Overseas public service scholar feeling absolutely jaded working in government |
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I studied in the United States at an awesome university and am currently fulfilling a 6-year bond. My work thus far in the Singaporean Public Service for an economics-related Statutory Board within the Finance Ministry has been so bad that I honestly preferred my National Service (NS) days where I roughed things out in a combat unit...if I had known what it’d be like I would have passed on the scholarship altogether and attended a local university instead. Micromanaging bosses, meaningless paper-pushing work, bizarre SOPs and never-ending internal office initiatives are bad enough. Realizing that I am not acquiring any bona fide skill sets and how I will end up so utterly irrelevant to any decent company outside the government after my bond runs its course is another spine-shuddering portention entirely. I possess a strong sense of civic duty and volunteer extensively at my local community centre, therefore I came into the job a year ago with much enthusiasm - right now, however, I feel completely dead inside. My leaders + bosses + colleagues are mostly an uninspirational bunch who neither care about attaining personal excellence nor actually creating impactful outcomes at work - they are happy enough to simply turn up and skate by on the bare minimum. Whilst abroad, I interned at some pretty good MNCs and received returning offers, then again I could not accept any due to my existing scholarship obligations. Watched my friends go on to earn big bucks but more importantly, enjoy career growth through snagging coveted roles. Despite being initially promised exciting exposure to policy-making as well as getting hands-on on shaping national strategies, I am now stuck in an ultra-generalist menial undertaking even a secondary school kid could perform with his eyes closed. Feels like I was sold lies coming out of junior college as I haven’t used my goddamn brains a scintilla since joining, or learnt a single useful thing that might accord me some semblance of leverage in the job market should I eventually choose to leave. The other scholars around and above me are either resigned to their fates, or indignantly, horrendously unhappy. Why did the G bother paying $500k for each of us to fly back and waste away? Almost every overseas scholar I met across agencies and through friends hates his/her life and shares similar sentiments. Especially those individuals who made the most of their time living abroad before rotating back to this stifling shithole. Sliver of hope: I actually already accumulated quite a tidy sum trading stocks and am in a position to break my bond soon, hence a bit of solace there. But man does it make me sad to realize how much time I have flushed down the drain, and how the govermental system here is frittering its human capital investments. Folks at the very top ought to seriously re-examine talent recruitment/development processes, because the current system is a product of a bygone era; fastidious adherence to it could potentially jeopardize our country’s future. When the brightest and most dynamic people are bestowed subpar opportunities, they ain't never gonna stick around for the long haul. Only yes men will subserviently stay back, perhaps steadily rising to become leaders and politicians of tomorrow. The overall affair's so bloody insular, thus explaining why countless policies unfurled by the G nowadays (especially those surrounding job creation and upskilling) seem backward-looking, behind the curve, and attempting to address problems from a highly detached position. Come my exit interview, all I can say is, it shall be glorious. |
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