My Blog

When I changed to this translation job last year, many of my friends and co-workers (at Yamaha) were shocked. They thought I was nuts. Why would I settle for a job that’s only paying me half of my current income (from teaching) when everyone else is searching for jobs which offer them better salaries?

Well, I answered that kids and their parents are not easy to handle these days. They have so many other activities that they aren’t committed enough to practice at home. With the super big load of homework from school and tuition, they barely have time for other things too. So, they can’t spare the time to revise their pieces at home. And when the Lower Grade Exam comes, poor teacher would practically be begging them to practice, and poor teacher have to give them extra classes at no extra charges. This isn’t fair. Why should I worry about them when the parents are so laid back? They take for granted that “Miss Carrie will give extra classes”. Hmmph… Why should I sacrifice my time and energy when, as the Chinese saying goes, “the eunuch is more worried than the emperor”? It wasn’t worth the pressure and nightmares that I have whenever they upgrade to NJXC. Every year without fail, I’d be talking in my sleep. It’s a recurrence; I say this in my sleep before every Lower Grade Exam without fail – “What is the key-signature for G Major?”, I’d scream in my sleep and wake up the whole household.

And I’ve been teaching since 1997, I needed a break and I wanted to try my hand at something else. So, I ventured into part-time teaching.

I thought I was really lucky to land myself in this job. Yes, I thank God for that.

But I’m having second thoughts now… Read on…

Initially, everything was going swimmingly well. Working environment was good, colleagues were easy to get along with, Mr. and Mrs. Boss was nice. Our simple needs in the office were met if they weren’t too demanding. I even got a subsidy for my Conversational Mandarin course. How sweet! I was a contented employee then.

Slowly but surely, things changed since a couple of my colleagues left. We didn’t feel the pinch when some technicians started leaving. We heard stories, but thought we were safe because thought they were just over-sensitive. Moreover, we are in a different department and we are not ‘directly’ under Mr. Boss. Things started changing when 2 translators left, a month apart from each other. We were very close. But, the grass sure looks greener on the other side – salary and benefits. Who would want to stay?

For the past few months, things were heating up at the office. The technicians were stressed out with the constant reprimanding from Mr. Boss. We could even feel the tension in our translators’ room; even with the door closed, we could still hear Mr. Boss’ voice booming outside. Poor ‘supervisor’ often had her lunch hour cut short or cancelled altogether due to some technical error which she had to attend to immediately, not forgetting, facing the wrath of Mr. Boss, which often landed her in tears.

The last straw came for them when the company terminated the training of one of the trainees. The others felt it was unfair as her training was just one week short of ending. Adding insult to injury, Mr. and Mrs. Boss talked to each of us individually. I’m amongst the few whom they haven’t called into the room yet. But it won’t be long before my turn comes. Let’s see what happens when my turn comes.

But from the discussion amongst my fellow workers, it seemed that the rules which were set earlier were abolished. Drastic measures will be implemented and amongst them is that they have to write down every single task that they were doing and in 3 different forms, compared to ONE form previously. This has taken up a lot of time because they had to halt their work to fill up the job sheet.

And, previously, we were given a leeway of 15 minutes when we clock in to have our breakfast and to organize ourselves previously. Now, we were told to have our breakfast before 9 am, and to use the washroom before that. Use the bathroom before that? Ridiculous! What if my urge comes later than 9 am? Are we school children? Do we need to bring a “Tandas” tag along and clock in and out of the washroom too?

Besides that, we’d be considered 1/2 hour late even if we clock in at 9.01 am. Our salary will be deducted. Or is it our over-time claims will be deducted? We can’t even ‘replace’ back the minutes by clocking out late. Is this fair? This is exploitation, I think. So, even if we’re a minute late, we’d be better off sitting at the mamak stall ,enjoying a cup of the tarik till 9.30 comes, right? If this is the case, they should be paying us an over-time fee of 1/2 hour even if we clock-out at 6.01 pm, right ? This is fair, isn’t it? Fat chance, man…

And we must state our reason clearly should we want to take leave. W can’t write “personal affairs” anymore. Every thing must be in ‘detail’, as they put it. Hey! This is our annual leave. What right have they to interfere and poke their noses into what will we be doing?

And some of the things they said Mr. Big Boss didn’t approve were lies. Mr. Big Boss approved, but they were the ones who didn’t want to allow it, for example, 5 1/2 work-day week for them (I’m very thankful to Mr. Big Boss for allowing me to continue teaching on Saturday – he even encouraged me not to give up my classes during the interview last year, ‘cause he said I’m earning more in my teaching than what they’re offering me). Thank you, sir!

Imagine, the request for a water filter was postponed for more than a year and we had to carry pre-filled water containers from the ground floor, up to the second floor. Are we coolie or what? It wasn’t stated in our appointment letter that we should be labourers! How much does a water filter cost? Is it worth more than the employees’ satisfaction? All of us are pissed off with this. Even such minor needs are ignored now. How can we work happily and contentedly? How do they expect production to increase when we’re a bunch of unhappy employees? We won’t put the extra effort or go the extra mile when we’re discontented with the working environment-lah! This is pure common sense!

And these are only the tip of the ice-berg. There are many more, and more to come. This makes me think…

Is this a scheme or a plot or a conspiracy to make life difficult for us in the office, to make life Hell-ish for us, so that we’ll resign voluntary? After all, appraisal time is just 4 months away. With every appraisal, comes increment in salary and year-end bonus. Are they trying to save on all these? If they were to hire new employees, the salary would be less and they won’t be entitled to any increment or any bonuses before their confirmation (which absurdly, is 6 months, even for non-exec! This is indeed senseless). Perhaps, as my cousin in-law told me, Cina Ah Pek companies are ALL like that; trying to cut down on every single penny, being worse than Ebenezer Scrooge. And therefore, these companies’ growth will be stunted due to the high turn-over of employees. They have to spend time and energy training new blood, yet they don’t mind. But it never crossed their minds that “if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”. After all, their year-end accounts would be a rosy picture of the profit they’re raking in. And according to her, these companies will have a slim chance of expanding or that their expansion will be slow and limited. I could see myself doing the same thing 2 or 3 years down the road here, being paid in peanuts. Good grief, God! Save my soul!

Well, I didn’t give up on my teaching for all these crap. I didn’t give up my earnings (which is more than the peanuts they’re paying me here) for this. I wanted a better working environment – less stress, less politics, less dissatisfaction, more contentment and work & career stability. But I think it’s high time I job-hunt for a better paying career and a company with less ‘silly and senseless’ rules. I know, most jobs and working environment sucks elsewhere too. Everywhere is almost the same, unless you’re lucky to get into a company which is truly concerned for the employees’ well-being. But how many companies out there are like this?  I don’t mind working longer hours, I don’t mind working more. I don’t mind traveling further, but please, I don’t like hearing a superior scolding his subordinates just like scolding a dog. It scares me – I’d think that I’ll be the next person who gets yelled at (even though we’re temporarily in a ‘safe haven” in the translators’ room, but how long will it last? )! This fear in me is not good for my emotional well-being…After all, I’m just a simple person, I just want to earn my keep, and put bread on the table, minus all the fuss… Time to log on to the on-line recruitment services and send out my resume to prospective employers. The worst scenario – I can always return to teaching full time.

Let me borrow this phrase from Wan Kamaruddin, APAKAH JADAHNYA ?

I was having headache for the whole afternoon, trying to amend the English sub-titles for the Korean drama, "Only You" when my NJXC student’s mom text me to say that she’d like to discuss about her son’s individual class. So I was kinda happy cause it’d mean that her son would be able to catch up in class and she need not be so upset with him every time we try a new piece. I replied that 7pm would be a good time to call and I commented on how much her son has improved, and how much effort she must have put into guiding her son at home. Mind you, she’s the impatient type of mom who wants her son to be able to grasp everything the very minute I’m teaching, and I’ve seen the numerous tug-of-wars that happen when the son refuses to play and decides to sulk where as the mom would be folding her arms and pouting her lips, before leaving the class in a huff and leaving the poor kid in tears. I’ve tried to be a mediator every time, and explained that the piece could still be attempetd at home, at his own pace, since it was only the first lesson I’m teaching them.

So, she called me at 7pm. It was not the first time she is calling me. I got a earful the last time she called before the FSS in JMC, blaming me for ‘pressuring’ the kids in class by asking them to sing and play a piece several times. Excuse me, who is pressuring here? She or me? She’d be the one who pushes her son’s head with her index finger or slap his mouth if he refuses to sing!

I answered the phone cautiously, trying to sound as cheery as possible. ‘Good evening, Mrs. So-and-So!" and there she went about how she felt that her son is lagging behind in class, how he could not read notes/sight playing, how much better if he’d take up individual classes, how much better is his younger sister, how much she’s paying me and why don’t I pay her back since she’s teaching her son at home, blah blah…and all thsoe sh*t..Hey, shouldn’t parents guide their kids at home? They guide with their schoolwork too, isn’t it?

Hey, how are we supposed to let the kids read "Carnival of Venice"? There’re so many notes in it! Even an ABRSM Grade One piano kid would find it tough to read that ! I tried explaining, but I think it didn’t sink into her.

Her son is a sweet little boy, prone to tantrums and being ‘not-very-inclined-to-practise". She puts all the blame on me that her son is not independent enough, and that I want the parents to sit in the class. Why doesn’t she understand that with parents around, the kids would know what to revise at home, and the parents would know what is happening in the classroom and not be super blur when their kids ask them something. The kids are only in Standard 1, for God’s sake! How does she expects them to take down notes and pay atention all the time? I explained that too, but again, she has closed her mind.

And of the whole class, the others could follow and have no problems. And I don’t force them to do it in a week, I give them time to try at home. So, am I, the teacher who only sees the kid once a week; to be blamed or is she, the mother, who sees her son everyday, is at fault? Whose problem is it if the kid has short attention span and likes to throw tantrums? Could it be the mom who often shows the kid her ‘long and black face’ giving him an example to copy?

Honestly, I was amazed at how well I handled my rising temper last night. I was extra careful with my words, and did not once lose my courtesy. She doesn’t have any excuse to say I’m rude to her in any way.

But, deep down inside, I’d really love to tell her that she’s the one who made the child this way, who shows the child how to throw tantrums, who gives the child pressure, etc… I want to tell her too, that music is like math. Practise makes perfect. Parents must be committed to work with the teacher so that the child can learn better, and not throw the kid into a class (individual or group class) and expect miraces to happen. Kids want parents to sit with them and be a good audience and give them guidance. But once they’re teenagers, do you think they’d still want their parents around? This is the time where you get to spend more time with the kids, and yet you’re complaining. What kind of mother are you? Do you really love your kid? Or are you just sending him for all these lessons-art, music, swimming, etc, just to keep up with the Joneses? Do you know your child’s abilities and limitations?

Making my headache worse and giving me gastric as well by yakking for a good 25 minutes while my dinner went cold… What a b*tchy woman! She should ask herself first, why are the other kids doing well in class but not her son! If it was my fault, the whole class would be in a mess, but it’s only her son… So, whose BL**DY fault is this? I should follow my aunt’s advice by yelling back at her, "Get your bl**dy sh*t of a son and your bl**dy self out of my class, you b*tchy woman!"

Spoiling my evening and dinner… D*mn her…