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contemplativeand which would have better career advancement opportunities and salary, hoping that it will shed some light and help me
make up my mind on which route i should embark on. Bachelor of Business/Commerce or Bachelor of Arts.
Simply put, I sort of like marketing and I'm more familiar with it but my interest lies in English.
I may not be good at it, but I don't know- I just have this feeling to learn more about it. Who knows?
There may be a possibility of me excelling in it, as long as I put my best effort.
Then again, there is the problem of unemployment because a degree in English is not what employers in Singapore
are looking for. Some, yes but not the majority.
The up and rising industries and jobs in Singapore are Life Sciences, Healthcare, Engineering, Computer Science, Digital Media, Informatics Communications, Banking & Finance, etc.
(NONE OF WHICH I AM INTERESTED IN SO WHICH MEANS I'M PRETTY MUCH CONSIDERED REDUNDANT)
So what's the next best thing if I'm not interested in all of the (boring) above career options you might ask?
Well, it's business. According to researches and analysts, business sector is still doing well and its unemployment rate
is lower than the arts. (& I was shocked to see that HR pays more than Marketing! What a shocker!)
But among all the articles I've read, this stuck with me and fueled me with courage to dare to choose what i have interest in,
instead of what is more familiar and so-called "better" because the unemployment rate is lower.
"If you haven’t got a degree yet, lose the herd mentality. Study something you’re driven to excel in, not something that everyone else is doing. Why pick a crowded job market, and one where you’re more easily replaced?"(taken from: http://www.moneysmart.sg/career/why-some-s
I felt that it made a lot of sense and was very well said. Yes, business is better in the sense it has better career opportunities
and higher starting job salary. But one must also note that it is increasingly common and for a fresh graduate, a certificate
in Business is not enough to get us hired. Why? Because 1 in 3 graduates in Singapore has a Bachelor of Business.
You must have experience, internships or some other skills and certs to make you stand out as a viable employee instead of just another person out there with a bachelor of business certificate.
However that being said, there are also concerns to be taken into consideration when choosing to do Arts.
Higher unemployment rates, lower job salaries (well, the starting pay is significantly lower) and the fact that it is not in demand. One must also know how to market your Arts degree to different industries, such as business for example in order to have more career options instead of the norm such as teachers, educators, editors, journalists, librarians, publicists, etc.
So in other words, there are both pros & cons to these 2 different degrees and I'm still in a dilemma, back to square one.
But at least now I have a better understanding of what type of jobs, skills and degrees are marketable, valued and in demand in Singapore. I have always been inclining towards taking up an English degree and after researching, it made me want to
have the courage to risk everything, go against all odds, don't give a damn about the possibilities of failure and just do it.
(Nike slogan much haha!)
BUT ANYWAY, THAT WASN'T WHAT I INTENDED TO BLOG ABOUT!
While I was reading those articles, I stumbled upon some news on social workers, volunteer work and projects, taken in Africa.
Which in turn led me to think that, this world is really cruel. It is not my first time feeling this way but the contrast of these
two issues I've read through the articles made this fact even more evident.
The first thing I thought about after reading about the plight people in Africa are going through day to day was this:
Singaporeans are worrying over job opportunities while people in Africa are struggling to survive another day without food.
Doesn't it just make you hate how the world today works?
The rich abuses the poor to get richer and the poor is forever stuck in the vicious cycle of being slaves of the rich.
World leaders speak of equality and reducing the increasingly wide income gap and standard of living between the people
but empty vessels make the most sound.
They first need to let their greed and fear of the rich and powerful take a backseat and place their focus on levitating the poor and hungry from their shackles- in the form of human greed and their self-centered nature- a priority.
And we, especially Singaporeans who love to complain about the most minute thing ever such as a dirty table, lack of air-conditioning, slow service, etc. I am guilty of being one of such Singaporeans, and I'm sure like other people out there,
we very well know what is going on in such third world countries.
Yes we know, and we do take a few seconds or at most minutes to sympathize and empathize with them but most of us just stop there. We acknowledge this but we choose to pretend that we don't know or that it is not as big a deal as it really is and believe that the world leaders or any higher power out there will help those people.
"I have to worry about myself, how can i help others when i can't even help myself" are probably what comes to our mind when
we are told of such stories, facts or when we are asked to help the poor, needy people all over the world.
I thought of that too. It's in our human nature to defend for ourselves; self preservation which is ingrained in all of us since birth.
Which brings me to me to my first point, the world is a cruel and scary place. Humans are cruel, and are the most selfish beings.
(WWI and II, Hunger Games can prove this as well as any other documentaries on wars and this world could).
[OH and i think i need to put a disclaimer here in case of some bashers and haters out there!
Disclaimer: There is no point of this post, it was just an outlet for me to let out these conflicting emotions inside me.
I am not trying to make myself seem like a good person, or trying to get whoever is reading this to have the same views as me.
That's up to the people who reads this, if there is anyone reading this in the first place!
This is my blog, so I can blog whatever the hell I want, tyvm.]
I am human, and I am selfish. There is no perfect person, except God who died for our sins.
I thank God for letting me stumble on everything I've read today as It opened my eyes to a lot of things which I've pushed
away or chosen to avoid and ignore in the past. I'm not saying I'm going to be all righteous and be a totally selfless person.
I can't, but I can try to be a little less selfish and self-centered every day.
I'm going to reflect, I'm going to try and do good deeds and extend a helping hand to the weak, the poor, whenever i can.
From now on, whenever I'm being too extravagant, I'll remember what I've read, what these poor people are going through on a daily basis, and stop myself.
Whenever I start to complain on little mindless things, I'll remind myself that it's nothing and that I should be thankful and lucky for whatever I have. I'm really gonna try and do my best to appreciate what I have and be grateful, spend less and save up more pocket money so I can donate to the poor and needy.
Every first Sunday of the month, I take out a portion of my pocket money and donate to the poor during Mass in Church. Sometimes, I'll donate to the elderly or people asking for money on the streets and I used to think that was enough.
I always wanted to do volunteer work but I didn't have enough determination and courage to do it then- but now I think I'll really push forward with my plans of doing volunteer work. I used to go on mission trips in IJ, so I should be able to do this, right?
It's just that ever since I got out of IJ, there is no one to present these opportunities to me, no one to remind of the values inculcated to us in IJ. But I guess that's what becoming an Adult is about, relying on oneself and making decisions on our own. Choosing what we want to do ourselves.
Oh btw, these are some of the links which I think is really useful for those who are going to University:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/n
http://www.salary.sg/2010/top-100-jobs-i
http://teresamcgurk.hubpages.com/hub/Way
http://www.salary.sg/2009/business-degre
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distressed
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busy
disappointed
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