I remember catching up with my oldest friend, who had transitioned
from a corporate law career into teaching. She mentioned that in the course of
new job, she actually had to “sweep” the school she was teaching at. She then
reminded me that back when we were kids being a “sweeper” was something that
parents always used as a “threat” – “If you don’t study hard, you’ll end up as
a street sweeper.”
I think of this conversation that I had with my oldest
friend because it hit upon the topic that is a hot topic for discussion but one
which nobody wants to do anything about. That is the topic of work. My friend
had a point in as much as she reminded me of how professional middle class
families use the threat of a future as a manual worker to get their children
into what they considered “proper” jobs, which inevitably involved needing
paper qualifications and sitting in an office.
This mindset isn’t particularly limited to those who
are “born” into working professional families. My former father-in-law put two
kids through university by selling eggs. His pride was having two kids who were
joining professions (my ex is a teacher and her brother works at DSTA) and not
taking over his business. My former brother-in-law in particular was regarded
as something of a star in the family because he had the “ultimate” job working
in a government related job that paid very well and had the prestigious label
of being an “Iron Rice-bowl.” I knew I was probably not fit for mainstream
Singapore when at the last meeting with my ex, I told her that her family had
the wrong hero. Instead of idolising her brother for doing what everyone else
does (thus betraying my middle-class background), the one they should have
admired was her dad who put his kids through school by selling eggs (how much does
one make on an egg).
Now, I do get the value of “professions.” Houses, for
example, do need to be designed by architects and engineers are needed to get them
up. Should one ever need surgery, one would want the person holding the knife
to have studied everything there was to possibly know about surgery. The same
can be said of lawyers – would you want to face a law suite without a lawyer
who knew the law like the back of his or her hand?
As the pace of technological pace speeds up, the
importance of continuous learning will only become more important. The adage that
the best investment that one can ever make is “education” is not only true, its
going to be more so as things progress.
Having said what I’ve just said, I believe the
majority of us in the “professional sector” need revalue our perception of the
world. Too many of us grew up with the idea that work outside the office was
not “real work” or that it was only people who were not going anywhere in life.
To be fair, I believe this attitude is generally true in just about every place
on the planet. However, in Singapore, it becomes especially when you notice the
fact that people in manual-labour tend to be darker skinned and from other
parts of Asia.
The fact that I took a waiter job in my late thirties
put me at odds with mainstream thinking. As mentioned on a few occasions, one
of the great pick-up lines I ever received was “Are you a Yellow Ribbon
Criminal, you’re working here and the way you speak don’t gel.”
Then, when I joined a proper profession in the
insolvency trade, I remember a lawyer telling me “Oh you do the easy part,”
when I mentioned that I do the running around whilst my boss does the paper
work.
I don’t dispute that my boss has the harder job. I am
very clear about what I want and don’t want to get involved in based on my
situation in life. However, I find it strange that people who sit in airconditioned
offices think that manual work is easy.
It hit home today, when I went out in the afternoon. May
2023 has seen some high temperatures and today was no exception. Even in a
short distance, I made it a point to stay under shelter. Then I noticed a
construction worker behind me and noticed that he had come from the sun. Then I
noticed a group of them across the road working.
If manual work is “easy,” why aren’t people rushing to
do it? Surely, if the manual workers are having it easy when compared to the
office workers, you would find people who would be willing to do it.
Yet, this clearly isn’t the case. I know people who are
considered “long-term” unemployed from their last office job. Instead of taking
on manual work to supplement their income, they prefer to stay at home. It’s a case
of having too much pride to be seen doing manual work but plenty of pride to
beg friends and family for money to smoke.
Why don’t people want to change places with manual
workers, since manual work is not real work? Some would argue that it’s the pay.
I mean, I earned from a single press release than I did in a month at the
Bistrot. So, assuming that manual work paid the same as office work, would people
still want to change places with the manual workers since manual work is not really
work?
I know I don’t want to change places with the
construction workers. I like the comfort of not being in the hot sun on a Saturday.
I have the privilege of being flexible with how I make my living. I can hang
around the periphery of Cubicle Land and on occasion wait tables here and
there. I might even get a few cents in advertising for this blog piece.
It’s not that me and the rest of middle-class doesn’t
have struggles. However, if you look at everything we do, we are the ones who
have it relatively easy and our work, is well, not real. We are not the ones
out in the sun on a Saturday. I can think of a number of construction workers
who would happily take my place. I wouldn’t want to take theirs.
So, the next time someone gives you the idea that
manual work is not “real work,” you should perhaps ask them if they’d happy to
change places with the manual workers.
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