Great Expectations

So today, for reasons I can't get into, we are doing a bunch of research on employment stuff and one of the bits we need to fit into the big picture is what an average kitchen assistant/ dish washer gets paid.

The Ministry of Manpower helpfully directs us to Table 3.5 of the Report on Wages in Singapore, 2008. I couldn't believe my eyes. Maybe it's just me, but it says here that the average washer of dishes in a Singapore restaurant was getting paid a whopping S$1,013 per month in the third quarter of 2008. That's not a great deal of money in the long run, but I would imagine that if this is correct, then most of the inhabitants of sub-continent near us should be falling over themselves trying to get here to scrub themselves a dish or two. What the hell was I doing during my school vacation trying to get a clerical position when I could have been earning a relative fortune with a pair of rubber gloves and some Mama Lemon.

I kid you not. According to this report, some 482 kitchen assistants and some 64 dish washers swore on their mothers' graves that they were getting not less than S$1,010 per month in the third quarter of 2008.

And now that we are on the topic of office clerks, it says right here in the same report that 80 office clerks interviewed for this survey were earning an average of S$1,679 per month in the third quarter of 2008. We was robbed!! What did these 80 office clerks do to earn this kind of salary when I was signing up for half of this amount?!

"Upon what meat doth this, our Caesar, feed, That he is grown so great?”
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In other news, I have taken it upon myself to transport the whole ging gang, chickens and all, to Disneyland at some point in the next month or so. We have informed The Son accordingly, and he has kindly confirmed that he will attend.

Having gone through the brochures at some length, The Son has expressed an interest in taking some time off his busy schedule to meet Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. In particular, he plans to bring the Baby Sister to visit the House of Goofy with the full parental entourage and in preparation for this grand occasion, has begun watching "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" on the Disney Channel with renewed enthusiasm. The Husband and I, on the other hand, have limited our efforts in this regard to working on our Mickey Mouse improvisations. It just kills me to listen to The Husband scream and curse at other drivers on the road in his Mickey Mouse voice.
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This post would not be complete without a post-script on my attempts to close my bank account with the world's local bank. It took me 1.5 hours standing (standing) at the counter alternately arguing and pleading with the counter staff, but yes, I closed my account with the bank in just one day. That I regard that as my singular greatest achievement of last week (maybe also this week) shows how low my expectations have fallen.