Indian discriminated in job-searching in SG
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Sep 11, 2006
Hire based on merit, not on mother tongue
WHILE the article, 'Make fair hiring practices the norm' (ST, Sept 7), states that 173 employers have committed themselves to
hiring on merit, there is still
a lot of work to be done to get to the root of the problem.
An Indian born and brought up here, I have been trying to get a job for the past three months.
Despite having the relevant work experience and the necessary paper qualifications, I have not had any luck with my applications.
Wherever I am applying for vacancies, they are looking for bilingual candidates.
From my understanding of the word bilingual, it means the ability to speak any two languages. I speak three languages.
However, employers seem to have a different concept of the word bilingual. For them, bilingual means I must be able to speak Mandarin.
I am not against certain jobs requiring employees to be able to speak Mandarin. With China's economy growing steadily, there needs to be people who can work in China and speak the language. I can fully understand that.
When I was looking for job vacancies, an advertisement caught my eye.
It stated: 'US MNC looking for candidates to fill vacancies. Must be Chinese speaking.'
I guess the Americans too have jumped onto the bilingual bandwagon.
Head-hunting companies that advertise on the Internet also state that they want candidates who are able to speak Mandarin. That means all the Malays and Indians will have to brace themselves for a tough time ahead.
Recruitment agencies should encourage clients to hire people based on merit and not on their mother tongue.
I am not the only one who has met with disappointment after applying for jobs because of this bilingual requirement. Many of my non-Chinese friends too have been equally frustrated.
I would be glad if any one of the 173 firms could offer me a job, based on my qualifications and my experience.
Hire me on merit, please.
Stewart Sanjay -
In Malaysia,
DR M solved this problem with iron hand
last time when he was in power
Any MNC look for ppl
certain % must go to Malays in Malaysia
May be SG NATO
But in our company lot ppl
can't speak mandarin (ratio high)
some companies only doing the naughty things leh
ratio how much i dun know leh -
do you know the stereotypical view of the different races are:
Indians: smart, intellectual; esp. in IT, jobs inc. laywers, spokesperson
Malays: lazy, unreliable, dishonest stupid, bad attitude - mostly in lowly-paid jobs or unemployed.
seldom promoted. but obviously; mostly referring to guys and there're some exceptions.
Chinese: Hardworking, determined, smart - highly sought after due to ability to speak mandarin. jobs cover all areas.
Eurasians/Others: smart, highly-intellectual, creative, arrogant - jobs inc. those high-end jobs on the upper rungs.
Can't simply deny that the stereotypical views are completely distorted. Reflect on your own life experiences. -
You are making a point that is groundless and more importantly, contradicting yourself. If I need an employee who must have knowledge of the Chinese knowledge in order to perform the job and you haven't that knowledge, you already don't have the merit to be considered for the job, rite?
Please don't make such sweeping statements and fan the ambers of racial tolerance too hard hor....... it 'll engulf and raze you the same way Dhillip Kumar kena ok..........
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the malay part quite true. but there are some exceptions. indian oso true. chinese like to ziak zua alot oso.Originally posted by trendz:do you know the stereotypical view of the different races are:
Indians: smart, intellectual; esp. in IT, jobs inc. laywers, spokesperson
Malays: lazy, unreliable, dishonest stupid, bad attitude - mostly in lowly-paid jobs or unemployed.
seldom promoted. but obviously; mostly referring to guys and there're some exceptions.
Chinese: Hardworking, determined, smart - highly sought after due to ability to speak mandarin. jobs cover all areas.
Eurasians/Others: smart, highly-intellectual, creative, arrogant - jobs inc. those high-end jobs on the upper rungs.
Can't simply deny that the stereotypical views are completely distorted. Reflect on your own life experiences. -
if employers want to discriminate what can you do?
even if they dont specify it as a pre-requisite in the advert they can still discriminate if they choose to. -
poor thing man...i cant believe such 'indirect' racism still exists in our MULTI RACIAL society -.-
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You stressed a lot on merit, but what is its defination to you?
It is supposed to be something which can best serve the employers. What is always on the employers' minds is which one of the hundreds of candidates can bring in the most money for the company.
Since the local mass are Chinese, and China's development provided huge business oppotunities, it is safe to say that employing a mandarin-speaker tends to benefit the firm much more.
Seeing this situation as racial discrimination is childish and senseless. Only if you were able to speak fluent mandarin, yet was time and again rejected, then your are being treated unfairly because of your race.
Some might say that it is unfair to ask other races to give up mother tongue just to learn chinese and find jobs. But think again, people all over the world are learning English to meet up with the expectations and competitions. Why didn't you complain about that?
Congratulations that you know 3 different languages, but it just so happened that what is most needed now in the society might not necessarily be what you have learnt.
Unless you have a communist belief, if not in this capitalist society, it is all about competition. And to me, including languages into this competition is definately not racism. -
sollie hor. indians are hao lian, cunning n cok up.Originally posted by trendz:do you know the stereotypical view of the different races are:
Indians: smart, intellectual; esp. in IT, jobs inc. laywers, spokesperson
Malays: lazy, unreliable, dishonest stupid, bad attitude - mostly in lowly-paid jobs or unemployed.
seldom promoted. but obviously; mostly referring to guys and there're some exceptions.
Chinese: Hardworking, determined, smart - highly sought after due to ability to speak mandarin. jobs cover all areas.
Eurasians/Others: smart, highly-intellectual, creative, arrogant - jobs inc. those high-end jobs on the upper rungs.
Can't simply deny that the stereotypical views are completely distorted. Reflect on your own life experiences. -
indians make good lawyers.
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*snortz*
quarrel, me neber lose dem. -
Hmm, so if there is a job that requires 'Indian Speaking' then I, as a Chinese, am being discriminated against?
I think there is a difference between job requirements and discrimination. If I have like 2PhDs but unable to speak Japanese, what are the chances that I can find a job over in Japan... -
Actually they are a little in a predicament.......cant blame them complaining...
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i find that they tend to be very good speakers alsoOriginally posted by FireIce:indians make good lawyers. -
Actually almost all jobs in Singapore are a discriminating. If in US, u cant ask a person what his race, parents job, background all that. To sum it up employers can only ask prospective employees relevant skill which he is needed to have to be able to do the job like his education level.
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dont kpkb lah
so many form of it exists?ageism ,lookism sexism and blaa blaa
its endless 1 lah jus have to live wif it i guess?? -
Well, mandarin is a language that can be learnt
I have a number of indian friends whose mandarin can put alot of chinese to shame
And no, they have no problems looking for jobs. -
Indians stink
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Hey, discrimination does exist okay.
Some companies dont have concrete reasons for hiring Chinese-speakg ppl, yet they only want Chinese ppl to work with them. We understand tt China is a boomg economy etc etc, but there is no need for the WHOLE company to speak Chinese rite..??
It's an unfair disadvantage to the minorities,yes. Sure the Chinese language can be learnt, but it will take years and years for us to be as good as the Chinese themselves. And I know a few Malay friends who can converse well in Mandarin but the employers still dont want to interview them coz they want Chinese ppl to work with them.
Until you experience all this yourself, you'll never realise that this kind of discrimination does exist. -
no offence, but some south asians shld pay more attention to personal hygiene, coz they have high tendency to emit body odor. their sweat glands very active. buy more roll-on and bathe more.