Malaysian Working In Singapore Reveals The Daily Struggles He Goes Through Just For Work
Not easy.
By John Lim — 02 Jul 2018, 01:33 PM
Muhammad Khairul is one of the thousands of Malaysians making a living in Singapore. He recently shared the strenuous journey he makes every single day just for work, and it's certainly not for the faint-hearted.
Khairul's post dated 25 June has gone viral on Facebook, with over 2,400 shares.
His hectic day starts right before dawn at 4.30am. After a quick wash-up, he joins the hordes of Malaysians at 5.00am to commute through the ever-busy immigration counters at the JB Causeway.
After two hours on the road, he clocks in for work at 7.00am for an eight-hour shift, ending at 3.30pm.
He wastes no time in embarking the long journey back home. If traffic conditions were kind to him, he would arrive just shy of two hours.
But if there was rain or an accident causing lane closures on the Causeway? His journey extends to two and a half hours.
He only gets about three to four hours of free time and seven hours of sleep before the hustle restarts
Khairul follows through the unforgiving timetable for six days a week. His day-off is on Friday.
While earning in SGD sounds like the perfect paycheck for most Malaysians, Khairul stressed that this lifestyle is not for everyone.
"You need to be physically and mentally strong to overcome the struggles of working in Singapore. If not, just forget about experiencing it."
Khairul said his schedule is only applicable to him as he only works eight hours a day.
"What about those working 12-hour shifts?" he asked.
Simple calculations would leave them with just 12 more hours in a day to travel back home and rest.
What work-life balance?
Since the post has gone viral, many Malaysians currently working or who have worked in Singapore shared their experiences and struggles of toughing it out in the city-state.
"Eight years working in Singapore so far and I'm already used to it. In the earlier days, however, I was tempted to quit and return home."
"This is my 10th year working in Singapore... It's tiring but worthwhile. It is our choice, so we just have to face it."