Seeing Fruits Of Labour

It has been a while since I last blogged. I have been busy with my work & grassroots volunteer work.

Today, I am going to share a story, or should I say my thoughts about working life. Maybe after reading this, you guys will understand why I am still in this company after 6 3/4 years.

Here it goes:-

In 2003, I was a fresh NS Man, having gone through the rite of passage as an Admin Support Assistant, despite my disability. I was always being misunderstood by officers in the course of my NS stint, perhaps due to my disability and this was the first time that SAF had people of my disability in their ranks. I am glad that I managed to fulfill my obligations as a male Singapore citizen, although I got a satisfactory grade at the end of my service. The stint would actually allow me to look at things from  different perspectives.

My first job, which I found in 2003, lasted half a year. I left the company after feeling stressed by one of the management level staff, who kept pushing me a lot of work and giving me a lot of stress by scolding me. It did not help that another management level staff felt that I should not be employed due to my physical disability.

After a frantic search for half a year, due to the recession and job interviewers who minded my disability and wanted to cut my asking price, I found a job which I stayed for close to 4 years. Although I was not allowed to use Paul as my name for my work at this company, as my boss at that time claimed this name is also the name of his son. In the end, I left the company due to the company’s management showed distrust & lack of faith in my work. Also, I felt that the pay I was getting did not match that of my peers that I was getting.

My current job took me about a year to find. During this period, I nearly lost faith on a few occasions as  prospective interviews drew a blank due to they minded my physical condition. When I first started this job, I was not thrilled by the prospect that I was losing out on annual leave and study leave, as it was definitely lesser than the previous job. But as the years went by, I am thrilled by the annual increments that I was given, the different aspects of the various types of tax cases that I was exposed to, the experience of my co-workers & partners. These are the factors that make me strive to work hard & go the extra mile for my bosses every time.

Although there is always office politics at play, I guess it happens wherever you go, wherever you work. It is how you manage it. For me, I choose to volunteer my services at the annual Volunteer e-filing exercise and grassroots volunteer, which I did not expect myself to be doing it for so long and so well.

I am always thankful for what has been given me & I strive to give back to the society more for what is given to me.