A Singaporean’s struggle in home country: Job insecurity and foreign preference in the workforce

by Henry

I’m a Singaporean degree holder who will be almost 40 this year.

In December 2021, I was retrenched during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the toughest year for me.

However, that’s obviously not the case for some in Singapore.

I have a sister-in-law who is Malaysian and got married to my brother last year.

She apparently got hired at a local bank because she knew her boss (the branch director) and his wife, who are also Malaysians Despite lacking the proper qualifications for an IT job.

I think she got the job because the boss she knows hired her.

Now, she’s earning close to 6K per month, whereas previously, she was working in Singapore as a sales promoter and earning below 2K. I couldn’t help but think this is unfair to Singaporean workers.

Out of desperation, I approached my Malaysian sister-in-law and asked if she could ask her boss to recommend me for a job in the bank.

However, things did not turn out well. I snapped when I was rejected, as she claimed that her boss only wanted to employ Malaysians and believed they were more hardworking than Singaporeans.

I snapped because I had to ask a Malaysian to help me look for a job in Singapore when I am a Singaporean.

She also claimed that recent promotions in her bank branch were all Malaysians as they tend to work beyond working hours without reimbursement, but Singaporeans tend to complain about working beyond office hours without pay.

When I asked my sister-in-law why, she told me that if there is unfinished work, it would be counted as your own fault and you will not be eligible to claim for overtime pay. However, Malaysians tend to work overtime without overtime pay, and thus, they were promoted.

To me, I see this as simply unfair exploitation. For the next few months, I went to various interviews, and apply for various jobs through portals like my careersfuture.sg but to no avail.

The truth is, most HR interviewers and managers I came across are also Foreign talents. I was wondering why all these jobs went to foreigners instead of Singaporeans.

To me, being hardworking is one thing.

The truth is, that employers will always tend to exploit when they can make workers work more without paying.

For Malaysians, they have nothing to lose.

Back in Malaysia, SGD 300-400K can allow them to buy a Porsche, a condominium in Kuala Lumpur or a bungalow with land outside of KL.

Moreover, Malaysians can bring back their earnings and have a 3.5X boost while converting to ringgit. With a much lower cost of living, Malaysians can work in Singapore and then retire rich in Malaysia with a bungalow, land, and a car.

However, in Singapore, 300-400K can barely allow us to buy a cramped-up resale 3-room HDB, and it seems retirement is not feasible at all for the majority of Singaporeans. So what is there for Singaporeans to look for here when our jobs are being snapped up by foreign talents?

Currently, I work various odd jobs to sustain as I have a house, wife and ageing parent to support. Ironically, I got a part-time job at an overseas IT company.

The government always says they need foreign talents to fill in the gaps with the jobs that Singaporeans are not willing to do – such as cleaners, heavy machinery, or construction jobs.

Moreover, I see foreigners being promoted to managers, directors, and even CEOs. In many other countries, such positions are culturally reserved for locals, but Singapore does the contrary.

I also see a disproportionately high number of fit Singaporeans of working age (25-50) doing Grab deliveries. So, has our education failed? Why aren’t all these people working in proper jobs?

What is there for Singaporeans to consider Singapore as their home country when more and more employers are now foreign talents who only want to employ non-citizens?

This letter was submitted through Gutzy’s contact form and edited for clarity with permission from the letter submitter.