Didn’t want to come up with a few on a whim and feel nothing strong towards it.

Hence, this year, my resolution for the entire year is,

“Do good.”

Tribal Workers

Today’s generation of high-earning professionals maintain that their personal fulfilment comes from their jobs and the hours they work. They should grow up, says Thomas Barlow.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited

http://msittig.freeshell.org/articles/FinT_TribalWorkers.html

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A friend of mine recently met a young American woman who was studying on a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford. She already had two degrees from top US universities, had worked as a lawyer and as a social worker in the US, and somewhere along the way had acquired a black belt in kung fu. Now, however, her course at Oxford was coming to an end and she was thoroughly angst-ridden about what to do next.

Her problem was no ordinary one.

She couldn’t decide whether she should make a lot of money as a corporate lawyer/management consultant, devote herself to charity work helping battered wives in disadvantaged Communities, or go to Hollywood to work as a stunt double in kung fu films. What most struck my friend was not the disparity of this woman’s choices, but the earnestness and bad grace with which she ruminated on them. It was almost as though she begrudged her own talents, Opportunities and freedom – as though the world had treated her unkindly by forcing her to make such a hard choice.

Her case is symptomatic of our times. In recent years, there has grown up a culture of discontent among the highly educated young something that seems to flare up, especially, when people reach their late 20s and early 30s. It arises not from frustration caused by lack of opportunity, as may have been true in the past, but from an excess of possibilities.

Most theories of adult developmental psychology have a special category for those in their late 20s and early 30s.

Whereas the early to mid-20s are seen as a time to establish one’s mode of living, the late 20s to early 30s are often considered a period of reappraisal. In a society where people marry and have children young, where financial burdens accumulate early, and where job markets are inflexible, such appraisals may not last long. But when people manage to remain free of financial or family burdens, and where the perceived opportunities for alternative careers are many, the reappraisal is likely to be strong.

Among no social group is this more true than the modern, International, professional elite: that tribe of young bankers, lawyers, consultants and managers for whom financial, familial, personal, corporate and (increasingly) national ties have become irrelevant. Often they grew up in one country, were educated in another, and are now working in a third.

They are independent, well paid, and enriched by experiences that many of their parents could only dream of. Yet, by their late 20s, many carry a sense of disappointment: that for all their opportunities, freedoms and achievements, life has not delivered quite what they had hoped. At the heart of this disillusionment lies a new attitude towards work.

The idea has grown up, in recent years, that work should not be just a means to an end a way to make money, support a family, or gain social prestige but should provide a rich and fulfilling experience in and of itself. Jobs are no longer just jobs; they are lifestyle options. Recruiters at financial companies, consultancies and law firms have promoted this conception of work. Job advertisements promise challenge, wide experiences, opportunities for travel and relentless personal development.

Michael is a 33-year-old management consultant who has bought into this vision of late-20th century work. Intelligent and well-educated – with three degrees, including a doctorate – he works in Munich, and has a “stable, long-distance relationship” with a woman living in California. He takes 140 flights a year and works an average of 80 hours a week. Some weeks he works more than 100 hours.

When asked if he likes his job, he will say: “I enjoy what I’m doing in terms of the intellectual challenges.” Although he earns a lot, he doesn’t spend much. He rents a small apartment, though he is rarely there, and has accumulated very few possessions. He justifies the long hours not in terms of wealth-acquisition, but solely as part of a “learning experience”.

This attitude to work has several interesting implications, mostly to do with the shifting balance between work and non-work, employment and leisure. Because fulfilling and engrossing work – the sort that is thought to provide the most intense learning experience – often requires long hours or captivates the imagination for long periods of time, it is easy to slip into the idea that the converse is also true: that just by working long hours, one is also engaging in fulfilling and engrossing work. This leads to the popular fallacy that you can measure the value of your job (and, therefore, the amount you are learning from it) by the amount of time you spend on it. And, incidentally, when a premium is placed on learning rather than earning, people are particularly susceptible to this form of self-deceit.

Thus, whereas in the past, when people in their 20s or 30s spoke disparagingly about nine-to-five jobs it was invariably because they were seen as too routine, too unimaginative, or too bourgeois. Now, it is simply because they don’t contain enough hours.

Young professionals have not suddenly developed a distaste for leisure, but they have solidly bought into the belief that a 45-hour week necessarily signifies an unfulfilling job. Jane, a 29-year-old corporate lawyer who works in the City of London, tells a story about working on a deal with another lawyer, a young man in his early 30s. At about 3am, he leant over the boardroom desk and said: “Isn’t this great? This is when I really love my job.” What most struck her about the remark was that the work was irrelevant (she says it was actually rather boring); her colleague simply liked the idea of working late. “It’s as though he was validated, or making his life important by this,” she says.

Unfortunately, when people can convince themselves that all they need do in order to lead fulfilled and happy lives is to work long hours, they can quickly start to lose reasons for their existence. As they start to think of their employment as a lifestyle, fulfilling and rewarding of itself – and in which the reward is proportional to hours worked – people rapidly begin to substitute work for other aspects of their lives.

Michael, the management consultant, is a good example of this phenomenon. He is prepared to trade (his word) not just goods and time for the experience afforded by his work, but also a substantial measure of commitment in his personal relationships. In a few months, he is being transferred to San Francisco, where he will move in with his girlfriend. But he’s not sure that living the same house is actually going to change the amount of time he spends on his relationship. “Once I move over, my time involvement on my relationship will not change significantly. My job takes up most of my time and pretty much dominates what I do, when, where and how I do it,” he says. Moreover, the reluctance to commit time to a relationship because they are learning so much, and having such an intense and fulfilling time at work is compounded, for some young professionals, by a reluctance to have a long-term relationship at all.

Today, by the time someone reaches 30, they could easily have had three or four jobs in as many different cities – which is not, as it is often portrayed, a function of an insecure global job-market, but of choice. Robert is 30 years old. He has three degrees and has worked on three continents. He is currently working for the United Nations in Geneva. For him, the most significant deterrent when deciding whether to enter into a relationship is the likely transient nature of the rest of his life. “What is the point in investing all this emotional energy and exposing myself in a relationship, if I am leaving in two months, or if I do not know what I am doing next year?” he says.

Such is the character of the modern, international professional, at least throughout his or her 20s. Spare time, goods and relationships, these are all willingly traded for the exigencies of work. Nothing is valued so highly as accumulated experience. Nothing is neglected so much as commitment. With this work ethic – or perhaps one should call it a “professional development ethic” – becoming so powerful, the globally mobile generation now in its late 20s and early 30s has garnered considerable professional success. At what point, though, does the experience-seeking end?

Kathryn is a successful American academic, 29, who bucked the trend of her generation: she recently turned her life round for someone else. She moved to the UK, specifically, to be with a man, a decision that she says few of her contemporaries understood. “We’re not meant to say: ‘I made this decision for this person. Today, you’re meant to do things for yourself. If you’re willing to make sacrifices for others – especially if you’re a woman – that’s seen as a kind of weakness. I wonder, though, is doing things for yourself really empowerment, or is liberty a kind of trap?” she says.

For many, it is a trap that is difficult to break out of, not least because they are so caught up in a culture of professional development. And spoilt for choice, some like the American Rhodes Scholar no doubt become paralysed by their opportunities, unable to do much else in their lives, because they are so determined not to let a single one of their chances slip. If that means minimal personal commitments well into their 30s, so be it. “Loneliness is better than boredom” is Jane’s philosophy.

And, although she knows “a lot of professional single women who would give it all up if they met a rich man to marry”, she remains far more concerned herself about finding fulfillment at work. “I am constantly questioning whether I am doing the right thing here,” she says. “There’s an eternal search for a more challenging and satisfying option, a better lifestyle. You always feel you’re not doing the right thing always feel as if you should be striving for another goal,” she says.

Jane, Michael, Robert and Kathryn grew up as part of a generation with fewer social constraints determining their futures than has been true for probably any other generation in history. They were taught at school that when they grew up they could “do anything”, “be anything”. It was an idea that was reinforced by popular culture, in films, books and television.

The notion that one can do anything is clearly liberating. But life without constraints has also proved a recipe for endless searching, endless questioning of aspirations. It has made this generation obsessed with self-development and determined, for as long as possible, to minimise personal commitments in order to maximise the options open to them. One might see this as a sign of extended adolescence.

Eventually, they will be forced to realise that living is as much about closing possibilities as it is about creating them.

Whether it folded previously because of the lack of competitive climate or bad management, I am definitely hoping that they stay longer this time.

I’ve had fond memories of indulging in over-sized dominos in Sydney- I sure hope they remain the same. (Though I have a feeling that it won’t be since they are ‘catering’ to a Singapore Market= smaller pizzas.)

Many are saying that their promise of 30 mins delivery is relatively far-fetched and could be logistically challenging… Hmmm… If they can deliver in 30mins in a state like Sydney… Don’t see how they can’t do it in tiny Singapore!!

This is an example that the chauvinistic male lives on… perpetuating that women are treated like objects with a certain lack of respect.

Of course some people say, take it as a joke don’t be so straight-laced! Now, is it funny to you? You laugh because… it’s true? Or because you think it’s funny that women are being ‘recycled’?

I always tell Mr E.B the same thing. When jokes aren’t funny, it’s not worth cracking and sign off with, “I’m just joking!”

What truly angers me is this:
If you see a handicapped musician playing in the underpass, do you stop by to donate your change to them? Your answer is more often than not, no.
Now, imagine all the commuters passing this man, there is a huge chance a couple of these commuters are from city harvest. What are the chances of them donating?

Now, pray tell the difference between having the grandest church through donations and aiding the poor and under privileged for 1/3 the amount or less.

Self glory for a grand church on a pretext of a loving and kind religion? Don’t even claim it as that because its just offensive.

Fasting for 3 days in the name of detox. It’s the Neera Detox plan.

It’s now 3:20pm and I haven’t had anything to eat yet. Not for another 2 more days! How can I do it? I am already fighting the urge to want to eat delicious food.

Here are the ingredients:

The delivery date was to be two months after and COE price is guaranteed for, with no top-up costs.

6 Months later, we have no car, we’ve been through ‘war’ fighting for our money back from the parallel importer who have now dishonoured their agreement and wants us to top up several thousands for a COE which was already guaranteed for (in our contract), and to get our $30,000 back (in deposit and second payment), we have to engage a lawyer as the small claims tribunal will not entertain us.

With the lawyer’s letter, the importer now says he wants $5,000 compensation from us- and it seems outrageous that a retailer who have taken $30,000+ in deposit, dishonour their agreement, is now asking for compensation.

We have gone to see our resident MP, made a statement with the police, and now, to the lawyers because apparently CASE (Consumer Association of Singapore) can only blacklist them and cannot help us out. Also, if you go to the CASE website, this is what it says:

Online Submission (For online complaints)

Case Submission All applications must be accompanied by relevant documents such as receipts, agreements, credit card slips, letters, etc. As we are an Association, a consumer needs to join us as a member for us to handle a case. Membership Fees

 

No. Type of Membership Amount 1. Life $400 2. Family $30 per annum 3. Ordinary/Single $25 per annum

 

If a case is taken up by a CASE Officer an administration fee is charged according to the claims. Please let our officers know if you are: - Working for a company that is a CASE Corresponding Member; - You are a member of a Trade Union or Association that happens to be a CASE Institutional Member; - You have a Insurance Policy from NTUC Income; In the above, your membership fee will be waived and you only have to pay the administration charges. Administration Charges

 

No.	Range of Claims	Admin Fees
1.	Below $5,000	$10
2.	$5,000 to $10,000	$20
3.	$10,001 to $20,000	$50
4.	$50

Even the car importer is not afraid of law enforcers and says, “Go ahead and go to the police.”

As ordinary citizens of Singapore like ourselves, we find ourselves caught in an unnecessary ‘civil’ battle with an unscrupulous dealer, who is still operating legally and there is virtually nothing we can do about but engage a lawyer to help us, who will prove to be pricey.

My question now is, could this have been prevented with stricter laws on businesses as such? Have many Singaporeans like us, simply gave in to a nominal ‘compensation’ to solve the arduous battle against an unscrupulous dealer? What if we could not have afforded a lawyer and between paying $5,000 and risk losing our $30,000, we have given them the money with no valid reason? Is this our only solution: To pay an unscrupulous man to get your money back or to pay to hire a lawyer to get your money back? Essentially, everything is money. Even going to small claims and CASE, there are a thousand and one ‘admin’ fee to be charged. You are being punished for allowing a business system that approves the legitimacy of companies that practices con jobs under pretense of a proper business.

Where does the government/gatekeepers step in to protect their people?

The latest update as of today is that the lawyers have been trying to track these car dealers down to submit the lawyer’s letter. It seems that going to their new store, they are now trading as a granite company. I will not reveal the name of the car company since the lawyers are still trying to work this out, but:

WHEN will it constitute to a cheating case where the police can step in?

As usual, all businesses are out to get as much money they can from financially strapped consumers like ourselves and it’s really tough when you just want to have a good time. 

I guess that’s probably why my past Christmas-es have always been relatively quiet. 

For some reason, this year, I just want it to be different. I want it to be loud. Extravagent, boisterous. I want it to have some presence. Some love. 

What shall I do this Christmas?