SINGAPORE: An employee at a local med-tech firm has raised concerns online after learning that his foreign manager may have earned his degree under questionable circumstances.
In a post on the r/askSingapore forum on Saturday (July 12), the employee shared that his manager recently revealed he “did not have to attend any classes” to complete his degree programme.
“The school offered something called distance education degree program,” the employee said. “All he [my manager] had to do was attend the exams, which were in multiple-choice question (MCQ) format, and the answers were provided to him beforehand.”
The employee wrote that he found this ‘extremely ridiculous,’ especially since he knows how difficult it is to earn a degree in Singapore.
“I did not have the luxury to be able to get a degree… But I have friends who slogged years in both local and private universities,” he said.
“Is this normal? Did my manager ‘fake’ his degree? How is it acceptable to be able to ‘cheat’ your way through to the extent that a local firm accepts the degree?”
The employee also pointed out that the degree was a contributing factor in the manager’s promotion, which he felt was unfair.
He went on to say that, beyond the questionable qualification, the manager has made his work life difficult.
According to him, the manager is disorganised, micromanages staff, and writes emails in such poor English that they are often hard to understand. He also claimed the manager does not respect work-life boundaries.
“For example, work for me ends at 5:30 p.m., but if I walk out of the door at 5:30 p.m., he is not happy,” he said. “We were also allowed to work from home once a week previously, but he has since removed it.”
Unable to change jobs at the moment, the employee turned to the online community for advice.
“What would you do if you were in my shoes? I do not have any intention to ruin his rice bowl,” he said.
“Don’t be nice since he’s being a bad manager to you.”
In the comments section, many Singaporean Redditors urged the employee to take action and report his manager to the authorities.
One Redditor suggested going straight to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), saying, “There’s no point reporting to the company; even if they run a background check, it’s going to turn up valid unless it’s listed as a degree mill by the local country or Singapore itself.”
Another commented, “If you suspect his degree is fake, you could report this MOM, as it would be kept confidential. You mentioned you do not wish to ruin his rice bowl…why not??? If he is trying to ruin yours, why not do the same to him?”
A third remarked, “Ruin his rice bowl. Please. Don’t be nice since he’s being a bad manager to you.”
Still, not everyone agreed with the idea of reporting the manager. One Singaporean Redditor expressed, “I think what you should be looking at is how competent your boss’s hiring manager and HR processes of your company are and make your own judgement call.
If you think your boss is not competent because you can do a better job as a manager, then prove it to your boss’s boss through your work and make him look bad. However, if work-life balance is what you are seeking, then I suggest you start searching for a new job.”
Penalties for lying about qualifications
Lying about qualifications in Singapore is not something to be taken lightly, especially for foreign workers.
Under Section 22 of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA), submitting false or misleading educational information to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) can result in a fine of up to S$20,000, up to two years in jail, or both.
Employers can also be penalised. If they know or suspect that a foreign employee has submitted fake qualifications and choose not to report it, they may face a fine of up to S$10,000, up to one year in jail, or both.
Read more: Nurse says ex-manager didn’t return S$1.5k in approved transport claims, seeks advice on Reddit
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)
