Posts for 2019

It's no big secret that I'm rather contemptuous of the term "work-life balance". It's a term that's been bandied around so often that it's lost its meaning. It's some buzzword tossed around by people who have it so good that they're no longer thinking about survival and instead obsessing over having enough time to watch soap operas and whatnot.

That being said, the recent furor over the 996 work culture in China was disturbing. 996 is shorthand for 9AM to 9PM, 6 days a week, akin to, or perhaps even surpassing, the Hustle Culture in Silicon Valley. And what was most disturbing of all was realizing that tech companies in China were making their employees do this, in direct defiance of China's labor laws against compulsory unpaid overtime, which, if we're going to be honest, don't amount to a pile of monkey shit since they're not enforced.

Now, it's also no big secret that I used to pull those ungodly hours years ago. 996? Bitch, please - I was coming in twelve hours a day, Sundays and public holidays. Years later when I was working in a startup, that was 996... and a vacation in comparison. So I'm going to risk sounding like an utter hypocrite when I denounce the 996 work culture in China's tech industry.

You see, spending those hours at work for your own sake is one thing. You're young, you have the energy, pour it into something you love. Learn. Practice. Perfect your craft.

But when the company mandates the 996 work culture, that is something else entirely. That is repugnant. It's like you telling your spouse "I love you" just because he or she told you to say it. My bosses appreciated me putting in all that time precisely because they never asked for it. Not that their appreciation means anything since I was doing it purely for selfish reasons... but enforcing a work culture like that breeds resentment. It leads to bosses taking employees for granted because if 996 is the norm, going above and beyond the call of duty would involve something even more spectacularly insane. Case in point tech workers in China putting up 996.ICU on GitHub, an allusion to ICU (Intensive Care Unit) being where you'll end up after 996.

Because that pace of work isn't sustainable long-term. There is going to be a breaking point somewhere.


You see, even when I was spending the majority of my life at work, there was an objective. The objective was to get better at my job so that one day I wouldn't need to spend that much time honing my craft. Because I understood that despite how much I love my work, like any other human being, I have physical limitations. And as I age, those limitations are going to become increasingly apparent.

Should people spend more time at work? Yes, if they personally see a need to. But no, it should not be, implicitly or explicitly, demanded of workers unless there is commensurate remuneration; or unless these workers own shares in the company, in which case they would be motivated to put in those extra hours anyway.

Work is part of life...

Here, I need to digress a little.

When I said "work is part of life" a couple months ago, I was faced with objection from proponents of "work-life balance". These are people whose entire world is divided into two parts: work and not-work. I consider it an oversimplification, but if it keeps them happy, I'm all for it.

This is how it looks like, using PHP arrays as an example.


On the other hand, if one is experiencing dissatisfaction with the "work-life balance" model, you could try looking at it from my perspective instead. In my perspective, work is part of life, because my world is divided into things we do because we're alive, and things we do because we're dead. And unless you're claiming to be able to work after you're dead, work comes firmly under the $life array. Yes, there's an extra layer to the previous model and I'm viewing everything through that lens.



But this model only works if you're not working merely to pay the bills. It's only relevant if your work is part of your identity.

...but there should be lines drawn.

Whichever model you employ in your worldview, a certain amount of discipline is advisable. These days, I don't bring work home if I can help it, and I certainly don't answer work emails at home. Why? For the same reason I don't do my goddamn housework in the office. If employers want professionalism, they should be prepared to accept everything that goes with it. I can stay back late in the office; I can even come in on weekends. But once I leave the office, I'm done, dude.

And unless what you're working on is so earth-shatteringly important that success would change life for everyone on this planet as we know it (cure for cancer, mind-controlled mobile phones, flying cars), the company should never take priority over family. If you die in the course of work, your family's going to be devastated. The company's merely going to be inconvenienced.

I can't emphasize this enough. Even if we assume that it's passion and not money that drives you, the workplace is a place you work, end of. Lawyers care about the law - they don't care about the firm they practice in. Surgeons care about saving lives - they don't care about the hospital they operate in. And as a web developer, I care about making good software - I certainly don't care about the company I do it in. Not enough to be operating 996 solely for the company's benefit, anyway.

In essence, I'm not against 996 at all. I'm only against companies that think they're entitled to that level of commitment.

One of the people weighing in on the 996 work culture is none other than Alibaba's Jack Ma, supporting the practice and calling 996 a "huge blessing". This raised a huge uproar in China's tech community, and Jack Ma is currently at the top of a list labelled "Capitalists" in the 996.ICU GitHub Project.

Let me, in all fairness, say something about hard work. Hard work is not a bad thing at all. But it is far from the only thing. It's certainly no substitute for results. No one cares if you work yourself to death, if you don't produce results.

Hard work is the bare minimum anyone can give. There are plenty of people who aren't exceptionally bright, very talented or deeply experienced. What they can give their employer, in lieu of all that, is hard work and integrity. In fact, when I was a novice programmer (in many ways, I still am) with almost no relevant experience, the only value I could give my then-employer was hard work. Hours of my life. And he certainly didn't go easy on me whenever I screwed up, on account of all those free hours I willingly gave him.

Any idiot can be hardworking. It is the lowest form of value an employer can expect. That really is the default setting, and spending twelve hours a day in the office doesn't make you special. Because literally anyone could spend time slogging in the office if they really wanted to. I'd go so far to say that any employer who values hard work over results is a fool, and a dangerous one at that, precisely because they're fools in positions of power. Keep clear of such people.


When you spend extra time in the office, you're basically sending the signal that you're a workhorse who has nothing else to offer. That's certainly valuable if you're just starting out, but once you start selling yourself as an experienced developer, it sends the wrong message. Because experienced developers are supposed to be good enough not to have to work to death in order to get things done. If you're a supposedly experienced developer but slog like any noob, you're not an asset. Why would you expect an employer to pay you the wage of an experienced developer if you work like a novice? Because you work hard? Really?

Another thing about Jack Ma and hard work

Look, I respect the man. Honestly, I do. He started from practically nothing and he hauled himself up to where he is today, by virtue of hard work. I give him all the props in the world. This man is incredible.

Does this mean that just because Jack Ma succeeded this way, you will too? Hogwash.

See, Bill Gates dropped out of college and went on to found Microsoft. When people tell me they intend to do the same and cite Gates as an example of what they can achieve, my eyes roll all the way to Mars and back. Dude, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard. This means he got into Harvard. And this in turn means that he was good enough to get into Harvard in the first place. What run-of-the-mill educational institute are you dropping out of? And assuming you're in somewhere even more prestigious than Harvard, do you have the business acumen of Bill Gates to make it? He succeeded in the 80s. That's a very different era from now.

Similarly, let's take a look at Singapore's own Wendy Cheng. Love her or hate her, she's probably Singapore's most successful influencer to date. And the number of people looking to escape the nine-to-five grind and emulate her, are endless. People think that just because Xiaxue (who isn't very pretty, particularly hot, pleasant or even interesting) can do it, they too, can get on Social Media and make a living being some kind of Internet personality. Newsflash, guys... Wendy Cheng is where she is today because she wasn't trying to copy anybody. And, she is one hell of a shrewd marketer. What have you got - endless selfies and vapid new age-y quotes? Good luck with that.

My point is, just because someone achieved success a certain way, doesn't mean you're going to. In fact, these people were successful arguably because no one else was doing what they tried to to at that time. Now if we have a million people trying to do the same thing and only a handful can succeed, what is everyone's chance of success? Very low. It's elementary. Primary school math!

So when Jack Ma says hard work is a good thing, I believe him. I believe that he means it, because the man has actually lived it. But we have fanboys who think that every word out of Jack Ma's mouth is wisdom from heaven. Let's see a few examples.





Really? The day after tomorrow will be sunshine? Opportunity lies in the place where the complaints are? I can defecate better stuff than that. Why is this trite shit special? Because it comes from Jack friggin' Ma?

Let me break it down for you - despite my respect for Jack Ma and his claims that he wants to help others achieve success, the stark reality is, there's only so much money to go around. He can't possibly not know this. He's one hell of a smart dude, even if his fanboys aren't. Is he really going to dish out advice that will help people get rich, maybe become heads of large companies like his? No, he's just going to give some vague, generally sensible-sounding soundbites such as espousing on the value of hard work. Alibaba is this successful today because Alibaba has no competition. And it's in Jack Ma's interest to keep it that way.

Mr Ma then goes on to say,

In that sense, he is perfectly right. When you're young and have the energy, that energy should be dedicated to something worthwhile. You should be prepared to give it your all. But not for your company or your boss. Do it for yourself. There is no sense in working yourself into ICU for a company that can (and probably will) replace you in a heartbeat.

So yes, to hell with the supposedly inspirational Jack Ma quotes. Jack Ma doesn't know how you're going to succeed. Only you know how you're going to succeed. And if you don't, why should anyone else?