Life
Sunday, January 06, 2008
as you can see, I am avoiding all the time and brainpower consuming posts till further notice. today, lets talk about my life in its current state. which is really very much dominated by work.
==
about
I am a stacker (or merchandiser) at Sheng Siong Supermarket, Jalan Bahar branch. I am on the night shift and is stationed mainly at the cleaning and hygiene products lane (lane 1 and 2) so come look for me there.
dont look for me on fridays since it is my off day.
==
background
close friends would know that I had been working since the 2nd this month. at first I am quite reluctant for people to come and visit me since I am supposed to be cashier on night shift, which is gonna be quite helluva busy.
but I am switched to a stacker since they had one too many cashiers. and after experiencing the working condition, I thought it would be better if someone actually went there to talk cock with me.
so please do pop by if you happen to be there, I will welcome you with my outstretched arms with gif-stained palms! (more on that later)
==
scope
now what is a stacker? stacker is basically those people you see unloading stocks from their boxes and placing them onto the shelves. in addition, we wheel newly-arrived stocks into the store itself or to the goods area twice daily when the delivery truck comes by and drops the goods.
we also add, remove and/or rearrange items on the shelf to make space for items that more people buy, which would warrant a trip to the goods area and plenty of "excuse me" as you manoeuvre your way in the store with a goods trolley.
that is what I do in the afternoons when the crowd is small and we can still draw stocks from the goods area.
by night, when the crowd is bigger, I will arrange or push the stuff on display forward so they are more obvious to you customers. through this, I mastered the art of making my lane look well-stocked even though it isnt.
then, there are always brainless customers who simply have a problem with carrying things back to where they belong. it becomes our job.
other times at night I end up doing sai gang, like scrubbing the remants of price stickers (used in the era when sheng siong was not using digital wireless price tags yet) off the shelves. it is a dirty job using gif (you know that stupid white suspension for cleaning) with a very fitting dirty cloth.
the scrubbing is a real chore, since some labels were so badly torn off that their marks cannot be removed without using plenty of force or even being unremovable. and you can imagine how I felt doing this at night, when customers are at its peak.
well, at least there is a chiobu promoter to keep me entertained while I scrub like a cow. today's conversation revolved around snow white, seven dwarfs and "seven up". she is 20 over (I am forced to not reveal the exact age) and is attached, so dont let wrong ideas get into your head.
==
pay
am I even supposed to discuss this here? lol. anyway, I prefer to think it is above average for such an untechnical job. I work 8 hours a day on a fixed shift for 6 days a week. rest day is a fixed weekday (friday for me). lunch/dinner (depends on your shift) is provided. malaysians put in 10 hours instead with a slight increase in pay.
talking about pay, today is pay day. everyone got their salary, except me. zz. they said it was because I only commenced work on the 2nd. but surely they could have paid me the 200 over dollars for this few days first. but they cant. damn.
it is really irritating to see people taking their pay slips and yet all you get is a scolding. think that guy dislikes me talking to that chiobu promoter. good riddance to him.
==
attire
we can wear whatever we want, provided it covers enough skin to prevent abrasions caused by repeated loading and unloading.
the only necessity is the staff pass, which is a laminated card you wear around your neck with a sheng siong lanyard. it reads "temporary staff" with a unique ID.
however, from next week onwards, the cashiers will be wearing some traditional chinese shirt thing. overheard them choosing sizes. dont think we are included. we will just dirty it anyway.
==
malaysians, malaysians, malaysians
one thing that would become inherently obvious is that nearly all (in fact all for my branch) of the full time staff are malaysians. their accent when speaking chinese and their flair for cantonese makes it real obvious.
the chio promoter is malaysian. my direct boss, officially an assistant supervisor, is malaysian. my fellow colleague cum full-time stacker is malaysian. even the big bosses, the store managers (there are 3) are malaysian too. heck, the temporary auntie working in the afternoon 12-5 slot is malaysian as well.
the only singaporeans, other than us part-timers, is the auntie on the 6-11 shift, whose name I dont know since everyone (including me) calls her auntie for her seniority (she is over 40). I can guarantee you most other staff dont even come close to her age.
I have nothing against malaysians, in fact they are all quite nice (except one or two really bad examples). just thought that it provides a stark contrast to NTUC FairPrice, who nearly employs all singaporeans.
==
meals
after five days, I thought I loved today's most. there is chicken cubes in sauce (my favourite!), veggie (plenty daily, rather bad quality too may I add) and 鱼片 (wow!). it is great considering they are serving us 肉酱 and vegetables just the day before.
I heard complaints about the food being bad. but I had been able to stuff everything down. I was never too picky when it comes to food so I guess it is an advantage here. lol.
==
other classified (so far) comments
actually there are some strange rules and quirks that I thought would be fun to share, but perhaps not now since I am still employed there. and I think I quite need this job.
==
think I had talked enough about my job. any more and I think I might just lose it. anyway, remember the main reason for this post.
come and visit me dammit.
==
about
I am a stacker (or merchandiser) at Sheng Siong Supermarket, Jalan Bahar branch. I am on the night shift and is stationed mainly at the cleaning and hygiene products lane (lane 1 and 2) so come look for me there.
dont look for me on fridays since it is my off day.
==
background
close friends would know that I had been working since the 2nd this month. at first I am quite reluctant for people to come and visit me since I am supposed to be cashier on night shift, which is gonna be quite helluva busy.
but I am switched to a stacker since they had one too many cashiers. and after experiencing the working condition, I thought it would be better if someone actually went there to talk cock with me.
so please do pop by if you happen to be there, I will welcome you with my outstretched arms with gif-stained palms! (more on that later)
==
scope
now what is a stacker? stacker is basically those people you see unloading stocks from their boxes and placing them onto the shelves. in addition, we wheel newly-arrived stocks into the store itself or to the goods area twice daily when the delivery truck comes by and drops the goods.
we also add, remove and/or rearrange items on the shelf to make space for items that more people buy, which would warrant a trip to the goods area and plenty of "excuse me" as you manoeuvre your way in the store with a goods trolley.
that is what I do in the afternoons when the crowd is small and we can still draw stocks from the goods area.
by night, when the crowd is bigger, I will arrange or push the stuff on display forward so they are more obvious to you customers. through this, I mastered the art of making my lane look well-stocked even though it isnt.
then, there are always brainless customers who simply have a problem with carrying things back to where they belong. it becomes our job.
other times at night I end up doing sai gang, like scrubbing the remants of price stickers (used in the era when sheng siong was not using digital wireless price tags yet) off the shelves. it is a dirty job using gif (you know that stupid white suspension for cleaning) with a very fitting dirty cloth.
the scrubbing is a real chore, since some labels were so badly torn off that their marks cannot be removed without using plenty of force or even being unremovable. and you can imagine how I felt doing this at night, when customers are at its peak.
well, at least there is a chiobu promoter to keep me entertained while I scrub like a cow. today's conversation revolved around snow white, seven dwarfs and "seven up". she is 20 over (I am forced to not reveal the exact age) and is attached, so dont let wrong ideas get into your head.
==
pay
am I even supposed to discuss this here? lol. anyway, I prefer to think it is above average for such an untechnical job. I work 8 hours a day on a fixed shift for 6 days a week. rest day is a fixed weekday (friday for me). lunch/dinner (depends on your shift) is provided. malaysians put in 10 hours instead with a slight increase in pay.
talking about pay, today is pay day. everyone got their salary, except me. zz. they said it was because I only commenced work on the 2nd. but surely they could have paid me the 200 over dollars for this few days first. but they cant. damn.
it is really irritating to see people taking their pay slips and yet all you get is a scolding. think that guy dislikes me talking to that chiobu promoter. good riddance to him.
==
attire
we can wear whatever we want, provided it covers enough skin to prevent abrasions caused by repeated loading and unloading.
the only necessity is the staff pass, which is a laminated card you wear around your neck with a sheng siong lanyard. it reads "temporary staff" with a unique ID.
however, from next week onwards, the cashiers will be wearing some traditional chinese shirt thing. overheard them choosing sizes. dont think we are included. we will just dirty it anyway.
==
malaysians, malaysians, malaysians
one thing that would become inherently obvious is that nearly all (in fact all for my branch) of the full time staff are malaysians. their accent when speaking chinese and their flair for cantonese makes it real obvious.
the chio promoter is malaysian. my direct boss, officially an assistant supervisor, is malaysian. my fellow colleague cum full-time stacker is malaysian. even the big bosses, the store managers (there are 3) are malaysian too. heck, the temporary auntie working in the afternoon 12-5 slot is malaysian as well.
the only singaporeans, other than us part-timers, is the auntie on the 6-11 shift, whose name I dont know since everyone (including me) calls her auntie for her seniority (she is over 40). I can guarantee you most other staff dont even come close to her age.
I have nothing against malaysians, in fact they are all quite nice (except one or two really bad examples). just thought that it provides a stark contrast to NTUC FairPrice, who nearly employs all singaporeans.
==
meals
after five days, I thought I loved today's most. there is chicken cubes in sauce (my favourite!), veggie (plenty daily, rather bad quality too may I add) and 鱼片 (wow!). it is great considering they are serving us 肉酱 and vegetables just the day before.
I heard complaints about the food being bad. but I had been able to stuff everything down. I was never too picky when it comes to food so I guess it is an advantage here. lol.
==
other classified (so far) comments
actually there are some strange rules and quirks that I thought would be fun to share, but perhaps not now since I am still employed there. and I think I quite need this job.
==
think I had talked enough about my job. any more and I think I might just lose it. anyway, remember the main reason for this post.
come and visit me dammit.
