'Overwork' kills Toyota employee

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7499280.stm

(published in Singapore Today- 11 July 2008)

The engineer was working on a new version of the popular Toyota Camry. One of Toyota's senior car engineers died from working too many hours, a Japanese labour bureau has found.

The 45-year-old man was developing a hybrid version of Toyota's successful Camry line at the time of his death. In the two months leading up to his death, the man averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month, his wife's lawyers said.

Workers in Japan often put in very long hours and "sudden death from overwork" is referred to as karoshi. The ruling will allow his family to collect benefits from his work insurance, his wife's lawyers said.

The worker, whose name was not given, regularly worked nights and weekends and was frequently sent abroad. He died of ischemic heart disease in January 2006. In a statement, Toyota offered its condolences and said it would monitor the health of its employees.

Workplace stress is common all over the world, but it is a huge problem in Japan, where karoshi was first recognised as a phenomenon in 1987.

Last year, a court in central Japan ordered the government to pay compensation to Hiroko Uchino, the wife of a 30-year-old Toyota employee who collapsed at work and died in 2002.


http://www.gt.com.sg/press/press_290507StressRelease.html

Seven in ten Singapore business leaders are more stressed compared to previous year

29 May 2007, Singapore – In Asia, Singapore ranks 4th in the stress league table with 69% (7 out of 10) of the respondents indicating that they are more stressed this year than the previous year. Globally Singapore is in 6th position. Out of top 10 countries with the greatest increase in stress level, 7 are from Asia. This highlights the mounting stress levels in this region.

Mainland China’s business leaders report the highest level of stress in the world with eight out of ten (84%) reporting higher levels of stress compared to a year ago. Mainland China is followed by Taiwan (82%), India (79%) and Russia (76%). The Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) which covers the opinions of 7,200 privately owned businesses in 32 countries found that 56% of business leaders worldwide feel their stress levels have increased in the last year.

The increased stress level can be attributed to the favourable economic growth. In the Grant Thornton International Super Growth Index released in March 2007, Singapore ranked 9th globally; up from previous year’s 17th position. The number of “super growth” companies in Singapore increase by a significant 10% in 2006 to 21% in 2007; chalking-in the highest percentage in Asia. A big worry for businesses is raw material costs. 60% of Singapore businesses identify this as having a major impact on cost pressures

Business confidence is at an all time high in the Asian region with Singapore amongst the top four Asian economies with India, Philippines and Mainland China in the Optismism/Pessimision findings reported in the IBR January 2007, where business leaders were surveyed on their views and outlook for 2007. Such high business confidence is likely to lead to a manpower crunch as businesses compete for manpower skill. And combined with worries about competition from other emerging markets such as China and India, stress felt by Singapore business leaders are inevitably pushed up.

Mr Kon Yin Tong, Managing Partner, Foo Kon Tan Grant Thornton interpreted: “The need to grow their business and improve the bottom line has put an ever increasing pressure on the senior executives in Singapore. The stress level appears to be a reflection of the pace of growth in Singapore as these leaders strive to take advantage of domestic and global economic expansion.”

In comparison European business leaders are the least stressed with just 27% of Swedish business leaders reporting an increase in stress level, followed by Ireland (35%) and the UK, the Netherlands and France (all 37%). European Union (EU) and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) regions show an average of 43% claiming increases in stress, compared to 73% of respondents in East Asia.

Working hours

Despite the significant increase in the amount of stress, Singapore business leaders do not clinch the top positions for the average number of hours worked in the IBR research. At an average of 54 working hours per week, Singapore is ranked 9th. In contrast, Australia ranks 4th, with an average working week of 56 hours but has a stress increment of only 41%, below the global level of 56%. This suggests that the stress level is not necessary directly linked to the number of hours worked.

The 54-hour work week that Singapore business leaders have is almost the global average of 53 hours. Business leaders in emerging economies tend to work the longest hours with India and Argentina at the top of the league table, both at 57 hours a week, followed by Armenia, Australia and Botswana (all 56 hours a week). Italian business leaders work the shortest hours (47) a week in the world.

Commenting on the findings, Mr Kon Yin Tong, Managing Partner, Foo Kon Tan Grant Thornton said: “Globalisation and increasing technological advances have increased the pressure on business leaders to 'always be contactable'. The challenge for business leaders is how they can improve modern working practices to allow time to 'switch off' from the strains of increasingly demanding business lives - while remaining competitive.”

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Obviously, we are "selling" our health to the companies. Do you think that these companies would appreciate your sacrifice after you paying the cost of your life?

It doesn't means that I am not serious in my work. Just feel a bit sad to encounter such news...

Singapore is well known as a kiasu country, and last year I came across a news report headline in Today:"Singapore has become one of the top country in Asia-in terms of long working hours..."

Another news reported that there is a higher demand in Singapore Orthopedic Surgeons nowadays. It has been noticed that growing in numbers of office workers to complaint about backache and related problems (thanks to PC).

Ironically, you work so hard, and later spend $ to cure your illness related to the side effect of overwork. This is similiar to the obese problems: you spend $ to buy slimming products while you eat too much...

Born into brothels

"The men who enter our building are not so good.They are drunk, they come inside and shout and swear. "

"The woman asked me:" When are you going to join the line?" They say it won't be long."

"I keep thinking that if i could go some place else and get education, I wonder what I could become."

"We don't have the money to live, let alone for studies."

"One day I went to Puja's house and saw her dad was beating up her mom, I asked Puja about it, she said:"My mom didn't give money to my dad for his drinking, so he beat her."

"He smokes all day, but even then, I try to love him a little."

"One has to accept life as being sad and painful. That's all. "

In Calcutta's red-light district, there over 7,000 women and girls working as prostitutes. Often forced into the trade by poverty, abandonment or the rampant kidnapping business which transports young girls into the sex industry from Nepal and Bangladesh, they come from all castes. But they all descended the social scale to the status of pariahs, without any government protection.

Only one group, perhaps, has a lower standing: Their children. Living inside the rat-infested brothels, routinely beaten, made to work, to leave their rooms when their mothers have a customer, they are children without hope, without childhoods. The girls are often "turned out" as prostitutes by their own parents at the age of fourteen or younger, and the boys frequently become drug dealers or pimps. They are children alone in the world, without advocates.

Zana Briski, became involved in the lives of these children in 1997 when she first began photographing sex workers in Sonagachi. Living in the brothels for months at a time, she quickly developed a relationship with many of the kids who, often terrorized and abused, were drawn to the rare human companionship she offered. Photography helps to boost their self-esteem and confidence.

Fascinated by her camera, she let them shoot some pictures. It would be great, she thought, to see the world through their eyes. It was at that moment that she gave birth to the idea of offering a photographic workshop for the children of prostitutes. To do so would involve overcoming nearly insurmountable obstacles -- brothel owners, pimps, police, local politicians, mafiosi, and corrupt NGOs. "No one wants to empower the children. No one wants them to use a camera," Briski said.

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November 2007 – Zana Briski http://www.zanabriski.com/

When I first went to the brothels of Calcutta I had no idea what I was doing. Circumstances had led me there and I had a deep visceral reaction to the place. It was as if I recognized it on a very personal level.

It took me two years to get inside, to be able to live in a brothel. I knew this was the only way I would move from visitor to resident, to fully experience, as much as possible, what it was like for the women and children living there. It was a difficult but precious experience and one for which I will always be grateful. I had the opportunity to understand lives lived behind closed doors, to help — when it was asked of me — in any way I could, and to communicate powerful stories with the outside world.

It has been my dream, since the beginning of the project, to inspire others to feel, to notice, to challenge, to take action. Some of the most inspiring moments I have had are at screenings of Born into Brothels at schools across the country. American children are riveted by the kids from Calcutta. They connect with them through the film in a way only kids can. Kids want to share, to know more, to get involved. This is why I wanted to build a curriculum around the film, so that it can be a catalyst for awareness and change. Amnesty International, in partnership with Kids with Cameras, has made this happen. I am deeply grateful to them for this.

In the film I say that I am not a social worker, or even a teacher. I am someone who follows my heart and puts myself in the 'shoes' of others. This is something we all can do. You don't need to go to Calcutta to notice what is happening around you, who needs your compassion, be it an animal, a friend, a stranger.

After all, it is up to us to make the world a better place.

After earning a master's degree at the University of Cambridge, Zana studied documentary photography at International Center of Photography in New York. In 1995 she made her first trip to India, producing a story on female infanticide. In 1997 she returned to India and began her project on the prostitutes of Calcutta's red light district, which led to her work with the children of prostitutes. Zana has won numerous awards and fellowships including George Soros' Open Society Institute Fellowship, an Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, the Howard Chapnick Grant for the Advancement of Photojournalism and first prize at the World Press Photo Foundation Competition.

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"I used to want to be a doctor.
Then I wanted to become an artist.
There is nothing called hope in my future. "
After got to learn photography, he said:"Now I want to be a photographer". Avijit, 19, began studying in the U.S. three years ago. He is currently finishing his senior year at a private high school. Over the past two summers, he has participated in prestigious film programs through the Sundance Institute and NYU Tisch. He plans to attend university in the U.S. this fall and is interested in studying both medicine and film. In the website, it is noted that he has been accepted into NYU.

Kochi, 16, stayed at the Sabera Home for Girls for five years. She has chosen to continue her studies in India and she will enroll in school this spring.

Manik, 16, and Shanti, 17, are both still studying at FutureHope, where they are doing very well. Zana:" Auntie teaches us so well that everything goes into our brain. We like doing photography so much that we forget to do our work!"I love Shanti's photos.

Puja and Gour are believed to still be living in the red-light district but have lost contact with Kids with Cameras. Gour's work:" Running" is used by the website. Gour:" want to show in pictures how people live in this city. I want to put across the behavior of man." The old man on the street is Puja's work. Puja is a bold girl to take pictures and got away from people's scolding. Few generations of her family, her great grandmom, grandma, mother are prostitutes. She dress well, and obviously not poor, but would lead to prostituition. The documentary mentioned that Puja's mother withdrew her from the school. I really don't understand why would her mother hope that her daughter to be stucked in the vicious cycle. Perhaps they simply get used to the prostitution life.

Watch this documetary "Born into Brothels" for free: 83 minutes film~ http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=125 I have watched it last sunday night on Arts Central Channel(Singapore TV). It is a great documentary that one should not miss. For more information or make a donation to improve their life, please visit : http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/

(note: the writing above are mostly adapted from relevant website & documentaries. )