Dear Gilbert,
I am an ardent follower of yours, and have a high amount of respect for what you are doing for the larger good of unemployed and under-employed Singaporeans.
I am extremely interested in this Cambodia position for IT Project manager, and I believe I have the relevant skill sets (PMP, ITIL Certified) and experience needed for the job, even if it means a meagre salary. I hope you forward my mail to the relevant good soul who is hiring, let me explain why.
I am a 36-year old BORN AND BRED Singaporean, with a Bachelors in IT from NUS, and Masters in IS from NTU; 12 years of IT experience in various MNCs such as IBM, Nokia (before they were sold to Microsoft) and Unilever in the IT Infrastructure and service delivery domain.
I relocated to Qatar in 2010, working for an Oil Company as project Manager, and I must admit I have opened up my eyes and expanded my horizons since my Overseas stint, but at the same time I feel very sorry for fellow Singaporeans who are caught in the daily Grind, constantly in fear of when their jobs will be snatched away from cheaper, better, faster 3rd-world foreign PMET in Singapore.
Over here in Qatar, I marvel at the way the Qatari government treats their locals versus the expats. Expats are a distinct 2nd class here, and we are talking about white collar expats, not even the blue collars.
Americans, British, Europeans, Asians, it doesn’t matter, we are all here in servitude to the Qatari economy, and the locals are king. We are never made to forget that this is not our country and that they are in charge. We can never become citizens, and once we reach retirement age, or when we are made redundant, that’s it we and our families can pack up and go. Non-negotiable.
Qatar has a program called Qatarization, which is basically catapulting young and able Qatari talents to fill in key PMET/managerial positions, and this is a national initiative pushed by the royals.
No, its a national priority.
Alot of expats have been and are being sent back because of this policy of giving these professional jobs back to the locals.
There is only one type of visa, residence permit, But though it sounds good, it is nowhere close to our SG PR system, whereby they are entitled to housing education, etc, almost on the same class as citizens. And over here, citizens means citizens. The government doesn’t try to paint a rosy picture by clumping PRs and locals together.
Moral of the story: I was a 2nd class citizen in my own Home country (SG) as a local, having lost my jobs to various outsourcing initiatives and cheaper FTs, and I am still 2nd class as an expat in Qatar.
I would like an opportunity to work in a frontier economy, and as Mr. Daniel said, live a more simplistic life.
I would like to work hard, get opportunities to further myself, learn new skills, make new contacts, and enrich my career. I would like to contribute meaningfully to the organic growth of a caring employer who won’t chuck me the moment a cheaper better faster FT comes along.
Renumeration is now the least of my priorities.
Please do assist to relay this mail to the poster of the job vacancy, hopefully can get to see further details of the JD.
I really admire what you are doing, and hope to be a part or at least a witness of your growing success. God bless.
Best Regards,
Raja
Transitioning.org - unemployment support services is a non-government organisation which provides coaching and counselling support to Singaporeans in employment transition. All our services are offered free of charge and operated solely by volunteers. Our core mission is to ensure that Singaporeans are hired first in our own country and accorded proper labour rights.