Commentary: Why 'You suggest, you do lah!' is the wrong response to an employee who speaks up
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/speaking-up-work-singapore-workplace-culture-6212481?cid=internal_sharetool_androidphone_29062026_cna
The Channel NewsAsia (CNA) commentary article titled *"Why 'You suggest, you do lah!' is the wrong response to an employee who speaks up,"* written by Associate Professor Victor Seah (Director of the Behavioural Insights Centre of Excellence at the Singapore University of Social Sciences), addresses the structural and cultural dynamics of workplace voice in Singapore.
The core details and key takeaways from the piece include:
### 1. The Real Reason for Silence
The article challenges the common narrative that Singaporeans stay quiet simply due to "Asian culture" (which values harmony and respect for authority). Instead, data shows that employees are making highly practical, **situational risk calculations**—essentially asking themselves: *"What will happen to me if I say something?"* When managers penalize initiative with responses like *"You suggest, you do lah!"*, workers quickly calculate that staying silent is the safest choice to avoid extra burdens or professional backlash.
### 2. Promotive vs. Prohibitive Voice
Seah notes that speaking up is not a singular behavior, and it is crucial to divide it into two types:
* **Promotive Voice:** Forward-looking suggestions aimed at improving things (e.g., a startup employee pitching a bold new idea).
* **Prohibitive Voice:**
Preventive flags raised to stop problems or highlight hazards (e.g., a hospital worker flagging a patient safety risk).
### 3. Singapore Workers Speak Up "Selectively"
Data reveals that Singaporeans *will* speak up if they feel safe and see a clear reason to do so:
* **Workplace Safety:** In 2025, the Ministry of Manpower’s SnapSAFE anonymous portal received roughly 1,700 reports of unsafe work practices (a 13% increase from 2023). This shows employees speak up when the consequences of silence are severe and reporting is strictly protected or anonymous.
* **Flexible Work Stigma:**
Conversely, a 2025 survey by the PAP and NTUC women’s wings found that 1 in 3 workers still fear professional stigma when asking for flexible work arrangements, even though official government guidelines were launched in December 2024. This shows policy alone isn't enough if the workplace culture still feels risky.
### 4. What Organizations and Leaders Should Do
Instead of telling employees to be "braver," the author argues that companies must invest in creating the structural and psychological conditions that remove the risk of speaking up:
* **Be Precise:** Identify what type of voice the company actually needs (promotive vs. prohibitive) and tailor support channels accordingly.
* **Measure Properly:**
Use verified, reliable academic metrics (such as Amy Edmondson’s psychological safety scale) to gauge how safe employees feel, while ensuring absolute anonymity and surveying multiple times a year.
* **Change the Leadership Mindset:**
Leaders must actively model openness to feedback, reward candor, provide confidential reporting mechanisms, and meet ideas with actual support rather than shifting the entire execution burden back onto the person who spoke up.
> **The Long-Term Cost:** While staying silent serves as immediate self-preservation for the worker, the commentary concludes that habitual silence leaves organizational problems festering and shuts out innovation, hurting both individual career progression and overall company performance.
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An ammonia leak at Jurong Marine Cold Storage on 29 June 2026 prompted evacuations of three buildings and sent two people to Singapore General Hospital. SCDF HazMat specialists have since contained the leak.
https://theonlinecitizen.com/2026/06/29/two-hospitalised-after-ammonia-leak-at-jurong-fishery-port-road-cold-storage-facility
Here are the full verified details surrounding the incident:
* **The Incident:** At around 11:45 AM on Monday, 29 June 2026, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to an ammonia gas leak at **11 Fishery Port Road** in Jurong, which is the registered address for **Jurong Marine Cold Storage** (also known as JM Ice), a food-grade ice manufacturer and cold storage provider.
* **The Cause:** SCDF Hazardous Materials (HazMat) specialists traced the source of the leak to a specific pipe located inside a room within the facility.
* **Mitigation:** The HazMat team successfully shut off the supply valve connected to the compromised pipe. Subsequent detector readings confirmed that the concentration of ammonia vapor in the area steadily decreased following the intervention.
* **Evacuations:**
Upon detecting the gas, No. 11 Fishery Port Road was immediately evacuated. As a strict precautionary measure, SCDF also ordered the evacuation of two adjacent buildings at **No. 9 and No. 15 Fishery Port Road**.
* **Casualties:**
Two individuals from the affected cold storage facility were assessed on-site for exposure to the ammonia vapors and were subsequently conveyed to the **Singapore General Hospital** for medical attention.
* **Emergency Response:**
The operation involved a significant emergency response, including at least six SCDF vehicles, a Hazardous Materials Mitigation Vehicle, police fast-response units to cordon off the area, and an SCDF unmanned remote firefighting vehicle. Authorities advised members of the public to avoid the immediate vicinity during the operation.