Network of operators — Gross National Distress

Network of operators

In her essay, Chung Yuen Kay observed that there was a ‘tradition’ of factory work amongst female relatives for many of the women she interacted with. The women had mothers, sisters and cousins working in factories before they did who introduce and initiate them into factory labour.

Nadia Florman was also introduced to temporary factory work through her mother. She also had an aunt who was working in the factory. Because her mother was really well liked, she was treated well by other colleagues who saw her as an innocent youngling. She also recalls a story about how she met Zainab Mahmood on a bus. In this conversation, Zainab Mahmood recognised Nadia Florman to be the daughter of a colleague and asked if she would like to give her daughter tuition. In this way operators built a network of their own that helped to develop relationships and to a certain extent provide mutual care.

Former factory worker Nadia Florman also speaks about how the operators who she called “aunties” would bring her snacks such as cakes or cookies. According to Chung Yuen Kay, operators ate as occasions for sociability. Lead operators would also intentionally turn a blind eye to the sharing of sweets or snacks. Perhaps in this way food could be seen as a non-verbal bonding agent for the workers.

Other items that provided similar comforts were also occasionally snuck into the workstations. As recounted by Chung Yuen kay,

“Despite the ban on personal belongings, the women sometimes managed to smuggle in items such as photograph albums, women’s magazine, or song books, and these would now be pored over and discussed. If not women would chat about their weekends, or happenings during the previous day’s OT(overtime work). Tales of nastiness of a particularly disliked second shift supervisor, Kenneth, would sometimes be swapped.”¹

The private becomes an interactional outcome as women seize control of moments of privacy, creating ‘private’ spheres within the workplace. In addition to that, operators also found pockets in these spaces to be playful.

“displays of exaggerated reaction to any slightly out of the ordinary happening, such as when one operator dropped a carton or pen. A chorus of mock protest, comments would be initiated, and wildly improbable stories would be spun to explain why this had happened, with various women joining in.”²
This is referred to as ‘leisure in work’ or ‘coffee-time’, ‘peach-time’ or ‘banana-time’.

The importance of language was also vital to the creation of networks in the factory amongst workers. Nadia Florman points out that through language, workers were able to understand and communicate with each other. This led to workers feeling less alienated with each other. Workers from Malaysia who were ethnically Indian and Chinese were able to speak Malay and this enabled them to socially blend in with the Singaporean factory workers.

Nadia Florman mentions how her former colleagues built camaraderie through laughter and jokes.

“When a bunch of women get together and hang loose at any age group. There is a strong camaraderie or kinship. They are constantly talking about sex. Always trying to shock us younger ones.”³

“It’s always with a strong dash of humour and comedy. There was always a comedian in the group. A couple of them. They always have some quip or quote. It was funny. You just cannot help but to laugh.”⁴

Similar to experiences recounted by Chung Yuen Kay, the effect of such ‘private’ spheres was that it subverted the dominant reality of discipline and control, it created an atmosphere of ‘play’ as opposed to strictly ‘work’.

Nadia Florman also recalls how her fellow factory workers were happy for her when she did well in her ‘A’ level exams. The other operators would say, “belajar pandai(good at her studies)… Nadia pandai(clever). In other scenarios, fellow operators would refrain from “disturbing” her when she wanted to read her books. They would say, “we leave her alone, she likes her books, let her read.” Support is displayed through vocal affirmation and the accommodation of alone time.

The sharing of stories was also a way that operators would bond with each other. In certain instances, fellow operators would share very private details of their lives.

“There is also the other margin of society that I am not aware of. People coming from rental blocks and they come from generational poverty. Some of their stories are unbelievable.”⁵

Nadia Florman felt that these stories helped to form a deeper understanding of both Singaporean and Malaysian workers who were not from backgrounds that were similar to hers.

“They really embodied the mother persona. All of them looked really tired. They've been doing this for years, decades. Their days were long and hard… they get very little sleep but somehow they are super beautiful, super nice, super loving. I gained a little bit more perspective over how people like my mom tried to get out there to earn money for themselves.”⁶

_{1-2. Chung, Yuen Kay. Negotiating Target. 1 Jan. 1988.
3-6. Interview with Nadia Florman conducted by Shaza Ishak, 2025.}