junior's toks

A job is a job

I read a very interesting column recently:-

A few days ago, while I was having my lunch at a crowded hawker centre, a woman appeared and asked, “Excuse me, do you still need these?” I looked up and saw a lady in uniform, pushing a cleaning cart like a hotel maid’s, moving in to clear dishes on my table. She was in her late 50s.
Surprised by her fluency in English, I struck up a conversation with her. The retrenched office assistant and grandmother of two college girls told me she had got used to the work. “It was embarrassing at first. I was afraid of running into former colleagues, but I then told myself I shouldn’t really, since everything has changed so much.”
Food court cleaners don’t come like her. They are mostly imported Indians and Bangladeshis (na na na the article talks about me la :D), thousands of whom are still scattered all over the island, keeping it clean day and night. ....... ..... bla bla bla. .. .........The solution to both problems was obviously to make the work “less” dirty, use clean uniforms and higher tech equipment and, of course, sprucing up the work image ................

After working in Singapore in and out then permanently for quite sometime, I must admit that Singapore is a more mature country than Malaysia. I don't know about you, but I judge the maturity of a country by its attitude. If you have legalised prostitute and football betting, you are mature. ok la, serious la....I think a very important attitude (which Malaysia is lagged behind) is the attitude towards JOB.

In a mature (I am trying to avoid the word developed) country:-

I AM PROUD TO HAVE A JOB. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT KIND OF JOB I HAVE.

If you read the entire article, do not for a moment think that these people take up these jobs because they have no choice. They might not have the choice, but it is also the society's acceptance towards this. If you don't believe me, go and tell you mum or dad now that 'Mum, I want to be a cleaner. Bang! smack....down you go to the floor, you mum might even follow up with an upper cut'.

In Malaysia, a boy that is born in a chinese family cannot wish to be a policeman, not an army, not a rubber tapper, not a security guard, not bus driver, not cleaner, not a teacher not everything. You can only have the ambition to become a doctor, lawyer, accountant and architect. That is all. If you cannot achieve any of these 'term sheet' dreams, then it is ok to go sell VCD or chicken rice, because it is still A BUSINESS.

That is why we have 1.2 million illegal foreign workers in Malaysia and few more millions of legal ones, 230,451 chicken rice stalls and 4,837,384 VCD and ring tones stalls.

We despise someone with a lower status job. The funny thing is that we believe those are dirty jobs.

In England, people are proud of their job. What is your job? 'I am a cleaner', the guy says it proudly eventhough he might make less money then those who live on dough, because he has a job.

In Malaysia, What is your job? 'eh.....I work hmm....in the sanitary industry....but I dun really like it and I am changing it soon...

Boys and girls, be proud of your job. Dont know let others judge you because they are not so clever anyway. Go and be a bus driver, cleaner, rubber tapper etc etc......as long as you are not my daughter and son....

Junior

posted by Junior @ 9:17 AM