The hunger controversy

While Lee Shulin isn't getting cancelled when she remarked how employers prefer to let go Singaporeans over foreign hires because the latter are 'hungrier', it was the trigger for a much needed conversation about the job market and matching talent with needs.

A lot of the vitriol came from the misunderstanding of what Lee meant by 'hunger', and to be fair, she did not define it either. Possible, she made an off-the-cuff utterance, but it was enough to become the focal point of the larger discussion that was on CNA.

'Not hungry enough' is a triggering phrase. Especially for young job hunters looking for first time employment, they see themselves as being at the bottom of a grand hierarchy, being paid the minimum of wages to do the maximum amount of labour. After all, that's what starting at the bottom means. To suggest that they aren't hungry enough sparks the response: 'I'm already doing so much--what more do you expect me to do? And you're not paying me enough to boot!'

I appreciate the Singaporean work ethic. I see it in the classroom all the time. They will work their butts off on a graded assignment. Full concentration, busy, and most tellingly, silent. But it's an entirely transactional kind of engagement. Non-graded assignments are f-all, minimum effort, distracted and lower quality than they can actually deliver.

What we have here is an employee mindset. Will do whatever you tell them to, but only if it is directly paired with commensurate reward. I suppose it's realistic. Young workers have expenses and if they spend too much time at the office and being paid scraps for the effort, and barely paying off their personal bills, it's hard to think of a future when they'll need to pay for dates, a wedding and support a family later in life.

Thinking this way, Singaporeans are always going to be hungry, always subsisting on not enough. So, when a job recruiter says they're not hungry enough, wow. Cue torches and pitchforks.

But that's not the hunger Lee is talking about. It's not about the work. The employee only does what they're told, however unreasonable, as long as the reward follows. Finish the job, get paid, go home, enjoy what little work-life balance there is left to enjoy. But ask them what the work meant, and most would not be able to say. The paycheck was the objective, nothing more.

If the money is all they are working for, then they are completely replaceable.  Not to mention foreigners, AI already is a hugely viable substitute. Like the Singaporean employee, AI does what it's told, but does it faster, mostly accurately, doesn't complain, and doesn't even need to be paid. And most like the Singaporean employee, AI doesn't really know what it's doing other than executing a set of instructions, and doesn't care what effect or impact the work has on the business as a whole. At the end of the string of instructions is the end of the day and the only difference is that the Singaporean employee has to go home for a few hours before they're ready to start the next day all over again. That's not hunger, that's routine with a trigger-warning.

Perhaps Lee used the wrong vocabulary when she said 'hunger'. I believe she meant 'ownership'. Like you understand the business well enough, and own the job to the extent that you don't require instructions from a supervisor to perform what is needed. You're observant, constantly thinking of the processes that keep the business flowing, and you're already there where things have slowed down before a bottleneck occurs. You're constantly thinking of new and better ways to keep the flow going. Most importantly, the objective isn't the paycheck, but the person at the end of the line who is delighted with the product or service they received that you, in your own little way, helped to deliver.

Singaporean employees seek work, but start at the wrong end. If the money is the most important thing, then they're prepared to suck it up, get the job done for the paycheck--and complain later over coffee and Reddit. Their work ethic is admirable, but since so many are like that, their employers will be searching for viable replacements at the earliest opportunity.

What's the right end, then? It's fit. To know yourself well enough to develop your own weird and wonderful way rather than blindly follow the crowd. Create a niche for yourself with definable, yet flexible borders so that you can offer more than just 'I'll do whatever you tell me'. Rather, offer a role that will both meet the business objectives by performing your particular set of skills, while simultaneously learning the business by practicing its routines. And care about the end-user. You and the organisation you work for exist only because someone needs you to.

Hunger isn't about personal survival. The hunger is for organisational survival. When you have this hunger, you are no longer a rogue cell easily sloughed off when you've outlived your usefulness. Instead, you've become an integral part of the overall structure. Who knows, mitosis could possibly happen, when you've outgrown the business and are ready to branch out on your own.

Launch day

So much has gone on that it's difficult to catch my breath. Anyway, PPP has launched as an e-book on Amazon worldwide. Thanks to my marketing campaign and lots of love and trust from friends and family, it broke #1 Best Seller in several social policy and sociology categories.

For the record, I note my official response to that achievement as follows:

"It's not a harvest. It signifies a successful seeding of the field. It means that my book is in the hands of people who know, love and trust me and they get to read what I have written. The real test is whether the seeds will grow. It depends a lot on how my readers like what they read and if they would recommend it to others... and so on. Even if the seeds don't take root, they are still people I can ask for honest feedback about what they didn't like, and what I could have done better. And that will put me in a stronger position to write another book -- which I'm already starting to think about."

In the meantime, based on the fact that I have actually got some people to pay for something of mine, I've taken my first baby steps as an entrepreneur. Most importantly, I have a product I believe in that I'm proud to sell, and maybe that makes all the difference.

And now I'm working on my print book launch with a lot of help from the fam. Have to brace myself 'cos while I asked for it, I'm also scared of being the centre of attention, a position I've been avoiding for decades. Childhood trauma of constantly going 'look at me!!!', then realising there was nothing worth looking at after all.

Well, I really hope PPP is something to look at. If not, I'll have to learn and write something better next time.

The Merch has arrived!

We are looking at my very first consignment of books. Not just any book, but my book, People, Peace and Power ups: A Singaporean Retrospective. 200 copies to put on direct sales and give away at my discretion. It's a milestone also for me being an entrepreneur instead of just a paid employee. Of course I'm not giving up my day job yet, but being realistic, I know it's not a job that will last forever. So here's to new directions, and new adventures!

Final proof

A milestone day. My book finally arrived in solid form for a final proofing. I've been through the first third of the content and so far so good. If all goes well, I should be releasing it for purchase on Amazon in a week's time.

So, why do I have two copies when I only should have one? Because one is the reprint to make up for the mistake made in the first delivery. The other is the one my publisher ordered on their expense, to expedite rectifying the printer's error. So happened both arrived on the same day with the same delivery.

I am a published author now. This book is my calling card.

Wonder Man 1x4: Identity and Function

Marvel has a thing for starting in the middle, then revealing how it all began mid-season. Episode 4 is the play within the play. It’s presented like a classic black-and-white movie, complete with classic title fonts, although the time period is contemporary. It introduces “Doorman” Davis (Byron Bowers), the reason people with powers are literally gatekept from working in Hollywood — Simon’s biggest hurdle in getting a major role. Under that kind of spotlight, Simon would be hard-pressed to hide his abilities, but that doesn’t stop him from aiming high anyway. Although the events in Episode 4 happened recently, the Doorman Clause is a black-and-white dealbreaker law, and for Simon, it might as well be a long-established canon event — hence the black-and-white presentation.

This episode is all about Doorman, a name Davis is called because of his function as a doorman at a popular Hollywood bar where ordinary patrons get to rub shoulders with the stars. Josh Gad, as himself, drops by in person and entertains the crowd with his rendition of Olaf’s song about a snow-person’s expectations of chilling out on a summer vacation. So timeline-wise, we are in the post-Frozen era.

After hours, Doorman has a heart-to-heart talk with his boss, who asks whether he has any ambitions beyond being a doorman at her bar. Doorman shares that despite his low-wage position, he is happy doing his job, in which his identity and function align perfectly. That night changes everything. The ever-present Roxxon company negligently causes an industrial accident that empowers Doorman by turning him into a literal walking, talking, human-shaped door. A bit like the Spot in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, but non-multiversal and less malignant. Now Doorman’s identity and function are totally fused into each other.

The very next day, Doorman becomes a hero, saving the patrons — and Josh Gad — from a fire in the bar. A grateful Josh immediately employs Doorman as his personal assistant, mainly for quick escapes from uncomfortable social encounters. Later, Josh convinces him to play a side character in his heist movie, telling him that all he needs to do is say a line and otherwise be himself — as a door. Trevor would cringe at such advice on acting, but Doorman follows it and becomes an instant success.

From this point, Doorman is on an upward trajectory of fame, wealth, and social clout. But the star he becomes is far removed from what made him happy in the first place. His identity and function are now split between how his audience sees him and how he sees himself. He realises he has zero talent for acting and that he only gets jobs because of his unique ability to become a door on command. He makes up a catchphrase — “Ding, Dong” — which makes him instantly identifiable and endearing at first. However, his fans grow tired of hearing it, so he takes acting lessons. He falls flat when he tries to show off his new skills on a talk show, attempting some serious Shakespeare, but knowing he cannot finish the line with conviction, he falls back on “Ding, Dong” to make the audience laugh instead. As a star, Doorman is just a one-trick pony.

Doorman’s downward spiral is just as rapid. From no longer getting job offers to addiction and poverty, Doorman’s identity and function completely separate. Doorman the doorman: alignment was bliss. Doorman the Hollywood star: a personal disaster rolled into an identity crisis. At this point, Josh Gad returns to offer Doorman a chance at a comeback — reprising his role in a sequel to the heist movie that made him a star. In the meta, it’s a comment on milking a formula by making a sequel in hopes of recapturing lightning in a bottle. The scenario is the same as before: master thief Josh Gad needs a quick exit; Doorman is there to provide one. But this time it doesn’t work.

At a critical juncture, Doorman loses his function as a door, and Josh doesn’t reappear on the other side. Earth-616’s Josh Gad variant, for all intents and purposes, vanishes from the world — perhaps stuck in the non-space that exists between an egress and its exit. Ironically, Josh Gad mirrors what would have happened to his Frozen alter ego had he persisted in enjoying the summer.

With this single catastrophic incident, Doorman is taken into DoDC custody. Superpowers are deemed too dangerous to have a place in moviemaking, and so the Doorman Clause takes effect, ostensibly barring Simon from being employed at all, let alone becoming the big star he dreams of being.

The irony is stark in this episode. Fame is fickle. Fans latch onto a simple thing — like a dumb catchphrase — and someone with no real talent rockets to stardom. Meanwhile, truly talented people who are absolutely dedicated to the craft, like Trevor, spend years in the industry and, despite perhaps one or two career high points, are still looking for their big break.

Wonder Man 1x3: Permissions and Approvals

Continuing with the exploration of social theatre, Episode 3 focuses on family drama: the matriarch's birthday celebration.

The episode begins with a flashback of Simon being examined by a pediatrician. He has survived a kitchen fire completely unscathed. When questioned, his Mother overacts her relief -- clearly she knows Simon has powers, but keeps it hidden from the doctor, claiming a miracle. Simon also appears to lie about the cause being his fault for improperly operating a stove. His powers are an internal affair, for good reason.

Back to the present, we get an unsavory reflection of the US prison system and the budgetary philosophy that if there's a prison, it must be filled. This pretension (also pre-tension) sets the motivation for the DoDC's pursuit of Simon Williams with the presumption of guilt predicating the search for evidence to convict him.

Under threat of being returned to prison himself, Trevor sets up for his latest "act" with Simon by putting on the DoDC's wire. We see him rehearsing his opening "line" -- gratitude for being invited to the party -- in front of a mirror. Armed with foreknowledge, Trevor feigns surprise when Simon announces he needs to go to Pocoima for his mother's birthday, and gets a reluctant invitation to tag along -- as Simon's buffer.

Once again, the most sincere conversation between the two is when they quote lines of classic plays to each other. Simon talks about his ambition to be "everywhere", while Trevor affirms Simon's talent and that he has what it takes to succeed. Simon also agrees that he should stop seeking permission to be, instead of waiting on someone else's approval -- something he realizes he has been doing all his life.

Simon's new resolve is immediately undermined the moment he arrives at his mother's. Competing for Mummi's approval, Simon's more successful brother has made himself the head of the household. While he disparages Simon's career in acting, Eric is quite the performer with his big gestures, loud proclamations, and scripted lines everybody can repeat as an expected crowd participation refrain. He makes a dramatic flourish, revealing the hidden chopping board in the kitchen island he built to a pair of impressed guests. Simon, on the other hand, is not competing, and not acting when it comes to his relationship with Mummi.

Simon gets a further taste of disapproval from his peers as they chat about his job as an actor. They snigger about how three auditions and an acting class  constitutes a whole working week for him, while commenting in Creole how shabby his clothes look, as if he doesn't understand the language he grew up with.

Trevor, plays his role striking conversations with the party guests. While he can't get much information from anyone, he completely breaks character when one auntie absolutely refuses to go according to script, preferring to talk about Eric over Simon. Although there's no subtitle, I assume she comments under her breath in Creole that Trevor is such a fake.

The party comes to a close with everyone singing the birthday song, a real-life ritual that is in fact an elaborate musical number with the celebrant taking centrestage for a camera/audience that is sometimes present, and sometimes invisible. Simon is part of the pageantry, but his expression shows that he knows how much of an act it all is.

Alone in the kitchen at last, Trevor gets to see what Simon's family is really like. Nice guy mask off, Eric forces Simon to confess that he lost the American Horror Story part Mummi was so proud of. Eric continues to undermine Simon in front of Mummi by reminding everyone that Simon's birthday gift, and really his general upkeep were paid for by Eric. When Simon mentions his potential callback for the Wonder Man movie, Eric likens it to getting a second interview for a job he might not get. Trevor's comment that the value of an actor is not measured in money gets no response.

Trevor gets the irrefutable evidence the DoDC is looking for when the pressure gets too much for Simon. In his rage, Simon shatters the kitchen island Eric is so proud of, though he causes no harm to the people around him. It is still sufficient evidence to classify him as a danger to society and justification for locking him up.

On the drive back to LA, Simon is on the verge of giving up. At an improvised rest stop, Trevor drops the curtain on his act with Simon. Excusing himself with the need to pee, Trevor removes his wire and breaks it. I imagine the audio is not stored on the wire but recorded somewhere else, but this is Trevor saying I'm done -- damn the consequences. Time to get real.

Upon Trevor's return to the car, Simon has news: they both got callbacks. The episode closes on Simon's vindication.

It's here... not

Been waiting a little over two weeks for the first physical print copy of my book, People, Peace and Power-ups, to arrive. Once I've done my proof-read and certified it free of printing errors, I will allow my publisher to finally push it out to the world.

This is the package that arrived on my doorstep that I'm eagerly unboxing...

And it's not my book. Someone on the shipping end must have mislabeled my package with this one, so that's going to be yet another delay of maybe another month or so. Something is telling me I'm keeping my day job for a little while longer.

It is what it is.