Work 44 hours per week and your pay will remain the same for the rest of your life?

Last Updated on 2016-06-22 , 11:09 am

Have Singaporeans forgotten how to enjoy life?

Let’s take any weekday night for example. If you are going to ask a group of friends out, when would be the best day? I don’t think you’ll need to think; it’s Friday. Why? Because on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we have to either work late, or we’ve to go to work early the next morning.

The working hours in Singapore is technically maximum of 44 hours a week, but does anyone who earns more than $2,000 a month work this number of hours? It might have just been my subjective view, but from my group of friends, no one clocks these hours. 44-hour a week is merely a number for the appointment letter. If you work 44 hours a week, your pay is going to be $2,000 per month for the rest of your life.

While I do understand that there are people who work 44 or even 40 hours a week, I have more friends who work more hours instead. If so, the chances of your friends (and you, too) working extra hours are high, too. Okay, so now, I’m being very subjective and have no reliable sources.

Here’s the hard truth to those who thinks otherwise.

A survey in 2010 by Regus stated that one in five Singaporeans work more than 11 hours a day. Five days would be 55 hours, for your info. The annual work hours for Singaporeans, according to The Business Times in 2009, is more than that of South Koreans…a developed country infamous for their crazy work hours. International Labor Organization averages Singaporeans work hours—arh, you get the idea.

However, even with the premise against us, what I’m going to argue is that there is a choice. I’ll be honest and ask you: Why are you staying late? There’re definitely many things to do. Why can’t you do it tomorrow? There’ll be more things to do. So, tell me, when is the day that there’s nothing to do?

Work will never end, but once you’ve used personal time for work, you’ve just ended your personal time. A dinner with your family should not have been a once-in-a-blue-moon event when a meeting with your boss is a daily event. A football game should not have only occurred when you’re free from work, because you’ll never be free from work.

As I write this, I’m reading several articles about why people work late. The subjects of the survey usually answer anonymously, and I think you know what the answers are. If not, Google.

It’s not about the amount of work. It’s what we really want, and that, my readers, can be changed.