SINGAPORE – In today’s job market, as The Great Resignation – also known as the Big Quit and the Great Reshuffle – plays out, job-hopping, quiet quitting and very public firings are the norm, amid darkening economic clouds. Many switch jobs every few years for greater pay, skill expansion and exposure to hedge against increasing volatility in the labour market.
But these seven Singaporeans are the exception. They have worked for more than 40 years for the same organisation. The Straits Times finds out why they did it, if they have regrets and what career advice they give their kids today.
Workplace services executive William Chua has served in SPH Media for half a century
He has seen it all – from cassette tapes and audio CDs to MP3 players and, now, streaming.
Mr William Chua, 66, is SPH Media’s longest-serving employee, having worked in the company for 50 years.
The Singaporean, who has Secondary 2 qualifications, joined Times Publishing, a predecessor of the organisation, in 1972 as a despatch rider. It was his second job after he left his first as a hotel bartender because of the irregular hours.
He became an administrative assistant in the mail room in the 1980s, where he managed incoming letters and office facilities, while ensuring contractors carried out their work safely, among other duties.
Singtel employee of 45 years Tan Lam Liong saw Singapore’s transition to Smart Nation
Whenever Mr Tan Lam Liong visits his friends’ homes and sees them using Singtel’s home broadband, a sense of pride swells within him.
The 67-year-old heads a team at the communications technology group that fixes bugs in home devices, such as routers and set-top boxes, before they are rolled out to customers.
He says: “I have been doing this for 22 years and it never gets old. I love troubleshooting and solving problems, and am always happy when I see people enjoying the service with no major problems.”
Close friendships forged with hotel colleagues made Mohamed Hassan Syed Ismail stay for 50 years
Mr Mohamed Hassan Syed Ismail is a fount of knowledge on Orchard Road.
Before Ion Orchard mall opened in 2009, he recalls the space was formerly an open area above Orchard MRT station. Before Ngee Ann City opened in 1993, there was a 10-storey building at the site called Ngee Ann Building.
He would know. After all, the 67-year-old has been working at Goodwood Park Hotel, located off the famous shopping street, for 50 years.
The Singaporean vocational institute certificate-holder joined its housekeeping department in 1972 as a cleaner and houseman. He was 17 then.
NParks’ plant lover Lilian Kwok fuses passion and garden design for 43 years
Ms Lilian Kwok’s passion for plants has kept her going for 43 years at the National Parks Board (NParks) and its predecessor, the Parks and Recreation Department (PRD).
Growing up in a kampung in Sembawang, she grew her own vegetables and fruit such as sweet potato, guava, soursop and pomegranate, and discovered her love of nature.
The 64-year-old public servant says: “Plants have always fascinated me. So I am truly fortunate to have found a job – designing gardens which are beautiful and functional – that matches my passion.
“It gives me immense joy whenever my colleagues and I complete a project in the best way we can. Seeing park users enjoy our green spaces also gives me great satisfaction, and I am happy to have met many appreciative and kind park users over the years.”
After 50 years at Raffles Hotel Singapore, historian Leslie Danker is a walking history archive
With its old-world charm and colonial architecture, Raffles Hotel Singapore in Beach Road has a history intertwined with that of the nation.
The job of Mr Leslie Danker, the hotel’s resident historian, is to share the colonial-era establishment’s illustrious past with guests. As its longest-serving employee, having worked there for half a century, the storyteller himself has a place in its grand narrative.
The 83-year-old joined the hotel in 1972 as a maintenance supervisor, and has taken on roles such as overseeing events, managing catering in the F&B department and being a front desk staff in the 1970s and 1980s.
Better work-life balance helped keep Linette Lee at DBS for 47 years
It might surprise some to know that DBS Bank stalwart Linette Lee, who has worked there for 47 years, tendered her resignation back in 2007.
But, by offering her another position with better work-life balance, the bank changed her mind.
The Singaporean mother of three, who was then a credit operations service delivery manager, wanted to quit to spend more time with her family. But instead of letting her go, the bank invited her to interview for a newly created role in its credit control unit.
Serving for 49 years, former machine operator Chui Tau Siong is now CEO
Mr Chui Tau Siong’s career trajectory is a modern-day fairy tale. He rose through the ranks over 49 years, getting his hands dirty on the factory floor and progressed on to oversee more than 1,500 people and manage multiple manufacturing plants across South-east Asia.
At 17, the former Malaysian came to Singapore looking for work. He got off the bus, saw an Insulpack Industries job listing on a pinboard outside a factory, walked in and got the job. That was how the O-level holder, who is now Singaporean, started out as a machine operator in 1973.
Three years later, Insulpack was acquired by Jebsen & Jessen, a diversified industrial conglomerate, and renamed Jebsen & Jessen Packaging. It now functions as the group’s packaging business unit, making protective packaging, engineered foam and moulding bottles and jars. It celebrates its 52nd anniversary this year.
