Sharon Au kena complained by colleagues in France for being 'Singaporean'

When in France, do as the French do.

And that means strictly no work-related communications outside the designated working hours — a law that Sharon Au ran afoul of during her first three months in Paris.

The former actress left a management job with Mediacorp in February last year to embark on a one-year sabbatical in Paris.

Just after two months of bumming around, however, Sharon decided to apply for a position with an international equity firm. And despite it being her first interview in Paris, she managed to clinch the job.

She has since been living in Paris for the past year and a half.

In an interview last month with Chinese radio station 96.3 Hao FM, the 44-year-old revealed a rather embarrassing faux pas she committed during her first week on the job that resulted in a warning by Human Resources (HR).

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She told the radio DJs: "I made a mistake in my first week there. Once I tell you the mistake, you guys will understand. I sent out an email at 8pm; my colleague took a screengrab and sent it to HR.

"This is because France's labour laws are very strict. They don't encourage you to 'harass' your colleague outside of working hours. Yes, it's harassment."

When asked why it was wrong to email someone in the evening, she explained: "Because you can do so the next day during working hours like a normal person. Why must you do it at 8pm?"

In France, the legal length of a working week is 35 hours and a working day may not exceed 10 hours, though it may be extended to a maximum of 12 hours under a collective agreement.

So if you were to spread it out across a five-day work week, the French only work (on average) seven hours a day. This is probably a foreign concept to most Singaporeans as it was reported in 2018 that most of them worked almost nine hours a day, and that is already the lowest in a decade.

Fortunately, Sharon got off with a gentle warning.

However, her Singaporean-ness got her into trouble again just three months later.

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She didn't send an email this time because she had already been "well-adjusted", but she texted a colleague at 11pm to remind him of an important meeting the next day and to clarify that the necessary preparations had been completed.

"Not only did he not respond, he took a screenshot and sent it to HR. (I got a) second warning. This time, it wasn't that gentle. This time, they started to counsel me," she said.

Much to the amusement of the DJs, Sharon disclosed that the HR team was concerned that she hadn't been making friends and asked if she wanted to join a yoga class. The boss even gave her free movie tickets and advised her to stop staying home to download movies and to go to a cinema instead.

She exclaimed: "They think you have 'no life'! What are you doing sending a text at 11pm? After that, I realised my colleagues kept inviting me out for meals. They take this very seriously. They're worried that your life is too empty."

That's not the only time awkward encounter she's had in Paris as she also shared her hilarious exchange with the independent farmers at the farmers' market.

While she loves supporting the farmers because "the money goes straight to them", Sharon still practises the art of haggling and self-deprecatingly said that they probably give in to her out of pity since she's an Asian girl trying desperately to bargain with them in French.

She added: "While I bargain with them, I'm also asking them about their recipes and which is the right ingredient to use for each dish. That's when they think that this person has a problem. This person urgently needs our help."

Cross-cultural exchanges can often leave us feeling like a fish out of water. That said, we think the only 'crime' Sharon has committed is being too Singaporean.

bryanlim@asiaone.com