Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Poor quality of life

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Poor quality of life

Many Singaporeans spend too much time in the office. In some cases, their employer cut down on manpower, making it necessary for the employees to spend more hours to finish their work. In other cases, the employees stay back late due to peer or boss pressure, as leaving on time is considered as "not hard working".

I met an Indonesian who studied and continued to work in Singapore for the past eight years. His working hours is from 9 am to 9 pm, every day. He is caught in the Singapore system.

I hope that the Government leaders realise why Singaporeans are not producing babies. How can they, when many have to work long hours? They do not have time for their families. They may not have time to find their life partners.

The competitive environment in Singapore, the lack of job security and the high cost of living are the main factors contributing to our low birth-rate, which is now nearly the lowest in the world. Some apologists said that this is the trend in developed countries, but why should Singapore fare worse than other countries in this respect? There must be some factors in Singapore that make us worst!

Tan Kin Lian

10 comments:

lilian tan said...: i agree with u on the long wrking hours in Sg. the peer pressure and competitiveness is really strong.

my american best friend is working here and he also feel pressurized to stay back sometimes, which he tell me that it is very uncommon in US (for him).

i m glad in a way that i spent my "time" dating when i was younger and found the One in uni.

i got together with him before i start on my 1st job.

in a way, at least i know i do not have to spend time after work to meet the One.

in another way, i know i need to work for at least 5 years for promotion then maybe consider having children and hopefully be able to be with them until they are 5 yrs old.

i'm painting a pretty picture for the time being.; February 09, 2010 11:29 PM
Anonymous said...: An overworked, sleep deprived worker is usually more obedient and compliant. Now extrapolate this to an entire population.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_control; February 09, 2010 11:33 PM
php said...: I am not sure if any government is able to help at all. I think the most important person who can influence the working hours is the BOSS himself. I have been running an Asian HQ of a European MNC for the past 20 years and I told my staff that there is no need to stay later than the office hours unless it is extremely critical. The result is (almost) all the staff will leave the office just 5 minutes after working hour.; February 10, 2010 2:25 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Hi php
You set a good example. Unfortunately, there are not many bosses like you. 99% are of the other kind.

I believe that there is a lot that the Government can do. They have the power to legislate and to regulate. As they have ignore this problem, the situation has gone really bad.

So, if the Government and the Parliament address this problem, a lot can be done. At the least, it will send a message to the other 99% of employers.; February 10, 2010 7:17 AM
Anonymous said...: can work really be "finished"? if work can be finished, why need a full time employee to do it anyway?

working late is a norm, and no matter what's being said or done, by the company or govt, someone bound to work late into the night - only difference is whether they continue their work at home - or in office. in the last company that i worked with, the BOSS wants to "encourge" workers to go back on time, by creating many inconvenience e.g. switching off the centralised aircon. So many of my ex-colleagues would bring their work home to do (in the comfort of their own aircon).

if i am a BOSS, and my employees are able to leave on time, it would be naturally that I employ less workers so as to increase my company "productivity" measured in increased revenue or reduced cost.

and lastly, for those who want to take a backseat and champion work-life balance (as in leave on time etc), then good luck to you - becos for every fully employed person, there are many unemployed persons eyeing that job of yours (at probably half the pay you are getting, and willing to work twice as hard or not thrice!); February 10, 2010 8:39 AM
Anonymous said...: Dear Anon 8.39am,

I have work like a dog and still can't finish my job. I have to "manage" 20 companies accounts with 4 staff. I even have to handle 4 accounts on my own.

All the unemployed persons that we hire left after a while even on same pay as us. They lost their enthusiasism after 1 month. Only the old timers remain.

There's only so much work a person can take even for hungry workers from China. Ha Ha Ha!; February 10, 2010 10:59 AM
jamesneo said...: low birth rate is NOT a must in developed countries. BY checking the internet on TFR total fertility rate we can see that many European developed countries have been very successful in maintaining or increasing their birth rate like Denmark, France and Sweden because of their various kind of family friendly policies.

I am not sure if i mentioned before, but There is a study by the European commission on the factors affecting birth rate and why some countries are more successful in raising it. just type "Low Fertility and
Population Ageing
Causes, Consequences,
and Policy Options" into google and take a look .

I feel that the declining birth rate is a more serious threat to Singapore than anything else as the aging demography has serious implications on our economy and society. This is one thing i feel we need to address in the coming decade else it will be too late.(P.S. immigration alone does not solve this declining birth rate); February 10, 2010 12:59 PM
C H Yak said...: I agree with Mr Tan that the Govt. can do something as they have the power to legislate and to regulate.

However the Govt is "bold" only when they want to tilt policies in favour of the economy and big businesses here. They are not bold to tilt policies to protect the basic interest of workers.

I wrote in my blog that the NTUC should change its slogan to "Cheaper, Better, Faster and Shorter Hours" to encourage workers to work effectively for better work-life-balance.

Read here in my blog:
http://de-leviathan.blogspot.com/2010/01/longest-working-hours-459-hours-week.html

Perhaps, php supports the policy because he is running an Asian HQ of a European MNC. In Europe, a 35 hour work week is common.

Over here the hours are too long (Avg 45.9 hours or even longer). I believe the situation is bad because of the bad culture of Asian MNCs to work long hours; especially Koreans & Japanese. Our economy first thrived and expanded with a vast number of Japanese firms here when we were a developing country. Local firms also followed this trend.

The labour laws protect only the lower income earners. So called "executives" and the PMETs are not protected in respect of the number of hours worked.

Rather than to campaign on the theme of "When you put your people FIRST, you always come out TOPS" through the Work-Life Excellence Award 2010, I hope the Govt will pass regulations to restrict the number of working hours at all levels. By simply practising it within the government bodies, it will not help as the situation is very bad today. This is "soft methodology" and can never work.

The NTUC would still be silent unless it could change the slogan as I suggested.

However, despite such long hours worked, the Minister Mentor had ironically commented that Singaporeans have become "less hard-driving and hard-striving." during the interview with the National Geographic last year.; February 10, 2010 1:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Are we heading for the KAROSHI Lifestyle???.........now look at all the problems of Japanese cars namely Honda & Toyota....are we like that???; February 10, 2010 8:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Speech by Bryan Dyson (CEO of Coca Cola) about a yr. ago

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - Work, Family, Health, Friends and Love and you're keeping all of these in the Air.
You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball.
If you drop it, it will bounce back.
But the other four Balls - Family, Health, Friends and Love - are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.; February 10, 2010 8:27 PM