i r back.
and feeling slightly inspired by this guy: A Singapore Taxi Driver's Diary
PhD student from Stanford driving a taxi in Singapore.
Some of the comments on his blog reminds me of what my dad said to me recently: my expectation for you is for you to earn as much as your peers. It's the least you can do after I've spent so much on your education in the UK. (fyi. my peers have gone on to be accountants, consultants, economists, and high-income-high-flying-white collar wearing-people). And what I'm doing now? Working at a chinese pub in Outram for a pay of $10/hr.
Occassionally I do feel like wtf am I doing. Especially when I tell people I have just graduated (and when they probe-from a UK university), and the look on their faces makes me think twice about what I am doing. Pouring alcohol for customers, playing games with them, making them drink.. (doesn't help that my manager wants me to dress pretty + put on make up). And also the fact that I went to a UK university to study means that I come from a pretty wealthy background... and my dad used to say to me, why do I want to fight for the jobs that some other people reaaally need? [and my brother just recently said that i'm wasting money going to study masters when all i want to work for is in the humanitarian sector -- a sector that will make sure i will never be rich.]
But really. Before you guys start jumping to conclusions, I am going to put my foot down and say that this is one of the best experiences I have had. Just as Dr Taxi driver has so many stories to tell - so do I. They may be very short and simple stories, but they are still stories that unless intoxicated with alcohol, one would never hear or experience. No doubt that there are some stories that I'd much rather not hear (although on hindsight they are quite funny).
Well basically what I am rambling on about I guess is that your career choice need not be determined by your qualification (especially when I did my qualification out of pure duty). And that there's so much more to life when you explore things that are generally out of your "path". Even better if you don't have "path", because then you have an excuse to venture about and experience life and the amazing stuff it has. Unless of course you're not into that and just want stability and money and all the jazz (I mean there's absolutely nothing wrong with chasing money and material desires but that's really just not my cup-of-tea and people need to start realising that there are many varieties of teas out there!). Don't jump to conclusions like "you're wasting time being a taxi driver when you have a PhD" or in my case "you're wasting resources by being a pei jiou mei (beer-girl)". Keep an open mind! Seriously.
I have met so many different kinds of people in the pub it's actually pretty amazing. People that I never thought existed in Singapore; stories that I thought I'd never hear of in Singapore. And if anything, I am pretty sure my conversational chinese is back to the standards when I was in Nanyang! And my hokkien vocabulary has definitely ventured beyond the vulgarities. How cool is that.
p.s.: they're actually really good. :D
and feeling slightly inspired by this guy: A Singapore Taxi Driver's Diary
PhD student from Stanford driving a taxi in Singapore.
Some of the comments on his blog reminds me of what my dad said to me recently: my expectation for you is for you to earn as much as your peers. It's the least you can do after I've spent so much on your education in the UK. (fyi. my peers have gone on to be accountants, consultants, economists, and high-income-high-flying-white collar wearing-people). And what I'm doing now? Working at a chinese pub in Outram for a pay of $10/hr.
Occassionally I do feel like wtf am I doing. Especially when I tell people I have just graduated (and when they probe-from a UK university), and the look on their faces makes me think twice about what I am doing. Pouring alcohol for customers, playing games with them, making them drink.. (doesn't help that my manager wants me to dress pretty + put on make up). And also the fact that I went to a UK university to study means that I come from a pretty wealthy background... and my dad used to say to me, why do I want to fight for the jobs that some other people reaaally need? [and my brother just recently said that i'm wasting money going to study masters when all i want to work for is in the humanitarian sector -- a sector that will make sure i will never be rich.]
But really. Before you guys start jumping to conclusions, I am going to put my foot down and say that this is one of the best experiences I have had. Just as Dr Taxi driver has so many stories to tell - so do I. They may be very short and simple stories, but they are still stories that unless intoxicated with alcohol, one would never hear or experience. No doubt that there are some stories that I'd much rather not hear (although on hindsight they are quite funny).
Well basically what I am rambling on about I guess is that your career choice need not be determined by your qualification (especially when I did my qualification out of pure duty). And that there's so much more to life when you explore things that are generally out of your "path". Even better if you don't have "path", because then you have an excuse to venture about and experience life and the amazing stuff it has. Unless of course you're not into that and just want stability and money and all the jazz (I mean there's absolutely nothing wrong with chasing money and material desires but that's really just not my cup-of-tea and people need to start realising that there are many varieties of teas out there!). Don't jump to conclusions like "you're wasting time being a taxi driver when you have a PhD" or in my case "you're wasting resources by being a pei jiou mei (beer-girl)". Keep an open mind! Seriously.
I have met so many different kinds of people in the pub it's actually pretty amazing. People that I never thought existed in Singapore; stories that I thought I'd never hear of in Singapore. And if anything, I am pretty sure my conversational chinese is back to the standards when I was in Nanyang! And my hokkien vocabulary has definitely ventured beyond the vulgarities. How cool is that.
p.s.: they're actually really good. :D
