Daily Lessons from Life 27 October 2013 - Are Young Singaporean Workers Worth Their Salts?

No news headlines to comment on as I was very intrigued by a discussion at last night dinner with some foreign and Singaporean friends that got picked up this morning with my kid and wife.

The topic is: Are Young Singaporean Workers, WHITE COLLAR ones, worth their salts?

The trigger: The mother of a 25-year old who worked in big project in a friend's company came to the office and 'accused' the company of over-working the kid. The last straw was supposed to be the denial of 'leave application' to join the family for a planned holiday!

My questions are:

1. did the 25-year old knew that his mother was going to pick 'his' fight for him?;
2. was my friend's company being unreasonable as to deny a mother from enjoying the company of her kid and her whole family on a holiday?;
3. should the 25-year old be, in the words and view of my friend, more 'cooperative and responsible' towards the big 'urgent' project and gracefully, or even gladly, told his mother that 'work is MORE important' since he just started this job recently?;
4. is the 25-year old WRONG if he himself felt that it was UNREASONABLE not to be given his 'entitled' leave to be with his family for a planned holiday? (I am assuming even though he is new to this job, he had stayed long enough to earn his 'entitled' leave. Otherwise there is really no case formally. Yes?)

My takes, without the full knowledge of WHY the mother did what she have done, are:

1. she probably had gone overboard with her action IF the kid is NOT really VERY unhappy with the 'denial of leave application' due to the urgency and importance of the project, she has done the wrong thing for sure.

However, IF the kid is TRULY unhappy with this 'unreasonable denial of leave application' for a 'planned' holiday, had my friend's company acted 'reasonably'?

Must it come to this sad state of affairs? Could they NOT had worked something out?

Notes: the kid RESIGNED in the end, which is hardly surprising though my son felt that he could have stayed on IF the company and his colleagues just take it as 'it was his mother who acted that way and NOT his doing'. The kid would be truly extraordinary if he can live it down!

2. are the Young Singapore white collar workers, university educated and graduates from one of the world BEST educational system being too self-righteous, overly demanding and 'self-centered with heavy entitlement mentality'?

My foreign friends who are leaders/managers of foreign and Singaporean white collar workers felt that the YOUNG Sinaproean white collar workers DO have all the 'negative' or 'not so positive' attributes I described above. In fact, while they acknowledged that this is the 'expected demands of the advance nations like in the USA, UK and France, etc', they felt the kids are PICKING up the 'bad' or 'wrong' standards!

How SHOULD the workers of a 'first world nation' like Singapore behave then? Is pursuing work-life balance a misguided target?

Looks like Singaporean white collar workers have to be: hungry as a 3rd world citizen, paid (hopefully) like a 1st world worker and must be without the 'bad' 1st world habit of 'entitlement'. i.e. an Uniquely Singaporean White Collar Worker. In the words of one of the many Minister without portfolio in the Prime Minister Office: Faster, Better, Cheaper. To which I will add: "work smarter and harder;hi and not necessarily get paid higher UNLESS you are government ministers"!

Is that what we want? Can there be a middle ground or compromise? Maybe more debates and discussions on this topic in the near future? :-)