Singaporean cleaner receives Rolex for working with company for 10 years
By Carl Samson
July 3, 2023
A Singaporean woman is making headlines after being rewarded with a Rolex for a decade of service as a cleaner.
How she started: Tan Ai Tee, 67, began working with restaurant group Paradise Group in 2013. She started in the kitchen of its Seafood Paradise restaurant, sorting orders and serving customers until it closed in 2016. She then became a cleaner at Paradise’s headquarters, working from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. five days a week. She now calls her colleagues at the company her “family.”
Her first-ever watch: The Rolex, valued at around 10,000 Singaporean dollars (approximately $7,400), is not only Tan’s first Rolex — it is also her first-ever timepiece. She received the watch at an annual company event on March 6, along with 97 other employees.
In the past, she also received 2.5- and 5-gram Suisse gold bars for her fifth and eighth years of service, respectively. She plans to give her new Rolex to her daughter.
No retirement in sight: Tan has no plans to quit her job. Although her husband, 76, has already retired, she wants to continue working.
“As long as I am healthy enough to keep working, why not?” she told The Straits Times. “I like waking up early and staying active. I think I will fall ill easily if I stop. I also feel very appreciated by the bosses here, so I intend to keep going as long as I can.”
The bigger picture: Paradise rewarded a total of 330 employees in its March 6 event, drawing praise online. All 98 workers who served for at least 10 years received a Rolex regardless of their position.
Paradise is not the only Singaporean company to make headlines for rewarding its staff this year, as others have also bounced back from losses due to COVID-19. Last month, Singapore Airlines announced that its staff would receive up to eight months’ worth of bonuses after hitting a record net income of 2.16 billion Singaporean dollars (approximately $1.6 billion) at the end of March, with passenger capacities rising to 79% of pre-COVID levels.
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