Local company seeks Filipinos ONLY for customer service assi
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Local company seeks Filipinos ONLY for customer service assistant positions
March 7, 2010
During his speech on the Budget, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam repeated the circular argument mentioned earlier by other PAP ministers like PM Lee Hsien Loong that foreign workers are needed in sectors shunned by Singaporeans:
“If we had not brought them in, we would not have been able to ease the supply bottlenecks in the private property markets, build HDB flats, or expand our MRT network,” he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times.
If this is really so, then why are foreigners being preferred over locals in jobs which can otherwise be taken up by them as shown by the job ad below posted on a Singapore job portal:
Customer Service Assistant is an office job which Singaporeans will not shun.
The pay and working hours offered by the above company at Ubi are quite reasonable and it should have not difficulties getting Singapore workers, however it is clearly indicated that ONLY Filipino need apply.
Do Filipinos possess certain special skills which Singaporeans lack? What does the company need a Filipino specifically to as customer service assistants?
The mainstream media kept portraying Singapore workers as being choosy about jobs such that employers have no choice but to turn to foreign workers, but the reality is that Singaporeans are being shut out of many jobs they will have no qualms doing.
Singapore’s labor policies are incredibly lax and allow companies to employ as many foreign workers as possible so long the dependency ratio of local to foreign workers is met.
However, as “local” consists of both citizens and PRs, the rule can be easily circumvented by getting earlier arrivals to apply for Singapore PR.
Obtaining Singapore PR is also amazingly easy and lax by any standards as there is no minimum period of residency needed. For example, the Professionals/Technical Personnel & Skilled Worker scheme (or simply PTS scheme) is the easiest and most assured route to Singapore PR. It’s estimated that more than 90% of the people obtain their Singapore Permanent Residence through this scheme, many of which are approved in less than a year.
The key requirement under this scheme is that a foreign worker must be working in Singapore for at least six months on either an Employment Pass, Entrepreneur Pass, or S Pass.
[Source: Guide me Singapore]
The company above is likely to help its Filipino Customer Service Assistant apply for a PR which will free up another slot for a foreign worker. Therefore it is thereotically possible for companies to have 100% foreigners and 0% Singaporeans on its payroll!
It is quite obvious from the recent “parliamentary debates” on the Budget that the PAP is either still clueless on what is happening on the ground or is acting blur to cover up its atrocious mistakes.
Had the above advertisement been posted elsewhere, it would have sparked a massive public outcry with the government being forced to take action against the errant company.
Singapore employers have the audacity to discriminate against Singaporeans precisely because they know they have the tacit support of the pro-foreigner PAP government.
Unless Singaporeans send a strong message to the PAP in the next election, they will always be powerless second class citizens in their own country.
Temasek review
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Filipinos needed for massage, and customer service. What is next?
Fairemployment by govt will look into this if there is any complaint.
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GLC Employee AL: What do we do with a government that operates on failures?
The Singapore government preaches about materialism and performance under all odds.
Like in all cases, performance relies on morale. How does the PAP, expects us to go the extra mile, to work harder, to excel when we’re being paid crap? When the cost of living is not manageable, when most of us are at the “Hand to Mouth” state? When our minds are not at peace thinking about our future, or are we machines to work relentlessly without feelings?
Our bread and butter being threatened by so many issues, being afraid we might be left with just breadcrumbs to deal with. In the battlefield, if you shatter the enemies’ morale, the battle is as good as won. Morale is a catalyst for productivity, and let no one tell you otherwise.
The value of materialism which the government upholds with such valor has not been helping anyone at all. It separates us, each man fighting for his place among the top 5% of Singapore which is “physically and mentally endowed”.
This “fighting” does not create growth, but merely a social gap between citizens and an income gap which rewards only the “elites”. The growth of a few individuals, acts only as a morale destroyer for those hanging in the lower rungs of society.
Materialism makes those up there, want to stay there and go higher, and the only way to do that is to keep pushing those already low, lower.
We all know that the Singapore government has a system in place, which makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. How can there be true growth and productivity in this system? This is not a classic case of wanting more for less, but wanting gold for copper.
The government has made a system, preached ideals and has expectations which all contradict each other, an epic failure. It’s like wanting a person to move left, right and back all at once. Have they done anything to fix it? I don’t think so. That means a failure every day they don’t. How long has this been going for? Years, that means 365 failures X the number of years. A government that operates on failures.
“Applause please”
Its pretty annoying when we’re overworked, underpaid, fatigued and frustrated, and some “PAPimp” ministers who don’t even have a clue about wha thet majority of Singaporeans are going through, comes along yapping about how we should live our lives and do our jobs.
Actually we should be the ones teaching them how to do their jobs, and deciding how much they get paid. Technically speaking they are serving the public, that makes us their bosses right?
So if we’re bosses and our staff are not performing as promised what should we do? What must we do, if even after all these decades, their PERFORMANCE is not only not up to standard, but actually deteriorating? What if they’ve made too many human errors in their years of service? What should we do, when our staff orders us around, when they arrogantly tell us how to run the business after all these failures? Are we still going to keep them in our payroll?
There are 82 PAP MPs in parliament now and seriously, who knows what they’re there for? Maybe we should cut the amount of manpower we have in the government and give them the wages majority of us get.
The rationale, “Oh! I know! Lets make Singapore attractive for Singaporeans who have migrated elsewhere! And to make this country to keep in pace with other countries where THE GOVERNMENT IS AFRAID OF ITS PEOPLE AND NOT THE PEOPLE AFRAID OF THE GOVERNMENT!”.
I would love to see the looks on their faces when these cowards look at each other with the phrase “overworked and underpaid” grabbing them by their nuts. When we, the people of this country start showing them who’s boss, and the time is coming soon.
The math is pretty simple: The lower the wages and the higher the cost of living, the lower the morale. The lower the morale, the lower the level of productivity. Not, rocket science at all. If the government still can’t figure it out they don’t deserve their salaries and positions. We should just fire them.
This is a quote from a 62 year old man I’d like to share with you guys and finish up this piece:
“How to retire, you tell me? Need to work until die la, some more cut my pay but need to work the same. Never mind! You cut my pay $300, I work $300 less. Mai Chup Siow!”
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Ministers are paid millions to prevent them from corruption. Likewise, people should be paid a decent good salary to prevent them from insufficiency in cash to pay loans, bills and support the familly.
Ministers are human beings, residents are human beings.
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Originally posted by Dondontan:
Ministers are paid millions to prevent them from corruption. Likewise, people should be paid a decent good salary to prevent them from insufficiency in cash to pay loans, bills and support the familly.
Ministers are human beings, residents are human beings.
Singapore Minister are immortal. Resident/peasant are mortal.. Minister get higher paycheck. Resident/peasant get as little as possible so that Minister higher paycheck is sustainable.This is the real mentality of our minister.