Kopi-o, milo, or me. This is the question I pose for myself this
morning.
Life as an academic for the first 20 years of my life was
straightforward. Grab the A’s, deprive your classmates of them, and
you are smooth. Still, for some miserable reason, I always chose to
mingle with my Polytechnic colleagues and acquaintances whenever I
get to choose between my JC classmates and uni friends. There was
like, a line drawn that separates people all the time into two
classes, and always I choose the borderline when I see it.
Facing a choice of sec school, everybody wanted the top 20, I
purposely chose the 21st, Anderson Sec (shortform A.S.S.). For JC,
everybody wanted the top 5, I purposely chose the 6th, Anderson JC.
For NS, my entire bunk of JC students went into a Logistics unit
where their science knowledge could be applied. I did not choose,
was chosen into a policy making unit where ironically, I work with
a funny group of ITE and Polytechnic NSFs. Even the non-uniformed
staff were from Poly. This borderline behaviour stretched until my
university, when for some god-damned reason, my family urged me on
to take on a scholarship which I didn’t want. Scholars were evil,
or so I thought.
When I went into my company, all my supervisors came
ironically.. from Poly! Not a single one needed a scholarship to
enter Management.
Something was seriously wrong, I imagine.
These days, I am seeing more and more undergrads and graduates.
The ITE goers want to enter Poly, the Poly goers want to enter Uni,
and the Uni grads, f***! I have to go up right, so I took a
Postgrad, as if I did not have enough of education. Yet, despite
all the upgrading, the companies I am working for, are becoming
smaller and smaller and my pay packet did not increase, it
decreased instead.
My first company was a Jap MNC, then a American rich startup
where the CEO drives a Ferrari, then a 20-year old Singapore
established business, and now, today, I have an interview with a
company operated by two high flyers in the industry. But still,
from the company webpage, the company with only 5 years of history,
is ringing an alarm in me that seems to suggest that pedigree and
heritage no longer matters any more. I will not say I am right or
wrong, but.. so long as the management can pay the salary.
The China attachment student, 23 years of age, who worked not
under, but with me at my previous company, is exploring options to
return to Singapore for a Postgrad too. In her words, her fine
interest lies in Finance and not IT, which she tried an
unsuccessful track conversion. She took International Politics for
her degree, if I recall correctly.
I imagine that the purpose why all these under 25 year olds
exist, is so that they make my heart pinch itself, and with that
spark of pain, and grief, sometimes I will reveal to them that I
too have no solutions for myself, let alone you. Still, let us see
what we can do to minimise all the running between China and
Singapore. It is not for you, but it is all in the name of
conserving aero-fuel.
