NUS staff disillusioned about office politics, hypocrisy, unfair promotions and more


I used to feel proud working at one of the more popular schools within the National University of Singapore (NUS). During my early days there, I genuinely loved my job. I believed in what I was doing, and found meaning helping students grow and flourish. I poured my heart into everything I did there because I truly thought I was making a difference.


However, over time, the ugly side of the organization began rearing its head. The politics, hypocrisy, unfair promotions....the list of unsavouries goes on. Undeserving folks somehow got promoted, while those individuals slogging their asses off and genuinely cared were sidelined. Case in point: it baffled me to witness a certain someone that sorely lacked viable leadership qualities being elevated, just because the higher-ups were worried he might resign. The bugger even had the audacity to badger our Unit Head regarding whether he would soon receive a promotion, repeatedly.


These days it’s no longer about merit, rather it's who you know and how well you play the game.


Don’t even get me started on the supposed “old-timers.” Some of them blatantly abuse their sick leave entitlements, often conveniently falling ill before or after weekends, just so they could be privy to extended breaks time and again. Everyone knows it, everyone sees it, yet nothing ever happens. They get away with their constant malingering while the rest of us are forced to pick up the slack. Just because they spent 20 over years of their lives in NUS.


Then there’s the recent abolishment of the work-from-home (WFH) arrangement, where we were all informed shall take immediate effect across the board. Surprise, surprise though — some schools and business units are actually still permitted to WFH for one day a week until the end of November. How is this even fair? Why are certain departments allowed to circumvent the rules while others are coerced to follow abide by them strictly?


It’s frustrating, not to mention tremendously dispiriting. I once bought into the values NUS claimed to embody — integrity, fairness, excellence. But after what I’ve been through, it feels like those words are merely for show. The real culture underneath tells a wholly different story.


This post first appeared on NUS Whispers (Confession #109540). You may wish to share your thoughts with the anonymous soul who gave his two cents.

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