here wrote. Maybe if you struggle abit, then come out stronger, then perhaps there will be no need for the story above
it’s very simple, ask yourself this: as a business owner, will you hire someone with your ability at your asking wage?
as long as you’re adding value to society, your conscience is clear and society will eventually recognize your value.
but if you’re not giving any value, then you are just a parasite redistributing wealth to yourself instead of adding to the overall good of society.
in this holiday season, it is easy to forget that most of the hooha of today’s celebrations is done to celebrate the birth of a carpenter who loved prostitutes and fishermen. a man who added the ultimate value to society, and gave instead of taking.
be a giver, and you will receive your reward in kind.
Hi,
Every 6 months (different graduation periods) to 1 year, fresh grads come into the job market.
I wonder will more banking grads become tele marketeers in 2009?
study. study harder. good good future wor. be optimistic.
2009 will be worse than 2008. But be optimistic.
whatever they say, believe. u may feel better.
being optimistic will pull u thru.
that can mean psycho your self. be happy. hip hop hurray.
To the original poster – if you’re such a good student, why didn’t you do an internship in an investment bank? I know someone with rather unremarkable results from a local uni ; she still managed to get an internship with a european investment bank ( front office s&t – internship pay was about ~5k) and will be joining the graduate class of another investment bank, picking up about $6k a month. First job, fresh grad, fresh out of school.
I told my grandchildren cut hair oso millionaire
cook chicken oso millionaire
cook good good become celebrties
walk like a cat oso big money celebrities
write write nonsenses with computer oso get six figure income mnthly
study study waste money feel sorry to be poorly pay employee
where is the mentality
first class or just a normal pass, you have no divine right to a job. Good luck, nobody ever owe you a living, it is up to you to lay your destiny.
Dear writer, I am not sure if I have missed any context in your situation. I am getting the impression that you have pinned a substantial portion of your employment expectations based on academic achievements, or perhaps including the quality of education, up till this point. If so, you need to re-examine your paradigm.
I did not have first class honours during my uni days. I also did not graduate during an age where jobs were abundant. However, it didn’t take me long to figure out that the entire exercise wasn’t purely about academic achievements. Having been from a poor family, I saw part of the real world when I started working at the age of 16+.
To me, the exercise (even before my uni admission) included :
(a) a comparison of education for equity vs education for quality. Then from there,
examine the various options for either of the stance taken.
(b) then I kept myself active during uni and inter-uni events. I can tell you it gave me a strong edge over many who put most of their eggs in studies even after many years. There were many aspects I gained in such participations which no amount of textbooks, or examinations will help me comprehend and appreciate.
(c) i made sure i kept as many feasible options open as possible. These included, but were not limited to working overseas, in remote parts of the country, under long hours, in cases where difficult people are the norm, and in working environments most graduates will shun.
(d) then develop a deep internal compass on my personal values.
I wanted to go for was experience, and ensure I get a positive ‘income – variable costs of expenditure’ –> This should be a familiar concept to you.
Having taken all these steps, I can safely say that I was at the higher range of income earners.
I am not suggesting that you take the same approach. However, what you are going through definitely calls for you to re-examine your paradigm how the real world behaves. This is a personal choice, but each personal choice you make, you need to accept the ‘possible consequences’ accompanying the choice, not just the choice alone.
I have so far only addressed concerns which are triggered by a lack of employment. I respect those who make a stand that a balanced life should be what we aim for, not just monetary gains. I subscribe to this view too. However, you need to know that sometimes, temporal imbalances (and depending on your perception of what short term means) are not avoidable, and you need to take them in your stride.
To “twenty four”,
I’m not sure what you’re grousing against, but your rebuttal of what I wrote highlights what I was trying to say. Graduate or not, most people who enter the workforce are lowly-paid grunts, so everyone still in school should not be fooled by any misleading marketing boasting about high new-grad pay.
If you’re doubting the salaries i mentioned, there ARE new grads paid 2500 and above, but yes, most are getting 2000-2400 or below. Again, that was my point.
do tk time to reread wat was written,i was quoting an abv comment n my point was nt to doubt ur figures but show tat its bearable.
pls do take time to reread both my comments
i must say i didnt make it clear enuff,part time students are usually dip holders holdin that low pay u grouse about yet being able to be disciplined enuff to pull it through and finance their studies,thats what a ‘grunt pay can do’
“do tk time to reread wat was written,i was quoting an abv comment n my point was nt to doubt ur figures but show tat its bearable.”
But then tell us what is not bearable in Singapore ? Even if the transport fare going to rise to $5 per trip, it is still bearable, right ? Even if HDB house cost $500,000, it is still bearable, right ? Tell me what is not bearable even if thing go skyrocket, and salary go to $1000 per month for a U-grad.
So why is it still bearable ? Because these are necessities that we need, and we have to swallow it one way or another. But then this is not the point, the point is why are these happening ? It is because the government make it happening through the pro-business policy that screwing the citizen left and right , and while the gov themselves the largest shareholders of these business, aka Singapore Inc. That is the point we should discuss, not to keep swallow bitter pill thinking it is the way Singapore is. When we have clowns that tell us that transport fare not directly linked to oil price, and many of such craps, it already show that this gov has setup itself up for all the blames.
37) Daniel on December 25th, 2008 4.21 pm
Dear Daniel,
Singaporean voters deserve what they get, just as American voters deserve what they get. Here in Singapore, we benchmark our ministers’ pay to top lawyers’ pay. Lawyers in Singapore are fiercely protected. I think someone already mentioned that you only needed to pass 50% of the modules at a local uni to have a job for life.
Even so, we need to pay top dollar to keep corrupt hypocrites away from the public service. And the price we pay is just like the peanuts that we throw to monkeys in the zoo. If we don’t do that, our mother and sister will become maid in other country.
There is a conspiracy to do us in. Have the westerners done what we have done? Have they created something out of nothing. That is why we need to pay an annual salary of $2.46 million to the PM when Obama gets an annual salary of $400,000 when he joins office next year.
Think about it: got 4 million Singaporeans. Pay one PM is just like every Singaporean buy one Char Kway Teow!
You can study whatever degrees you want, but still end up in a lousy job or no job at all. This is SINGAPORE.
I take the bad times with a smile as everything is dirth cheap whereas the good times of shit when everything is terribly expensive.
Got education also hard to get jobs……master degree more difficult as u are too over qualified and nobody wants you……graduate also problem? Indian graduates from India plentiful and can be outsourced for 1/3 the cost …best is PSLE with vocational Driving licence……..even Bus driver also can do……whole world no jobs so manual hob is best…..go back to basic…..never look down on others
aiyoyo
times so gloomy,
has anyone seen the effective measures from ELITEs yet?
aiyoyo
Daniel.
u have missed the point of this article which hover more around the topic of survival.
i personally have many complaints against policies and have written about it. It does still end up with what i mentioned initially, how many of us young ones bother to make choices or think about choices to make before they realize they have none?How many of us just blindly follow the common road taken without having their own fore planning? The initiative to think/improvise and plug-on is sadly missing.
And when mentioned “bearable”, means there are many other in SG themselves that are doing worse.Quote:
“What about the graduates who fail to find any decent employment? Are they expected to work on temporary assignments for say, $6 – 7 dollars an hour? How will this pay enable them to pay for sustainable support for their retiring parents and their marriage plans?”
Non graduates do not need to worry about such?Are graduates the only people who worry about these? is this may not bearable in a way that it still can feed you while you carry on your journey in life to hunt for success?
The way it is written smells of arrogance and out of touch with what’s out there. I feel it would be a good alternative way of comprehending the writer’s opinion, rather than empathy.
as mentioned, i am of same age as the writer, and what pressures he feel about life planning, parents etc, i face the same, hence i think there is not to say, i do not understand his position.
my key grouse, is how our youths and teens, lack the spark to think, fore plan and find their own life directives and to understand whats on the ground, and how do we overcome these challenges.
why these challenges are there, policies fault or not, is subject to a separate discussion.
merry xmas.
“is this may not bearable in a way that it still can feed you while you carry on your journey in life to hunt for success?”
my mistake,i meant to say
“is this still bearable in a way that it can still feed you while you carry on your journey in life for success?”
Tell me experts,
if given 2 candidates, 1 FT , the other sporean.
both exactly the same qualification, skills and performed as well in interviews and there is no skill that the other does not have at the same level of excellence.
WHAT WOULD BE A REASON for
the boss to hire a singaporean
given that cost / bottomline is very important to any company?
Just name 1 good reason to hire a citizen over a FT.
every 4 years we vote these jokers in, pretty much gives a blank check, i’m already content our PM never decide to benchmark the cabinet to Wall Street CEOs
my view on this article,
our economy has been for years, a sham of US investments + singapore-owned enterprises, in fact the mirage of job growths are pretty much fabricated over the past decade… we are just having more people standing at MRT stations trying to sell innocent people risky investment products and re-titling jobs to look better (customer care officer, call operator say so lah)
Employers are hard-hit no doubt, but lets get the fundamentals right,
businesses need to leverage debt to meet operating expenses. having the credit lines is with little relation to deciding to hire or fire one more – but with the entire viability to even carry on business – or to fold up.
To every seeker out there, try not to always see “landing a job”, like fluking an interview and then this lucky employer gets the pleasure to have you sit at his office surfing the ‘Net, pay you on time, ensure you get medical benefits + a nice cushy 4 month maternity.
be positive and once you can see employment as really a bidirectional relationship, then I don’t think there are many days left in your ‘unemployment’ status.
Our government (who created a huge mirage to start) is already powerless with the limited mental capacity of an over-egoed cabinet. so we are on our own.
ps: Those who can create jobs, this will be the time 8-P
pss:
on a personal note, I was fortunate to not have to rely on my family for my varsity education & expenses, not having a study loan, and I do treasure that independence.
I wonder how you get your first class honours? Get real, graduate underemployment is not a new problem,just look at china,taiwan,south korea etc.
[i]cy on December 27th, 2008 11.00 am I ,just look at china,taiwan,south korea etc.
some of the filipino graduates are workin in singapore as maids
especially for the higher end employers
meanin?
the angmors…
but usually the graduates endup workin in hotels and hospitals
china graduate are also the same
many of them are doctors
but are still unemployed in china…
so they came here
endup as hospital equipment technicians
I am a graduate, graduated in 1970 but did not get first class.
At one stage of my life I was too old and overqualified. So, I told lies. I said I am a O level fellow. I became a golf marshal and got only around one thousand dollars per month.
Then I said I am O level again and I became a market survey interviewer. I worked for many companies on piece rate basis. Many cheated me. Then I became very busy taking them to MOM and CPF. So, I ran out of such employers and in fact they black listed me.
All the good employers would not employ me in spite of my good cv. I was forced to take low level jobs because of my age.
So, I went travelling and I hunted for jobs. I asked the English departments of Chinese universities to take me as a teacher of English because I had speech training by a good angmoh lady, acted on stage and orated and placed third in an oratory contest in a white uni and I speak five languages. The Chinese universities only want ang moh because they want native speaker.
Then I left China by land and came back in SEA . I looked for a job and for anything. I became a sub-editor and then I reported on news and then my buddy taught the tricks of press photography. Then he will teach me the tricks of layouting. Life is good.
But, you know I am an old fellow and will be 70 in 15 months time.
To sum up my view, Singapore does not want the graduate who is smart and motivated once he is old. They do not even want to see your old face, They do not want you even if you are prepared to work for free and that you are very good at your job. What to do? Migrate. See liopns in Africa. Anywhere. Even the South Pacific – the last Paradise on earth. Go native or go bush there.
So, for the young graduates life will be harder as the days roll on as the recession will be getting worse and no one is sure when it hit bottom. But, there is the whole world before you. I went all over China and yet I cannot speak Mandarin as I am a Baba and travelled on the cheap and in fact the cheapest. I went from Shanghai to Wuhan by river boat for sixteen US dollars in 2003. Albeit deck class.
To all my young Singapore buddy graduates and non-graduates one of the options is to get the hell out of Singapore. It is a very selfish place when the recession really kicks in.
Hetehokowhitu