So i heard on the radio today that 102 or 112 Bus drivers of Chinese migrant backgrounds went on strike because of having their lower wages compared to their Malaysian counterparts. Well, first post on current affairs! :X

*disclaimer*Please do take note that what i am going to write is purely my opinion and not representing group or anyone. If you are going to be offended by someone's voicing their opinion then please move to North Korea.

First things first, as a student in Singapore that used to possesses the People's Republic of China's citizenship who is now more Singaporean than some Singaporeans, I've seen both sides of the "I hate china man" story.

I'm sure we all hate to get an employer who ups your pay but increases your work hours so you get less of them delicious OT pay! I'm sure we don't like so sleep in a dorm with bed bugs. Such bravery to actually start a strike in a foreign country and your company has shitty reputation of using cable tie as a way to hold up the 3rd rail in an underground train system. I'm sure there are ways, other than actually causing trouble for your employer, you can solve this isn't it?

In recent salary adjustments for our SLs, SMRT gave salary increment to all SLs who joined the company before July 2012. These 102 PRC SLs were not happy with their increment. We regret that they chose to express their unhappiness about their salaries in this manner, especially when our lines of communication with them are always open.
- quoted from Todayonline 
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC121126-0000119/SMRT-respond-to-bus-drivers-dispute

Singapore has this principle of Meritocracy, which I personally has seen many failures of it. If you are not senior enough you don't get a higher pay? It's not that hard to comprehend isn't it.

To tell the honest truth, the reputation of PRC citizens in Singapore is quite bad with stomp and other social media blasting the ugly side of them. With this news brings more shame to the people with 5000 years of proud history. Bus strikes are what we learn in History books lol.

Working as a public servant in a Multilingual Country such as Singapore, you need to have a certain set of language skills. It's not just once that I've come across this scenario:
Malay Auntie gets onto bus asking for directions.
Chinese driver confused and tries to listen.
Malay Auntie asks again.
Chinese driver looking for help from commuters.
30 passengers late for work/school/meeting/date/appointment

I mean its clear to see why your pay is lower than that of Malaysian bus drivers who is more skilled in the aspects of communication which helps in this case to get the bus from point A to point B in the shortest time possible.

Learn conversational English, improve yourself, improve everything about yourself, I'm sure you will get more pay than just what you are getting now.