October 2004
Nanako Monbayashi, Japanese:

In Singapore, Nanako works for a Japanese company, where she does sales promotion for electronic components (resistors). Part of her job includes visiting customers to get their monthly set production and make a business plan based on it, plus following product demand, new model information, and price quotation.

Nanako says: "Even though it is a good experience and there is a lot to learn, it is not easy to work abroad. Especially in my case, because I don't have a university degree, I had difficulty getting a work permit and job options are very limited."

"Working at a factory was not my first choice and I probably won't work for a factory in the future. Plus, it is an old traditional Japanese manufacturing company. Most employees have a geeky uniform to wear, and we all do morning exercises, listen to a company song and read principles aloud which I think is very rare even in Japan nowadays."

"I think this company has typical problems which Japanese companies face overseas. Japanese expats are sent to work above assistant managers and they are positioned top in their section even though they sometimes lack international business knowledge (many of them were working only domestically in Japan) and have language problems. They prefer to stick with only Japanese and do things their way. It can cause a gap between local and Japanese bosses. On the other hand, the Singaporeans want more localization at work. Here I am in the gap between Japanese bosses and locals, listening to the complaints from both sides."

"At the same time, it's good that I can understand and get along with both sides. Since there are only three Japanese who were hired locally, I feel Japanese bosses treat me nicely. Even though there are many people who can speak Japanese, being Japanese AND a young, single female is a plus. I guess they feel secured being with Japanese because they can make jokes without thinking hard. Sometimes they get me a gift when they go back to Japan or take me out for lunch or drinks even though we don't work in the same section. As I mentioned earlier, many local employees can speak Japanese or are interested in Japan, so they also are very friendly to me. For example, there are several factories making different products and sections are divided by each product, so normally people don't know other factory members, but the other day I was invited to a BBQ party by people working for another product!"

"Anyway, there is always a good side and a bad side. Overall, I must say that I'm lucky that the people I work with are very nice and supportive, and it's interesting to see the differences between how Japanese and Singaporeans work. However, both work wise and otherwise, such as communication problems and culture differences, this is the hardest job I've ever had."