Wednesday, August 19, 2020

When virtue signalling outrage at "racism" trumps reading ability: job ads in Singapore

Nur Atiqa Asri:

"My cousin who is Malay (and extremely well-educated and speaks excellent English might i add) has been looking for a job (as many are following layoffs in the pandemic) and came across this job description for temperature scanners on the Singapore government portal. The second image is a direct screenshot of advisory guidelines by the Ministry of Manpower. I don't think I have to say much so I will leave this here because this is incredibly infuriating. I don't care how you phrase it, you are indirectly excluding non-Chinese speaking applicants so GTFO. !@$@#$%^%&^%$#%!#$!@$"

MOM circular:

"DOS AND DON'TS WHEN PLACING JOB ADVERTISEMENTS

If a job entails proficiency in a particular language, employers should justify the need for the requirement.

Acceptable:
- Chinese-language teacher for pre-school centre, good credit in 'O' Level Chinese
- Translator for a leading Malay sports magazine. Proficiency in Malay is a must."


Job ad:

"Preferred if able to communicate to Mandarin speaking visitors."
 
 
Naturally, I saw a lot of Singaporeans (mostly Chinese) upset over this, even though the MOM circular was screenshotted in the post.
 
I was at a supermarket a few weeks ago and the lady at the entrance was trying to take my temperature. I was confused because I didn't know what she was trying to do (she didn't say anything). If she had spoken to me in a language I understood, I would have been less confused, or not confused at all.
 
There're other countries where you can specify language proficiency being an asset (without justifying it) and that isn't controversial, too.
blog comments powered by Disqus