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Tag: ownership

  • Local Celebrity Complains Singaporeans Not Taking Enough Pride In Their Work

    Local Celebrity Complains Singaporeans Not Taking Enough Pride In Their Work

    Local multi-hyphenate Michelle Chong took to Facebook on Jul 22 to rant about Singaporeans who do not take enough pride in their work.

    Frustrated with people she has come across in the course of her work who just “don’t care about what they do”, Michelle expressed that Singapore has the potential to be a better place if people just made an effort to do a good job.

    She wrote:

    “They don’t check their work, don’t care about how it turns out, don’t take that extra step to value-add or think about how to make it better, don’t want to improve etc. It’s a “why should I bother? It’s not like I’m getting paid very much for this job” or “please lah it’s just a job right?” or “do extra for what? I’m still getting the same salary right?” attitude. I’m not saying we don’t or can’t make mistakes, but maybe just have a little more pride in what we do?”

    The post sparked a debate among netizens online garnering over 7,000 reactions, 2,160 shares and 390 comments.

    Some netizens agreed with Michelle and one Facebook user, Shaun Lee gave an example from a photographer’s point of view.

    Providing an analogy about using film cameras instead of digital ones, he wrote about how taking pride in one’s work will save you money and time.

    Ban Yong Ang echoed: “Money can pay your bills but won’t give you the same kind of satisfaction.”

    Beng Kit Lee wrote: “A positive mind brings about a positive life. A positive life leads to a happy mind!”

    However, there were those who countered Michelle’s views saying that not everyone has the luxury or luck to do what they love and that for practical reasons, they settle for a job they may not enjoy in order to have financial security.

    Lare Nherd wrote, “Were we meant to enjoy our jobs, it would not be called jobs” and added that as a celebrity, Michelle cannot fully relate to the “common people” in  Singapore.

    Others talked about how some industries just end up leaving them jaded like John Fortissimo Blanc who said that he started off with pride and passion for nursing but the harsh reality and demands of the job soon stripped that away.

    There are also those resigned to the belief that no matter how much effort or pride they put in their work, they can never overcome the hurdles that exist such as elitism and meritocracy, where those who come from privileged backgrounds and know the “right people” can get further in their careers without working as hard.

    The post definitely succeeded in sparking a debate and providing a platform for people to express their opinions on the work culture in Singapore.

     

    Source: http://stomp.straitstimes.com

  • Grandma Sues Grandkids For Trying To Sell HDB Flat

    Grandma Sues Grandkids For Trying To Sell HDB Flat

    Madam Tan Teck Soon says, for 26 years, she has paid the Housing Board $277 each month – mortgage instalments for the three- room flat that she lives in.

    She paid over $117,000, including upgrading costs and conservancy charges, said the 76-year-old canteen vendor, but she might soon have to leave her home. In March, she said, she learnt her granddaughters were trying to sell the flat.

    To stop this, she has sued both Ms Michelle Ng Li Xuan, 26, and Ms Isabella Ng Su Xi, 25.

    The case is pending in the High Court, and the two sides met for a pre-trial conference on Tuesday, said lawyer Chia Boon Teck, who is representing Madam Tan pro bono.

    Both sisters are registered owners of the flat, which they inherited when their father died in 2009.

    But Madam Tan said she had single-handedly paid for the flat since its purchase in 1990. Her granddaughters were only holding it in trust for her, she said. In her affidavit, she said they were trying to sell it and “swallow” the proceeds.

    The 10th-storey flat in Bedok South was bought under the name of her son – the sisters’ father, Mr Ng King Nguang – said Madam Tan, who was then registered as co-owner of another flat with her older son. The disputed flat has an estimated value of about $330,000 now.

    “The flat was registered under Ng’s sole name at that time with the understanding between Ng and me that I was the sole owner,” she said, adding that she paid the initial sum of $20,000 for the down payment and renovations.

    She was registered as an owner of the flat in 1992, after the other flat was sold. But seven years later, Mr Ng chalked up about $100,000 in debts, she said. He then purportedly asked her for help. She said he wanted her to sell him her share of the flat so he could get an HDB loan on the pretext of paying her.

    She said she did not get any money from the sale, but lent him $61,000 instead. He used the entire sum to pay creditors, she said.

    “I’m not a lawyer. I didn’t understand the implications. My son and I understood the flat still belonged to me,” she told The Straits Times.

    In 1992, Mr Ng divorced his wife, who got custody of Michelle. Isabella, about one then, grew up in the flat with her father and Madam Tan.

    In 2009, Mr Ng died after a heart attack. The sisters inherited the flat, along with his mortgage life insurance payout of $40,200.

    “I did not understand how (they) could sell the flat and throw me onto the streets when I had paid for the flat entirely single-handedly,” Madam Tan said in her affidavit.

    Both sisters denied trying to sell the flat without her knowledge.

    Ms Michelle Ng disputed that Madam Tan had made all payments for the flat. “What I understand is that my dad was the one doing the payments,” she said, adding that she and her sister let Madam Tan live there as it was near Madam Tan’s workplace.

    Ms Ng said Madam Tan made some payments for the flat after Mr Ng died, but that was because Madam Tan was living there then.

    Ms Ng said the flat was an asset passed down to both sisters by their father, which they should be able to sell, and they had offered Madam Tan an alternative place to live – with Ms Isabella Ng at her upcoming BTO flat in Choa Chu Kang.

    Said Ms Michelle Ng, a former marketing executive: “I’m not working at the moment. I’m expecting my second child. I’m not taking the money to go and enjoy myself.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com