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Yesterday, March 27, 2013,
I visited Khin Khin who
operates a licensed
employment agent as I have
had known her and her
husband for more than 20
years.
Times are very hard for
employment agencies as the
Singapore Government has
sharply cut down the quota
of foreign workers for all
employers. Many employment
agencies have closed down
in her building and in
other parts of Singapore.
Many retail operations
including restaurants and
cafes that are more
reliant on foreign workers
have to close down or stop
expanding. Even the
Housing & Development
Board's construction of
new HDB apartments is
delayed by several
months.
Khin Khin said she would
close shop at the expiry
of the lease in December
2014 as she had fewer
successful closing. "Can I
close earlier?" she had
asked me. "Yes, if you
continue paying the office
rental of $1,600 per month
from March to December
2014." I said. "All
businesses have ups and
downs. It is up to the
owner to persevere. If
every start up business is
successful, everybody will
start their own business.
Why be an employee?
"In this difficult time
when others are closing
down, you should be around
and be well organised. You
need to know how to manage
the employment agency
business. You have a
special advantage over
Singaporeans as you can
speak the Myanmar language
and English. So, you have
many Myanmar prospects as
they prefer their own
agent who can communicate
with them. But you are
unable to connect them to
Singaporean employers."
Employment agencies supply
maids too and they are
numerous in the past 3
years as Singapore was
very welcoming of the
foreign workers
contributing to an
economic boom. However,
the locals become
dissatisfied as they lose
bargaining power in
getting well paid and not
working long hours as much
as 10 hours a day. Not all
foreign workers will
tolerate the long hours
too as I could see from
the new prospective job
applicants at Khin Khin
Employment Agency. Some
will change employers to
get shorter hours and seek
help from Khin Khin. One
Filipino worker change
employer for higher pay
but soon find out that the
hours are not short. So
she resigned as she wanted
Sundays off. Soon her
one-month extension of
stay after termination of
her "S" Pass expired and
she had to go back to the
Philippines as she could
not find an employer. Many
employers with "S" Pass
quotas get their
applications rejected as
the MOM deemed that the
quality of the prospective
hires is not up to
standard or for some
reason. Such rejections
have become very common
nowadays. In this way, the
foreign worker population
is reduced to resolve the
problem of overcrowding in
subway trains and public
places upsetting the
locals.
The way I see it, such
policies are good for the
small companies with lower
overheads, such as that of
Khin Khin who focuses on
Myanmar workers. "You can
upgrade to a higher
quality of workers desired
by Singaporeans," I said.
"You can expand to include
workers other countries."
It is easier said than
done. For example, there
is a demand for male
"maids" to help the aging
men with strokes. There is
a demand for nurses but
this is a world wide
demand. Can she provide
such workers? Many start
ups don't last 5 years.
Some don't even last 1
year but Khin Khin had
gone past one year. It is
best for her to be well
organised and do marketing
to survive. It will not be
easy but it can be done as
she has this special niche
- a knowledge of the
Myanmar language and
English. She can be a
bridge for Myanmar
businesses which are now
booming in Yangon and
needs services in
Singapore. So much to do
if she knows how to do
it.
There was a Myanmar maid
who visited her office
yesterday but she was not
in as she was coughing.
This maid had a job with
an English family through
Khin Khin employment
agency. This was a
personable girl who
understands and speaks
good English. "How come
you know how to speak good
English?" I asked her. She
had worked for a
Singaporean family
earlier. The English
employer likes her very
much. Her Thai maid had
walked into Khin Khin's
office and asked for a
maid subject to being paid
a commission on success.
So this was how the
Myanmar girl in her mid
20s got a job.
"Are there many
seamstresses in your
village in Myanmar?" I
asked her and showed her
one "Alteration Shop" near
Khin Khin's office in the
office building to ensure
that she knew what I
meant. "So many," she
said. I was looking for a
seamstress to make some
uniforms and operating
clothes. "My mother makes
the dresses for me," she
said. I thought her mum is
a seamstress but she is a
secondary school teacher
employed by the Myanmar
government . "How much
does a teacher earn per
month?" I asked her. "One
Lak," she said. "One Lak"
is the figure of 10,000
kyats. Something similar
to the Chinese of "One
Mum" which is equivalent
to $10,000. Dividing "One
Lak" by 700, it is
equivalent to S$420.
"So you are earning more
than her!" I said and she
smiled. The English
employer pays her at least
$450 per month with 4 days
off per month. The
Singaporean employer in
general prefers the maid
not to take a day off per
week and pays the $20/day
compensation. Some
Singaporean employers
allow one day off per
month. 4 days off are
important for workers in
my opinion. It is to
refresh their minds and to
meet their country folks.
Unfortunately some become
pregnant and that is where
the employer thinks that
he has to pay $5,000
penalty to the MOM.
On the subject of
seamstresses, a
prospective candidate came
looking for a better job
than being a maid. She
wanted to earn more than a
maid and she has a degree
from Myanmar University.
"It is very difficult for
a maid to get a 'S' Pass,"
Khin Khin said to me. I
don't agree with her as
such ex-maids will have a
better knowledge of
Singapore's culture and
can understand English. It
may be MOM's policy to
reject maids applying for
'S' Passes but I don't
know what MOM officers
think.
This slim lady wore a
peaked cap, dressed in
black blouse with sequins
and a white jacket. She
took off her peak cap and
Khin Khin asked me to
contact a Singaporean lady
who could be interested in
employing her as a maid
and to do some sewing.
"You had your own sewing
shop in Myanmar for 10
years," I confirmed with
her. "Did you sew dresses
for fashion departments in
Yangon?"
"No," she said.
"They don't do such things
in Yangon," Khin Khin who
had arrived at 4.30 pm
said. "The best way to
test her skills in sewing
is to ask her to make a
dress for the prospective
employer."
I phoned the prospective
employer and left a
message for her to call
me. Many people are such
that they don't return
calls unless they require
something from you. So, I
had not received any
return calls.
To test her skills, the
seamstresses need a sewing
machine and so Khin Khin
went to the neighbour to
ask how much they will
charge for her to sew a
dress.
"$20 for renting her
equipment for her to sew a
dress" she told me.
"Sewing machine and
threads and scissors. The
neighbour wants to rent
half of my office as she
intends to close her shop.
No business at all. She
wants to sell her sewing
machine to me for $400.
Actually I have a good
Japanese sewing machine in
Yangon. For rental, I can
partition half of my
office."
I can understand that Khin
Khin is also trying to cut
costs as she would get
$800/month. Office rentals
are high in Singapore
compared to other
countries like Malaysia.
"You don't rent to anybody
esp. trading and sewing
shops," I advised. "Your
office is so small at
around 300 sq ft.
Prospects need to come in
to discuss with you and
you will not have space
for them. It gives a poor
impression too."
So Khin Khin shelved the
idea again. The solution
is to get more cases
closed, not to rent out
half the small
office! This solution
applies to all businesses
including veterinary
practices.
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TOA
PAYOH VETS
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