Hi, I am a fresh grad In my first job now, engineering related. Just wanna ask seniors who have grad is my workplace culture a norm ?
No fixed lunch break its ranges between 12- 3+ (usually 3 pm)
The department manager will scold everyone in daily morning meetings for hrs (almost daily)
No basic office supply such as water cooler, fridge , pantry, coffee, stationary etc
Document in traditional Chinese and openly mock others when they consider hiring non-chinese speaking people
Unpaid OT everyday
Asking for engineering improvement project as probation criteria
I don’t know, I don’t have prior experience in other jobs and not sure if I am just being a “strawberry” or is my concerns valid and if should I consider changing jobs.
Here are what netizens think:
That’s usually what being an engineer in manufacturing is like. Very normal toxic culture
Just by staying in that job is deep disrespect for yourself and also supportive of that environment- breeding source of greed and ugliness in humans
Is the senior or dept head someone u want to be 5 years later?
Sounds like a typical SME or taiwanese company. Is that a taiwanese semiconductor mnc?
This sounds like Japan’s black companies in documentaries
Sounds like Austrian labour camp,work your ads off for checking if the toxic gas works to make people work
Seems like the company is trying to push for improvements but the people working there are too old and does not know the current trends. good to know how things work manually, then jump ship. If is really too hard, is ok to jump out now as well, but with a job offer secured of course.
To car owners, how much do you spend monthly on car expenses? Do share tips to cut down on costs if you have any!
23F (fresh grad) I do not wfh so I have to travel ~30km*2 to and from work monday to friday and I incur ~$400 in petrol expenses monthly. Thankfully, parking is FOC at my workplace. Obviously I feel the pinch and would like to ballpark my own expenses amongst other car owners.
“It’s either you spend or don’t own a car”
it depends what car you’re looking at, first there’s the monthly installment. which is currently pretty high due to the coe rise. i’m paying 2k / month.
than there’s petrol. I’m paying around $200 per pump which last for a few days (this also depends on what car and how much you commute)
there’s insurance which is a yearly thing. as for maintenance, it’s cost a few hundreds to service, wear and tear depends on the repair needed. ranges from a few hundreds to thousands.
having a car in Singapore is really not affordable. you’d need to make sure you have more than enough to comfortably pay all these, no matter what car you get.
there’s no tips on how to cut costs on owning a car, it’s either you spend or just don’t own a car.
New car will cost more but long term cheaper
Before petrol prices went bonkers and just before I sold my car, I was spending about 950-1k per month all-in, including averaged maintenance costs and paper value depreciation. If I had a 60km commute daily, my all-in expenses might have gone up to about 1.2-1.3k, also factoring in higher maintenance costs.
It was a pre-loved (actually loved and taken care of, not abused) 13 year old Japanese car.
A new car will certainly cost way more than that, but cheap and good actually exists on the used car market if you “buy the dip” (bought mine in 2018 when COE was low) and spend the time and effort to learn how to spot common issues with cars in general and also the model(s) that you are eyeing.
If you want convenience of owning a car, look beyond money
Ballpark – $1.6-1.8k/mth incl Instalment, Insurance, Petrol, Road Tax, Season parking etc. If you wanna get a car just to go work and back and $$ is the sole factor in your decision, just take cab.
You want the freedom and convenience of owning a car, u may wanna look beyond the dollars and cents as key factor.
$400/month on petrol is “average”
As a fresh grad, you got a car, you are already doing better than quite a lot of others.
From your comparison, I believe this car was a gift to you
Anyway, to answer your question, $400 per month is quite average in sg based on our governments take on increasing petrol prices in an article last year. If you still wan cheaper petrol, you may have to change your driving style or visit our neighbour.
Car related expense such as maintenance repairs, tyres, card top up and car wash items have to be included too.
Maybe you can do your own calculations and add in these figures. I will provide you a list to fill up
Instalment Insurance Road tax Petrol x 12 Season parking x 12 Cash card top up $150 per month (depends on your usage) Repair (depends on new or old car, new mostly under warranty) Servicing (based on your mileage, 2 times a year) Tyres based on your mileage, change every 2 years. So find out how much your tyre cost and divide half Car wash (if you wash yourself and buy products yourself, probably $200 a year)
For me, I enjoy modifying my car so probably not the same comparison. There is no fixed amount for expenses since people use and treat their car different.
So if you really wan to ballpark, perhaps fill up the list and see what is your total expenses, rather than just one item
Whenever I hear people around me complain about the rising living costs due to inflation, war and increased taxes, I can’t help but really just want to speak to them the truth especially late millennials and gen Z kids.
No doubt, it is true that consumer good prices have increased significantly over the years, housing getting less affordable, rents are spiking, COE has reached its all-time high, fuel price has gone up, and the list goes on.
However, do people especially kids these days do their part to overcome this situation?
The short answer is NO, as most people that I know including friends and family, and uni mates, they all don’t really treat this as a serious issue, and it’s just sickening to see how people complain everyday without putting some serious effort.
Let me list out a few “hobbies” or in other words, “entertainments” that youngsters do nowadays. Every now and then I see friends sharing stories of their staycations, and their frequency can be as high as once every 1-2 months.
Youngsters also don’t refrain themselves from frequently dining at places like HDL, beauty in a pot, din tai fung, and a whole bunch of fancy cafes and restaurants. It’s so terrifying to the point where it has actually become mandatory that one must dine in at least once a week at some fancy eatery, and I honestly ain’t sure if they realize that. Starbucks or coffee bean has become a usual hangout spot to “study” too, and they can easily order food and drink that cost up to $20-30 per pax.
The convenience of cabbing just makes basic transportation even more accessible that they can just Grab without even actually trying their best to settle for buses or MRT. I personally know a few friends and acquaintances who already got platinum tier for Grab. “I’m lazy”, “it’s too far”, “I don’t wanna wake up so early”, “it’s raining”, “I just wanna chill”, so on and so forth, these are the common excuses to spend tens of dollars just for a short period of unurgent convenience.
I think I don’t even have to point out branded goods and limited-edition clothing and sneakers that youngsters don’t mind forking out hundreds of dollars for per item. Is it also necessary to purchase the latest phone models? I don’t get why people can’t just buy only when necessary or at least wait till the next model releases and buy the current model as its price drops.
There is no need to attend every single one of your friend’s birthday, and instead, do kindly wish them and just go for those whom you’re closer with. If you have friend’s birthday all the way from January till December, and for each birthday, the expenses are unexpected because it’s not up to you to decide the venue and type of birthday celebration, you’ll only end up being a broke-ass. Please have some decency to reject politely, and if rejection would only cause them to be unhappy with you, then congratulations, as you’ve just witnessed the true side of your “friends”.
It’s totally fine not to invest your money if you don’t wanna risk losing money, but at least don’t let your cash flow out so quickly, and have some proper control over your money. You can’t control the government’s plan, as well as the happenings all over the world that negatively impacts your financial situation, but I believe there are a ton of simple and implementable ways to reduce your unnecessarily hefty expenses.
So stop complaining and do your part if you don’t wanna go broke!”
I’m working in the comms industry (client-facing job) and have been in my current job for 1.5 years. I was offered an entry-level role (sort of my first FT job after ive graduated) and was promoted after a year. I was making mistakes here and there but it wasn’t as horrible in the last 6 months.
Tagging the wrong social media account for a content post, grammatical errors, missing out on emails, under communicating (e g. not providing contexts enough explanations) > miscoms with clients, producing work that aren’t meeting expectations at my current position (as a senior associate).
I’ve taken active steps to tackle my lack of attention to details/carelessness:
penning down to-do-tasks on paper and tracking them
reviewing and clearing my emails daily
blocking off time on my calendars if I need time to complete work
overcommunicate – providing contexts and explain my thought processes to avoid miscom
using self checking tools like grammarly
It’s not working. I’m still making mistakes and my supervisor is beyond fed up. Had a breakdown during my review once and it has reached the stage where my supervisor asked to vet my emails before it goes to the client.
I was burnt out for a while but the company culture/ppl I work with are super supportive. For the longest time, I always felt rushed so I’ve started to slow down intentionally and really just try to make time and be thorough with my work.
I really want to continue working on myself and prove that I’m taking my job seriously but it’s been hard. I feel dread and anxiety whenever I work because I know I’m a burden to my supervisor and have been consistently making mistakes every week. Am trying to be positive.
I actually don’t quite know what I want out of this thread but would love to read what others think and will appreciate any advices!
Backstory: I have an old friend (20+ years) that is in a difficult spot. My partner and I have offered to my friend a rent-free place to land for a little while, while my friend gets things figured out.
I am a (F), and my partner is (M). I am aware that females are “trained” / “socialized” at a younger age to be responsible for household tasks while males are expected to handle “outside the house tasks.”
However, my partner and I aren’t really that way. We have been together for 25 years or so. In my relationship with my partner, we have what I feel is a fairly equitable division of labour inside the home. He helps out with whatever I want him.
But we’ve had 25 years to negotiate all the fine details 🙂
My partner is also very happy to let me do whatever I want with the house. I handle all the household repairs, outside maintenance, appliance and equipment maintenance… my partner is not skilled in these areas, finds them unenjoyable, and doesn’t find them fun at all.
He tackles things like talking out trashes, fold/sort/wash laundry, tackle dishes, walk the dog, — but he rarely does the household shopping, doesn’t meal plan or cook much, and doesn’t “Deep Clean” the way I do and that’s ok.
Homeless friend looking a rent-free property
Recently a really old friend of ours (M) reached out and after talking with him it seemed he could really use a safe place to land to get some things figured out. My partner agreed and I offered to let him come stay here for a while.
— As part of the discussion around expectations, my friend and I talked about expectations around “division of labour” and how differences in opinion/ expectation can lead to conflict. I told my friend that this is especially apparent when one housemate (A) feels put upon and like housemate (B) is “always upping the ante” when it comes to house chores and housemate (B) feels put out because housemate (A) isn’t doing their “fair share” or is creating more work that then has to be cleaned up by housemate (B).
— I used cleaning the bathroom as an example. There’s a whole slew of individual tasks that all make up the whole job. Housemate (A) may only think that keeping the toilet flushed, wiping out the sink, and making sure the trash is empty is “cleaning the bathroom”, but housemate (B) may see “keeping the bathroom clean” to include a regular schedule of things like : scrubbing out the toilet, wiping down the toilet, wiping out and cleaning off the counters, washing the mirrors, scrubbing out the tub, sweeping, vacuuming, then mopping the floor… SO conflict arises when partner (B) asks (A) to “clean the bathroom” and then they only do a few small tasks.
— I was asking my friend if they were willing to help with household chores and keeping the space they would be living in clean and tidy as well as be responsible for cleaning the bathroom that they would solely be using. After clearly spelling out what would be expected of them, my friend said that I “Sure seem like a bit more of a neat freak than I was letting on.”
— I love my friend for who they are, and respect them for backing out / choosing a different option if my expectations would be too much for them and risked damaging our friendship.
Question: WAS I BEING UNREASONABLE? Just trying to figure out if I put too much forward as expected.
I am by no means a neat freak, nor is my house a “show house”. My house is “cluttered but clean”, and I don’t think that it is too much to ask a guest (4-12 weeks was the timeframe we discussed at the start) to pitch in and keep shared spaces (like theitchen) clean and tidy, help with basic yard work, and keep private areas (bedroom, bathroom) clean and sanitary, especially since no rent was expected and everything (including shared meals, laundry, internet, etc.) would be provided.
Recently, i went to take a look at laptops in retail stores, and it felt like the saleman was pressurising me into buying models i have no interest in.
Told me that the laptop he recommended was light with a lasting battery but the laptop was tiny (then of course it would be light :/) and the battery rating was suspiciously low.
I tried to look at newer models but he kept steering me towards the older models with lower specs.
Eventually I just said thanks and walked away, and he promptly started complaining to the saleman in the other section on how customers these days don’t know how to choose laptops.
What’s your experience with these type of salesmen? Do they give good advice or am i just overly skeptical?
(I bought a laptop online in the end)
Netizens’ comments
Which is why I just buy my electronics online. The salespeople usually don’t know much or may try to push certain brands their boss tells them to hard sell.
commi$$ion
Do your own research online and just purchase online. An apple can become a golden apple through the mouth of a salesman.
Probably told by the manager to push certain products which they intend to clear. Which is why I often do my own research before going down. With all the sales talk, it gets pretty confusing if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has detected Escherichia coli (E. Coli), at levels exceeding the microbial limits for Ready-To-Eat (RTE) food stated in the Singapore Food Regulations, in My Mum’s Cookies Premium Mao Shan Wang Snowskin Mooncake (Vegan)
As a precautionary measure, SFA has directed the importer, Easy Mix Pte. Ltd, to recall the implicated product. The recall is ongoing.
Under the Singapore Food Regulations, a person must not import, sell, manufacture or produce for sale, any article of RTE food that does not comply with any relevant microbiological standard specified in the Eleventh Schedule.
Consumers who have purchased the affected product should not consume it. Those that have consumed the implicated product and have concerns about their health should seek medical advice. Consumers can contact their point of purchase for enquiries.
What is E.coli?
E. coli is a bacteria that is normally found in the intestines of people and animals. While most species of E. coli are harmless, some types can cause diarrhoea, stomach pain, cramps and fever. Vulnerable individuals with weakened immune systems may experience more severe symptoms. Foodborne pathogens like E. coli can be introduced during the production process when cross-contamination occurs, particularly when good hand hygiene is not practised.
A netizen shared how her father uses car rental to drive Grab and Gojek, and he was recently involved in a car accident where the passenger suffered a small injury.
The Grab/Gojek customer agreed not to claim from them after going to a clinic for the small injury, but they later received a charge of $3,500 from the car rental company 7 months later for insurance claim.
The netizen then asked the car rental company for a copy of the insurance claim but the car rental company refused and wanted her to physically come down and take a look.
Here is what she said
My dad is charged 3.5k from insurance claims, need advice
A little bit of context of how this whole situation happened last year..
My dad is a private car hirer driver meaning he drives grab/gojek and so. He rents this car from car rental Company A and he was involved in an accident last year around November.
At that time, he was carrying a passenger in his rental car when he brushed and scratched another car, he braked and stopped in time but the passenger in his car had a small injury to the neck..
Days later, we got the passenger to call back to us as Grab would not give out numbers of others due to PDPA reasons, we checked that the passenger is well and that she had seen a clinic.
She agreed not to file insurance claims as the injury was minor and she understands my dad has to pay quite a hefty amount to the car rental company if she were to report it.
Yesterday my dad mounted a curb while driving causing the bumper and tire to go damaged, he paid a total of $1500 for that.
Suddenly, the car rental company which is known as Company A told my dad that there were insurance claims coming from the insurance company and that he has to pay an excess of $3500 from the incident that happened with the passenger, where can my dad find money when he lost so much during the pandemic???
And I told them that we already agreed with the passenger not to claim and she acknowledged it, how come 7 months later then bring up this issue, and the claim for insurance, it’s so late.
I asked the car rental company to scan a copy of the so-called “insurance claim” but they refused and want me to go down and take a look physically. I am suspecting a bit of foul play in this, we lost the number of the passenger and we cannot contact her to ask why she filed an insurance claim.
I 26M was attending one of my cousins birthday 19F with my family.
The majority of my extended family was there so cousins, aunties, uncles, etc. I was not really talking since I am quite introverted and did not care what they were talking about and just focused on eating my food and couldn’t wait to get back to my home so I could talk to my online girlfriend and friends (I have forgotten my phone at home so I could not talk with them.)
My aunt 47F was praising my cousin for her progress in university, and soon the bragging and praising of each of my cousins started.
Most of my aunts and uncles was praising their children for their academic progress was going and how well they were earning at such a young age, blah blah blah. Soon the focus of the conversation went to me and how my work life was going on. I was cut off by my mom 43F, she said “he is looking for a job but had no luck.”
I snapped saying “Discord moderation is a real f-ing job and that she should stop always telling me to get a job.” Everyone was staring at me and this pissed me off so much more.
I got up to leave when I hear my annoying cousin say “Bros a discord mod” in a ridiculing voice, I turned around and picked up the remainder of the cake on my plait and threw it to him, it hit him in his face and my whole family got angry and telling me to leave.
I stormed out of their house and banged the door so hard that it broke.
When my parents got home they refused to talk to me and said that I have 2 weeks to leave and find a job. I told them that they can do this and they are horrible parents for this. My mother started crying and saying that I have embarrassed the whole family and my dad said “You are a disappointment, That I have never had a job, never had real-life friends, never brought a girl over, was never fit, etc.” I told him to f off.
Today I woke up with a sign outside my door saying I only have one week to move out. I don’t know what to do. I do think I exaggerated just a little but it was understandable
A man posted a series of messages between him and a Vietnamese girl and stated how the girl is overstaying in Singapore to work in a KTV.
He stated that the girl is withholding his child’s passport and getting into his way of applying for relevant visas for the child to stay in Singapore.
He also stated that the Vietnamese girl is currently overstaying in Singapore and working in a KTV.
Here is what he said:
WHAT A JOKE
Another fake post by Hailey’s mother…
Still trying to pretend she is the one taking care of Hailey and staying with Hailey.
Truth: Hailey has not met Phuong for more than a year and has regarded Phuong as a total stranger.
This is a screen photo grab from my Facebook post.
Phuong has no idea where Hailey is even studying.
And Hailey has even changed School since two months ago. And Phuong is still posting this stupid photo to try to portray herself as a loving mother to Hailey. What a joke Hailey is not even studying at this school
Update:
Hailey’s passport is still withheld by Phuong, which caused alot of inconvenience for Hailey with regards to her registration and application for Hailey’s Singapore citizenship.
PHUONG had repeatedly ignored my lawyers messages and contact in our WhatsApp group message.
PHUONG is merely using Hailey’s passport to delay her own deportation by ICA because ICA has investigated and concluded Phuong case of working as a “prostitute” and “booking girl” in Singapore.
(I have plenty of evidence to show e.g booking confirmation and msg between her, the client and the mummy)
Have alrdy submitted all these to ICA.
PHUONG will be deported soon. She is desperate now because she knows if she returns to Vietnam, she has no job and selling her serial services in Ho Chi Minh is tough coz people know her there, family and friends.
Final note:
A real mother who truly cares about her child will find all ways and means to contact and be with her child..
In this more than one year…Phuong has not even made the effort to locate and find Hailey. Just merely texting and asking to let her meet.
She also tried on more than one occasion report police to say I kidnap Hailey..
Police and family services officers called and I gladly invited them to come to visit and observe for themselves the living conditions and quality of life that I’m providing for Hailey and they left satisfied and know that Phuong has been lying.
This is the reason why Phuong will be deported, and she has no more reason to stay in Singapore (she has overstayed for more than a year, using Hailey’s “disappearance” as the sole reason for her delayed stay in Singapore).
A real mother who has her child’s vest interest at heart, will also know that a child has more benefits holding dual citizenship, a Singapore passport and a Vietnamese passport, and will not stop and create obstructive efforts to prevent me from helping Hailey apply for her Singapore citizenship.
A real mother truly cares for her child, also will not want Hailey to go back to stay with her in her hometown village to grow up with chicken and hens and jackfruit trees without a proper education and privileged environment…
If anyone kind soul wants to help report her and help Hailey get back her passport asap…she is working at places like *redacted* and doing freelance Booking services…feel free to make police reports to catch Phuong who is trying to evade all messages from my lawyer and myself.
Anyone who knows me knows that I have been taking care of Hailey by myself for more than a year since Hailey was in Singapore. And also thanks to great friends like 黄佩仪 who at times help me to babysit Hailey at her own home with her family and maid when I go overseas for work.
This is all i have to say to clarify any untruths or false posts and articles made by Phuong, because if I don’t clarify this, people easily believe stuff posts online over time….
If anyone can help me to get her to contact my lawyers and hand over Hailey’s passport…would deeply appreciate. I have been patient and nice to her over this issue coz she is Hailey’s mother. But seems like being nice to assholes and self centred bitches is actually being cruel to Hailey and myself.
JUST ALSO TO SHOW YOU THE ICA’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority LACK OF EFFICIENCY AND “TAIJI” SKILLS OF PUSHING AWAY RESPONSIBILITIES, look at the screenshots of the message exchanges with the ICA officer incharge of the case below (Nicholas).
Excuses after excuses….and anyway he has confirmed in his messages that Vong Vinh Phong has been compounded for her offence and will be repatriated or deported back to Vietnam. That is the reason why this bitch is desperate now and at her wits end and decided to post this post on her Facebook today to garner more pity and empathy votes for herself.
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority Singapore kindly update on this situation before it gets out of hand. Your staff and employees are shirking their job and duties within departments, and shielding a criminal offender despite already confirming and convicting her of her offence.
Hailey is not even studying at this school 
