Reply From Uncle Agony
In Singapore, talents are rare. As such the Court are normally reluctant to enforce non-competitive agreement. However the Courts respect the sanctity of ownership of intellectual property and will enforce clause that the ex-employee should not disclose the intellectual property of the ex-employer. So it would be better to wait for the period to expire.
The notice period for employer and employee need not be identical . Before the employee sign the employment agreement he should negotiate for more equitable terms, but once the agreement is signed it would be fruitless to complain. The terms of agreement though inequitable is still valid.