I now know the best way to avoid skirmishes with my manager: just shut up.

Whatever is asked of me/us, even if I’m asked for an opinion, just shut up. I should not give my comments, my opinions—just keep quiet. I don’t think she is used to dealing with a strong-minded, opinionated person who goes against the grain. I just have to nod my head and say I agree.

Anyway, I had a call with my manager and our APAC head last week (even if I still didn’t have power) about bonuses and contracts. I was asked if I want to transfer to Singapore. I said no, that I’m happy with the current setup. Singapore is too expensive for comfort and it will just cause me a lot of stress. I just need to fly as frequently as needed to do my job well and that’s it.

Well, they haven’t mentioned that I will be replaced as manager for my team for refusing to move to Singapore. I just hope they understand that Singapore is a hostile place financially for a solo parent with a single income stream. I am also not willing to leave my children here while I work there. I don’t want to be an OFW. I’d rather do something else than to part from my children.

Kr, our Philippines correspondent, left her side gig because it was causing her more stress than what the job was worth. The boss/owner is an asshole—a dictator who belittles everyone. She said for what it’s worth, she found that she can do other things and that in order for her to stress less about our boss, she has to channel her energies elsewhere. “The grass isn’t greener on the other side,” she said. She now has more appreciation of what we’re doing/we have now. She said our job doesn’t require us to wake up at 3 am or 4 am just to earn decently and we can have breaks—when markets are closed for the holidays, we’re also entitled to be off from work. Unlike in TV—you’re still on and you still have to wake up before the sun rises so that you would be able to arrive on time at the studio to do your morning show.

I realized that God is telling me to stay a bit more because none of the plans I’ve been hatching are going into fruition. The jobs I’ve been applying for are not panning out. 🤔 I wonder if there’s something big going to happen that’s why the message is to keep still. 🙃