Sean, sounds like you are in the financial planning / wealth management industry. I've seen this arrangement done for many HNW families - especially useful in cases where assets are to be vested to a number of beneficiaries.

IMHO, the cost is acceptable given the risks that it mitigates.

Hi guys, need your help.

I'm trying to reach an old colleague of mine - Rufin M. He should be working in the banking sector in Sg.

I saw his photo taken together with a bunch of LYNers in Sg. (photo taken late 2012 for a LYNers in Sg BBQ) hence this question posted here.

Thanks in advance.

Could you direct me to him please? I'll PM you. Thanks brah.

I worked with him under the same boss for about a year. He then left for Spore. Happened to saw the group pic and I went "Hey, I KNOW that guy"!

Be great to catch up with him after all these years.

A wanted man? Wah, what has he been up to the past few years?

Thanks for the heads-up.

Nothing new. Anyone considering a move to Singapore would have already been aware of what little was captured in the article.

Is that a dollar to dollar reduction? Meaning for example, RM5000 (now) -> SGD4200 ?

So its MYR3.7 vs MYR7.25 (converted at 2.5x). That's almost 2x (approx. 95% upside) on your current salary after conversion. I think it's acceptable esp. if your role has the potential to grow in the future.

In a related news, a bank recently offered someone SGD4.3k for a role. That same person currently earns MYR8k++ here. Talk about low-balling.

Similarly, some idiot recruiter told me that my "realistic" salary in SGD is XXX which is equal to 15% upside of my MYR pay ....after conversion to SGD. So if I earned MYR10k, he was thinking that SGD4.6k (MYR10k/2.5 + 15%) is a fair price for my labour. I promptly told him off.

After the above 2 real-life scenarios, I'm seriously wondering about the ethical and mental (short) comings of our southern recruiters. I guess they are looking to recruit monkeys with their peanut level pay.

Want better and faster. Must pay-lah

Not like we are asking ang-moh pay. Local pay good enough.

Cheap stuff no good. Good stuff no cheap

Gents, thank you for your thoughts.

For the first scenario, the available roles are at varying levels of seniority. I didn't imagine that they will offer what I think to be the most junior role + pay. As I understand it, it's only slightly better than a SG fresh grad's pay and a ballpark to a SG GT's remuneration. Additionally, the HR person actually backpedaled when the recipient paused for a few seconds upon hearing the amount offered. The HR person almost immediately said "yeah so low...I will check if the amount can be adjusted". The thing is - the HR person knew that the offer is totally off as it does not fit the profile of the candidate but went ahead and asked anyway. Simply because the candidate is a Malaysian. WTF?

In my case, I have been in the banking front line (CIB) for over 10 years. I've paid my dues and have rose thru the ranks. I've done pretty much everything from selling, buying and recovering (defaulted) loans. While I'm pretty sure that there are better, more rounded CIB guys out there - I'm not so bad myself. I have wined and dined CEOs and bang tables/kicked chairs with the best of them (and their lawyers). I've even told CDRC (for those who know who they are) to stick it where the sun don't shine and stood my ground against foreign creditors who want to liquidate clients because I disagree with their assessment to slash and burn (damn those hedge funds).

I totally agree with the "look for the right role and you will get the right pay" maxim and remain hopeful. There will be some of you who will say "complain so much for what, at the end of the day you still have to beg for a job in Sg". My interest in Sg is more because I wanted to grow and take up a regional role. I'm already in a top-ten international bank but I'm bored because the work is all...local. I'm often underwhelmed by the apparent "complexity" of my work that I surf /k all day and still get things done and still leave on time (never after 7pm). So much so that my boss complains that I make him look bad resulting in him piling up more work for me which I clear anyway.

HK/NY/London is all nice and good but I've gotta be realistic too. I'm no IvyLeaguer/Oxbridge dude so competition is tough but it doesn't mean I have to settle do I?

Just that it's annoying when a recruiter with a grand total of 3 years experience (including 1 year in recruiting) calls you up and starts throwing numbers that are not grounded in reality. (lack of logic aside and to his credit - he did demonstrate an ability to do divisions and multiplications).

Anyways - end of rant. Thanks for reading.

I appreciate your feedback Fiona. What you say is good and encouraging, but what I shared has been my experience/observation; if somewhat limited in nature. Having made it in Sg, it's all too easy for you to say that "I have a long way to go" but in all honesty and humility, you don't know me well enough to comment. I'm not MD/ED level but I'm not too far off either.

Guess I have been talking to the wrong person (the recruiter). Will be more selective. Thanks for the heads up.

Spoiler - Just highlight the quoted text in its entirety and hit on the "Spoiler" button.

Robert, what you said it totally fair. Which is why I've not applied to roles that require the candidate to bring their customers along. Nevertheless, I've seen many front-line positions that do not require such - merely to take care of their existing portfolio.

In all honesty, I'm not really keen on a front office relationship management role in Sg. I know I'm at a distinct disadvantage there - so I rather play on my strength than spend effort and energy shoring up my weakness because it's a game I'm set to lose.

My specialty is in credit risk assessment. I like the fact that numbers don't lie and macro and micro economic conditions don't lie. I'm pretty good at understanding and digesting both financial and non-financial information quickly to come up with a business decision. The fact that I like to read alot about everything - from art, culture and languages to business and science, helps in my line of work.

Anyways, I'm sorry if my posts have become a blog - totally not my intention. Was here to rant about 2 unrealistic recruiters and I have. So case closed.

I'm here because I find the thread informative and credible (1 caveat tho - almost everyone here claims to be a blue collar worker earning basic wage) hence a dependable-ish source on the Sg employment arena.

Thanks again for your feedback and constructive comments as always.

I have no problems being nice. I'd like to think that I'm a pretty nice guy by anyone's standards. But its hard when someone is not taking you seriously. I'm pretty serious when it comes to my career.

I can only hope that I can be as lucky as you.

Yes I know what to do. Thanks for the heads up anyways.



Ah, I follow SG & Thai business news since my current portfolio covers Sg and Southern Thailand. Look, I'm not saying I'm better than my Sg counterparts. All I'm saying is that I have readily transferable skills.

Robert, I have gone thru 1 down-cycle and definitely not a 1st year analyst. But I appreciate your POV nonetheless.



Like I said, it was a rant. Give an old man a break will ya?

Yeah, read that. Thanks!



Oh wow, a back-handed attack cum "look at me I'm soooo goood that people come offer me work" from a stranger. Did I do anything to offend you Mr Tigerr? All I can say is, good for you for getting a job in Sg.

Likewise, I have also decided (long ago) not to work with hunters/recruiters who have no clear understanding of the roles they represent and no respect for the candidates. There are many hunters and recruiters and just as many candidates. It's a free market. The thing is, I still have a job if the recruiter suck at selling me the role. But I wonder, if the recruiter can keep his if he consistently mis-markets the role and runs down his candidates? Bearing in mind that most roles have multiple recruiters chasing after it on behalf of the client.

Btw, I'm very sure that did I mention that my posting was a rant. Go look up the definition of "rant". (google helps)

I've dined with local CEOs not Sg ones. And bang tables with the same CEOs when they default. Hence what RobertChoo mentioned earlier hit home and I acknowledge him for that.

A banker's role is to provide financing, that's why CEOs love us. Not because we are any good at managing their business. They just love the capital we lend them. I have no illusions about that. Also, none I think, can offer a banker a job in Sg where they don't operate in. You sir, clearly have no idea what you are talking about and you want to lecture me about reality? Really?



Thanks Argo. My rant post is to also share that this kind of things do happen and to obtain feedback (and brickbats). And I got both! A good day indeed.



I don't bully my staff. I just ...don't.