Early Work Experiences

 I joined Fujitsu Asia in 2006 after I graduated and I was bonded to them for 2.5 years because of the IDA scholarship that I obtained. The Fujitsu division I worked at was a fire fighting unit, it was constantly making losses and every project we took on we had to scrimp and save and everything was about money. When Lehmann Brothers recession came, my unit chopped heads all the way from a headcount of 100 to only 20. I quit after all my friends were axed.

After I quit my first company Fujitsu Asia in 2009, I joined DSTA in November 2009 and I really hated that place. Compared to Fujitsu which was another extreme, DSTA was a place where employees were entirely Singaporean, they enjoyed pseudo iron ricebowls and spent their time in the canteen chatting and politicking. It was so safe and protected, I was left fuming because nobody seemed to understand the hardship of working in the private sector where people could just get retrenched anytime and we had to work with all kinds of nationalities.

I quit DSTA and a headhunter hired me to work for a EDB-linked American-Danish-SG MNC startup named Greenwave in Jan 2010. I was the second employee to join the Singaporean division, and during my time there I really enjoyed myself because everything was fresh and new since we were starting from scratch. However, my American supervisor Vito Sansevero didn't like me and he made me resign after only three months. I was hoping to stay longer, but it just didn't work the way I wanted to.

In June 2010, I found a job with a local startup named SQLView, and they were a really nice environment with both Singaporean and foreign employees. I enjoyed working with my colleagues and they also treated me well. I did not stay there for long though, after six months I decided to start my own company instead. So I quit in December 2010 and in February 2011 I started my first sole proprietorship with ACRA.

From 2011 onwards till 2019, I spent my time collecting old laptops and PC parts and refurbished them with Bodhi Linux for non-profits. Money was scarce and I was constantly making losses. By the year 2014 I was in debt by around $30,000 and fortunately or unfortunately I had to depend on my extended family to bail me out. During these eight years, I kept on trying to apply for new salariable jobs with Singaporean companies, but I didn't get to stay on for more than six months at best.

• I joined MoE as an English and Mathematics teacher between Jul 2011 to Aug 2011, but I lost my job because they said I failed my chest x-ray tests. Apparently, I was suffering from a condition known as elevated left hemidiaphragm and MoE said I would not be able to stay on as a teacher.
• I joined IIa Technologies, a lab grown artificial diamond manufacturer through a placement by WDA, but they made me quit after one week because they said I was not a right match.
• I joined IRAS to be a call centre operator, but they made me quit after one week's training, because they said that I might be suffering from mental health conditions and wanted me to take care of myself.
• I joined LGA Telecom as a graveyard shift call center helpdesk officer, I managed to stay on for six months. I quit eventually, I didn't have an excuse for quitting, but I just felt that I was going bonkers. By this time, I think my mental health condition was starting to show breakdowns.
• I joined Incall Systems, a call centre that took on Health Promotion Board outsourcing needs, and during my time there they felt that my family was in bad shape and advised me to quit to look after my family.
• I joined Prime Society, a restaurant at Dempsey Hill, where I washed dishes aided with a dishwasher.

Because I could not stay on in a fixed job for more than six months, I had huge gaps in my employment, which I accrue to my role in running my startup business. When the year 2019 came, my aunt told me to stop searching for these ill fated jobs and asked me to help her out for her engineering business. I was already driven up the wall and was feeling a sense of hopelessness, so I agreed.

I am still helping out my aunt in her engineering business, the pay is not spectacular, but for the past four years I managed to save and earn a little money to pay for some bills. However, as she is also old already and preparing to close shop and retire, and I am not knowledgeable enough to take over her business, I have to find a new job sooner or later. I hence tidied up my CV and prepared to apply for new jobs.

In the past three years, I found a job in 2021 working as a factory operator at Ang Mo Kio called Meiban. The job was really good, the pay was by hour at S$8 and I learned new things while I was there. I enjoyed the colleagues I met too, even though some came from foreign countries, but there were also several female colleagues from Singapore and I really liked the company. This year i.e. 2023, I founded a freelancing job with a elder care startup named Homage and I signed up for their training programme. The pay was really good i.e. $17 per hour, but I injured myself - aggravating an old back injury when I was practising lifting a patient from the bed to the wheelchair.

In summary, I tried out a lot of part-timing and freelancing jobs throughout my career and I am at my wits' end. I feel like finding a full time job but I don't know where to start, hence I contacted Workforce SG for help. The good news is that I am not in any major debts and I neither own a car nor have children or spouse to look after, so my concern is at most to look after my retiree parents and my aunt whom I am still working with.

I also feel like tang ping, i.e. doing totally nothing and waiting for my parents to die. To me, this is the more viable path and this is why I posted this wall of text, because I feel that the more I do, the more trouble I get myself into. Instead, the less I do, the less problems I create. Yet, I can't tell my family elders that this is my masterplan, because it would seem so unfilial to them if I wish them to die so that I can stop worrying.