The Singaporean Worker (vs the French)

Having had the chance to work in a French bank for 5 months alongside the notoriously fun and leisure loving French, it is perhaps only natural that I put forth some observations here.

The French (excluding those snobbish types living in Paris) have a wicked sense of humor - sometimes judged a tad crude or sexual. But one thing is for sure, once they are comfortable with you, they can be ridiculously funny, made even funnier when they try their jokes in English. They are best mixed with a relaxed attitude towards work, and a take-it-easy spirit. Oh yes, and they will try their utmost to include you in their discussions by speaking in English and if they ever break into their native French, they apologise for it. This is truely something I can take back with me.

The generous welfare benefits for the French employee are another stark contrast to what we have in Singapore. A typical employee in a financial institution gets up to 45+10 (compulsory+voluntary) days of annual leave to compensate them for working longer that the stipulated 35 hours a week. The 9+3 months of paid maternity+paternity leave is another feature of the generous welfare given to the French. Not forgetting also the free healthcare and education right up to university levels. The costs of this all? A rather breath-taking tax rate of as high as 45%, not including the various fees, muncipal taxes, etc. And a shrinking (in deficit currently) social benefits pool which could basically mean that current generation may not get to enjoy the full pensions promised to them in retirement. So you gain some, you lose some.

Whilst talking to a group of them over lunch once, I asked what they thought of their equivalent in Singapore. What's said was not surprising at all - their Singaporean counterpart works really hard and long hours and has twice their workload. And I believe, more than likely not paid any more than they are. [There are 1.5 Singaporeans in the team supporting Asia and sometimes NY, compared to 4 French in the team. The Singaporeans who get off work at 10pm SG time will be heartbroken to know that the French office is almost empty by 6pm FR time]

So how do we explain this? Paying a premium for a group of workers who seemingly have less work over another? Perhaps the French are indeed more productive? Perhaps it is a lifestyle thing? Or perhaps it is due to the fact that it is a French bank?

There's an ideal amongst the French and it is that they believe everyone should be entitled to a certain quality and standard of living which from my vantage is quite high (you got to forgive a Singaporean who grew up in a three-room HDB flat and living in the heartlands). So to them, life and time outside work is extremely important and they will not spend more time than what they are paid.

I guess for Singaporeans, like one senior minister once remarked, working hard is something we cannot shake off...

What do you do ...

Problem:
When the heating/boiler in your little Paris studio apartment is not working?
The temperature outside is minus 7 degrees and your apartment is not well-insulated?
The apartment caretaker speaks only French and is away for the weekend?
Your French sucks?

Solution:
Boil lots of water to drink.
Put on layers of clothes to sleep.
Pray that the boiler comes back on soon ....

I wonder if this is due to the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute?

A ratatouille car

Spotted this car along Rue de Longchamp, Paris.

A sale of two cities

It's interesting to see how the winter retail sales are played out in London and Paris. For one, the Paris sales are mandated by law that retail stores are only allowed to have 2 sales per year and there is a pre-determined date when the sale starts and ends. In London, the retail stores began slashing prices as earlier as christmas last year, in an effort to draw in the crowds and there is not really an end to the sale period - the sale ends offically when all the products on sale are sold out!
In Paris, the stores are pretty discreet about how the sale is being advertised. In most stores, there is hardly any signs to publicize about the discounts. In addition, the price cuts are still pretty subdued by many standards - usually a price discount of 20% is considered generous. I sense that there is a stigma attached to be seen buying discounted stuff in Paris, or it could be that most parisians have already made their way cross the Atlantic to partake in the London sale. Given the strength of the euro in the recent weeks, it is no surprise that the French have choosen to visit London during this sale period, to maximise their purchasing power.

Here's a pretty cool Paris sale site - there's even a recommendation on the different possible shopping circuits in Paris.

Losing Credibility

It's a holiday today in Paris and I am working in the office. I like working in the office when it is the holidays as the quiet surroundings bring a sense of peace and serenity, especially when you have a big problem on your hands.

This week has got to be the most nerve-racking and morale-deflating week of my life. I have lost my credibility due to the repeated failed attempts to resolve a production issue on the client's side. The problem, in many ways, is complex, and it is not helped by the fact that I was working alone on this, together with the developer who seem to have as much difficulty as I have in deciphering where the issue lie.
As consultants, we are usually put on the firing line first and in my eagerness to move forward, I broke the one rule that should never be broken - I gave advise without first testing it on my end and the advice given was quite a disaster. The client was furious and the matter escalated to upper management. Guess my project manager had a pretty tough time with higher management yesterday, this client is not an easy one to deal with.

My credibility lost and my confidence naturally shaken. It's tough to pick up the pieces and try to move forward, but it's nevertheless a good learning experience. I am glad it is a holiday in Paris today. I miss a hug from my wife....

;-) Today also happens to be my fifth year working in this company ... Nice!

I need to start learning French

Had the pleasure (or misfortune) of being part of a discussion between two chief developers, a developer and a passionate project manager regarding issues around a new development. I was the only non-French speaking person in the discussion - my french never went beyond counting to ten and saying 'Oui' or 'Non' or maybe throw in a 'Je voudrais' - and my French colleagues were kind enough to entertain me. Our discussion went like this:

Chief developer A: So we are gathered here for ..
Chief developer B: Developer C, you look like you lost 20kilos, what happen?
Developer C: I lost a couple of pounds, not kilos. (in French) It is all becos of this joker sitting beside me (he was pointing to me)
*Laughs all around* I was acting blur. True, I was testing the development done by him, but no way I was pushing him that hard. Anyway he looked pretty good when he's slimmer.
Chief developer B: So whats the problem? (he was referring to the issues)
Project Manager D: Well, this is the list of reviews we have from the client (begins to go through the list of issues)
Chief developer B: attente, attente .. What are these problems? Why are we speaking in Engrish now?
Project Manager D: Because *my_name* can speaks only English, so ...
Chief developer B: I see, so you are the problem (pointing at me) ...
All: Hahahaha ...

They were nice enough to do the whole discussion in English, breaking once in a while to French when talking about something really technical, but giving excuses before they do so.

I guess it is about time I start picking up some French phrases. Will try to write one post in French ... hmmm...

Liberty on Wheels

On my way to work, spotted something new on the streets of Passy, Paris. Nope, it was not an automatic dog-poo clean-up machine. I still occasionally get ambushed by a pile of dog-poo when I am not paying attention to where my feet is landing.


It is the new communal bike program which was launched early this week. Aptly named as Velib', a play of words 'Velo' (bike) and 'liberte' (liberty), there are approximately 10,600 of these grey-ish looking bikes installed at 750 docking stations each situated 300m apart.
Parisians' response to these bikes were pretty healthy, judging by the number of people I saw riding these bikes on my way to work. I am really eager to try one of these out this week - the handsome looking self-service docking machines apparently spew out instructions in eight different languages - all that I need is supposedly a bank card.

Tour de France, here I come ... check out the lovely basket at the front of the Velib', doesn't it look gorgeous?