After I graduated from Secondary 5th grade night school in Hong Kong (like graduating high school in Indonesia) in 1996, I didn't want to continue my career in the 藍領 sector. (laam4 leng5) which in Indonesian means "blue collar". In Hong Kong, jobs related to ministry or work outside the office are nicknamed "blue collar", while jobs that work inside office spaces are nicknamed 白領 (baak6 leng5), i.e., "white collar". Although I enjoyed working with my manager and co-workers at a Western restaurant in the Tin Hau area, the owner of the restaurant company was a very stingy person. The tip as a guest appreciation to all of us had to be handed over to the head office, and he only gave us an annual bonus of HK$1.

For most Indonesian professionals, most may never have experienced how stingy and wicked Hong Kong's local office culture is. They, on average, work in foreign companies or large companies whose facilities for employees are more adequate and humane than local companies.

My colleagues at the restaurant felt sad, and some thought I wouldn't survive working in the office

The main goal was to enter the "white-collar" sector because I felt more suitable to work in the office and more opportunities for me to develop my career in the sector. So I applied to quit the Western restaurant where I had been working for more than 1 year.

My co-workers, especially my manager, didn't want me to leave because they thought I was a good employee and very trustworthy, but the assistant manager thought I wouldn't last long working in the office because there weren't many examples of people who were used to working in the "blue-collar" sector moving to the "white-collar" sector because the two were very different. But I have been determined to give it a try. After I left, I still frequented this restaurant until it closed.

A businessman had bought the Tin Hau branch restaurant and passed on all the recipes of this restaurant and changed the name of the restaurant. Until now, the restaurant still exists, and the food menu is almost the same as before. The way employees work is also still the same. To this day, I still sometimes eat at the restaurant to reminisce about my struggles.

Western restaurant in Tin Hau after the name and owner change. The exterior and interior design in this photo has not changed at all since the time I worked there.

A few years later, after the restaurant changed its name, this restaurant moved to the next building, which is only 2 different numbers on the same street until now.

Dare to apply for a job starting from the lowest position in the office

When I was 18 years old, I ventured to look for an office job with only a high school diploma and had no work experience in the office at all. At that time, the internet was not very common, so I could only apply for a job using the mail and looking for vacancies through newspapers or job search agencies.

After submitting several applications at various companies and job search agencies, one of the job search agencies asked me to meet a German toy production company located in the Tsim Sha Tsui area with a temporary merchandiser assistant position. Then I met them, and I was immediately accepted. Because this position is only temporary for a few months, they don't ask much during job interviews. For me, it doesn't matter that this job is only temporary because I want to first find work experience in the office.

My first office job was photographing and arranging toy products in an office showroom

The office is a branch office of a German toy company that exports toy products throughout Europe. The company had no more than 20 employees at that time. My department consists of 1 senior manager, 2 regular managers, and 3 merchandisers. My main task is to help merchandisers to photograph toy products and arrange toy products in the office showroom neatly according to order and category. Sometimes I also have to go to the house of a German director to take some samples of the company's products from his home.

Maybe I'm just a temporary employee in the lowest position who doesn't jeopardize their position, so it's all good for me, especially the senior manager and 1 male manager, but I can feel that they don't like each other. While I help a male manager with a task, another female manager will give me another job so that the male manager's work is interrupted. In addition, I feel quite comfortable working in this company.

After a few months, my tenure at this company was over; senior managers and male managers asked me to stay with them and wanted to make me a permanent employee. But I wanted to try another job that was more related to Technology and Information, so I sadly turned down their offer and asked a job search agency to help me find another job. At that time, most companies in Hong Kong still did not have computers and the internet.

A photo of me in 1996 when I was ready to go to work at a German toy company. At that time, we lived in an apartment whose toilet had to be shared with other people who lived next to the room we lived in.

In the next article, I will tell you about my experience of participating in a job interview at a telecommunications company that I was initially rejected for and then rehired in a better position.