Thevesh Profile picture
Jun 21, 2018 12 tweets 3 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
A short thread: The insane glorification of overtime work.

1) It's such a Malaysian/Asian mentality to overwork staff. They're paid for 9-5, but are expected to work till 8 or 9 at least, be on call after, and work some weekends.
2) This is absolutely immoral. If a company wants its people to work those hours, they should damn well pay them for it. The system of praising people who do crazy overtime as "team players" and shaming people into doing it for free is basically glorified slave labour.
3) This is terrible for long-term productivity. People burn out, get alienated, disenchanted, etc. They end up with no time for interests outside work, and no time for personal development (which includes rest, relationships, reading, sports, etc).
4) It also creates a culture where every bit of work becomes 'top priority', to be finished ASAP. Bad, because there's no distinction between things that just need to be done 'well enough' vs things that need to be done as well as possible. Effort not focused on key areas.
5) People think rest and enjoyment is something you can just take as it comes, without active planning. I disagree. You should be as disciplined about rest as you are about work, if you want to work optimally.
6) Places like Twitter, Google, Zappos, etc, all actively and systematically focus on employee well-being. It's the only way to retain talent, and keep employees productive long-term, especially in high pressure environments.
7) It's also interesting to consider case studies from Sweden, where there's pretty much a national obsession with work-life balance. Trials of 6-hour day showed it was too costly, but did show that work quality improved.
Conclusion: Bosses and employers need to take a long, hard look at themselves. Is your work really the centre of the universe? Can't be done tomorrow?

And more importantly, if you're guilty of creating a culture of unpaid overtime, you really need to question your leadership.
That culture shames people who want to have a life, and is quite literally exploitation of labour.

Unpaid overtime workers of the world, unite! #Marx #StillRelevant
And if you're an employee, you can help change the culture too. Encourage co-workers to look after themselves and take time for non-work activities. Look out for signs of burnout. Stop glorifying consistent overwork. Let your boss know it's not okay to consistently call at 11pm.
BTW, the word "consistently" in this thread is important. Obviously, some crunch-time emergencies are unavoidable in any job. My issue is the regular and systemic overwork.
The response to this tweet makes me think that I/we should devote some serious effort and thought to a policy proposal, which can be forwarded to the relevant party(ies).

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More from @Thevesh

Sep 17, 2018
Today, I found out that some young people I know (ages 15 and 16) are in 'school' Whatsapp groups with teachers.

I salute the dedication of teachers who go beyond, but I think this a very dangerous breach of privacy / work-play balance, and must be stopped.

Here's why: #Thread
1) You cannot join a Whatsapp group without revealing your phone number. This is an immediate risk for minors - the room for abuse is so large I'm stunned that schools allow this. Pedophilia, sexual predation, grooming - all possible when adults have kids' phone numbers.
2) There is also risk of harassment by other kids. I remember my friends in high school (esp girls) who kept phone numbers very private, because they didn't want to be constantly bombarded.

When a teacher makes you join, there's no opt out. Everyone gets your phone number.
Read 13 tweets
Aug 1, 2018
Thread (with video yay!): Breakdown of perdebatan GST v SST antara YBM @guanenglim dan YB @Khairykj di Parlimen semalam.

This perfectly shows why we should #KekalkanGST.

Please - watch this, then tweet @ PH.
Show them that the rakyat understand - they need to hear our voice!
Bab 1: Original question from KJ.

1) KJ kata kadar GST boleh dikurangkan, dan lebih 'exemption' diberi, supaya 'end-outcome' sama dengan SST.
2) Masalah sistem tuntutan perlu dan boleh diperbaiki.
3) Since LGE pun dah admit GST lebih efficient, kenapa nak mansuhkan GST?
Bab 2: LGE admits GST is more efficient

1) Kudos to LGE. He says "Malaysia baru, kita cakap benar".
2) In that spirit, he admits "GST lebih telus, lebih efisyen".
3) Jadi, benda teknikal tax cascading, supply chain visibility, etc tak payah gaduh dah. PH dah admit GST better.
Read 9 tweets

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