Working part-time

There was another article in the local newspapers several days that caught my eye. Here’s the capsule version:

As foreign students face rising costs in Singapore, is part-time work an option?
By Neo Chai Chin, TODAY | Posted: 27 February 2008 1014 hrs

In his six months in Singapore, Indian student Nalla Jeevan Reddy has lost 7kg from cutting down on food portions and skipping meals. He’s not trying to lose weight — the 28-year-old hotel management student at a private school has been trying to keep his living expenses in check.

As Singaporeans bemoan the rising cost of living, another segment of society has been hit hard — students from abroad, especially those at private schools who rent accommodation on the open market and take public transport to school.
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The full article can be found here courtesy of Channelnewsasia. How’s this article of any interest to me? Well, I empathize with the difficulty foreign students have when they study in their host countries. I mean, it wasn’t so long ago that I was also juggling working and my Ph.D in Perth. In my case, money was a big and persistent issue, which in no small part gave me incentive to finish my thesis without delay. I had to budget my daily expenditures carefully.

In fact, Ling’s often exasperated at my penny-picking when it comes to household expenditure and my need to see expense and income figures balanced on our home financial spreadsheets. It all comes from those years of having to account for every dollar I was spending (the costs of the Ph.D nearly completely exhausted all my savings, and my parents had to help too), and keeping spending rules strictly. E.g. my per meal expense was properly fixed, and if I spent more on a certain meal on one day, the next day I’d go lighter.

Of course, all that’s behind me now; the both of us aren’t well-off but we’re about OK now that both of us are working, even if it feels more like we’re working for DBS bank to pay off our housing loan. This sort of financial accounting was initially all foreign to Ling, who – like at least one other friend in our bible study group who I’m sure will be reading this entry some time haha – believes that as long as she has some savings after a month, all’s well and good. I think my monthly reports on our financial spending unnerved her at the start, but these days she’s gotten used to it.

But coming back to the issue of foreign students working in Singapore, I’m also reminded of my experiences in private schools, who till today continue to draw in many international students. I remember the suspicions my colleagues and I had 10 years ago of a few select students who we were never really certain what they were really in Singapore for. To reveal more than that, well it gets really sensitive and dwells into this very murky area about the issue of student passes back then. What remains true is that some foreign students in private schools sometimes do have it very rough here, what with some of these schools closing down suddenly, or the most recent fiasco where a few teaching staff possess certifications from degree mills. I remember one Bulgarian student, Iordanka Apostolova, in the school I was teaching at 10 years ago who was found brutally murdered. I can’t remember the full details, but if my memory hasn’t failed me, I recall it was over money issues with the accused / guilty (the incident is mentioned briefly here in court documents).

Either way, it’ll be interesting to see what comes of this increasing awareness that the rising costs of living in Singapore doesn’t only affect the locals, but also long-term visitors here.

5 thoughts on “Working part-time

  1. It’s a funny coincidence you mention this. I glanced through the online edition of The Straits Times this morning (something I rarely do) when I came across an article on Singapore’s current employment rate and the oncoming increase in the ratio of foreign workers. No doubt the need for at least some foreign students to seek employment has entered into that rising number.

    As for keeping track of money, well I’m hopeless though I feel I am improving. I tend to go out less these days and, with the rising fuel prices, that in itself trims down a great deal of expenses especially considering I have to drive 30 minutes in one direction at a minimum to arrive any place worth going to in the first place!

  2. Well, the changing proportion of local to foreign workers in the country is, well, not without controversy – and that’s putting it mildly. But then again, the sentiments expressed are no different from anywhere else in the world when there’s a substantial influx of skilled migrant workers.

    About the occasional shopping thing, haha yea; one of those things that’s really different here is that people tend more to do frequent shoppings but lighter loads each time. In Perth, it was far more common to see customers load up groceries for at least a week or two each time.:)

  3. Lol, i had to keep track of my spending during secondary school too, $20 per week, I got to account for 2 meals per day, 6 day a week. It’s not so much that I can’t ask for more pocket money, but somehow I just don’t feel like asking my parents for more money.

  4. That’s good to know ZH. My perception of money was a little fuzzy when I was at your age, but it was only when I started working and having to maintain my own upkeep I finally had a better inkling of making sure I live within my means.:)

  5. im surprised the light of iordanka apostolova is still being kept alive after all these years. i was her boyfriend from 1996 until a little before her death. still remember fetching her to and from school, it was in Tj Pagar MRT… An IT school which i cant remember…

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