‘What kind of admin office job in SG forces staff to carry a pail of water to fill the fish tank, on the first day even?’ — S’poreans share their toxic work culture experience

SINGAPORE: She came in for an admin job, but half an hour into her first day, she was already soaked — not from stress, but from sloshing a green pail of water across the office to refill the company fish tank.

Welcome to the wild world of SME (small and medium enterprise) survival in Singapore — where “other ad hoc duties” apparently include aquatic maintenance. This bizarre first-day fiasco was captured in a now-viral post on Reddit’s r/sgwork subreddit, where a series of photos show a young woman smiling for a lift selfie, unaware of the soggy surprise awaiting her. One caption read: “She didn’t think it was for her… but it. is. for. HER!”

The moment she resigned, her reward?  She still gets, “Two green pails” magically appeared beside her desk. “Ermmmmm thank u next??????” was the caption, channelling full Ariana Grande energy.

🪣 “Can smell SME taukay all over it…”

While some shrugged it off as “part of the job” (especially in smaller companies), the thread quickly turned into a full-blown confessional booth for those traumatised by toxic work culture.

One worker recalled: “I remember quitting my part-time warehouse packer job on the 1st day. They made us unload packages the size of TVs… Pay was S$8/hr, and we even had to check in and out for lunch.”

Another added: “Can smell SME taukay all over it,” while others painted a bleaker picture of exploitation masked as a “learning experience.”

“I signed up for a school admin internship and was told to clean toilets. I called the school immediately to report the matter. The owner then threatened to fail my internship.”

Another shared: “My role was AI Engineer. I ended up handling IT maintenance, procurement, and creating Tableau dashboards… You name it.”

🧹 “Boss asked us to mop the floor, wipe down shelves, then did a ‘sergeant bunk check’ by swiping his finger across them…”

From cleaning office toilets to being a personal chauffeur for bosses, many workers lamented how SME employers stretch job scopes thinner than kopi-o tissue.

“Had to deliver newspapers to the chairman’s office every morning. Can’t he just pick it up on the way?” one worker asked.

“My dad, a sales guy, was forced to drive into JB to settle his boss’s personal condo issues,” another said.

One even got scolded NS (National Service)-style: “Boss asked us to mop the floor, wipe down shelves, then did a ‘sergeant bunk check’ by swiping his finger across them.”

While not all SMEs are villainous—some workers, including SME owners themselves, defended their companies as low-stress and family-like, so there’s clearly a gap between expectations and reality.

📞 “Call MOM. Name and shame on Glassdoor!”

As one commenter sarcastically pointed out: “Duties not covered in job scope? Call MOM (Ministry of Manpower). Name and shame on Glassdoor!”

Others took a more zen approach: “Filling a fish tank could be therapeutic. Take it as a short break from admin work.”

Sure, carrying a pail may not be the worst thing in the world, but when your admin role slowly morphs into janitor, zookeeper, therapist, or errand boy—without the pay or recognition—it’s no wonder people are resigning faster than you can say, “next candidate, please.”

🌏 “I never thought, in my life, that these things also happen in… Singapore!”

One Indonesian commenter summed it up: “I never thought, in my life, that these things also happen in… Singapore! Lol. Developed nation.”

And therein lies the irony. Singapore is lauded globally for its world-class infrastructure, tech leadership, and economic prowess, but on the ground, young workers are still made (well, at least in some SMEs) to fetch water like it’s a medieval audition for knighthood.

It’s really about time to audit not just fish tanks — but toxic workplace norms too.

Read related: ‘My supervisor pointed his middle finger at me’ — Fresh grad on his first job asks if he should just ‘apologise to keep the peace’