SINGAPORE: A worker took to social media on Friday (Mar 28) to share that they feel quite “isolated” in their own workplace because the majority of their team members all speak Mandarin, a language they are not proficient in.
In a post titled ‘Navigating Chinese-speaking office culture as a banana,’ the worker explained they work in a statutory board team of around 15 people, where about half are Malaysians or naturalised Singaporeans from Malaysia who are more comfortable speaking Mandarin.
According to the worker, this has shaped the team’s day-to-day interactions, as lunches and even group discussions “often default to Mandarin.”
She then recalled one particularly sad incident where one of her Malay colleagues stopped coming to lunches because of the language barrier and dietary restrictions.
“There is one Malay team member, and our boss (naturalised Singaporean) has mentioned a couple of times how inconvenient it was to plan meals together as we have to find Halal options just for her,” they wrote.
“She eventually stopped joining us for lunch as (I assume) she feels like she doesn’t want to trouble the team, and she usually can’t join in the conversation anyway.”
“Our boss even tells her that she can pick it up, and they try to teach her Mandarin, which is a way of including her, but why not just speak English? I feel like our team’s culture can be pretty toxic to people who don’t fit in.”
As for themselves, the worker shared that they feel “uncomfortable” speaking Mandarin and cannot “even have a full-blown conversation in it.”
“I grew up in an English-speaking household. Mostly have English-speaking friends. Raised a lot by the Internet (thanks, Reddit) as a teen, so I consume a lot of western media,” they said, adding that they have only achieved a C6 in O-level Chinese.
They went on to express that they feel “like a foreigner” in their own country.
“Anyone else can relate? This is mostly a whine post because I’m just trying to get by every day with this crushing sense of isolation and demoralisation, knowing especially that there is likely going to be a growing population of people more comfortable speaking Mandarin, given our dwindling population. The only solution for me is to assimilate better, but man, it feels lonely as hell.”
“Try and get into a Western MNC.”
In the comments, one user shared they’ve also experienced this in their previous workplace. “I’m Malay, and honestly, this hits quite close to home for me. I’ve worked in multiple public institutions, and day-to-day interactions tend to default to Mandarin. Meetings may start in English, but then switch to Mandarin and get stuck in that state. Team lunch, as you mentioned, often finds me a burden because it needs to be halal.”
Another advised the writer to communicate her concerns. “Keep on telling them you don’t understand. Raise it up to HR, DD, etc. The working language in SG is English. Especially in a stat board.”
A third, however, said that there was no point in fighting the majority. They added, “If your boss doesn’t want to be inclusive for a Malay team member, she is not going to do the same for you even if you start getting better at Mandarin.”
A few also suggested that they leave their job if it was getting hard to fit in. “Try and get into a Western MNC,” one wrote. “This is the experience of a lot of non-Chinese in local SMEs too.”
In other news, a Singaporean turned to Reddit for advice after the family’s domestic helper allegedly became “increasingly worse and lazier” just three months into the job.
Posting on the r/SingaporeRaw forum on Tuesday (Mar 24), he explained that the helper, who’s been working for them for seven months, spends 70% of her time watching YouTube videos, making video calls, or scrolling through Facebook and only 30% of her time on her work.
Read more: ‘30% work, 70% on the phone’: Employer says maid became lazy after just three months of employment
