'Hey Mark, if you work there one week not happy, you can always come back...'
That was what he said to me before I left SPH.
And that was what it happened... literally.
It was a job from hell.
And that was an understatement.
It suffered an entire one week ordeal and no, it wasn't due to hard work. As I am typing this post, I had just completed a fifteen and half hours of work (kinda reminded me of FDS RP days) on Thursday. Mind you, this is only my fourth day at work. I originally thought it was the peak period.
No it wasn't.
Next I thought it could probably be because I was new and there was much to learn.
No, it was only part of the tale.
Don't get me wrong, I am not daunted by those difficult presences - however, there is this quiet resentment that fueled my decision to get the shit out of there as it dawned on me that the bosses I am working under indulged itself in deception, verbal abuses, pay-deduction threats, profanities, personal grudges, cheating, immoral attitude, zero ethics, pettiness, childishness and most importantly, exploitation at the most inhumane level. I have run out of adjectives to slander the firm, but this experience taught me a very important lesson in life - don't ever fight for a lost cause.
I remembered Guiding Star was a lost cause, but at least, I had never regretted my decision, unlike this time round. The experience in GS is somewhat like an expensive movie ticket that is probably better off purchasing on pirated VCD and this job is like paying for a damn bloody boring movie and ended up sleeping. Really waste time waste money.
I guess I have learnt it well from the course of my life to make this a good, hasty decision. If it was me previously, I would have been dumb enough to linger longer.
During my interview, my lady boss blatantly lied under her nose. It was probably that of those classic cases where the 'management' weaved an incredible story to induce the so called naive young adults - who have yet to seen the much of this multi-facet society or the precarious corporate world - into working for them and exploit intensively.
I was told that the job was 0830 - 1730 (standard 8 hours work and 1 hour lunch break) with alternate Saturday off. It was also mentioned that if I wanted to further my studies, it is probably the job for me as the timing is good for night classes.
The truth is: I was expected to start work before 0830 (I start about 0820) and my upper study told me to fork out 12 - 14 hours everyday, as she has worked her ass off everyday until 2030 - 2230. And yes! That was just a freaking normal day and by sheer logics of it, the timing is simply impossible for any form of part time study. To my horror, there was three freaking months she had to worked from 0830 to 0000 - 0030. And There was no alternate Saturday off - it was a working day for ALL Saturday.
No OT.
No taxi claims.
No MC claims.
And to further disgust me, I was told by my colleagues that in this company, they are into this practice: mistakes MADE my employees were told to compensate the company.
OMFG! My upper study shared a case where a group of people each paid $770 because of some arrangement mistake. Being new to the company has no mitigating effect of the sentence and there is no second chance.
You mean any cost is bore by the employee and any profit are kept by the company? This is fucking ridiculous - reminded me of pre-Singapore independence era where the coolies are exploited in similar sense by Chinese company.
And the lunch break is merely a pseudo-break; everybody is expected to lunch-in (lunch is bought by temp staff - a young bubbly girl whose parents is actually the owner of the very famous bak chor mee of Bedok Blk 85) and lunch, in reality, is nothing more than 10-15 minutes.
I seriously wondered if there's any breach of the Employer's Act and if I was pissed enough to stay longer, I will probably contact MOM with regards to this matter.
In retrospect, the 'one big family' image of SPH etched into my mind everyday when I felt the exploitation there. Peter's management style spoilt me deeply because now that I have gotten used to his leadership, it would be hellva difficult to find another boss of his caliber. In fact, if he's the benchmark for 10/10, my current bosses would fall under a dismay 3.5/10 (I am being pretty objective here, thus I am not giving a flat zero).
Pathetic because they cannot earn my respect. I had to address my boss as Mr Soh and was cautioned not to address by his name. Wtf sia? My ex-boss from SPH is a freaking VICE PRESIDENT OF SPH BRANDING AND PROMOTION, which is like how many freaking times more powerful than he is and everybody addressed him by Pete. Even the young ones (IN-Crowders) calls him by his name... zzz
I swore I will think twice about small nepotism/family business.
Now is back to job hunting.
P.S: Will upload memories of SPH when I get back my CPU from Wood Doctor.
Cheers
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