Are you local?

Case 1

I was annoyed; aggravated and infuriated when that was one of the questions that employers and job recruiters asked during one of the recent career fair that I have attended. It’s kind of irritating for sure! Imagine yourself at a Career Fair and you know that your main intention is to source for new job opportunities. Not to continuously explain to interviewers that you are a Singaporean.  Just which part of me is so foreign or non-native? Looks? It can’t be the way I talk?

“We do not have any position which suits you. Most of the positions are for Singaporean.” What an arrogant remark from one of the Ambassador of one of the well known companies in the gadgets and technology industry. Her rude and sarcastic tone and obviously her body language tell me that she was not interested to interview a foreigner. (I am not!!!)

If anyone wasn’t interested to even give a chance to a foreigner to apply for a job, then wouldn’t it be better to inform during the registration that this is only meant for Singaporean. How do tell that someone is not local? Am I being stereotype as a foreigner and not local? The way I look? The length of my hair? The way I behave? The way I converse? The standardized conception or image? I was taken aback and appalled by her comments. I almost wanted to ask her for her name. Of ‘course I wanted to lodge a complaint against her. She was not professional which in result it has reflected a bad image on the prestigious company.

Case 2

I was in the public transport when a man approached me and asks me, “Hi excuse me, are you a Filipino?” I looked at him and said No and continued playing my Iphone application.

“I thought you are” (Even if I am so what?”)

If that was a pickup line, it was definitely lame and lousy. As I was concentrating on beating my own high score, the same guy held my hand. In shocked and disgust, I pulled my hands away and told him off and made my way off his view. Did I just portray myself as cheap that anyone can just touch me in order to get my attention? Squeezing himself close to me and depriving me of space in the bus…What is wrong with people nowadays?

Case 3

My Aunt, Nana wanted to have pizza for dinner and I offered to takeaway some for dinner at her place. Such a sweetheart! The Pizza hut branch in Bedok is so secluded and withdrawn. It is located at the far end of the interchange. As I made my way in to the counter, a Malay lady welcomed me and began taking my orders. As she starts talking, she was trying her best to converse with me in her Tagalog lingo. She tried hard to ensure that I understand what she was asking me. (Can you just being stupid?”) How provoking! If you see an Indian lady walking in, will you still change your Lingo? How about a Chinese then? Who do you think you are? Or are you just trying to be Russell Peters in the making? Just what are you trying to prove to me?

Case 4

On one of the nights after doing my groceries shopping for my mum, I could sense that someone was following me on my way home. After a while, a Bangladeshi man introduces himself to me and persistently asks for my number.

“You Filipino? Give me your number please? We friend. Friend. I call you”

This guy keeps on trying his luck with a hope that I will give him my number. Continuous and endless! As he gets closer to me, I warned him. Don’t he dare get any closer to me! Upon realizing that I am local, he apologized and walked away from me. Arghh…Funny or what!

Conclusion: With the increasing number of foreign talent coming into Singapore, e.g. from The Philippines, Republic of China, etc, are we welcoming them in? If we are, why such “discrimination” is happening in such career fairs? Or is the career fair meant for only Singaporean mainly? Even if that is the case, it is your responsibility to be professional as you are the ambassador representing your organization? How does this reflect on foreign talents? For I have heard a lot of negativity about this issue mostly on complaints and negative feedbacks. Most are complaining that many of the positions are being filled up by foreigners and positions given to them are unsuitable. For example, a worker taking up a cashier job should know how to communicate with a customer using good English or should I say simple English which every one of all races should understand? I have seen cases by which a cashier who is not local does not even know how to converse in simple Basic English? Why was she even given the job then? A front liner should be approachable and informative. I don’t really see that nowadays. Monopolist? Soon it will be….