Australians are lazy? It's a Myth.

13 Comments
Kenwick Link, Perth, WA, 0530hrs


I woke at 0415hrs this morning. My alarm was set at 0500hrs. I hate the feeling. I'm born with the kind of natural body alarm clock, the very unreliable model unfortunately. Not sure whether it is a blessing or a curse but one thing for sure, I am seldom late for appointments against my own will.

I used to hear that Australians are laid back and take things easy, be it at work or play. Some extreme views even saw them branded as lazy people. This is a myth, at least from my observations so far. Australians in Perth are hardworking people. They are definitely early risers, for a start. At 0515 hrs, I was not alone on the road. I was driving with more than several cars throughout my journey, until I exited the freeway to Kenwick Link. I'm pretty sure these folks were driving to work like me. People do not wake up at sub-5 timings to go fishing.

At work, Australians work hard. They are neither dawdlers nor skivers. When it is the time to take a break, they do it. One of them cut my air line which made me look up before being showed the 'smoke' gesture. They encourage each other to take deserved breaks and they resumed hard work on time. When it is time to go home, everyone goes, including the supervisors and manager. Personally, I've seen nothing that indicates Australians are laid back. They are simply disciplined and principled. I like this culture.

Meanwhile my body clock is severely challenged this week. My first week at work looks like that:

4 days of 1530hrs - 0200hrs shift
1 day of 1300hrs - 1900hrs shift
1 day of 0600hrs - 1200hrs shift

When I woke prior to the targeted time groaning at my body clock, "What the hell is going on?" The body clock simply replied, "Yeah, what the hell IS going on?"

13 comments:

  1. Peyning22 October 2011 at 16:32

    Wow... your working time really challenging cos I dont see the routine but yet is still ok. At least you are being paid for what you work.

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  2. asingaporeanson22 October 2011 at 17:37

    @ Peyning, the saturday rate is not bad. but i'll have to wait till next thurs to see how much im paid. lazy to calculate now.

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  3. 80toyshop22 October 2011 at 19:43

    bro hang in there!!! your hard work will pay off when u see your baby next yr!!!

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  4. Peyning22 October 2011 at 22:33

    I think you can roughly count or just let jenny count for you will be fine.... I think you will be very happy when you get your first paid after such hard work...

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  5. asingaporeanson23 October 2011 at 13:14

    @80toyshop: i see your name in hwz so often until you become a friend from a stranger. I still don't know your name unfortunately. hope we can stay in contact and hopefully one day we'll meet in aust.

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  6. asingaporeanson23 October 2011 at 13:16

    @ peyning, i wasn't happy. cos im always greedy with money. nothing is too much for me and no amount rises my eye lid. im just glad the sum looks like it's enough for us to stay here indefinitely as long as i continue with this job or something else.

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  7. 80toyshop25 October 2011 at 17:05

    hey bro,

    my name's Gordon. do take care of yourself, a wise friend once told me:

    'you must learn to relax as you cannot earn all the money in the world, what you're doing now is sacrificing your current health to earn future money'

    bro hope u understand wat i'm trying to say. must learn to slow down to take care of Jen & enjoy Perth.

    cos i have this feeling before wanna earning as much as possible last yr when my wife got 2 miscarriage & my mom suddenly kanna stroke, suddenly always find money not enough.

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  8. asingaporeanson26 October 2011 at 12:03

    @Gordon: sorry to hear that. thanks for telling me your name and story.

    They are golden words and I shall bear them in mind.

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  9. Anonymous2 January 2012 at 15:31

    The only reason I can think of you saying they are not lazy is because YOU are lazy yourself. Yeah, the fact you mentioned you ENJOYED the culture there further substantiate the truth of you being lazy.

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    Replies
    1. Neurotic Ramblings11 December 2013 at 05:03

      Laid back doesn't necessarily mean "lazy", and geh zua doesn't necessarily mean "hardworking"

      I think the Aussies do what needs to be done. Administratively, they tend to be less efficient than SG, but then again efficiency is something (to me about the only thing) which SG ranks very highly on

      -S

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  10. Tim1 May 2012 at 16:51

    Ive been a student in Melbourne for 2 years now and can say i completely and utterly disagree with you. Well compared to the developed Asian countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Korea, the work ethic is well beyond piss poor. The casual attitude thinking everything would be fine at the end of the day is sometimes truly appaling for someone who is from an elitist Asian country such as Singapore. Sometimes they make you wonder if they're just there to count down the hours remaning from a 9-to-5 day and leave when time is up. Of course this is a general statement. It does not apply to every single person in Australia. I have known one woman whose work ethic and sense of responsibility goes far beyond what I have seen from any local Singaporean. However, such dedicated workers are few and far between. But, well, as the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do......

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  11. Anonymous17 June 2014 at 13:21

    What the hell is "the kind of natural body alarm clock"? You meant, "body clock?"

    "Some extreme views ". Did you mean, "some extremists view"?

    I couldn't bring myself to read past the second para.

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    Replies
    1. asingaporeanson18 June 2014 at 09:22

      No. I meant the kind of natural body alarm clock and some extreme views. Problem?

      Delete