Sometimes I wonder, if I hadn’t taken up this job at the hotel, I probably won’t have seen so much from all walks of life. I’ll probably be holed up in some cubicle, with only 10-20 colleagues who are equally or better educated than me, all from the M(oney)-generation.
Comparatively, just within my department alone, there’re over 120 people. People whose names I have no problem remembering, people whose lives I get a glimpse of.
First off, there’re my few fellow colleagues who are all university educated and part of M-generation. Then the difference kicks in when we look at the profiles of the rank and file.
There’re the PRCs on 2 years renewable contracts. They pay the agents a big sum to come here to work. They’ll probably have to work a full year with daily overtime before they can cover up that expense. Away from their family for years, they only have home visitation every 2 years when they renew their contracts and some even opt not to go home so as to take the money in lieu. Those with children are missing their growing years, with the concern that when they eventually return home, their children will not recognise or bond with them.
Then there’re the Malaysians. Those who don’t rent places in Singapore, they’ll have to travel daily to and fro between Singapore and Johor Bahru. Doing so, they face the perils of commuting on the road. Involving in an accident is common, especially when most are travelling on motorbikes.
They too, work long hours just to earn enough money to pay their bills, put food on the table and send their children to school. From morning till night, then they have to travel for hours from the hotel back home. It had gotten worse recently because of the tightening up of checks at the customs, creating unbelievable jams, and taking up to 4 hours to get home. Reaching home at 1-2am is common, and then they have to be at work by 8.30 in the morning.
Just do the calculation. How many hours of sleep they get, factoring in all the to and fro travel time. How many hours they work (remember it’s all physical work and running on 6 days work week). How many hours they get to spend with their family.
On top of that, I get to see issues in their lives. Spousal abuse, getting rob, house catching fire, house getting flooded, child in need of surgery and extended family issues are just some of the more common ones.
I guess with a larger pool of colleagues, I get to see more instances of people getting sick, strike down unexpectedly by cancer (2 cases in just my department already) and death as well.
These are the people I’ve worked almost 3 years with, and it’s not easy having to balance and manage between the needs of work, their needs and the sometimes emotional baggage I get affected by.
So whenever I start to gripe about my hours and pay, I remind myself that I’m considered lucky and there is this bunch of hardworking folks near me who I can try to make their time at work better and fun.
Comparatively, just within my department alone, there’re over 120 people. People whose names I have no problem remembering, people whose lives I get a glimpse of.
First off, there’re my few fellow colleagues who are all university educated and part of M-generation. Then the difference kicks in when we look at the profiles of the rank and file.
There’re the PRCs on 2 years renewable contracts. They pay the agents a big sum to come here to work. They’ll probably have to work a full year with daily overtime before they can cover up that expense. Away from their family for years, they only have home visitation every 2 years when they renew their contracts and some even opt not to go home so as to take the money in lieu. Those with children are missing their growing years, with the concern that when they eventually return home, their children will not recognise or bond with them.
Then there’re the Malaysians. Those who don’t rent places in Singapore, they’ll have to travel daily to and fro between Singapore and Johor Bahru. Doing so, they face the perils of commuting on the road. Involving in an accident is common, especially when most are travelling on motorbikes.
They too, work long hours just to earn enough money to pay their bills, put food on the table and send their children to school. From morning till night, then they have to travel for hours from the hotel back home. It had gotten worse recently because of the tightening up of checks at the customs, creating unbelievable jams, and taking up to 4 hours to get home. Reaching home at 1-2am is common, and then they have to be at work by 8.30 in the morning.
Just do the calculation. How many hours of sleep they get, factoring in all the to and fro travel time. How many hours they work (remember it’s all physical work and running on 6 days work week). How many hours they get to spend with their family.
On top of that, I get to see issues in their lives. Spousal abuse, getting rob, house catching fire, house getting flooded, child in need of surgery and extended family issues are just some of the more common ones.
I guess with a larger pool of colleagues, I get to see more instances of people getting sick, strike down unexpectedly by cancer (2 cases in just my department already) and death as well.
These are the people I’ve worked almost 3 years with, and it’s not easy having to balance and manage between the needs of work, their needs and the sometimes emotional baggage I get affected by.
So whenever I start to gripe about my hours and pay, I remind myself that I’m considered lucky and there is this bunch of hardworking folks near me who I can try to make their time at work better and fun.
posted by Cylee at
9:39 am I