So I recently graduated from Singapore Polytechnic with a diploma in Media & Communication and I’m a Burmese national. When I was on Student Pass, I worked a few jobs with ease, part-time then full-time until the expiration of my pass. Now I have applied to more jobs and went to interviews that went really well until I see the interviewer’s face drop when I told them I need a Work Pass. Instant no.

The obstacle is…well, very inescapable and I’m constantly disappointed at the fact I may have gotten a job if it wasn’t for my foreigner status. Not gonna cry about it, obviously, there will be a local preference and I don’t do anything that’s high in demand. And often the companies I apply to have no foreigner quota.

I come here to ask for advice. What do I do? I cannot go home to Myanmar. I don’t have the option. There is no possible way to advance a career there at the current state, let alone find a job. I had the option of going to university in the UK until I decided over 20,000 pounds a year was way too much for a path I wasn’t even terribly excited about. My goal is to literally just support myself in Singapore, to pay for rent, food, survive, yanno?

Is there anyone on the same boat? Would appreciate any advice. I keep on applying to jobs, aiming for bigger companies but there isn’t a lot I qualify for although I think I have a decent portfolio and amount of experience. Thanks everyone.

Here are what netizens think:

• there are some jobs which ask for a specific language like Burmese, Thai etc.

• Startups might be a bit hard bc they do not have the resources to pay for and process the work passes with the current policy… once you get a job offer make sure your boss advocates for you or the pass might never get through!

• Most of my foreign diploma friends had to leave because of the work pass minimum pay requirement. Sadly it’s precise because foreign students were willing to take very low pay to stay in Singapore, so the entry-level pay as a whole fell. Certain industries were worse off as there were way more candidates than jobs available.

Buying a Rolex is a large expenditure but many people described it as an investment.

But there seems to be a grey area in local watch dealers that “forces” customers to buy a lower end model before they are allowed to buy better models.

Here is the story:

Just want to share my experience with a particular AD here in Singapore – it’s one of the biggest chains here. I got recommended by another AD which does not carry Rolex.

In order to be allocated any Rolex pieces, I’d have to buy an equivalent amount of watches of that particular Rolex piece’s market price. For example, for them to allocate me a Daytona, I’d have to spend $70K SGD (market price of a Daytona) on other brands they carry. There’s no “waitlist”, “relationship”, purchase history whatsoever.

I’m not surprised hearing this to be honest, with the current surge in demand for Rolex but… Is there anyone who does honest and fair business anymore in SG?

Here are what netizens think:

• Nope. That’s how ADs work in mainland China nowadays too. They don’t even care if you have previous purchase history or whatever. Want a Rolex? Sure you just have to buy it along with a bunch of undesired tudors from next door. I hope the ADs in the UK don’t become this blatant…

• I was at a Rolex AD on Orchard Road 2 months ago. The Boutique Manager blatantly asked me to buy a fugly diamond studded lady DJ circa 120K SGD before they would entertain the idea of putting on a waitlist for a sub…She further added that I should have gone back to the AD where I’ve got my 116505 which I was wearing at the time…… ADs are so arrogant these days!

• There are a lot of Singaporeans who have built up a massive purchase history, who regularly buy Rolex and other brands. They too want Daytona’s. From what I heard, you just need about 50k in your purchase history to qualify for allocation pieces. To qualify for popular non-allocation pieces, any recent purchase history is required.

• There goes my hopes of getting a submariner.. (I have almost 10k in recent purchase history with one of the bigger ADs in SG. Wonder how long I have to ‘wait’.

I’m currently 19 years old in poly doing an internship. Due to reasons, I currently am living in a rented place with my father over 60 years of age. He’s going to be out of his hawker job in a month, and we are getting evicted because the lease is ending in the next 2 weeks. He doesn’t own a house of his own, and I’m not legal enough to do so.

His CPF has less than 10k and his savings are unknown. It seems that he is counting on me to support him. I resent that, but will immediately start working after poly. I have no plans for further education.

I’ve tried appealing to HDB and they got back after 28 freaking days telling me they couldn’t help me, period. No BTO, no rent. I’m SOL.

So, I’m feeling pretty down right now. I’ve been in this situation since I was 16, and I feel beyond stressed and upset. Every year we pack up our stuff and move. I want to do a lot of things, but space is always an issue and I never get around to getting the equipment and doing them. I try to be positive, but I can’t see a good future and feel like no one can help me.

In any case, I’m appealing for advice. To make things feel less heavy. Is there any organization or people that can offer help?

I’ll try to get in contact with the relevant authorities and see if anything can be done, dragging old pop’s to meet the MP tomorrow.

“From now on I’m counting on you.” “There are other kids your age who are so good at talking.” “Do you know what to say to the MP later?” Yes, shove your 60 years of life experience and leech off a 19 year old.

As you can guess, the coronavirus is pretty bad for enterprises.

Many businesses have already thrown in the towel and I have no doubt that many more will go belly up before the crisis is over.

Many more may not be facing bankruptcy, but still face cashflow issues due to the previous lockdown period – you can’t complete jobs and earn revenue during this period, but still have to pay salaries and other fixed costs during this period.

I am struggling to make it with the pile of debts that dragged me since that period.

The gov aimed at extending credit to SMEs to protect local businesses and local jobs during this crisis..

This includes generous subsidies on loan programmes for SMEs. If you look at the MAS website or check out the websites of various banks, you’d think it’s pretty accessible – you can apply in as little as 5 minutes.

Bank Loans

But in my experience, not all banks are as helpful as they purport to be. One of the Big-3 banks I approached straight up replied to me that they’re only offering loans to businesses with annual turnover of half a million or more.

This automatically rules out most startups and small businesses. It’s bamboozling because there’s no credit analysis process – no 5Cs, no credit scores. They don’t care whether you’ve made a profit, they don’t care how long you’ve been in business, what your business model is, or whether you have ever defaulted on a loan.

If you’re not big enough, you’re not worth their attention, period. And they don’t even tell you this when they advertise for you to apply with them.

Now, I normally wouldn’t be so miffed about being denied credit. Banks tend to close their umbrellas during crises. That’s typical behaviour. What’s disgusting is to know that they’re suckling on the sweet teats of generous government subsidies – Ah Gong is bearing 90% of the risk of SME loans obtained during this period. I’m not sure how this subsidy is going to be passed down to SMEs. And they’re milking off the insincere PR by advertising all over that they “care” and profiteering over this crisis.

Now, I haven’t yet heard back from the majority of lenders. But seeing a Big-3 bank behave this way during a real crisis is utterly disheartening.

Just last week, I was approached by one of my friends who I had not heard from for a long time. He texted me saying how long it was since we last met and he wanted to meet up.

Knowing that he was an insurance agent, I told him upfront that I already had someone looking into my finances and I would meet him as a friend and not as a potential client. He agreed and so we met.

We had dinner at a restaurant at a mall nearby my place. Dinner went well and we caught up over the last five years that we had been apart.

And then it came. As we spoke about what had been happening so far, he started talking about how he was privileged to be put up for the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) and being one of the top earners every month in his firm, to which I congratulated him genuinely for.

He then asked if I was willing to trust him to review some of my financial and insurance plans. I said no and changed the subject, which he complied with.

However, as we talked about getting hitched, it started to Segue way back into how I should be planning for the future and whether (again) he could have his input in my financial and insurance plans.

Again, I repeated my stand and said I wasn’t interested, and reminded him that I was a friend not a client. He apologised again and switched the topic.

It wasn’t until we were talking about parents and how they were retiring that he began saying how important it was for me to look into their financial health, suggesting again that I can trust him with their plans.

That was the last straw for me – I looked at him and held my ground. No means no, and I really hope you can respect my decision as a friend.

He became very apologetic, and the rest of dessert became very brief. We said our goodbyes and I never heard from him again.

I’m all for celebrating success in your careers and how you’ve achieved your potential. But if this is how you attained it, I honestly feel for you.

If you choose to surreptitiously get business from people around you in the guise of friendship, you’re standing to lose a lot more than you’re gaining.

Please respect my choice and keep the friendship alive. But I still have faith that the industry is bigger and better than these methods, and I wish you good success and achievement in your career.

Hello friends, anon here, I need some help! Some background:

I’m an NSF who recently came into possession of a significant amount of money (around 100k), and now I need some advice as to how I should use it to not only keep up with inflation but also possibly grow the money.

My parents just told me to put it in a Fixed Deposit account at a big bank and leave it there until I ORD, but with interest rates around 0.5%, I’m not sure if it’s the best idea. I’m currently toying with the idea of using a robo-investor such as Stashaway to invest a small amount of the money (<10k) and see where it goes, but I’m not sure if this is even wise…

I intend to make use of a portion of the money for my University studies in about a year when I ORD. So I hope to grow the money before I have to even start using it, if even possible. I don’t really trust “financial advisors” from the big banks who try to sell endowment schemes so I came to reddit! Thank you!

Here are what netizens think:

• I think one of the number one thing you should take note of, is don’t tell anyone other than your parents about it. People will come to you to ask for any number of things from investing/partnering in their business, buying insurance or investment vehicles that don’t actually benefit you, or encouraging you to start a business. Don’t, just don’t. I’ve seen way too many instances of people rushing into “business” with their windfall.

• Putting it in a fixed deposit, or some roboadvisor just to earn some compounding rate without human error/exploitation factor seems like a good idea. Take the time in uni to learn about investing and practice with other sources of money. Once you finish, you can more actively invest with it, or to build a business with your extra years of experience.

• Your parents are right. Put it in a fixed deposit since you’re going to be using it for your uni soon. In the meantime, read up on more finance matters and don’t rush to any decision that makes your money hard to liquidate.

• Hi Sir, I’m a nigeran prince with an investment for you.

What he did with his money

Thank you everyone for all the advice given, right now I have most of the money in an OCBC FD account with 0.6% interest rate, maxed out my existing StanChart JumpStart account @ 1%, and I’m planning on putting a little (<$5k) into a roboadvisor. Meanwhile, I will try to save at least 60% of my NS allowance (which isn’t alot) and learn more before I do anything stupid with the money.

My former boss is overworking their employees. I formally resigned and found a new job but they won’t give me my required documents nor did he give my last payment.

The former company is severely understaffed. The boss doesn’t care if you can’t finish your heavy workload. Me and my former co-workers would work 7 days a week from 9am to 2am. Just to finish our work.

I formally resigned and they accepted. They didn’t give me my last pay check. The reason why they can’t pay me is there is no proof of work. But there is, it is all saved in the cloud and my co-workers are working on it. His favourite line is, “You are lucky to even have a job. There are so many jobless people right now.” He says this to everyone and every time. He wants you to feel proud by being a slave to his company.

As much as I want to punch him in the face, I always remained calm and never talk back. Because people like him has a huge ego and talking back would do more harm than good. Even as I resigned, he wished me good luck.

I found a more decent company that treats its employees like humans. But the former boss seems to be jealous or something. He didn’t reply to my request for my work documents.

What can I do to get my documents? Where can I report such unfair labour practises?

UPDATE:

1. Call finally went through my former evil boss. Passively aggressively pins the blame on me. Told me he tried calling and emailing me. But there is no record of this. He lied.
2. He still cannot issue me my paycheck because, again, he pins the blame on me because they cannot contact me. He sent me no email, text, nor call. So it is my fault he can’t pay me.
3. Current company understood the situation and waived the required documents.

Edited:

1. Already reported it to MOM.
2. However, can’t show them proof since my previous employer destroyed all evidence.
3. Employer has control of the chat, emails, and co-working software. All of our previous conversations, transactions and my resignation are all deleted.
4. I am a foreign worker. I work for the company remotely.
5. This company has an office in my country, but I work with the SG team.
6. Here is part of the contract where it says I cannot say anything BS about said company.

Edited out some details to prevent them from recognising me.

Hey all, Bit an about me. I’m 27, and moved to Singapore last year for work.

The excitement upon moving here was overwhelming, the life and cultural experiences I would gain, the professional advancement, the chance to travel.

I was finally getting rewarded for years of hard work with my company and given a chance to see the world and grow. It all sounded incredible. The reality, however, is that I felt isolated almost immediately.

I am relatively inexperienced in the specific field that I am now working in and I learned it really fast. I’ve been advancing quickly, but I have felt like an outsider the entire time.

My insecurities towards my professional life have made it extremely difficult to network and develop a friend group and have led me down a path of constant anxiety and depression.

Now, a bit of a backstory about me. When I was in college I tried my hand at online poker. Despite the fact that I had no bankroll management skills, I developed pretty quickly into a strong player.

I continued to play and play and play, always making loads and busting it all. I was lucky to cash out any amount. Anyways, I thought those days were long behind me until I moved out here.

To cope with anxiety and depression, I began gambling heavily out here. And I mean very heavily. On the weekends I would find myself at MBS or Sentosa playing blackjack for 1k a hand, betting sports online for several thousand…I have depleted all of the money that I’ve earned from my job, so I turned to money lenders.

I don’t gamble anymore, but I continually have to borrow in order to pay back existing lenders. It’s crazy to think that I make over 10k a month and can’t get a loan from an actual bank.

The interest rates on the money lender loans are killing me! I have talked with my parents and they can only offer their love to me.

This year I’m going to start seeing someone about my depressive thoughts and unhappiness. Work-wise, things are actually going well. I still very much feel like an outsider but I’ve been making great improvements despite the way I feel.

I really need help out of this deep dark hole, but the truth is I have no one to talk to or that will listen. I owe 19,800 in money lender loans, and I have 75 dollars in my bank account to make it until February. No idea what I’m going to do….anyways, thanks for reading and if anyone out there wants to chat I’m free.

Two Saturdays ago, my girlfriend and I were on leave. When the rain stopped, we decided to resume our original plan of visiting a few farms in the Kranji Area which our friends recommended.

We took a grab there and had a good time exploring the area. Our last stop was Bollywood Veggies where we had lunch at 2 pm. We were treated to a nice lunch platter of locally grown produce, spent a good few hours exploring the farm and finding out about the rich history of the place.

By then it was about 5 pm and the staff closed the gates. We were due for dinner with her parents back home at Bishan by 630 so all in good time.

We took out our phones and called for a grab. Ten minutes passed and no grab. “No worries let’s try Gojek” I said. My gf opened Gojek while I waited concurrently with my Grab app opened. Another ten minutes passed and still nothing.

Reluctantly we opened the Comfort Delgro app and hailed a cab at 33 bucks for the ride. We waited and waited…and still nothing! 30 min had passed.

I reasoned to my girlfriend that our best bet was to walk out to Lim Chu Kang Road and to try to either get a cab or bus. Worst case scenario being having to wait 45-50 min for a bus to CCK MRT, and then grabbing back from there. The entire journey would take us about 2 hours including the walk out. My girlfriend was upset but we had no other options.

We started walking along the main road. We passed a few farms, often having to jump out of the way of frustrated trucks coming behind us as there wasn’t pedestrian pavement. By this time, it was 6 pm and we were three quarters in with LCK Rd about 15 min away.

I told my gf to text her parents and apologise profusely that we would be extremely late. They better eat first – No way we could get back to have dinner with them.

As she was texting, I pulled her back onto the grass hearing an oncoming car from our backs. I saw a grey Toyota slow down considerately and waved him along with a smile. To my great surprise, he pulled up alongside us and the driver shouted “do you want a lift out!”

I was overjoyed. I shouted yes please and both of us hopped into the car. We started conversation and it turned out that Daryl (I didn’t get his name) worked in an ornamental fish farm with the office located at Kaki Bukit.

Of all days, Daryl was told by his boss to go check on inventory at the farm, which wasn’t even in his job scope! We had a Long and friendly chat about family, work, his children and Reservice.

Daryl apologised that he couldn’t bring us nearer home but asked if we were ok if he dropped us off at Jurong MRT. We told him that he could drop us anywhere he wanted.

When we reached Jurong MRT, I asked for his name and number so I could thank him properly. He said “no worries it’s a small thing, Glad I was there to help”. We took a grab back and managed to reach home by 635 pm in time for dinner with her parents.

Bro if you’re reading this, I never got your name and number but I wanted to express my heartfelt thanks. You saved me from an embarrassing situation and we managed to make it for dinner with her parents.

We could have been stuck at a bus stop in the pouring rain along Lim Chu Kang Rd had you not come. My girlfriend was especially moved because like most Singaporeans, you could have moved along and carried on your merry way.

Instead, you invited two strangers into your car and made a detour at your expense and time. Hope you made it in time for dinner with your family. We are extremely grateful for your selflessness and hope that others will emulate your spirit and example! Hope I can repay you in a small way if we ever cross paths again!