The difficulty of meeting the Singaporean Standard and why people are jaded in their jobs

This essay focuses on the Singaporean Standard, why it has to be met, the consequences if they do not meet the standard and why Singaporeans become jaded in their jobs.

Singapore is a society whereby an individual needs to be monetary sound in order to live a comfortable life. Due to globalization and its economic growth, we now are able to dine and shop at many restaurants and fashion boutiques. There are now many restaurants and fashion boutiques that cater to the upper middle class and above in Singapore. The number of Singaporeans who have the purchasing power to dine or shop at these restaurants and fashion boutiques are increasing. Therefore, it is common to see Singaporeans forming long queues at these restaurants or swarming to these fashion boutiques. It is also now common to see luxury cars cruising down our forever packed roads. Given the rosy picture on how Singaporeans live their lives these days, it would be safe to say that most Singaporeans now live a comfortable life.

As the number of Singaporeans that are now living comfortable luxurious lives increase, a standard way of living in Singapore has been formulated. For those who are not able to meet these standards, they are left out; thus creating an anomie for those that cannot meet the standard.

To have the standard of living that has been imposed on us, we have to work and earn a certain level of remuneration. An employee must aspect to earn around S$3000 or more and obtain promotion 2 to 3 years every time in order to meet a high standard of living, if not he or she would feel isolated from society.

Singaporeans have to work every day work from Mondays to Fridays or on Saturdays and Sundays in order to survive. Prices in Singapore for houses, car, books and other merchandisers will keep on rising. Young graduates who start working after their graduation will began to obtain loans like housing and car loans in order to meet up society’s standard of living. Therefore, they become slaves to car loans, marriage loans, housing loans and other financial loans. A good handful of Singaporeans are in debt for the rest of their lives. If you are “born” an elite in Singapore, you are lucky. If not, you are “born” unlucky.

In this world there will always be some who will not be able to live a comfortable life because they are not able to earn high salaries. The reasons for not being able to earn high salaries are as follows :-

• Do not have the right qualifications and skills
• By pass for promotion ( stuck in the same job for many years without promotion )
• In the wrong job. No vacancies to transfer to another department for better job prospects
• Long wait to be transferred to another department
• Are not good enough in their supervisors eyes
• Stuck in their careers with no prospect of promotion
• Do not know how to find another job

What happens to those that are facing these problems? They may become jaded and lose interest in their lives. They may feel a great sense of emptiness. They may just live from day to day. They are left feeling indifferent and dehumanize. They may feel trapped in this Singaporean pressure cooker society. They will lose their ambition to improve themselves in their jobs; they will lose interest in setting and achieving goals for themselves and will begin to lose interest in other things in life. They will have no mood to look for another a mate because they would not have the financial capability to get married. They may begin to feel trapped in their jobs, may not be able to find a way to get a new job and may not have the motivation to change their life.

There have not been any reports on Singaporeans adopting these kinds of behaviors but there have been such reports in China. Therefore if this social phenomenon is happening in China, what is there to say that it is not happening in Singapore or other parts of the world. This social phenomenon can be found among doctors, bank employees, teachers, journalists, traffic policemen and taxi drivers. The following are quotes by some China citizens that are facing this social phenomenon. It is taken from a newspaper article published by the Straits Times called Rise Of The “ Plasticine’ generation on Monday, September 13 2010.

• Kevin Tu 31, property agent, wakes up at 8 am each day. Drags himself to work, puts in 9 hours in front of the computer and with his clients. Then he goes home to his one-bedroom apartment in the South side of Beijing to stare at the TV shows alone. A go-getting executive in a multi- national company just a few years ago, just lives “one day at a time”. “Everything just feels very bland,” he said. “I have no ambition, no real goal in life and I just don’t feel interested in anything anymore, even in hobbies I used to have. Now that I feel stuck in my career, I am in no mood to look for a mate. Maybe this numbness is just a phase or maybe life will just be this bland for me and I’ll just have to accept that this is it”
  
  
• Advertising executive Wang Win 29 had this to say : “ I feel very trapped in my job boring job of six years, but I keep thinking I have to find first find someone to marry, then move on in my career, so I keep trying. I feel stuck in life and I feel confused, trapped but I can’t find the motivation to do something about it. I want to change my life but I don’t know the way out.”
  

An outspoken sociology professor Zhou Xiaozheng of Renmin University in Beijing said that most Chinese become slaves when they buy a car or a house; thus becoming house slaves or car slaves. This is because they will be paying back the loans they purchased to buy the house or the car or both. Now transpose this situation to our situation in Singapore and you will see the big picture. To meet the Singapore Standard, one has to buy a car or a nice house. They end up repaying the loans they purchased to buy these items for a very long time. If one cannot buy a house or car, they do not really meet the “Singaporean Standard”. Furthermore, more young Singaporeans are used to being driven around, so what more if they find themselves not being able to buy a car.

He also said that young Chinese feel suppressed by pressure in many fronts. Once they graduate, they have to fight to find a job, male enough money to buy a house amid the soaring property prices and when they do that they are in debt for a very long time. Isn’t this also happening in Singapore as well? They have to meet the Singaporean Standard if not they feel like they are losers.

Some sociologists have written about why people become jaded if they cannot obtain what they want in life or become jaded in their jobs. They are Talcott Parsons, Karl Marx and Max Webber.

Talcott Parsons created the AGIL system to explain how systems ( political, law, business and family ) can work together to form social equlibrium in society. I will use it to explain the consequences if the Singaporean Standard is not met.

The AGIL System: Adaptation, Goal Attainment, Integration & Latent Pattern Maintenance

The explanations of how these five factors can explain the social phenomenon addressed at hand.

Adaptation : This is based on the physical or material environment. It looks at how individuals adapt to its physical environment.

If Singaporeans are able to adapt their lives and meet the expectations of the “Singapore Standard”, then they will be able to live comfortable lives. However, if they can’t due to the inability of obtaining good purchasing power, then they may face difficulty living in Singapore especially with meeting up with the Jones. They may start to lose any ambitions they have in life. They will lose the motivation to improve. They may just accept the fact that it is their destiny not to live a good life and die as a single men or women. In other words, they would just become walking zombies. However, they may still hope that there will be a better future for them.

Goal Attainment : Ability of individual or groups to identify and pursue goals. The individual’s need to achieve his or her goals to live comfortably in Singapore.

If Singaporeans are able to achieve their goals of obtaining good jobs, getting fast promotion and earning high paying salaries, they will be able to have good purchasing power and indulge in the various “luxuries” that Singapore has to offer. If they can’t, then they will left out. They may start to feel jealous and have resentment towards others who can live a “good life” in Singapore. They will lose the motivation to improve. They may just accept the fact that it is their destiny not to live a good life and die as a single men or women. In other words, they would just become walking zombies. However, they may still hope that there will be a better future for them.

Integration : the need to coordinate, adapt and regulate relationships among individuals and groups within the economy or country in order for the system to function.

In order for Singaporeans to properly integrate themselves in Singapore, they have the meet the “Singaporean Standard”. Of course, Singaporeans can still integrate with one another even though they do not meet the “Singaporean Standard” However, they may be in constant struggle with themselves in trying to think of ways to obtain the “Singaporean Standard”, however not all Singaporeans would feel this way. It all depends on their character. A sense of anomie will be felt in some Singaporeans if they cannot meet the “Singaporean Standard” in society. They may resort to crime to obtain the luxuries they want. Some may just accept the fact that it is their destiny not to live a good life.

Latent pattern maintenance : to maintain that individuals are motivated to fulfill their roles as clerks, bankers, cashiers and managers. Rewards are given for them to motivate them in their jobs.

Rewards are given to those that perform well. However, some employees may not be given these rewards because of favoritism. Rewards like salary increment are given to those that work hard and prove that they are efficient in their work. Due to office politics, some efficient workers may not be given the promotion or the just rewards they duly deserve. They will start to lose interest in their job. They will lose the motivation to improve themselves in their jobs. They will shun away from society because due to not receiving the salary increases they may not able to indulge in the comfortable lifestyle that most Singaporeans do. They may eventually live and die as a hermit.

Employees follow proper work procedures in their job everyday. Day in day out, nine to five, they follow the same work procedures. As mention before, some of them endure their “boring & torturous” job because what they earn may be barely enough for them to survive. The work that they do will become repetitious. They may perform their job just like a robot. Eventually they will become bored and alienated from their work. For example, a cashier cashing in the goods that customers purchase at a supermarket. The process of cashing in the goods never change. The cashier internalizes the process. The tools that she uses to cash in the goods and herself become one. She becomes alienated from her work. Companies may form unions to persuade their workers that their work life is normal when it is actually detrimental to their well-being and there is no need for self development. A false consciousness is formed among the workers. They will start to lose interest in their job if they are not promoted. They will lose the motivation to improve themselves in their jobs. They will be left feeling indifferent and dehumanize. They will feel trapped in this pressure cooker. They will lose their interest to improve themselves and will start to lose interest in life. They will start to avoid their friends because they may not have the financial capabilities to indulge in the “good” life that their friends do. Karl Marx called this alienation.

Max Webber looked at the bureaucratic rules that organizations have to explain why some employees are not happy with their work and thus may lose interest in their jobs. In every organization there are rules to follow. As a result, in every organization there is office politics. Some employees may not be given the promotion or salary increment that they deserve even though they are efficient in their work. Supervisors may show favoritism to some employees. What happen to those find who themselves in such situations? They will portray the same kind of behavior I have mentioned in the above paragraph when they are alienated from their work. Max Webber calls it the “iron cage” syndrome. The rules and regulations that govern the way employees work also make them feel like they are in an iron cage. Some employees may feel this constrictive effect. They may not be able to find ways to make their work more interesting and effective. If they do, their supervisors may not like it. This is especially so for employees whose supervisors go by the book.

Singapore will continue to grow and prosper. Cost will keep on rising. Income gaps will widen. All these are inevitable in a thriving capitalistic country. Singaporeans have to realize that in order to survive they have to find ways to help them live. Life is unfair. You cannot have everything in life. If you want to have a prospering country, then you have to face the facts that these social consequences will happen. For those facing difficulties, they have to sit back and think of ways to help them survive. It is not impossible. I believe that those that really sit back, think and act on what they must do to survive in a society in Singapore can succeed in whatever they plan to do. Singapore is a nice country to live in and I believe that most of us are happy to make Singapore our home despite the troubles we face in life. Life is what you make out of it. I have written why people feel jaded in their jobs, why the “Singaporean Standard” has to be met, its consequences if it is not met and why some cannot meet its standards. Read it carefully and see in which areas you can improve your life. With this note, I wish you all the best in life and your future endeavors.

Plasticine

Wary I wake up
The sky ever so bright
The sun shines with much ferocity
A new dawn begins
but darkness only shines upon me
The darkness I feel
Is the feeling of being a plasticine man

Oh Plasticine Man, Oh Plasticine Man
For who I am
For what pleasure do I accept you in my life
The pleasure of being plasticine?
For I only know the plasticine wall of pain that surrounds me
Like a bear hug, ever ready to render a man breathless
As plasticine as I am, I still have to put on a smile and face the world

As my work makes me a plasticine man
The joy of building plasticine castles in the air makes me happy
As I know that it is the only way to prevent me from becoming a cement man
Oh my Oh my
I shrudder with fear as my air diminishes with each coming day
Will I ever break out of the iron cage I am in

With not much less to breath
Help!! Help!!! I shout with much desperation
Oh how plasticine I have become
Even my shouts cannot be heard
Oh when will my plasticine life be over
For I know I cannot carry on living this way
The pain is to hard to bear
Oh plasticine! Oh plasticine!
Go away! Never to return back
As thou needs to smile and laugh again

How Has Contemporary Sociologists Followed In The Footsteps Of Classical Sociologists

Social fact is an entity that exits on its own. It has its own characteristics. It is separate from our social actions yet it constraint us in our behaviour and thinking. It may seem as part of our social actions but in reality it is not. Let me explain.

As a law abiding citizen, I do not steal or jaywalk because it is illegal to do so. As a family man, I know how to fulfil my family obligations and customs. These family obligations and customs are what that has been taught to me throughout my life. The laws and the customs I abide to are the social facts. These laws and customs will still be around when I am dead and gone. It has a life on its own. Therefore a social fact considered is an entity that has an existence of its own, independent of its individual manifestations.

Eventhough social facts have their own existence; they also control our behaviour and thinking. For example, if the law says that is illegal to smoke in a certain facility, I have to control myself and not smoke in that area. If I do so, I have to face the penalty. Therefore, a social fact whether fixed or not is capable of exerting over the individual an external constraint. Since it affects our behaviour and thinking, it can only exist in society, either in a political society, religious denominations, political and literary schools. If there is no society there is no social fact. It is not like the organic or physical phenomena that can exist without a society.

There is another type of social fact called social currents. They force us to act in a certain way that we on our own would not act. Let’s take peer pressure as an example. An individual may not indulge in smoking but if he or she joins a group and if it is a norm in that group to smoke, he or she may take up smoking because it’s the group social norm. The act committed was due to the peer pressure he or she relented to.

Since social facts affects our lives, therefore there is a cause and effect relationship with our social well – being. These causal relationships can be studied by using quantitative methods. Emile Durkheim said that society is a system and is made up of various parts that function together. The theory that society is a system and it is made up of various parts that function together was known as structural functionalism. Durkheim was one of the leading pioneers that developed the theory of structural functionalism. Another contemporary sociologists, like Durkheim, who was interested in finding how social order was possible used Durkheim’s theory of structural functionalism to develop his theories. His name was Talcott Parsons.

Society is made up various systems. They are the political system, legal system, family structures and marriage dyads. He concluded that social facts have an existenance of their own that transcends these systems. In order to study social facts one needs to collect data to study these facts. It is better to study the social facts that affect society than to study people’s behaviour ( at which interpretivist prefer ).

He used the collection of data ( suicide rates ) to study about suicide. He studied how well society was integrated and he based his findings on the rate of suicide one society has. He claim that if a society had high suicide rates, then the society had low social cohesion and was not very well integrated. The opposite was also true for him. He claimed that there Protestants tended to commit suicide more than Catholics because they hand a lower social cohesion then the Catholics.
The study of society by using empirical data was adopted by positivists. They foresaw, especially August Comte, that sociology could be studied in the same way as psychical science subject. By studying empirical data, universal laws that are applicable to all societies could be discovered

Weber took a different approach in the study of society. He theorized that society could be studied by observing people behaviour thus creating an interpretive understanding of human behaviour. As people’s behaviour is unpredictable, it would be very difficult to study patterns of people behaviours by using empirical data. Unlike Durkheim who studied the objectivity of social facts, Weber studied the meaning of people’s behaviour and actions. Durkheim argued that human behaviour and actions were shaped by society however Weber argued that people’s behaviour and action were shaped by the human interaction with other fellow human beings. Weber’s theories were instrumental in the development of phenomenology, symbolic interactionism and dramaturgical theory. One important contemporary sociologist that followed closely to Weber’s theories and also was the one that developed the theory of dramaturgical was Erving Goffman. The next few paragraphs will be on the two contemporary sociologists who based their work on Durkheim’s and Weber’s theories respectively; they are Talcott Parsons and Erving Goffman.

Like Durkheim, Talcott Parsons was also interested in how social disintegration effected society. He also believed that society worked as a system. He believed that society was made up of three systems; cultural systems, personality system and social system.

The cultural system looks at individual beliefs and values. It is concerned about how these beliefs and values shapes one individual life. Example of beliefs and values are religious beliefs, language, ethical values, national values and family values. It also looks at how individuals internalize these beliefs in their lives, use them to interact and socialize in society and maintain social control.

The personality looks at individuals’ attitudes, needs, motivation and self interest. How they obtain what they want and the behaviour they portray.

The social system looks at role interaction. It can be made up of two people, a community, a team or an organisation. It looks at how individuals interact with one another with emphasis being drawn towards the social values and beliefs that they adhere to.

There is however another system called behavioural organisms. This actually look at the behaviour of individuals in a certain situation. It encompasses all the other three systems.
Based on these systems, Talcott developed a set of concepts called the pattern variables which later was transcended to the AGIL System.

The pattern variables are made up of five pattern variables that individuals internalize and assist them to integrate into society. These five pattern variables have to work in accordance with each other for the achievement of social equilibrium. However, these five pattern variables also know as the social action theory is actually a grand theory because individuals do not always behave the way they should. This will be explained in Erving Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy.
The five pattern variables were divided into five dichotomies of factors that will explain individuals’ behaviour in a tradition (Gemeinschaft) and a modern society (Gesellschaft).

In a traditional society the factors are : Affectivity, collectively – orientation, universal, achievement & specificity

In a modern society the factors are : Affectivity – Neutrality, Self-Orientation, particularism, ascription & diffuseness

Affectivity

This action shows how people show their emotions. For example, when a child cries when he/she falls down.

Collectively – orientation

This action is based on decisions made by individuals that would affect their needs, motivation, and attitudes in a group. For example, a manager may resign on his own accord due to bad publicity on a certain issue that is affecting the company he or she is working for.

Universal

This action is based on general laws and moral values. For example, criminals are sentenced according to the laws set up by the court.

Achievement

This action is based on performance. For example, fulfilling all the requirements to graduate in UniSIM

Specificity

This action is based on individual roles and how these roles affects individuals in their socialization process with other people. . For example, a clerk’s role, banker’s role and cashier’s role.

Affectivity – Neutrality

This action is based on individuals being neutral in their emotions in certain situations. For example, board members of a company are not supposed to show any emotions when making decisions.

Self-Orientation

This action is based on individual needs, motivation and attitudes. For example, a student deciding what to study base on his or her own interest.

Particularism

This action is based on relationship of individuals in a given situation. Looks at how one would respond to another. For example, a friend defending friend accused of theft no matter whether he or she committed the offense.

Ascription

This action is based on an individual race, sex and age. For example, an individual not being able to buy cigarettes because he or she is underage.

Diffuseness

This is based on open guidelines of action. For example, a teacher and a student developing an intimate relationship even though theY have to respect the student and teacher role they are in.

This pattern variables were then transcended to four factors that Parson’s named as AGIL.

The explanation of AGIL are as follows :

AGIL

Adaptation : This is based on the physical or material environment. It looks at how individuals adapt to its physical environment. For example, the body adapts to heat by perspiring thereby cooling itself down.

The economy fulfils the requirement of adaptation. For example, one country may be producing rice therefore this country exports rice to another country in exchange for the refining of their oil because the other country specialises in oil refining.

Goal Attainment

Ability of individual or groups to identify and pursue goals. The system’s need to mobilize its resources and energies to attain system goals and to establish priorities among them. This system is essentially a problem for political institutions.

Integration

The need to coordinate, adapt and regulate relationships among individuals and groups within the economy or country inorder for the system to function.

Latent pattern maintenance

To maintain that individuals are motivated to fulfil their roles as clerks, bankers, cashiers and managers. Rewards are given for them to motivate them in their jobs.

All these factors need to work together for social equilibrium to take place. However, as I mention before, these factors are actually a grand theory because individuals do not always behaviour the way they should. We now look at why people behave differently. Max Webber defined dramaturgy as the art of dramatic composition and theatrical representations. On this note Erving Goffman looks at human behaviour in a theoretical setting. Individuals are known as actors and actresses. Individuals have different roles to play in society; therefore they are always wearing different hats. They act accordingly to the environment they are in. They adhere to the norms, values, antiquate and social behaviour that are approved in the group they are in. In doing so, their actions can be superficial. Goffman explored individual identity, group relations, the impact of the environment and movement and interactive meaning of life.

He looked at how items like insignia of office ranks would affect one’s behaviour. Other items were the clothes people wore, their age / sex / race, racial characteristics, facial expressions and body gestures. For example, a soldier in an army holding a rank of captain may portray a more authorative behaviour when he is in his camp where else when he is with friends at a pub he may be more friendlier.

An individual’s behaviour is shaped by the audiences ( people ) who surround him or her. An individual may perform an action no matter whether he has faith or lack of faith in it. For example, a doctor administers a “placebo” medicine to a patient even though the doctor knows the full impotency of the medicine. This is just to please his/her patient’s desire for more extensive medical treatment.

In human behaviour there is the front stage and the back stage. The front stage will most likely be the kind of behaviour an individual or group is required to portray. The back stage will be a more “truthful” kind of behaviour an individual or group will portray.

For example, Team members may present themselves in a behaviour that is approved by their other teammates and colleagues in a workgroup presentation. They will speak and act accordingly to what is required in the presentation. This is an example of a front stage behaviour.

After the meeting, since there is no more requirements for them to behave a certain way they had to in the meeting, they will let their guard down and behave a manner more natural to them. They may also start to show their frustration or voice their disagreement on matters they do not agree. This is an example of a back stage behaviour.

This theory is not far the most perfect theory. There are still other factors to look at. For example, Conflict. A team member may become angry and display inappropriate behaviour in the meeting room if he or she do not agree on what is being presented.

Therefore, there are various ways in studying society. The two most common methods adopted by contemporary sociologist are the positivist and interpretivist methods. The former is by using empirical data to study social facts and the latter is to the study the meaning of social behaviour. Contemporary sociologist like Talcott Parsons and Erving Goffman built their theories on the foundation of Emile Durkheim and Max Webber works. As time has progressed, there are now more than just these two ways of studying society and many more theories on how society function have been written. However, the foundation theories that classical sociologists like Emile Durkheim and Max Webber wrote will always be a basis where most sociologists will study from.

Extra Paternity Leave For Men

Women have four months maternity leave and men are able to apply three days of paternity leave. No extra paternity leave was given to men because according to PM Lee Hsien Loong there was feedback by women that they prefer the extra month of leave ( previously it was three months) to be given to them rather than their spouse. Maybe women think that they would do a better job in looking after their children. Who knows? However, is this enough? Will it benefit mothers if extra paternity leave is given to their husbands? Before we can pursue this issue, we have to examine various reasons why women or men may or may not like extra paternity leave be given to men. I have divided them into seven categories.

First Category : Women who enjoy four months of maternity leave and do not mind staying at home to look after their children

These women are happy to have this incentive. It gives them more time to look after their children. They believe that a woman should be the one’s looking after their children.

They would not worry about losing their jobs or whether their job performance would be affected. This is true if they work in civil service agencies or statutory boards as these companies will comply to the government’s directive. However, if they work for a private company, there are higher chances that they may worry about losing their jobs or whether their job performance would be affected as some of these companies do not like their employees to go on long leave. There are however labour laws in Singapore to protect women who are wrongly dismissed because they are pregnant.

They may not see the need for their husbands to take any extra paternity leave to look after their children.

They may worry that their husbands may suffer a salary cut or their job performance may be affected if extra paternity leave is given to them. If women worry about these issues affecting them, there is also a very high chance that they may worry that these same issues will affect their husbands as well. Company pay women less because they have maternity leave. What is there to prevent them from doing the same thing to men if they are given extra paternity leave. Therefore, it would be better for them to apply maternity leave because men’s salaries are usually higher then women’s salary. Even if their husbands salary is less then theirs, they would still prefer to apply for maternity leave just so to prevent their husbands from getting a cut in their salary as these would cause family problems because their family income will be affected.

Second Category : Women who thinks that looking after their children are their duty and they would do it better than their men

These women prefer that they look after their children themselves.

They may want the independence in looking after their children.

They may not trust their husbands in looking after their children.

They may have the thinking that a woman’s role is to look after their children and that they are the best one’s for their job.

They may not see why men should be given extra paternity leave. They may worry that their husbands may suffer a salary cut or their job performance may be affected if extra paternity leave is given to them.

Third Category : Women who prefer that men have extra paternity leave so that they can go back to work earlier and their men may stay home to look after their children

These women may believe in the equality of women and men.
They may prefer that their men stay home to look after their children. Men in Sweden has no qualms in staying at home to look after their children while their wives go out and work.

They would prefer to go back to work as to improve their work performance. They may be afraid that too long a break may affect their chances of getting a job promotion and some may fear of job lost ( losing of job applies to private companies ).

They tend to lead the household and make household decisions. However, there is a chance that they may not trust their men to look after their children so the second category may apply to them also.

Fourth Category : Women who may not like their maternity leave to be shared with their husbands. For example, two months of maternity leave for her and the other two months for him

These women are the ones that really treasure their four months of maternity leave. They would prefer that the extra month of leave (previously they could only apply for 3 months of maternity leave) be given to them rather to their spouses.
They may be looking for a break from work.

They may think that they are in better position in looking after their own children.

They may worry that their husbands may suffer a salary cut or their job performance may be affected if extra paternity leave is given to them.

They may not see the need for men to have extra paternity leave because they may believe that it is a woman’s job to look after the children ( due to way they have been brought up as a women to know what the duties of a wife should be ).

Fifth Category : Men who may not want to have extra paternity leave

These men may think that looking after children is a woman’s job.

These men think that they are the one’s that must provide the financial stability for the family. Therefore they must work. If they do not work or take too much leave, their job performance will be affected and have less chance for job promotion. If they bring in less cash, the financial stability of the family will be affected more so if both spouses are not high income earners.

They may argue with their wives that there is no need to take extra paternity leave especially if they have a maid helping to look after their children. They may use the excuse of the chances of their job performances being affected if they apply for extra paternity leave as well.

Wives may argue back that they need more help or that they want to go back to work earlier but in a patriarchal society like Singapore, women are viewed as those that should stay home and bring up the children. In – laws ( husband side ) may interfere in the argument in telling wives that it is their duty to stay home to look after their children. Wives may feel guilty and not to want to cause any unhappiness. They may argue for awhile and feel angry but they will give in eventually.

Sixth Category : Men who like to have extra paternity leave and do not mind taking care of their children while their wives go out and work

These men believe that women and men should have equal rights. Most of these men are foreign men but there is still a handful of Singaporean men who are willing to stay home to look after their children. Therefore being house husbands. Why is this so? Well, Singapore is a patriarchal society therefore women are viewed as the one’s that should stay home and look after their children, therefore they should have maternity leave. These values have been inculcated in Singaporean Women from a very early age. The men are taught to be the head of the household and be in charge of household decisions. Even though children are now taught to share household duties, boys have more chances in escaping from doing household duties by making excuses like they have homework to do or that their favourite television program is about to begin. Girls may not have the same opportunities as boys.

Foreign men on the other hand are taught to share household duties from young. They are taught about equality between a woman and a man. Of course there are still exceptions to the cause however foreign men are more willing to look after their children and will mostly be the ones in favour of extra paternity leave. Men in Sweden have no qualms in being household husbands.

In a company in Singapore that I know of, their Australian Marketing Director and their Irish Chief Technology Officer each brought their respective babies to the office time to time to look after and nurse them because their wives do not have time to look after them. Their wives are just as capable as them yet they had no qualms in looking after their children. I wish to see the day that Singaporean men will do that. If extra paternity leave is given to both foreign and local men, then these men can take leave to stay home to look after their children.

Seventh Category : How would companies feel if men are given extra paternity leave? Is it going to affect their profits? Would they revise their salary paying scheme?

Companies may not favour extra paternity leave being given to men. They will complain that it will affect their bottom line. Furthermore companies may revise their salary scheme; cutting men’s salary for those men who opt to apply for extra paternity leave. Companies already pay women less because of their maternity leave scheme. If men are also given the extra paternity leave, they will feel justified in paying men less. If men bring in less income, this may affect their family financial stability especially if both spouses are not high income earners.

Companies have claimed that it would be more costly to allow men to take more that a month off work than it would be to allow women to do so because there is a bigger pool of men in the work force. Statistics have shown that 57% of the 1.9 million people in the resident workforce of Singaporeans and Permanent residents are men. Men hold higher salaries and senior positions than women. Men earn an average of S$4,335 per month where else women earn on the average of S$3,148 per month. The impact of men taking extra paternity leave is greater.

However, there is still light at the end of the tunnel. The government is still looking into how to give men extra paternity leave.

How could this initiative be implemented?

Surveys can be conducted to examine Singaporeans attitudes and views on whether men should have extra paternity leave. We need to survey a rather large sample of men and women so that we can cover the various categories of women and men I have indicated in this essay. Having a large sample will represent the voice of the majority.

As mention earlier, one of the reasons why the government did not give men extra paternity leave because due to feedback, women preferred to have the extra month leave rather then letting their spouse have it. A survey could be conducted on why they prefer to have it and see whether their mindset could be changed.

For this initiative to be implemented there must be a good number of supports by women and men. If there is minority support for the initiative, then it would be difficult to implement the initiative. The mindsets and attitudes of Singaporeans need to be changed also. It would not be easy because in an Asian society like Singapore, women are socially obligated to be the household guardians and caretakers of the children. Men are obligated to be the head of the household and to provide the financial means for the family. I am not saying it is wrong to believe in these values but we should be more flexible and try to help the women of our society in any way we can. After all they are the one who have to suffer during child birth so the most we can do is to make their life easier and happy. Road shows and public education could be conducted to educated Singaporeans about the benefits of extra paternity leave for men. A lot of work has to be done but the good news is that the government is still open to the idea of giving paternity leave to men. I hope in the future this initiative would be implemented.