First factory job at the age of 16 after o'levels. Why did I take the job? My mother recommended it to me. She worked in a factory most of my childhood so it’s only natural for her to recommend such a job. Now that I’m 30, it’s so clear why the rich get richer and the poor stay poor over generations.

It was a production line that did HP printers, pay was $55 a day 11pm to 7am weekly paid. Took the night shift so I could go out with my friends during the day. Pay?  Enough to cover my phone bill, gave some to my parents and spend the rest. This was in 2004 and the number of Singaporeans working there was minimal and most of them are employed as contract workers like me. No CPF(retirement fund of Singapore), no medical, no insurance and no bonus. 


If I remember correctly I was the youngest. For the first time in my life, the old Singaporean uncle and aunties told me to study hard and get a good job. I just said sure and did not think too much about it. Only now I realize they were doing their best to ensure my future self does not end up like them.

Job scope : My station was second to last. Had to scan the items to be placed in the printer box. Items include three manuals, a CD , cables, and some other stuff. You have to scan each item before placing them in the box and it was not easy as the boxes of printers kept on coming and you jam up the line if you can’t keep up. Of course that happened to me more often than I will admit. Haha.

You’re so busy with your work and have no idea what anyone else is up to. Mentally, your mind is just blank and wants it all to end. 


People I met:


Chinese man one. This is the first mainland Chinese man I’ve ever met and interacted with. He was at the last station and just needed to stack the tape printer boxes on a pallet and drag the pallet off when it’s full. A simple task and you had the luxury of time. He helped me when I was struggling at my station, topping up the items and ensuring that I put the right items into the right printer model. I would have died if it was not for his help he could multitask like an octopus. Our conversations were only about work. I did say thank you to him on my last day there and he genuinely appreciated it. The difference between myself and the china workers there was they could not screw up while I could. No wonder they could do their jobs at amazing speed. Money is an incredible driver.

The other Singaporeans who started at the same time as myself 
I will group all this people together. 
Their ages range from late 20s to early 50s and they’re all Malay. They love talking and smoking and I mostly listened. Was only able to meet them before / break time / after work 


I remembered one of them got into an argument with the line leader. The late 20s man. He was being moved around from station to station and he was not happy about it and decided to fuck it and left at 12plus am. He even slammed something on the line to show his frustration. What an idiot.

But he was proud of it, and said it was necessary to show them who he was and he won’t be pushed around. The rest of them were not that exciting. Just smoked and smoked. We Talked about going to the Hari raya bazaar at Geylang and wanted to go together. I had no interest in being seen in public with them or going to Geylang bazaar. 


Apart from the Chinese man that helped me, no one else seems to care if I'm able to do my job or not. A couple of times I was changed station and got one where I had to insert the styrofoam into the box and fuck it was easy except when you run out of styrofoam. They stack them up so damn high all the way to the ceiling and I had no idea how to take it down without the entire thing falling down on my face and ending my career as a factory man. Had to approach two Chinese guys who were super tall and spoke to them in mandarin. 你能帮我带些东西吗？Thank god I only had to do that station twice.

In conclusion the Chinese workers were there for the money and they stick together, the contract Singaporeans there all had some personal issues and the full time Singaporeans been there for years that they don’t see a point of going anywhere else (accepted the fact that this is their reality)

Fun Fact: Back then you could skip 3 days of work and still have a job so there were days when I would skip work and wander around Orchard till the sunrise. Watching random late night movies and just sitting and thinking how my life can be so much better. Some will view it as lonely moments but to me it was a necessary break from the factory which is an option I had that the Chinese people / full time Singaporean workers don’t.

The other other factory

Philips - This factory has closed down and moved its operation to Batam.

Start the same way as above, read the ad in the newspaper, get into a van, although this job there was an interview and one of the questions was what is my favorite animal. So odd, who cares what my favorite animal is and how it affects my work performance. Just so you know my favorite animal is a pissed off giraffe. 

People I remember

Two Malay brothers who were always talking, bitching and judging people based on the colour of their skin.

One chinese guy who makes the chemical that they spray at the bottom of the iron. He was an expert but somehow seemed drunk all the time. He loves Batam and his mobile games.

My low energy supervisor, he really try to keep things calm.

The guy who provides the contract workers to Philips. This guy is an ass and will try to cheat you whenever possible. Guys are paid slightly higher than girls as guys have to do physically demanding jobs but what this guy will do is count your salary as a female and if you don’t know theres a difference between salaries it's free money into his pocket. He is always being scolded and hopes his business has closed down.

This was the first time I actually felt lost working in a factory, no one will talk to you only when it's related to work and the work instructions were not clear or maybe I really was not paying attention. The two Malay guys that joined at the same time as me did not last long and soon stopped coming to work. In the end they gave me the job of washing the flat base where the iron is placed to be sprayed by the chemical coating. You wash it using a high pressure water jet and there's water and dirt flying at you. You're always wet and feel like shit, can you imagine doing this for 8 hours and you have to do it quickly because there will always be a need for clean ones to load more irons.

I stayed for two months, maybe less. This was after NS and I was waiting for school to start and yes once again the aunties loved the fact that I was going back to school and not working at that place forever.

The final factory

Times Printers - 16 Tuas Ave 5

Fuck, Eric if you google maps this place there’s actual images inside the factory.

This time it was different, I was the only one who came to the meet up location. Looks like people have gotten better with their lives and don’t need to resort to such jobs. Back then every interview had at least 12 to 20 people. Oh well was desperate, shipped off to the printing factory early in the morning and began work immediately. No uniform / orientation provided. Handed over to the supervisor and began work. This was a 12 hour job pay was $80 I think most likely lower. My first assignment was to stand and when the magazine came out I had to stack it on a pallet. Pick it up and lower down to the pallet, the thing is not so heavy but the squat movement takes a toll on your back and you just feel like dying shortly. The bell range means it's our 15 minute break. I called up the person that shipped me here and told me I had to leave this place and could not take the job. The person told me to stay and that she would pay me even if I worked a day so I stayed. I hate admitting defeat and running away from a job but this place was different and I would die if I stayed here. It's run by mainland Chinese people and you hardly see any singaporeans. All the Chinese people hate you and will give you jobs that make you quit. In the past even when the factories had plenty of foreign workers there's a feeling that they are just the workers and the Singaporeans still in charge. This place was the opposite. Bell rang again back to work, killing my back all day in my long sleeve shirt and finally the day ended and I got paid the next day.

Lychee Lion

2018