Masonry work is a dying profession in Singapore. I’ve not come across any Singaporeans doing it. Many of the tilers I know are Malaysians and Chinese.
On good months, I paid my tiler 15-20k (that’s equivalent to a CEO’s salary of a medium size MNC). That’s just projects from my company. He does projects for other companies too.
For any given masonry work, it’s the main contractor that provides the tiles, cement and other materials for the tiler’s usage.
So basically the tiler has no other expenses except his tools of the trade and personal cost.
It’s a wonder why this lucrative paying job is not taken up by Singaporeans. I guess sitting in an air-conditioned office earning $2-3k per month beats having dust and grimes on the face and clothes.
Source: Khan Osman Sulaiman
