I cannot brain my HR and boss anymore. Today town hall meeting, someone asked if we can do remote work from Bangkok or JB for just a few days to clear leave. Our HR Director, with her brightest, most fake corporate smile, straight up said: “Oh, due to tax implications, insurance compliance, and corporate governance, all hybrid/WFH arrangements MUST be strictly done within Singapore borders. No exceptions.”
Wah, sound so professional, so legitimate right? Tax implications my foot.
Then you look at our Malaysian team members—the beloved Jiuhu Kias. Half of them haven’t stepped into the SG office since Chinese New Year! One guy has been “WFH” from his kampung in Ipoh for three months straight, eating cheap food and living like a king, while drawing SG dollar salary. Another one regularly updates his Instagram stories with cafe hopping in KL during “core office hours.”
When we ask boss why they can do it, boss will say: “Oh, they are on Malaysian, so it’s different.”
HELLO? Different head your potato. We do the exact same workload, support the exact same clients, and suffer under the same deadlines. But because I hold a pink IC and pay rent/mortgage in the most expensive city in the world, I must lock myself in my 4-wall HDB flat or squeeze like sardine in the MRT to show “face time.” Meanwhile, they can stay with parents, enjoy low cost of living, and bypass all your bloody “compliance rules.”
Why everything also Singaporean must suck thumb and follow regulation, but when it comes to foreign talent or regional staff, suddenly HR compliance becomes very flexible? The double standard is damn real. Next time just say you want cheap labor with perks lah, don’t need to use “corporate governance” to gaslight us.
Limpeh is seriously done. Time to update LinkedIn. CB.