The Long & Short of Things

The National Day long weekend has come and gone but one of my colleagues is still seething with anger that my boss did not give any National Day off and tried to instigate everyone of us to show our unhappiness about this.

Although it is stated in an MOM circular that the day off is subject to bosses' preferences, most big companies that I know of do give their staff such a benefit. I told her that every company has a different set of standard operating proceedures to suit the company's needs. She started to complain that we need to go to our company doctor to see the doc when we are sick, otherwise we are not allowed to claim our medical expenses. The MC from the doc that u see is recognised though.

I told her that in my ex firm, although the claim is available for all staff, my boss will show an unhappy face, once I go on MC or I claim too much. Too much, i.e. claiming my medical fee on my second visit. As for holiday on Sat, my boss will give off, subject to his mood. If he is happy, he wil give, not happy, he will "eat". I still remembered I had to stay behind and worked till 6pm on New Year's Eve last year. I told her that I joined here as the pay is better. She said that pay is something that you have asked for. I stopped talking after I heard this as I felt uncomfortable going onto this senstitive issue. I ended off by saying, sometimes, we must look at both sides of the coin, weigh the pros and cons, there is always a long end to the straw and a short end to the straw. It depends on how you see it and the way you see it will determine if you are happy at your job.

Can you tell which end of the straw that I am looking at?

“拉长补短”is a useful phrase that always guides me in my job hunting.