its an entire culture. We absorb the bad of the Japanese culture
of doing OT.
Unfortunately, the Govt chose not to tell you, that Japanese white
collar workers get OT pay, and that's the motivation why they OT
like nuts.
I doubt the Govt wants to change it, because like I said, its
beneficial to them.
Advertisement on Singapore Workers
"Come to Singapore to open your company. We offer companies workers
with the following attributes:
- Can terminate them anytime as long as you give them 1 month's
notice, and don't need to give any reasons
- They are lowly paid as compared to other developed economies, yet
highly productive
- They can do overtime without any overtime pay"
Judging from the above, if they seek to make life better for us, is
to make life difficult for them
So my suggestions are as follows for the current outlook:
- Keep those conditions if they want (lowly paid, terminate
anytime), so that they attract investments, but work on killing the
culture of overtime. (In many foreign companies, the bosses
actually kick you out of the office, the moment knock off time
arrives). Don't make people feel guilty about leaving on time.
Instead make people feel guilty about doing overtime. People should
OT ONLY IF they need to, and not becoz they want to show the boss
they are 'working'.
- Push the new culture of working from home. Allow people to work 4
days office, 1 day at home. Make it happen, not just talk.
- Lower the cost of living. I feel our costs of living is
exceedingly high, and with lower costs of living -> lower
demands of pay.
