Malaysian "forced" to drop productivity, after moving back home from Singapore

[The_King]

A Malaysian, Karen Harris, moved to Singapore from Sabah to study in 2001. After graduation, she found a job in Body Shop Singapore and worked there for 10 years, earning "above average wages".

Immediately, she noticed how committed Singaporeans were to their schedules, citing efficiency as a prominent characteristic.

The difference in efficiency between Malaysians and Singaporeans was stark.

Karen felt that she had to change in order to fit into her environment and be "on par" with her colleagues. She came to work early and gave 120% of her best to work.

It was a challenging time for her but she fit in eventually.

A decade later, she had a chance to relocate to Johor. And she realised to her shock that she had to fit in with new colleagues again, and the Malaysian work culture.

"I was told I'm too uptight, too detailed, too particular," she revealed. And she had to lower her efficiency to live "less like a Singaporean".

A task which could take minutes to resolve in Singapore took weeks in Johor.

When she returned home to Sabah, there were more adjustments to make. She was scolded for "overdoing things" and offending her colleagues.

"How can we work on efficiency when the environment and culture don't let us?" she asked rhetorically.

Numerous Malaysian netizens agreed with her, citing similar struggles when they moved to Singapore to work. "Their effort and expectations there are way too high."


Source: AsiaOne

[zendude]

Sabah is laid back...think only JB is busy for the SGD

[XianGe]

Impossible... Cheaper faster better...