My colleague, the best that I have in my team, finally tendered her resignation letter. She will stay on until the 27th. It’s supposed to be Feb but she will use her remaining leave credits that she carried over from last year so she will just cut short her stay.

My bosses told me to hold my horses and not accept. They will make a counter-offer.

I told my immediate manager that nah, she won’t. I’ve been raising this issue about promotion and raises since I took over but they wouldn’t listen. I asked for her promotion the moment I assumed my new role, but I was told her name wasn’t in the list of those who will get raises/promotion. Actually, all the names I submitted didn’t get any promotion.

And now my manager is blaming me for not flagging. I told you several times already, I said.

Even the reporter herself told me that she told my manager about it.

They just didn’t listen.

If your company doesn’t value you, walk away. The problem with other managers is that they will only realize their folly when the die has already cast.

Of course, since I already knew that this was coming, I am just calmly taking it now and absorbing it. But it still hurts and also there’s a panicking voice inside me that is screaming, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW?! You don’t have a reporter in Singapore!

I’m trying to be calm and collected. I have no idea what to do now. Shall I fly to Singapore next week and start having coffee dates? My bosses should realize they pay peanuts and no one with good experience would really jump into this role. There’s a dearth of talent in Singapore and we could only get foreigners for this role, which would require a hefty salary given that the MoM has hiked the minimum pay for non-executive/non-investor foreign workers. Even the rivals I talked to last November aren’t from Singapore—they’re all transplants.

OK, breathe in, breathe out.

I am now plotting all the conferences that I need to attend in Southeast Asia. It seems like I will be traveling every month. Oh shit.