Sharon Au is a 44-year old Singaporean and former MediaCorp celebrity who left the entertainment industry 14 years ago to continue her studies in Japan.
She returned to MediaCorp for a management job upon completion of her studies.
In March 2018, she decided to migrate to Paris, France and is currently working at an international private equity firm there, reported Today Online.
In a recent interview with a Singaporean Chinese radio station, Au shared some of the challenges she had to overcome while adapting to the Parisian lifestyle
She told 96.3FM that some of the biggest issues she faced included keeping track of her finances and adapting to the work culture in Paris.
The self-proclaimed workaholic shared that she was reported to the Human Resources (HR) department for sending a colleague an email after work
Au had sent her French colleague the email at 8pm, but instead found that her colleague took a screenshot of her email and forwarded it to the HR department.
She explained that according to French labour laws, she was considered to be harassing her colleague.
Fortunately, as it was her first week at work, she was issued a minor warning letter.
Three months after that incident, Au said that she received a second warning letter for contacting a colleague again after work
She thought it was appropriate to remind her colleague of the important meeting that they were going to have the next morning.
So, she sent a private message to him at about 11pm.
She said that her colleague completely ignored the text message, took a screenshot, and forwarded it, again, to the HR department.
This time, Au said that the staff at HR became concerned that she had 'no life' after work
They asked her if she had been working late nights because she was lonely, and even volunteered to sign her up for yoga classes to keep her occupied.
Subsequently, Au even noticed that her colleagues started to invite her out for meals.
The company even gave her movie tickets to encourage her to get out of the house, she said while laughing during the interview.
Au was surprised that they did not discriminate her but instead took more care of her when they worried about her mental well-being
Towards the end of the interview, she said that she would stay in France for another five to six years.
She said that hopes to leave with some accomplishments before returning to Singapore.
story, plus full interview and pictures in the article: