Interview: Ex-civil servant now earns only half his previous salary after being being sacked

Interview with a 38-year-old ex-civil servant who used to earn $8500 but now works in Cambodia for half the salary

Transitioning: First of all, thanks for allowing us to interview you online and can you provide us with some background information about yourself?

Linus: I am a 38-year-old Singaporean, currently living and working in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as a Director of Business Development with a Singapore-owned company. Until the middle of 2014, I was government officer, and my last appointment was Senior Assistant Director at one of the Ministries.

I was forced to resign from the Ministry following an incident where one of my subordinates was charged for alleged CBT, and my superiors thought someone had to take the fall for the failure to discover and report the breach. I found myself out of a job for six months following my resignation, and I was lucky to have met my current employer, and here I am in Cambodia.

Transitioning: You have told me that you were unemployed for a few months, can you tell us more about this and also your job search experience?

Linus: It’s never easy to be out of a job in Singapore, especially in such a challenging economic climate. I had to rely on savings that both me and my wife had painstaking built over the past 13 years. I had written to a number of foreign-owned and local companies only to hit a wall each time as they came up with all sorts of excuses, from me being ‘overly-qualified’ for some of the positions I’d applied for, or that they were still “interviewing other candidates”. There were even a few who out-rightly said I was above their budget based on my last drawn salary without even asking what I was expecting, and then I was shown out of the room (literally).

Transitioning: During the period that you were jobless for more than six months, what did you do in order to survive? Did you also approach the CDC for assistance?

Linus:  I didn’t approach the CDC but instead relied on savings. I was originally confident of getting a job based on my qualifications and experience, and thought our savings could see through a couple of months while waiting. What I didn’t count on was a prolonged job search.

There were times when I found myself not even having $10 in my pocket for meals outside because I would rather save and spend the money on other necessities. I didn’t go out and meet people and became a sort of a semi-recluse, often locking myself at home and having instant noodles for lunch.

Transitioning: Did you attend any interviews during those few months and why do you think you were unsuccessful?

Linus: I think the reason why I had not been successful in finding jobs while in Singapore is because it’s just too competitive when you have locals and foreigners chasing after the same basket of jobs in a challenging economic situation.

There are 2 areas in which local Singaporeans lose out to the foreign candidate, in my opinion: (1) some foreigners, especially those from the Philippines, China and India are able to accept lower salaries for the same job roles
and responsibilities; (2) in the case of Caucasian FTs, I think there is still very much a “colonial mentality” where local bosses will think the “ang moh” possesses more superior skills, while the foreign employer simply doesn’t bother with local candidates.

Of course, that’s only my view.

Transitioning: Tell us a bit more about what you have learnt from your jobless experience and how it has impacted your family.

Linus: Remember that old adage “save up for a rainy day?” Guess what, it’s a myth. We had quite substantial savings, but because of the ridiculous and ludicrous living expenses in Singapore (I can say that now comparing the lifestyle I am enjoying in a seemingly “less developed” country),  unless you had a million dollars in your savings, I’d say it doesn’t help much, because these days, we don’t know how long  you have to remain unemployed for.

It was stressful for me and the wife. We try not to discuss hardship in front of the kids, but the kids can sense something is wrong — they’re usually sensitive to such things.
 

Transitioning: What do you think you could have done to shorten the unemployment period?

Linus:  Nothing much except wait and hope for the best.

Transitioning: Do you think that Singapore is now a more difficult place to make a living?

Linus: Yes, definitely.