Singaporean friend shares story of “$8000 a month to $8 an hour” over a bitter cup of coffee with Jeffery Khoo

Below is a Facebook post by Mr Jeffery Khoo, candidate for PSP's West Coast GRC team, who contested with Dr Tan Cheng Bock and Non-Constituency Members of Parliament Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa.Approaching the year's end, I caught up for kopi with a Singaporean friend who lived just a few blocks away. Here is the disturbing experience she shared.A few years ago, this friend was a manager in a Multi-National Company (MNC). Her foreigner boss requested that she train a foreign staff who would eventually be her assistant. This went on for a couple of months.One day to her horror, the boss announced that she has been made redundant. The sudden turn of events was painful and shocking. Worse still, she found out a week later that this assistant ended up taking her role at the same salary.Was there anything “talented” about her replacement? Or simply a ploy to replace her with one of his countrymen after skills transfer had been completed.“Get used to it” was what she was told as this was the new normal, when she approached her MP for help. My friend was further advised to downgrade her home, use the proceeds and time to upgrade to a Masters degree.Feeling “betrayed” by the very ones she respected highly over many years, she immediately resigned as a grassroots leader.“$8000 a month to $8 an hour” as a waitress, she emotionally expressed, was at one point her income.Already in her late 40s, the search for a new job was a long and arduous journey. Distressed by hundreds of unanswered job applications, she took on any odd job available. It took another three years before securing the full-time job she has now. A difficult, painful climb, but I admire her resilience!“In general, Singaporeans are comparatively not as vocal as those from overseas, but it does not mean we are less capable in any way”. She further opined that not all foreign talents are “talents”.“It would be nice if we showed favour to fellow Singaporeans for good jobs, as citizens from other countries fiercely fight for their own”.In the coming year, she sincerely hopes that Singaporeans do not encounter similar situations and urges them to voice out if they find themselves in the same predicament.