No O levels, but he earns $4,000 a month

last SG · 2010-03-19T13:45:46+00:00

remebers picking up money in a big field when i was in primary school.all those dumb classmates of mine by the hundreds run around the big field and all thei...

eagle SG

Ok, you might say it's propaganda at work. I'm just posting the news I saw:

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http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20100319/a28.jpg

FOR upwards of 12 hours every day, Mr Abdul Rahim Muhamed Rashid sits alone in his 20th-storey 'corner office'.

The place is small, no bigger than the inside of a Toyota Camry, but the 23-year-old says that he does not leave it except for emergencies.

He has a little fridge in there for drinks, a small radio for company and some plastic bags and newspapers to take the place of the toilet.

'It takes 10 minutes for me to climb up there, and I'm young. The older ones take longer. So we don't go up and down when we don't have to. We do everything in the cabin,' he says.

His job involves using the crane to pick up building materials from the ground and hoist them to where they are needed. 'It's a little bit like playing a computer game,' he notes.

But that is perhaps the only upside to it. Long days, isolation and some very questionable toilet habits are all part of the life of a tower crane operator, he says.

And it is clear why people like Mr Abdul Rahim - Singaporeans working in construction - are becoming an endangered species.

Indeed, if not for having dropped out of school at Secondary 4 because of financial problems, he does not know if he would have strayed into the field.

'Before doing this job, I was delivering pizzas. I saw a newspaper ad which said that a company was willing to sponsor a crane operator course for workers so I thought I would go and try it out,' he says.

He was selected to attend the week-long course. He passed the theory and practical tests and has not looked back since.

He started as a tower crane operator in 2008 and eight months later took a government grant for another course on how to operate a different crane.

He does not intend to stop there.

'If I have the ability to operate many different cranes, I am more flexible. If there are no jobs for a tower crane operator, maybe I can work as a crawler crane driver,' he says. A crawler crane has tracks and can therefore be driven around easily.

He admits that it will not be easy getting Singaporeans to do the job, especially those with higher education and options.

'It's hard work and a lonely life. And we work very hard seven days a week. Your girlfriend needs to be very understanding,' he jokes.

But with a monthly salary of around $4,000 including overtime and the prospect of making up to $6,500 as he gains experience, he isn't about to give it up.

'There are not that many opportunities for people of my qualifications to earn this kind of salary.'

Rock^Star SG

that isn't working very smart, is it? the income goes when the body goes.

eagle SG

It depends on what he do with the extra savings, which I won't comment.

It's for those who sit in front of the computer and complain the whole day that their salary is too low to sustain a normal life in Singapore.

Rooney9 SG

that isn't working very smart, is it? the income goes when the body goes.

u think people dun want easy life and sit in office earning big bucks meh.

Rock^Star SG

haha well he's only 23, so his body can afford it. And yeh, if only o levels, that's pretty good $$.

eagle SG

It's good training for his Standing Broad Jump!

soul_rage SG

I concur with you laddie.

Far too many people sit around and complain, but do absolutely nothing to change the situation they are in.

As I said, sometimes I blame our own fellow countrymen than the govt, for the situation that Singapore is in. If everyone had bothered to exercise their votes with proper deliberation, and vote with their hearts, than to vote for the PAP because they (1) cannot care less, (2) due to unfounded fears, (3) spoil their votes, we would not be in this situation where policies have become so liberal to the foreigner.

Sometimes, we only have ourselves to blame. How many forumers here complain about the govt all day long, but end up secretly voting for the PAP when the time comes?

soul_rage SG

It depends on what he do with the extra savings, which I won't comment.

It's for those who sit in front of the computer and complain the whole day that their salary is too low to sustain a normal life in Singapore.

PSA crane operators earn about this rate as well, adding in overtime. For a blue-collar job, a crane operator's take-home pay is actually pretty similar to a white-collar job.

Not to mention that they are protected by a union that does have a bit of teeth.

Rooney9 SG

I hope the FT dun come in here to snatch his ricebowl and job as a crane operator in future. keep fingers crossed.

the Bear SG

I concur with you laddie.

Far too many people sit around and complain, but do absolutely nothing to change the situation they are in.

Sometimes, we only have ourselves to blame. How many forumers here complain about the govt all day long, but end up secretly voting for the PAP when the time comes?

i wager a lot of them come from the same idiots who rant against the MIW...

btw.. spoiling a vote is still making a statement.. that they do not appreciate the incumbent... and cannot in good faith vote for the opponent... they made their choice that none of the people standing is good enough...

for the enemy of your enemy may not be your friend...

and just because candidate one is horrible, doesn't mean that candidate two isn't...

in the end, if people depended on politicians for their personal welfare and happiness, they kinda deserve whatever shit the politician scumbag wring them for...

ultimately, politicians are all parasites... they need us but we, the people, if we are mature enough, don't need them at all..

Atobe SG

i wager a lot of them come from the same idiots who rant against the MIW...

for the enemy of your enemy may not be your friend...

and just because candidate one is horrible, doesn't mean that candidate two isn't...

in the end, if people depended on politicians for their personal welfare and happiness, they kinda deserve whatever shit the politician scumbag wring them for...

ultimately, politicians are all parasites... they need us but we, the people, if we are mature enough, don't need them at all..

" btw.. spoiling a vote is still making a statement.. that they do not appreciate the incumbent... and cannot in good faith vote for the opponent... they made their choice that none of the people standing is good enough... "

This is the bankrupt value of a fence sitter who is only a determined “narcissist” - preferring to keep to the status quo - even as its own standard is no better then anyone around itself.

Is it any surprise that it prefers to continue with its role of a ‘Drama Queen’ - to be addicted to the dramas that it will perpetuate so as to justify its position as a permanent “narcissist” ?

FireIce SG

mr fwen got offer oso

7k /mth

charlize SG

What's the starting pay now for fresh uni grads?

$4k?

the Bear SG

What's the starting pay now for fresh uni grads?

$4k?

dunno.. you got to vet your answer through the tinpot wannabe dictator atobe up there.. else you're his enemy and he has saved up lines to copy and paste against whatever post you have...

Atobe SG

dunno.. you got to vet your answer through the tinpot wannabe dictator atobe up there.. else you're his enemy and he has saved up lines to copy and paste against whatever post you have...

Why will the resident ‘Drama Queen’ - who prefers to be a “narcissist” at the same time - even bother about the opinions formed by others ?

Pessimist fence sitters - who will accuse others of being "tinpot wannabe dictators" - can only be as bad as those who can only advocate and promote the idea of "casting blank votes to make a statement".

What kind of statements can a blank vote make - except to express the hollow and impotent statement from a hopelessly helpless and bankrupt mind ?

It was the blank votes cast in the Referendum of 1962 that allowed LKY to carry the day - with his false offer to allow blank votes to be counted in favor of those who oppose the merger with Malaysia - which allowed LKY to avoid further publicity and closer scrutiny to the 3 non-choices in a falsely conducted Referendum.

Can the political values of The Bear be trusted in its advocacy of 'blank votes' - considering its preferred politically neutered position ?

Wmyongj SG

Read btw the lines. It is the spirit and the motivation for a better living that this guy is going for the job. Do you believe what the govern say that Singaporean are lazy and not motivated to justify for the import of more foreigners after reading this story?

Is this only an isolated case of how Singaporean desire for better life and are taking jobs like these?

No..obviously, there are many more Singaporean who are taking on jobsif given the chance. At least, I am working in a -30c place where my PRC colleagues are surprise at how we Singaporean can survive in places even the local shuned.

Rock^Star SG

atobe, you make too much personal attacks. Stop repeating for goodness sake la. Focus on the issue.

charlize SG

If they offered Singaporeans $2k a month for construction, I am sure there will be takers.

You offer to pay less than $1k, how to survive?

eagle SG

What I want to say is, opportunities are all over the place. It's easy to complain because it requires virtually no work. But to identify opportunities, you have to be thinking and looking for it constantly. Most people don't do it.

There's this story of this person who constantly look out for money to pick up from the sides of the road. And it so happens that this person really did pick up coins and notes very frequently. As for me, when I was young, I was always into the vending machine change returning area... and I remembered I found coins inside quite frequently... This is not to tell you to go do this all the time... My main message is that one has to open their eyes to see opportunities waving at them.

Rock^Star SG

how come i never found any? lol