of Indolence

I’ve learnt lately that no matter how slothful one can be, there is always some one in their life that can change that. For instance, there are two colleagues in my office who are infamous for their indomitable indolence and apathy in their undertakings. Not surprisingly, they have recently been handed the pink slip and given up till next June to leave (Yeah, I work in a pretty kind place to have given them 1 whole year to find a new job). Just yesterday, one of them asked me to swap my Friday duty with her. For the record, no one likes to do duty on Friday as non-duty personnel get to go home half-and-hour earlier than usual. I was surprised, and I inquired jokingly if she is going to pah tor (dating) later. She replied that her P2 child is having exams till Thursday and she would like to get home earlier to revise with him.

That, is the kind of sacrifice one is willing to make for someone dear to them, no matter how slothful one can be. Well, I guess so.

of Job Satisfaction

I’m not exactly sure how many of us really enjoy our job. Perhaps in contemporary society and especially so in a merit and cash-driven society like the one yours truly lives in, it can be really difficult to find the elusive perfect job. After all, even the poorest of our society does not have to worry about finding a shelter over his head (“Home, cheap home”, Today, October 14 2005). Ideally, our job should pay well, not too easy but not too challenging either. Such is the conundrum that plagues us relatively affluent citizens of the earth.

I was at the gents a while ago and there were a few foreign workers washing up. We have a lot of them around lately as we enjoy tearing down and rebuilding our offices ad nauseam. Anyway, that’s besides the point. Unlike us, they do not enjoy welfare benefits of 5-day work week (I believe our government is only interested in the procreation of Singapore citizens and the rich and powerful PR foreign talents). In fact, they slog through their weekends to finish their renovation jobs to satiate the insatiable demends of their affluent clients. Job after job, weekends after weekends, they were still in high spirits, singing songs in their native tongue in the gents at 5:30 pm. They weren’t singing because they’re knocking off like most of us do. In fact, for many of them, the work has really just begun. I mean, I don’t really expect the people in my office to tolerate all that drilling and knocking during office hours.

So what keeps them ticking? I would like to think that it must be the images of their wife and children back at home, thousands of miles across the seas – awaiting for a chance for education, awaiting for money to feed the children, perhaps. After all, the only reason why they left their family behind to slog on an alien land could only be in pursuit of one thing – bread. Perhaps, job satisfaction can really only be attained when one truly needs the job to fulfil the needs of one’s loved ones. Perhaps then, any job will do.

For now, looking at Apple’s latest offering (no, not the iPods) is beseeching the devil within to join the white side.