KADAZANDUSUNS WORKING ABROAD

KADAZANDUSUNS WORKING ABROAD:

Opportunities and Challenges

By

Allan Dumbong

Following is another article by Bernama that is about our citizens working in foreign lands, in particular Singapore. This is indeed a shocking revelation. Here in Sabah we see everywhere flyers are distributed, posters are posted on almost every walls around towns in sabah, newspaper advertisements and even agents going round towns asking our Sabahan youths aged between 18-35 years old to work in Singapore. The jobs, cleaners, landscapes, plumbers, housekeepers, bricklayers etc. At one time, I called one person by the name of "Alex", who was purportedly an agent to find work in Singapore, and I asked him where is his office so that I could meet him. Rudely, he asked me back " What job you want?, What is your age?" and he refused to give me details on how I could meet him. I am not saying that this particular Alex is the kind of a "conman" but I think he should be transparent enough when recruiting people to Singapore. I have been to Singapore a number of times and have many friends there. So, I know the legal system, the way of life in singapore, and the job opportunities available there. And I am very happy to learn that many Sabahans, particulalrrly Kadazandusun youths, who braved the South China Sea, and overcame their English inferiority to work in Singapore.

Dear my fellow kadazandusun youths. Go overseas and work there. Go to singapore. Go to Australia. Go to New Zealand. Go to Europe. Go to USA. Go to Japan. Go to Korea. Go to London. Opportunities in working abroad include getting exposure, understand cross-cultures, gain knowledge how other societies get developed and get the good foreign exchange (forex). Challenges include: getting "conned" or cheated by agents, do not undertand the legal and political system of the country and you get trapped in it, do not have skills and with no right attitude that is necessary to survive in other countries.

So, about the following article, I hope you, Kadazandusun youths who are currently working in Singapore or those planning to go there, to be careful. Be smart, and don't let your "kampung style" to land you into trouble.

I know little bit about Singapore, and if you have any question about the working life in singapore, please contact me at alldellon@yahoo.com .

Ok, following is the Bernama article for your kind attention:

BERNAMA,April 05, 2006 22:39 PM

Beware Bogus Employment Agents, Says Minister

PUTRAJAYA, April 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysians seeking jobs in Singapore have been advised to do so on their own without using the services of employment agents to avoid being cheated.Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn said Wednesday those who insisted on going through agents should check to ensure that they were bona fide agents.The ministry had received reports of cases where job seekers paid between RM1,000 and RM2,000 to employment agents and found out that they were cheats only after arriving in the republic.Malaysia's High Commissioner to Singapore Datuk N. Parameswaran had said in an interview with Bernama last March 29 that Malaysians seeking jobs in the republic refrain from using employment agents.He had also said that there was an increase in the number of people from Malaysia, particularly Sabah and Sarawak, who had complained of having been cheated by so-called employment agents.Fong said the people could check on the status of agents by obtaining information from the ministry's state offices and branches of its manpower department nationwide or by visiting the online Electronic Labour Exchange at http://ww.elx.gov.my."We have a website that lists all the agents, we have their numbers. Essentially, they should verify the authencity and the background of the agent before they close the deal," he said.-- BERNAMA