Walao eh, every day wake up go work, I really have to double-check Google Maps to see whether I accidentally boarded the wrong train, crossed the Causeway, or landed at Mumbai airport.
Context: I work in a super heavy industry facility under a huge, reputable MNC headquartered in the UK. Sound high-class right? Supposedly got “international culture”, European benefits, diversity and inclusion, all that corporate buzzword nonsense right? WRONG.
Let me break down our workplace hierarchy for you all, because the math is literally not mathing at all:
- APAC Regional Boss (The “King” controlling everything): India national.
- Head of Country (Managing Director): Ex-India national, converted to Singaporean.
- Next 2 Directors directly below MD: Ex-Malaysians, converted to Singaporean.
- Regional Managers: 50% Malaysian, 50% “God knows what country” (mostly South Asia / Europe).
- My Direct Boss: Malaysian.
- My Subordinates: 50% Malaysian.
- Blue Collar / Ground Workers: 90% Malaysian.
Where is the actual, born-and-bred local Singaporean? Sitting beside me in the pantry drinking $1.20 kopi, crying quietly while scrolling JobStreet only.
The most mind-boggling thing is: HOW THE HELL ARE THEY GETTING THE MOM QUOTA?
In heavy industry, the foreign worker quota is supposed to be super strict. Isn’t it supposed to be tied to actual local employment ratio? But my company completely cracked the system code: convert the entire top layer of management into Singapore Citizens or PRs. The moment they become “local” on paper, it instantly unlocks a massive quota quota-headroom! Then HR just spams work passes to hire their entire kampung from across the causeway and overseas.
The pipeline is insane. The second a Malaysian or Indian national gets promoted to a hiring manager role, suddenly all their ex-colleagues, uni batchmates, and second cousins start popping up in our office.
KNN every morning I step into the plant, half the time I hear people shouting “Ji duo! Ji duo!” (that classic Malaysian-style incorrect Mandarin for “how many/so much”). On the ground floor, everything is JB dialect; in the boardroom, everything is deep subcontinent accents; in the middle, I am the only guy using “lah, leh, lor” like a lost orphan in my own country. Even our pantry drinks transitioned from English Earl Grey straight to Teh Tarik and Masala Chai.
I’m not even trying to be xenophobic—people need to earn a living, fine. But when a company’s entire eco-system becomes 90% foreign-origin and everyone just practices standard “hire own kaki” culture, local Singaporeans end up feeling like the actual expats in Jurong/Tuas.
Anyone else’s MNC operating like this? Is MOM even auditing these HR loophole tricks, or is everyone just closing one eye because big MNC brings in big money? Sian 1/2, seriously considering learning how to speak “Ji Duo” fluently just to survive my next performance review.