‘S’poreans don’t speak up because they’re damn smart’: CEO’s take on workplace culture resonates with netizens
A viral TikTok video about why employees stay silent in the workplace has prompted many netizens to share their own personal experiences of being penalised for speaking up.
The video was posted by @crystallimlange, better known as Crystal Lim-Lange – a Singapore-based leadership consultant, author and CEO of leadership consultancy Forest Wolf.
The clip captured her speaking at Vogue Singapore’s inaugural Wellness Day on June 6, where Lim-Lange argued that employees do not stay silent because they lack opinions, but because they are acutely aware of the risks involved in speaking up.
“Singaporeans don’t speak up because they’re damn smart,” she stated. “They know that their workplaces are not safe enough to speak up.”
Lim-Lange explained that whenever an employee takes an “interpersonal risk” – such as admitting they do not know something – they know they are going to get punished, and thus choose to stay silent.
“They are always scanning the environment, watching to see what happens to those who take risks,” she wrote in the caption of her TikTok post. “Do those brave souls get rewarded or punished?”
Why ‘speak-up’ workshops fail
Lim-Lange revealed that she rejected requests to run “speak-up” workshops, explaining that they are ineffective unless management addresses deeper organisational flaws first.
In her view, leadership must focus on fixing pillars such as psychological safety, inclusion, learner safety, contributor safety, and challenger safety.
“And if you don’t do that, nobody will speak up. Congratulations,” she concluded.
Netizens share their workplace experiences
Lim-Lange’s video has garnered more than 54,000 views, 2,200 likes, and 392 shares.
Many netizens agreed with Lim-Lange’s views, saying employees are often encouraged to share feedback, but face “exhausting” consequences when they do.
One netizen said they were “told off” after providing feedback on a new company system, while another claimed they were barred from attending company briefings after speaking up.
Others shared more serious career consequences, with one user stating that a senior employee’s probation period was extended from three to six months after she voiced her opinions.
Another said they were eventually terminated after raising concerns about what they described as “power harassment” in the workplace, turning them into what felt like a “zombie worker”.
Furthermore, one netizen claimed they had been “black-marked” as someone who would “rock the boat” because they frequently voiced concerns, adding that they no longer fit management’s definition of a leader.
Another compared their experiences working in Singapore and London. The netizen recounted being reprimanded in their first week for speaking up without being invited to do so, prompting them to quit six months later and return to the United Kingdom.
“That’s the problem with this world, isn’t it?” said one user. “Too many people talking, forcing their point of view, refusing to step back. Adapting and adjusting is just a way to get things moving.”
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