Do locals or expats find SG work culture toxic, or am i the problem?
Recently moved to Singapore for my first fresh grad job. I didn't grow up in Asia, and this is my first time working in SG, though I've visited for v long holidays before and studied in NUS, family background is sg, so I sort of knew what to expect.
During undergrad, I worked in an office job for a few years. The nature of the job meant I dealt with a lot of verbal abuse, so I built up lots of resilience and thought I could handle most difficult situations.
But this new sg job is another level. It’s not only the work itself, but the environment, coworkers, and supervisors are toxic that just showing up is mentally exhausting.
My assigned mentor just dumps her workload on me. Not only is the workload crazy, we work weekends yet we dont get paid for it only get to leave work early on weekdays. Also, If I ask a question, I get shut down with, "What do you think?" or "Figure it out yourself." I’m new, so obviously I need to ask things. and also, my field has strict legal and ethical procedures so I cannot just guess and risk breaching rules.
To make it worse, she’s super dismissive. When I struggle with clients, she won’t help; she just watches there and snickers. But the second a boss walks in? Shes like a different person. She's super smiley, joking around, and acting very nice.
It’s not just her. Most of the leadership team is incredibly rude and makes offensive remarks. Other coworkers have privately vented to me about their own awful experiences with them too.
I told myself to just suck it up since work is work and life is not all smooth sailing. But there has to be a limit. At the end of the day, we’re all human. You can’t take your job title to the grave, so why take your corporate status so seriously that you lose basic empathy?
The stress is literally making me sick. Before this, I had no health issues. Now, everyday i have full-body hives and rashes down to my feet. My face and lips randomly swell up, and doctors can’t find a medical reason for it.
So I wanted to ask: Do Singaporeans generally find the workplace here this tough, or is it specifically hard for foreigners adapting to working in Asia? Is this the norm in SG? Or could me being a foreigner be the reason for this treatment?
And if anyone has similar health experiences, pls share too! V desperate for a cure.
TLDR: First job in Asia (didn't grow up here) as a fresh grad. Thought I was resilient after a rough uni job, but my current workplace is bad. My mentor dumps work on me, refuses to answer protocol questions, and laughs when I struggle, but sucks up to management. Bosses are also notoriously rude. The stress is giving me unexplained hives and facial swelling. Is this typical SG work culture for locals/expats, or just a bad company?
Posted Aug 5, 2026, 1:20 PM UTC