Foreign worker claims toxic Singapore workplace left him physically ill: ‘The stress is literally making me sick’

SINGAPORE: A foreign worker has claimed that the stress of working in Singapore has become so overwhelming that it is making him physically ill, prompting him to ask whether such workplace culture is considered normal in the city-state.

Writing on the r/askSingapore subreddit, the man said: “Before this, I had no health issues. Now, every day I have full-body hives and rashes down to my feet. My face and lips randomly swell up, and doctors can’t find a medical reason for it.”

For context, the man explained that although he did not grow up in Asia, he frequently visited Singapore because he has relatives here and later completed his undergraduate studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Before joining the local workforce, he spent several years working in an office overseas. 

“I worked in an office job for a few years. The nature of the job meant I dealt with a lot of verbal abuse, so I built up lots of resilience and thought I could handle most difficult situations,” he wrote.

“But this new SG job is another level. The stress is literally making me sick. It’s not only the work itself, but the environment, coworkers, and supervisors are so toxic that just showing up is mentally exhausting.”

The man also alleged that the colleague assigned to mentor him regularly shifted her own workload onto him.

“My assigned mentor just dumps her workload on me. Not only is the workload crazy, we work weekends, yet we don’t get paid for it; we only get to leave work early on weekdays.”

“Also, if I ask a question, I get shut down with, ‘What do you think?’ or ‘Figure it out yourself.’ I’m new, so obviously I need to ask things. My field has strict legal and ethical procedures, so I cannot just guess and risk breaching rules.”

According to the man, his mentor would watch him struggle with clients without offering assistance and would even “snicker” at him. 

“She just watches there and snickers. But the second a boss walks in? She’s like a different person. She’s super smiley, joking around, and acting very nice.”

“It’s not just her. Most of the leadership team is incredibly rude and makes offensive remarks. Other coworkers have privately vented to me about their own awful experiences with them too.”

Although he initially tried to accept the situation as part of working life, he said there came a point where he could no longer ignore its impact on his well-being.

“I told myself to just suck it up since work is work and life is not all smooth sailing. But there has to be a limit.”

He added, “At the end of the day, we’re all human. You can’t take your job title to the grave, so why take your corporate status so seriously that you lose basic empathy?”

Seeking insights, he asked fellow Redditors: “Do Singaporeans generally find the workplace here this tough, or is it specifically hard for foreigners adapting to working in Asia? Is this the norm in SG? Or could me being a foreigner be the reason for this treatment? And if anyone has similar health experiences, pls share too! Very desperate for a cure.”

“You should definitely consider looking elsewhere”

Many Singaporean Redditors were quick to tell the post author that what he was experiencing was not normal and that he had simply ended up in a particularly toxic company.

Quite a few urged him to leave before the job caused even more damage to his health.

One commented, “Not all workplaces are like that in SG. If I were you, I’d find another job.”

Another wrote, “I haven’t worked in too many companies, but that certainly does not sound like a norm. Even when speaking with clients or ex-colleagues, I rarely hear of such stories. You should definitely consider looking elsewhere.”

Meanwhile, a few others were alarmed that his stress had become so severe it was causing physical symptoms. One commenter said she had gone through something similar in the past.

She shared, “Oh gosh. The hives are absolutely a symptom of stress. I had chronic idiopathic hives for something like 15 years and didn’t realise they were stress-induced until I started seeing a psych for depression. The depression got better, and the hives disappeared totally within a month.”

Another added, “Honestly, if it’s giving you health issues, I’d say just quit. Legit not worth it.”

In other news, a woman has shared how her boyfriend of two years allegedly ended their relationship because he was embarrassed that she attended a private university while he studied at one of Singapore’s Big 3 universities.

Posting on the r/asksg forum, she said the truth only came out after she repeatedly asked him to be honest about why he wanted to break up.

Read more: Woman says ‘elitist’ ex dumped her after 2 years because she went to a private university: ‘He was embarrassed by my educational background’