Working in S'pore is different from working in the States in many respects. Some companies here have probation period during which the employee can resign or employer can "release" the employee within 24 hours of notice. For some companies the period last as long as half a year! Some companies, mostly government agency, have five and a half day week. Most of the people I know turn the half a day into a full day anyway. The thing that bother me the most is the sick day policy, where you need something called medical certificate (or MC for short) from the doctor when you take sick days. In the States, we always joke about excuses such as dog ate my homework and needing a note from mom (or mum) when you are sick. When you are working, you are expected to be responsible and the company has the confidence in the employee that they will take sick days as they need to. In S'pore, that company will let you make important decisions while not trust you on taking sick days. In case I get sick, I will need to get up, get dressed, crawl to the nearest company approved doctor, get a MC, and crawl back home and get back in bed. It doesn't seem very single friendly.
In S'pore, clubs normally refer to country clubs instead of night clubs. Country clubs are very exclusive in S'pore. If I ever report on the country clubs in S'pore, you will know I have made it big 8-) But I doubt that it will ever happen 8-( About night clubs, which is normally referred to as pubs. Went to the pub called Europa in ANA hotel this past weekend. Very different crowd than the crowd at Hard Rock Cafe (HRC). A little background about HRC, it's located right off Orchard Rd. I have been to HRC in NY and Stockholm. I am not sure if they do this, but in S'pore, after 9:30p, they will fold up some of the tables and create a dance floor. I was there when Chris Issak performed on the HRC stage. The Straits Times ranked him second among all the concerts that week. I ranked him first because it was free! Unlike Europa where most of the customers are over 30s, HRC caters to people under 30. I myself find Europa kind of dull. In HRC, you see the youngsters doing hair-whipping neck-cracking head-banging dances. I lost my vision and hearing during my stay at HRC. I broke my glasses while jumping and dumping with the kids, and lost my hearing because the music was so loud 8-(
The other day, something funny happened. Four of us was walking down middle of a empty street. When a car was driving toward us, the S'poreans among us natually moved to the left. The newcomers from China simply moved to the right. I couldn't decide which group to follow thus was staring at the headlights of the approaching vehicle like a deer waiting to be pacified. Then instinct took over and, to my amazement, I jump to the left. Maybe one day I could become a S'pore after all, if I don't get injured staring at too many approaching headlights 8-)
Learn a few more things about driving in S'pore. Giving a finger to a fellow driver is an driving offense. Mooning another fellow motorist is considered indecent exposure. They can tag on "outrage of modesty" if it happens to be the opposite sex that's doing the complaining 8-) Find out about the penalty if you decide to perform the above acts on S'porean road.
I will end this week with ten things I like to see on SBC (S'pore Broadcasting Corp):
