Better Late Than...

The adrenaline junkie that I am had made me late for work this morning.

I did my daily morning workout ritual today a little too long than I had hoped because my "adrenaline tank" was not full enough for me to stop and got into the shower, ready for work.

I knew I had a chance to get the last bus before I was truly "later" than late. But I have this method to save me from that, so it was not like the end of the world for me in any morning if I were to miss the bus.

This morning, I got to see my last bus leaving the bus stop before I actually got to be there to board. No problem, with a little more cash as "penalty" for being late, I flagged a cab upon reaching the side of the road along Tampines Avenue 9.


I got the cab in record time fortunately and my plan to save myself was under way. I only needed the cab to trail the bus route and overtake it a few stops ahead before I alight and ultimately catch that last bus.

All was good and I was kind of relieved for a while until my cab turned the corner into Tampines Avenue 10. My seat was not even warm yet when I was caught in a traffic jam... my seat was going to get hot!

My bus to work plies through this road everyday and I have never experienced being caught in a traffic jam there. This morning saw a serious traffic jam that had set me back frustrated and just inching my way along the stretch of road for the next 15 minutes.

It would take about that same time for the whole cab journey from my home to work!
Inch by inch the cab moved forward and by then the cab had overtaken the bus that I was trying to catch, still making its way along Tampines Avenue 10... which by then, served no purpose anymore.


I could see two of the familiar faces I usually see taking the same bus in the morning, all frumpy looking, knowing they were stuck in the bus and were definitely going to be late for work.

Signs of an accident rather than a broken down vehicle or roadworks were evident when I heard the siren from the ambulance. I could see flashes of white and red lights farther up the road. I was hoping that whomever was involved in that was alright. Nobody wants to be caught in an accident and the nobody wants to inconvenience anyone as a result from it... but unfortunately, terrible things do happen.

After much endurance and anxiety just sitting in the cab and watching the fare meter flipping its numbers fast like a jackpot for the cab driver... by the way, I thought I saw the driver smiled a little when I happened to glance through his rear view mirror... the cause of the traffic jam revealed itself.


A garbage truck had skipped and mounted onto the curb and crashed into a tree, just before the junction between Tampines Avenue 10 and Old Tampines Road. Most probably, the driver lost focus and pumped the accelerator instead of the breaks.

I had an inkling that the cause of the traffic jam was an accident when I heard the siren from the ambulance. I just did not expect it to be serious enough to render a SDCF to come to the scene too to pry and cut open the doors off the truck.

The front of the truck at the driver's side was badly damaged. So too was the passenger's side.

By the time my cab passed the truck, the SDCF guys have already extricated both driver and his coworker out and into the ambulance.


I took the cab all the way to work instead. I reached work about the same time as I would if I had taken the bus on a normal day, which was not bad at all. The normal cab fare for the whole journey was about S$12.00 but it ballooned up to $18.50 because of the accident... a larger penalty sum to pay than the norm of $4.50 if my "catch that bus" plan were to work.

Nonetheless, I would rather be later than late, than never.

Lapping It Up

I received my company-ordered laptop today after a two-day delay from it's delivery date.

It's a bittersweet feeling of sorts.

One one hand, I have a totally new toy... A new i5 motherboard laptop instead of a "hand-me-down" that runs blazingly fast when compared to my old Pentium 4 desktop.

Over the many years, my desktop has developed a mind of its own, like Skynet, being self-aware in Terminator. It reboots at it's own whim and crashing some particularly an application that is crucial to my well-being at work.

So I've developed a CTRL-S trigger finger whenever I do my spreadsheets and stuff. I'd have to save it consistently while working on it to avoid the changes and updates done so far being wiped out and ending up redoing it all over again.


One the other hand, the laptop being a company's asset, I'm not at liberty to install the applications that I fancy and those that should be a given... "only authorized applications allowed." So I have a new toy but with oh, so old games.

Most of all, it being portable means I have to lug it around to and from work and eliminates my chance to state a standard reply of "I'll get right on it once I am back at the office" when I receive adhoc, work-related queries on weekends.

Staying positive, it should not hanker me down so much because, thus far, it has not been often to receive "work" on weekends; when time is dedicated to spending with my precious Wifey and Sonny as far as my priorities are concern.

On that note, staying positive still, I'll use that extra weight of two kilograms or so to do my cardio when I climb up the stairs to my fourth floor office, five times a week.

Well, I will be very busy these coming few days where I have to migrate all the work stuff from the desktop to this laptop.

IT will configure it to the work domain and install all the work applications like SAP and corporate anti-virus and then I'll be all set... Open for business, as usual.

My Dear Susan

I received a text message from my friend late this afternoon.

It bore a shocking message...

Our long time friend from the old Kalang plant had passed away on Friday. It was the day I took leave off work to take Mom to TTSH for her MRI results.

I quickly checked the obituary in the Sunday Times newspaper and there it was, her face, the Finance Supervisor lady I had known for the past 18 years had passed on.

She succumbed to lung cancer, just like my late Dad.

Coincidentally, I met her at National Cancer Centre late last year. We met at the pharmacy... she was leaving the centre after collecting her medications while I was passing by to go to Clinic A for Dad's routine follow-up.

That was the first and only time I met her after she resigned from the company a year after we moved from our old to the current HQ in Ang Mo Kio.

We initially were not close because she was in Finance on the 3rd floor, while I was in operations on the 4th. We interacted only when there were money matters to settle for the vendors or orders.

Eventually, the more interactions brought our common interests together... our sons. While my son was doing well in school, hers was in the gifted programme.

She was so proud of him it inspired me. Her son was studying in Raffles Institution, one of the top and most sort after secondary schools on the island. He played the piano very well and a talented writer too. He wrote a few intriguing poems compiled in a booklet with the other students' work in his school. The booklets were sold for charity.

I bought one for Sonny to read and get inspired by the many talented works.

Since then, she would call me at my desk and have short chats about work but mostly about family and education.

She kept the calls coming even after we moved to our new site. She kept in touch well after she quit her job to rest. After short hiatus, she called to inform of her new job as a Customer Service officer, "a simpler and not as demanding a job as closing balances every month end."

"I don't know why I was so caught-up with work so much... so much stress I put myself in... I forgot to rest to enjoy life." Her words that I remember she said not two years ago.

After a while, the calls were far in between and then stopped.

The time I met her at NCC was my last with her. She did looked a little frail but nonetheless high spirited and positive. It was a shocker then to know of her illness... something we again had in common.

She gave me her cell phone number so that we could keep in touch. She called my desk once asking how the company was doing, how I was coping during the recession, just wanted to chat for a while. It was a short call but a nice and welcomed one to hear her voice after knowing what she was going through.

On Friday, 7th May 2010, she returned to her Lord. Her battle with cancer had ended. She was 55. She left her husband and an exceptionally bright son.

May you rest in peace dear Susan.

Lunch's On Me!

A dear friend came to our HQ to meet us for lunch today.

She was our old breakfast and lunch group before being transferred to another plant in the western part of the island about five months ago.

Today was her last day of work after twelve years of service with this company. A rather sad day for us and especially for her to leave the working life and grasp the prospect of retirement. She is sixty-two.


What should have been a farewell lunch treat by the group for her turned out to be the other way around. She insisted that she wanted to treat us instead... after much persuasion, we gave in.

We dined at Sakura Chinese-Thai Restaurant at Compass Point mall in Sengkang.


We had a good lunch and a good, though short chat with her, catching up and took some nice but grainy pictures with my iPhone...

Before long, we parted when we got back to the company grounds.


We already missed her presence once she was transferred. Now, I will personally miss her lively personality, her talks on her passion for baking, but most of all our chats on the phone most mornings since she started working there.

My dear friend is into her next phase of her life. I wish her all the best in her endeavors. May bright and cheery mornings be hers to start her every day, befitting her bubbly self.

We will meet again... this then, take care.

3 Good Deeds

I was busy with lots of stuff at work this morning.

I was not swamped so much with work actually, I found myself suddenly an unofficial helpdesk as soon as I sip the first cup of my coffee at breakfast.

My iPhone beeped. It was from a friend who needed my urgent help to check for him on the dates and name of the consultants that we had our medical and automotive standards training from.

I had to quickly finish my breakfast and started pulling out files of our training materials. Texted him back and received a warm thank you from him. He was to have his job interview that morning. I wished him well.

Good deed number one... done!

As I was putting back my files, my Outlook prompted an email received from a friend who was formerly a coworker. She Skyped me the day before asking for my help. She needed to leave instructions to her newly employed Indonesian maid on the house chores and caring for her kindergarten daughter.

She is leaving for Germany next week for 2 weeks... early into her new job of one week. Her husband is stationed in China, so the poor daughter is left without both of her parents for the span of time.

Fortunately the little child is very close to both her grandparents who will care for her with the maid's help.

My job was to help translate her English instructions into Malay language for the maid to understand her daily tasks, care for child and the house.

Twenty minutes later, I replied her email with the translations in the Excel spreadsheet she attached before. Phew!

Second good deed done!


"Hi Imran." Came a colleague to my desk bearing a few letters for me to look at.

I promised to help him with writing an appeal letter for his claim from the building management. His parked car was hit by a fallen tree branch resulting in a broken tail light and a few scratches on the paint job on the driver's side.

It happened a few weeks ago and he has been corresponding with the building management for compensation until he came to a gridlock when they repudiated his claim.

He gave all the evidences with pictures, date and time it occurred and even papers from the meteorological report on the said date. All the efforts to prove that the pruning of the trees were not carried out properly that resulted in the dead branch falling onto his car.

I had to spend over an hour, looking through the pictures, reports and letters, and like and unofficial investigator found that the my colleague's claim cannot hold much ground.

I explained to him my findings from a neutral party and gave him CASE contacts for legal advice instead if he still thought otherwise and wished to pursue his claim.

He accepted my point of view and thanked me wholeheartedly. I was not able to help him more or the way he wanted, but at least he saw another point of view and legal contacts if he needed.

Third good deed of the day done.... and it was only 10:40AM. Wow!

Three is a charm... so back to work! I was feeling good that I was of some help for someone.

Now I hope my boss does not read this.

I'm 18 Today!

I'm 18 today and I feel really old!

That is because it is not my age I am talking about, it is the number of years I have been working in this company!

That is right, 18 years out of my 22 years of working life.

I started working at the age of 22, just after I completed my National Service of 2 years... a compulsory regiment for all male Singaporeans to serve the army, navy, airforce or police force the length of 2 to 2.5 years.

I was a combat medic in my final year in the army and a good one at it too, I think. That made me wondered if I should go into nursing or health-related field, but my bond with the technical institute had me working in the electronics manufacturing company for 2 years.

That was where Cipher Data, a back-up subsystem in tape form employed me during a job recruitment drive the institute held for its former students to serve their bonds.

It was a good 4 years in Cipher Data... my first adult-life working experience.

That was the place I started to know another aspect of life. The different people and hierarchy in a multinational company, the different functions of the department, the culture and the office politics.

In Operations, I got to know the different people and their mentalities.. from the production operators, to the Line-Leaders, the Supervisors and the Engineers... and right up to the managers. I was a young technician when I first started.

I regarded myself as fortunate while I was there. I had a good circle of friends which was important to me at that age. Our group was quite inseparable it seemed back then. A group of us, Debug and Line-Support Technicians worked well together in the company and enjoyed ourselves very much outside the company during our various outings.

We went out for dinners, movies, barbecues and just hanging around, enjoying each other's company... which were quite often and would not trade those times for anything.

Throughout the short few years, I could see our lives transformed from the youthful and playful bunch to responsible adults when we started our dating phase. Our group became larger with the addition of our partners brought into it. Wifey was one of them and the girls in the group loved her.

I still can remember the outing we had at Marina South. The whole group went for all buffet lunch at Ponderosa at Marina Square, then we went kite flying at the open field overlooking the sea. That was the first time I held on to a kite since my family moved out from our village.

The girls told my wife-to-be good things about me. Maybe that was one of the turning points why she is my Wifey today. I am so grateful for them for "butting in" and doing so.

I was promoted to Senior Technician after working there for 2 years. All was well and I liked the way things were and how my life had turned out for me thus far but the US company was not that fortunate.

There was a merger and we went under Archive's name during my 3rd year there. Everyone had to go through the painful reality of working life... retrenchment.

I saw production people whom I worked with had to leave. The production line was shut and became dark and dreary. One by one, close friends left on their own to other places. Many left before many too were eventually retrenched.

I was spared together with a few of us who had to see the sprawling and buzzing-busy manufacturing floor we were so accustomed to, stripped bare and depressed-looking. We had to move the operation to a vendor the company had outsourced to.

Never in my wildest dream, the vendor that I went to transfer the product to for the length of 3 months became my second company that I work for till this very day!

The GM offered me a place as Test Engineer since I was all too familiar with the varied products I was suppose to transfer.

The group of friends kept in contact for a long while but I guess, "long distance relationship" is hard work. After some years, the bond between us weakened and our friendship faded away. Everyone was leading their own life; with their new careers, new friends and acquaintances...new-found loved partners, just new priorities.

During that process, two of them migrated to another country. One to the US with his whole family of four, while the other to Canada to live with her elder brother after their father died and left her without a family member here.

I have lost all contacts from all of them!

At one point, I searched the internet for them but to no avail. The internet was not as comprehensive as today. Recently, I searched for them again in Facebook and other social network websites but it proved futile as before. Most probably, they may have registered under a pseudo name.

I just home that they are looking for me too because I put my name and picture in my profile just so they can find me and hopefully wanting to get back into contact with me.

I am not sure what triggered me to look for them again but I really would like to know how they are doing in their lives and careers. How their children look like and how has live been treating them.

18 years here and I am not budging. Feeling too tired of the same thing yet I cannot shake off being safe and take risks. Too safe being me all this while... tougher now as my decisions will affect not only me, but my family as well.

Mentally too old to move on to other things. Things that I am passionate about; the opportunity does not seem to present itself and I am not putting conscious effort to look for it either... physically to lazy to do it anyway... most likely psychologically too scared to step out of my comfort zone.

Do I see a silver lining? I seriously have not seen it in the clouds, so I am not so sure about it myself. I do see rainbows...

Where is this career heading to?

Sweet So Far...

The air is still filled with happy moods especially since today is Friday.

After a long weekend with the Chinese folks celebrating their Lunar New Year, this short week has been very relaxed and well, sweet.

Not many people turned up for work on Wednesday, and many more took leave off work today... and many too I know are on sick leave today. A yearly ritual of many Chinese co-workers after too much celebrations, late night Mahjongs, liquor with barbecued pork... and lots of Mandarin oranges to boot the "heaty" concoction.

Anyway, less people, not many other places of businesses are open for the whole of this week make working this week... like I said... sweet!

The prelude to the long weekend public holiday was very nice too. A friend of 12 years had finally gave in to giving us a "CNY treat." The 5 of us had our lunch last Friday at Jack's Place in AMK Hub.

Now looking forward to the weekend.


Wife will have her pottery class at 10:00AM and will join me at the last parent support group meeting before the big day arrives. Sonny's school is going to hold its annual Dunman Care and Share Day 2010 on Saturday, 27th February.

Leading the Games Group, Wifey and I have completed all the banners, props and posters for our 6 game booths. We met up with the other group leaders to give an update to each other and the school.

Sunday will be a free day... open to spontaneous outdoor activity just like before Dad's passing. Things will be normal again... without Dad in person but in our hearts always. Amin

Corner On 4th

Well, I have survived this far...

One week to be exact but I hope I will continue on for as long as they need me.

Since the company's restructuring as a reaction to the world economy's downturn, a long arduous one in fact, everyone that are still standing, has been holding their breath for as long as possible.

Everyone tried their best to hold their ground during the storm of global recession. It has affected many lives here too, in many ways than I can ever articulate to do any justice to their often painful stories.

I am not faulting the company, at the end of the day, it is business as usual. Singapore is not immune to this financial crisis, being one of the financial powerhouse in Southeast Asia and depending on manufacturing as one of many of its services, without natural resource to cushion the impact, many lives were affected... changed.

Everyone here was battered with the sudden "heavy storm" that came with it. Many succumbed and "drowned" but many more persevered and survived.

The many efforts by our government to revive the drowning victims were quite successful if the newspapers were to be trusted. Those that survived have kept their own belts tightened and thread the waters cautiously still.

After enduring pay cuts since early this year to sustain and keep the ship sailing strong, many of my workmates had to be transferred to other facilities either on this island or to plants across the causeway.

Many too left on their own with new or without jobs waiting for them. Yet many too have success stories to tell. They found new jobs that are in fact, with better pay and position.

I am just so happy for them and hope for their success at their new place. It provides hope and a light at the end of a very dark tunnel under a dark sky.

I have been fortunate all this while. Though not totally unscathed, I have been spared from having to make drastic changes to my workplace and job nature. I have been transferred to another department but is manageable and am progressively learning my new job skills to quite a confident level.


The dark and stormy clouds seem to be slowly clearing to reveal brighter days ahead.

I got an apple from the company yesterday. All employees will get their free apples on Thursdays to keep the workplace healthy. It is heeding the government's "An apple a day keeps the doctors away" campaign.

It gives a human feel to an otherwise faceless business entity.

Everyone received an email from HR that our pay will be reinstated to its full amount in November 2009 onwards. That is truly a welcomed news.

Alone and with no familiar friends of more than 15 years from 2nd floor, I have survived for a week at my new cubicle in the corner, on the 4th floor!

I have met a few new neighbors and I had some old friends visited me at my new desk during the week.

Though I envy them still in the same department and with the whole lot moving to a new place and still be together, we are still a phone call away... a Skype click away and most importantly, we are still breakfast and lunch buddies as always.

Life is dynamic... always changing, always evolving. Yet one thing remains true and the same... our friendship bond is still going strong!

Maybe I get a plant for my desk. It will keep me company and will relieve me of any residual stresses I have with the changes that is going on while I adapt to the new environment.

There's A Time

I met a customer on my way back home last night.

He is a friendly customer who seldom, if not at all to my recollection, uses his position and authority as customer to his advantage. He has always worked with us in a calm and friendly manner towards a win-win situation. He is very nice as a person.

When we met yesterday, he showed interest to talk longer than just a casual "Hi, how are you?" greetings. We stood by the side of the road for a good 15 minutes, just talking. He was pouring out the grievances from the day's ordeal.

The multinational company he is working for has retrenched its employees again today. Talk about Monday blues...

It was not so much of a shocker to them, since "the buzz has been around since Chinese New Year" in February, but what surprised them most was the selection of people that were retrenched.

He was fortunately spared the axe, but not so lucky were the three people in his team we have worked with all along in several projects together. They still have no clue as to the selection criteria... “redundancy, poor performance, or what?” at a time of economic downturn and aggressive restructuring. A more accurate word is downsizing.

All these while, I had the thinking that multinationals treat their employees better off than local businesses when it comes to downsizing. They are still better as compared to local companies.

It is a surprise to me that this multinational acted exactly like a local business would... the cheapest possible way. Nothing prestigious and happy stories of windfall, but just lots of resentments from the affected people.

Capping the retrenchment benefit at 12 months maximum, those that have worked more than 12 years and those that may have reached their retirement age, have lost out on their fullest extent of severance payable from what used to be, the industrial standard of 26 months maximum payout plus 2 months of notice and severance.

Gone are the days when multinationals have "prestigious severance payouts" that are exemplary and envious to others, especially to employees working in local businesses.

While talking and with deep regrets felt, I cannot help but thought that one of the people he mentioned, in my mind... deserved to be retrenched. It was like payback time, but with little pay for him.

He was the unpleasant one, if nasty is too strong a word, of the lot. We had a difficult time working with him, mostly with his tantrums… at times humiliating too, but we endured because he had the upper-hand of being our customer. Not just to us as his supplier, but to his own team too.

It is a nasty thing to think this way, but I cannot help it. It is like karma, finally.

I would elaborate the nasty instances that have stayed in my mind, but it will become too personal and too accurate a description of that person I am talking about.

Suffice to say, no one is indispensable.

I was told that the other people affected took it in their stride, though unfortunate and upset, but this guy was furious. He received a rude shock. It must be devastating to think of oneself so highly capable and thus untouchable but selected nonetheless for this round of retrenchment… with a “clause of not being eligible for a rehire within a 2-year period!”

I am not going to relish on someone else’s misfortune. It is just too cruel and vindictive. Mine is coming anyway.

Like their projects that have become idle and made them redundant, so am I. With my many projects nearly finished being transferred to our other low-cost factory across the causeway, I am preparing to close the chapter of my work and career in this present company and line respectively.

I may have mentioned before in one of my previous posts, I think I am prepared for the retrenchment, but I will only know how it feels when that day comes.

I do not blame the company or anyone, this is a business after all and bottom line is crucial, but I do hope this company compensates properly for the pure dedication I, and I know many others like me, have given to the company all these years… 17 years of my personal attention to my work.

We parted ways, but not before we shook hands and hoped for the best for one another, sincerely.

There is a time and a place for everything.

Recession, Regression, Depression

Now you see them, now you don't...

There were recessions before, but like many fortunate souls, I escaped unscathed. I kept going, building my career to where I am now. Nothing stupendous but I regard myself as blessed.

The recession is here again. It has become real and a crisis. It is not about to led-up anytime soon and also not without dragging many casualties down with it as well.

This time around, I still cannot feel the fear of loosing my job. My livelihood. This time around, I am not so sure if I will be spared like the recessions before this. Time will tell.

The much rumored list from management had been passed down to HR and reality sank in late last week. Execution time was done like clock work.

"Please tell J to go to HR now." One of the managers from my department told me over the phone. I sent my subordinate, J to HR with a very heavy heart. I had difficulty breathing at one point... some thing I had never felt before. The palpitations. It was a horrible feeling. Helpless.

He cried upon seeing me to say goodbye. I cried too. A sole breadwinner to his family. He is having his new home on the way. The timing just was not right for him. For several others too as soon as the "chosen" few emerged from HR.

Senseless, inhumane, everything dirty I felt.

It must be a terrible job for somebody to do the dirty job of telling the unfortunate souls of their fate. It was definitely even harder for these people that were released... ten folds!

What will they be doing? How will they pick up the pieces? Do they have a plan?

Do I have a plan? I am like walking on a wire.

Yes, I do have a plan... but during this recession period, the plan is not exactly ideal. Where there is no demand, it will be pointless to supply.

A plan B? Nope. Must start to conceive a contingency.

My iPhone tinkered this evening. It was an SMS from an office friend.

"C got the axe today." It read. I was shocked not because the exercise is over, but because she released a long sigh when she told that she was taking over A's job after A got the axe last week.

It was just yesterday that she told me during a meeting. I was happy for her because she has an ailing elderly mother to care for, being the sole breadwinner, they only have themselves. It is painful to think of her fate tonight.

Nothing but bad news this week. One after the other...

Being off work last Friday. I took Dad to National Cancer Centre for his first check-up. I missed seeing and saying good bye to a few close friends when they were let go immediately.

My dear next cubicle neighbor was gone when I came back on Tuesday, after the AidilAdha public holiday. I called her cell phone but it was turned off. I left her a message but have yet to get a reply. I guess she needs time and wants to be left alone for now.

Today, I realize that the office was colder than normal days. There were empty cubicles. The work files were all there, but no traces personal to the previous occupants. Just cold.

It was tough to concentrate on work these past few days with so much unpleasantness going on behind the scene. It was even tougher to put a smiling face with visiting Customers today and throughout the week with them being here.

I do not fear of loosing my job. I am a survivor, my family is too. I have discussed the possibility, God willing, we will be alright. I have Wifey's support. Like my Dad with Mom, I realize I get my strength from Wifey.

Wifey and I both came from not a well-off family. We lived our growing up lives watching our parents made ends meet. We learnt to be tolerant, we learnt to be patient, we learnt to persevere.

We live a much good life now, but it will not be a tough transition to go back to being more prudent with our choices and spending as a family. We got everything we need. The house has already been paid for in full. We have no debts and we saved ample enough for ourselves to hopefully keep dry during this rainy and trying times if it has to come to that.

I am blessed because with my rather extravagant spending especially with the techno gadgets, I have Wifey to fight my urge to splurge. She is the strength that pulls me back to the ground. She is the voice of reason even when I wanted to lavish her with expensive gifts. She is my total opposite.

She is so sane about money, it drives me crazy... crazy jealous of her self-control!

I am blessed regardless. I am wealthy. My family is my fortune.

Good As Gold

Today is a happy day for me. As the island celebrates its first full-blown family day, I celebrated my years at the company with a Long Service Award & Dinner at Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Celebrating 15 years in the company has its fair share of ups and downs. Challenges fought through and mostly won... and the valuable experiences gained. Tonight, I and the rest of the 200 odd employees celebrated our 5, 10, 15, 20 and even 25 years with the company.

Where Are My Friends?

Sitting at table 17, the front row seat to the stage beside the VIPs was not bad at all. The only Muslim food person at the table of 10, as they dug-in to their 8 course dinner, I had my Halal a'la-carte 5-course served with a nice presentation each time. Yes, each tasted deliciously too.

Sad thing is, no spouses were given invitations... which would have been great otherwise, except for those who were given award for serving 20 years and above... 12 of them had the pleasure to celebrate it together with their partners.

3rd course Fish In Sambal Sauce

Coming from a sister company to the HQ, there were not many faces that were familiar to me. I was left standing alone at the reception amongst the mingling clusters of good looking crowd, keeping my cool and waiting for the banquet hall to open to get seated at my table.

That was the time, I thought Wifey would be great company... I always felt awkward without my Wifey beside me.


Do I Really Have To Wear That?

"You have not decided what to wear yet?!" Wifey sounded shocked.

At a certain point, she began to get worried for me because I did not bother to pick which clothes to wear. I guess she did not see me standing in front of the wardrobe contemplating what to wear... she finally asked.

Until the last minute, I had not thought about what I should wear to the event. I would have just grabbed the first pair of pants and shirt that were hanging in the closet. At least they matched, that was my simple plan.

Wifey made a fuss about it... to at least wear something different than the clothes I normally wear to work or weekend outing. She picked out the "combination" for me and had me tried out my "old, glamorous, while-we-were-dating" clothes at the final hour.

A few pants had outgrown me... too tight at the waist, while some were fortunately still wearable. Phew!

She had me posed in my glamorous getup while Sonny snapped some pictures of me before I left to collect my 15 gram gold pendant... the sole purpose I attended. Else I would rather not attend and go cycling and be close to nature... watching nature than the shows at Grand Ballroom.

Well, it turned out that I was overdressed... my most uncomfortable, long, long night solo act.

I was picked as one of the 5 best dressed at the event upon registration. My name was called out first to be on stage amongst the other 4 men while I was about to dig in to the 5th and last course of assorted fruits dish.

Our CEO was also harassed to be one of the best dressed men, alongside us were the 5 best glamorously dressed ladies.

We each had to parade on and off stage cat-walking like a model to win the title for best dressed woman and man of the night. The loudest applause wins.

That was the most nerve-wrecking moment of the night... all that time, I thought being solo at the reception was the worst.

Well, as expected our CEO was the man of the night. He had better win, so that we could get a good bonus next year. The ladies were tied, between two glamorous aunties who in fact, looked gorgeous tonight.


Home, Oh Sweet Home.

I was uncomfortable to leave home looking the way I was, so I took a cab to the hotel to escape the stares that might come my way while I am on the bus and train. However, I had no such luck coming back home.

The taxi queues I could find everywhere in the Orchard area were all long and the fare will not be cheap either... with all the midnight charges.

So I braced myself and took public transport.

Yes, some stares, but none derogatory... I think, without my glasses I am "blurred" to oblivion with facial expressions. Thank God.

I noticed that people nowadays have seen it all. Being a cosmopolitan city with an enormous mix of people coming from all over Asia, minding their own business is a prerequisite somehow.

Something I came to realize now as compared back to my dating days... oh, over a decade ago. It was a relief for this overly self-conscious old brood of a guy.

4th course Rendang with Yellow Rice Entree for Muslim

One qualm though... everyone at the table was happy that the second course was shark fin soup... highlight of the night it seemed.

I am not against tradition... but mentality wise we are still far, far away from eco-friendly, here. A friend remarked "Not sure what quality this shark fin is... most probably low grade..." I just wonder how many low-life, low-grade sharks had to die to deserve that critique.

Driving a certain species of sharks to extinction is still "not our problem."

I sound political. Though I do not like sharks... or snakes or crocodile or spiders, but no humans have the right to drive another being to extinction the way the... Dodo bird did.

As for a more selfish perspective, the average price of 916 gold is S$35.00 a gram, 15 is worth S$525.00. Not bad for a night's dinner 15 years after.

Surprise Party's Surprise

Today is his 38th birthday.

Since he has been working here for the past 17 years, I believe he never had a birthday party celebrated at work before. He has never fussed about it all this while... probably the reason why we always do not remember his special day.

I do not know what came over me, but I thought I would give him a little birthday surprise, just among the 5 close tea-break friends this year... to let him know that we remember.

So off I went at lunch time to buy him a cup-cake, but somehow my sixth sense told me otherwise and ended-up with a half-kilo Citrus Cream full-fledged birthday cake... complete with candles and a birthday sign for our birthday boy.

I requested a colleague to email our tea-break buddies to meet at his cubicle at 3:30PM to surprise him, but somehow it turned out to be a larger group than I had intended.

About 20 odd people started to congregate at his cubicle which surprised not just our birthday boy, but me too. The word-of-mouth is much powerful than technology, I guess.

Nevertheless, it was wonderful to see so many people came and celebrated his birthday.

The 2nd floor office seemed to stop working for about half and hour, busy tending to the birthday boy... singing birthday song, candle-blowing, with loads of pictures taken that made him smiled from ear to ear. It was simply great!

I was relieved that there were enough birthday cake for everybody, with even two slices to spare. Phew!

He also received a custom-made, hot-off-the-press birthday card created by another colleague using Greetings Island on-line software complete with a picture of everyone and him taken at the party earlier.

I believe this is the start of a nice office tradition... it should have been done long ago, but it is better late than never, I say.

Happy Birthday Joe!

I'm 15 Today!

Yes, I am fifteen today... well, not today, but back in March.

No, not my age but the number of years I have been with the company.

Yes, it has been that long... and unlike a teenager, I feel so old. Sigh.

Today, my Boss came over to my desk to hand me a Long Service Award envelope. Fortunately a white one, not pink. Commendation and not condemnation... termination.

"Wow! 15 years. Congratulations." He said.

"Wow! A big envelope." I said to myself. "Thank you." I replied.

As he left the office, my friends crowded around me... congratulations from everyone.

It was indeed a big envelope... half the size of an A4 size paper. On it was printed with my name in big bold letters and "15 Year Award" in parenthesis.

Inside was a letter of congratulatory from our CEO and an invite for a dinner award this May 2008 at a 5-star hotel. Cool.

What is even more "cool" is the gold pendant that I will be receiving. 15 gram of 916 gold is quite a lot of money... taking the price of 916 gold is about S$30.00 today.

Then again, I had two other prior occasions where I received gold pendants too. 5 and 10 grams reflecting 5 and 10 years of service with the company respectively. All given to Wifey, and this one too since Muslim men are not permitted to wear gold jewelery.

I would not want to look like an R&B dude either.

I have seen and work... dealt with a lot of people. Most left for "greener pastures." A few actually passed-on prematurely, unfortunately. Great friends who I still keep in contact with, some nemesis I wish and am trying to forget, but in retrospect it always seems not-so-bad, sweet at times.

Never thought I would last this long. Seeing the ups and downs, the hay days and the trying periods like a roller coaster ride, but alas 15 years to celebrate. Phew!

So here's to 15 more?!

Err.... I do not know if I want to last that long here. Only time will tell. I would not want to be a deadwood.

In the meantime, do my best since I am paid to do so and enjoy my weekends and vacations with my family, the best I know how.

That Goes Bump...

"OK, you tell me when to turn" was the cab driver's jovial response when I told him my destination once I got into his cab this morning.

My cab driver for this morning was a small-build, most probably caffeinated uncle who was bursting with energy.

Driving fast and furious, he was so efficiently scarifying me with his driving skills as he maneuvered past between cars and switching lanes. At one point barely beat the red light along Tampines Avenue 10.

He started-up a chat with me, but I was too distracted with the driving that it took me several seconds lag before I could answer him. I eventually stopped responding to his questions by acting busy tapping my PDA away... to let him just concentrate of his "race."

It is not uncommon for cab drivers to scamper around fast just to be able to squeeze time to get as many trips as possible. The morning peak hours surcharge of S$2.00 per trip excluding the metered fare is lucrative draw in itself... but this ride takes the cake for teleportating passengers from point A to point B.

Just when it was about 60 metres away from my workplace, this cab driver finally succumbed to the lure of bumper to bumper kiss for tailgating a white van too closely as we approached the traffic light.

A screech and then a loud thud was felt, though it did not jerk me forward that hard, it was a good enough kiss on the backside of the van that made its driver quickly jumped out of his vehicle to inspect the damage.

My feisty cab driver got out from his cab too and the two started talking in their native Hokkien language.


"Great! Will I be late for work now..." I thought to myself, "should I be a witness if this dispute gets out of hand." I wondered. I should be thanking The Almighty for keeping me safe instead.

Fortunately, there was no dent at all to the van nor to the cab itself. I guess with the little cab driver's apologetic gestures and big innocent smiles, the driver of the white van went on his way without the situation turning ugly.

"Nothing... lah!" he assured me as he got back into the cab, "just a little bump. That's all." Or was he soothing himself?

I alighted and while giving him the exact fare, I gave him a gentle reminder as well... to take care of himself and others while driving on the road. "You gave me a scare with your driving."

You got off easy this time... was actually what my mind was saying. I got off unscathed.

"OK, thank you! Thank you!" as he nodded and smiled at me as I closed the cab door.

Wonder if the 4D numbers will strike... will be my colleagues' spontaneous thought of my story if I had told them... cab number 6420, van number 6555. Pick your number guys!

I Need Fridays

From time to time, I spill out my gut over the internet about my personal state of mind and then live another day to regret doing so... again.

I am talking about my last post Me Versus Monday. And like my posts of such nature, I am here again to explain myself for some cosmic reasons that are oblivious to me.

I know Mondays and any other days are days of the week and that I am the one to make the best of the day, whatever day of the week it is. In my case I blame Monday for something I cannot control. In this case, my clouded state of emotions, not the situation.

I cannot help but feel that as the days go by, so is my career in this place I call work. It is ticking and am I wasting away here. Am I?

All that positive thinking I have instilled in me, in my life seems like a superficial layer of the truth that I have to peel, face and eventually take actions for, as far as this situation is concern.

I cannot say I needed a sign. There have been too many out there shoved in front of my face, but I am not convinced if any of them is the right one.

Yes, my name is in the new organization chart... hurrah!

I guess, they figured I can still contribute. I guess it still is worth their while to keep me but I am not jumping for joy... though otherwise, I will not jump off the building either. Is it worth my while?

That lingering dilemma... Wifey thinks that I should hang-on as long as I can, because I told her I am working honestly as I am being paid to despite the working environment. The money is definitely good...

In the days that followed, many things happened at work. Nothing unusual... the good things, the bad as well. I did my best and addressed the issues at hand with some I have gladly resolved quickly and some before they got out of hand.

There are still this sense of achievement and the same sense of satisfaction I felt throughout the week. I felt I am still good at what I do and I got subtle praises from my superiors for doing a good job... but there is still something deeper that I just cannot finger it on.

This I have to figure it out for myself somehow...

Anyway, how bleak I look at it all this while, on way my to work on Friday, I was a little more than relieved when I saw a rainbow across the morning sky. The first I can remember seeing a rainbow so early in the morning. Nice sight!

The whole day was quiet and went smoothly, even when we had our first department meeting that should have been quite stressful.

Darn it! Is it all a state of mind? Or is it because it was Friday?

I guess I will know it come Monday.

Me Versus Mondays

I hate Mondays... the general sentiment of many, I am sure.

As for my case, I simply do not enjoy my work anymore...

Maybe it is because of the constantly and rapidly changing working environment that makes me feel out of control.

Maybe it is because of the way things are done in this new environment that I do not feel it is the right way to do things, simply because they have been doing it that way for centuries.

Or... maybe because after 15 years of working in the same company, I can finally say that I have lost my bearings and am without motivation.

Maybe, it is all of the above!

So, what should I do about it?

Nothing. Yes, nothing.... I am so darn lazy to do anything to rectify the situation. Most probably I am afraid of change... most definitely!

Why fix something that is not broken?

Aha! That is my frightened yet lazy conscience talking.

Am I wasting away here?

All these inner struggles criss-crossing in my mind... just about every Monday!

The fact that 3 more colleagues have call it quits in this place and moved on... makes me wonder if they are making the right decision, that I should be making too.

And the fact that whomever that is left seems as unmotivated with their morale at an all-time low, like at the bottom of a old, slimy barrel as I am feeling today.

Yes, it is Monday. So why the rants?

As I was heading for work this morning, I was caught in a bad traffic jam. Yes, the Monday hustle.

Strangely, the traffic jam was not on the highway, but was just after exiting via Sengkang East and onto Buangkok Green. The usual route that has always been smooth had suddenly came a crawling... bumper-to-bumper... "late-for-work-at-the-start-of-the-week" stressful-kind of traffic jam.

My first angry thought was of some stupid, badly planned road-works ahead, so I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo of the road condition while in the cab. Just so I have evidence that was a good enough reason to justify my being dead-late... something that was out of my control.


As my cab neared the junction after Seagate building, I snapped another time thinking it was that stupid road works... but alas, it was something unfortunate. It was something worse.

Someone had died. A victim of a road accident. A motorbike, a cab and a car at the junction. I felt disgusted with myself for taking a picture of someone's misfortune.

"It is tragic for that person who went out to earn a living and ended giving-up his or her life." I lamented out loud to the cab driver.

It would be a devastating news for the people he or she had left behind... I thought quietly in my heart. I said a little prayer for that poor soul as the cab neared where I was alighting.

Like most times, again... here I am complaining a bluer than blue Monday, and it has pointed out to me again and again to witness or hear of something tragic.

I know that I have it good, that I should count my blessings... that I should stop complaining.

Yes, I am blessed. Still, I hate Mondays until I do something about it...

The Last Time

So, finally today... the last remnants of the office that made-up the sister company to HQ is gone.

With the last 4 of us vacating the Engineering Office on the ground floor to reside on the 2nd floor marks the end of an era personally for me after working for it for almost 15 years... 15 years! Yikes!

The planned fusion of us to HQ was final today when the lights were switched off for the last time as I looked back and closed the door behind me. The same feeling I had when we shifted from Kallang Avenue to AMK; but this time, without the many familiar faces that went along to AMK.

With the last few people left and the disintegration of the various departments to fuse into HQ's own, sister company is no longer but an account name on the balance sheet.

I have to admit the new office environment is better than the last one, I have my own cubicle now instead of a desk... but the people there have yet to get use to us... as we have to get use to them.

Many faces, many smiles without eye contact... for the sake of courtesy is good for now. I cannot help but feel that we are invading their turf.

Always have this feeling of us being second-class citizens since we moved to HQ, but maybe that is just me... then and for now, I hope. A normal unsettling feeling until I get comfortable with the place in time... for the last time.

Tomorrow should be a better day.

Boom, Crash, Burn

It was 8:00pm on a Friday night and I was stuck at the office still second day in a row!

I was in my office trying to repair my work. Yes, my whole years of work that is contained on the rotating platters inside the small box on my desk.

My hard-disk has crashed and all forms of work ended as I know it!

No significant enough sign to think that it would go bonkers on me on Thursday morning after slowing down when shutting down my Excel spreadsheet.

After two days of investigating which drive was bad and salvaging whatever valuable data I had stored in my D drive, with the help of my colleague's PC, we were able to restore my PC as before with a new hard-disk and without my PST Outlook data file.

At the late end of what was left today, I was still installing some applications to complete the restoration of my work. I was like a new hire, with no history of correspondences. My MS Outlook congratulated me with a welcome note. Sigh.

Come Monday, I know I have a daunting task of collecting whatever emails I sent and many important emails with attachments for me to try getting up to speed with what I have worked to date.

Hard-disks are so powerful, but so fragile. IT has informed that my hard-disk has had hardware failure and nothing can be done to it anymore.

Boom! It shocked me Thursday morning. Crash! It destroyed years of my correspondences.

Burn! Either trash the hard-disk away or burn a big hole in the pocket if I wish to send it to a professional recovery centre.

Recovery of data will range from a minimum of S$400.00 to about S$2,000.00 for extensive damage. An evaluation of S$90.00 will be charged for evaluation either way.

I was lost for words and "lost for work" without my PC!

That is how dependent I am and am sure everyone is with their PC in their work... to depend on those rotating disks that bound to fail after several years of use.

No decent amount of work could be done these past two days. I was there just staring at flickering boot-up screens after boot-up screens, and installations messages after another to bring-up my PC as before. Scary, just scary.

Burn! Back-up my data and burn important ones onto CDs. Yes that is what I have to do from time to time from now on.

Showers Of Rainbow

Friday was a slow day at the office, unlike at the operations where it was hectic with the increased volume. There will be overtime over the weekends for these people. A very good sign indeed..

After yesterday's announcement, there chip on our shoulders were lifted somewhat. All were in good spirits and Fridays feel like a blessing to me. The weekend is near, I can taste it at tea break!

An intriguing thing happened on my way back from work.

Opened the door to go home and was greeted with a heavy downpour with strong winds, with thunders too.

Nothing strange with the weather we have been having lately, but this evening rain is special, it rained brightly with the sun shining.

I had to take some snaps of this "little phenomenon."


Friends I met along the way to my usual bus stop smiled with unbelievable gesture how strange the weather was. One colleague was saying it would be interesting to see if there will be a rainbow afterwards.

Sure enough there was one! At the bus stop, a huge rainbow spanning across the horizon appeared. It was beautiful for the rainbow to appear while the rain was still heavy.

The rained stopped and the rainbow disappeared with it. Strange, even with a valid scientific explanation with the sun at a 170 Deg angle to deflect light... blah, blah, blah.

The rain, although gloomy is not always a bad thing. The rain nourishes and cleanses every living thing that it touches. It passes to a sunny and beautiful day to take its place... sometimes with a spectacular rainbow even!

That is how I feel today summing-up the happenings for the past few weeks.

Interesting weather to remind us that tomorrow is the New Year for the Muslim Calendar - Muharram 1428.

May This Year Bring

Peace & Joy To Us All!

In Your Dreams!

This may be the most silliest of all propositions, even though it was only just a dream.

I have a friend whom I go for tea and lunch breaks together in a group of 8 people. He is probably the least known person of all as he hardly gives himself away from beyond his car plate number.

This morning, while we were eating our breakfast, he suddenly blurted out that he dreamt of me the night before!

Ahh... I was in his thoughts. What happened?

He dreamt that the whole office was in the meeting that was chaired by me. Nothing strange about that, though I do not normally call everyone in, just by project basis maybe. ... but I was their boss! Our Operations boss and the manager were laid-off and I took over operations!

In the meeting, I was stern-looking and serious, listening to their presentation, but not being impressed or happy with it.

He suddenly woke up at about 5:00am in the morning and could not fall back to sleep afterwards... either probably from a distraughting thought of me being at the "helm" or the fact that we are facing another "restructuring." The latter is evident.

I burst out laughing spontaneously. Honestly I thought it was one of the most absurd thing that could possibly happen in real life. Impossible and silly!


I was told that superstitious Chinese believe that whatever happened in the dream will happen in real-life; only in the opposite manner. That probably translated to me being fired! Yikes!

The good thing about it is that it was just a dream and I am not Chinese. I am also far from being superstitious. Phew! Hopefully Phew?

Well, eventually time will tell if any of us will become redundant once one of our Customers has finally pulled out starting end January and if there is nothing new to justify our existence there.

To me, this dream is one manifestation of our worried minds since the shocking revelation that one of our biggest customer had to pull out for a much lower cost manufacturing in China.

I knew how the Americans and the Europeans felt when we went over to do project transfers to Singapore. With that, they lost their jobs to a lower cost country. That was then.

And now, we get to actually feel how they felt within my lifetime, that such thing is happening to us in Singapore; projects migrating to China. A vicious cycle, I guess.

I have to admit I harbour fear of loosing my job too with a recent dream of mine.


I dreamt I was trapped in a cave with another colleague that I have the least contact with. He and I, and two Caucasians were all in our office attire, trapped in a leaky cave with a big boulder blocking what it looked like an entrance... or our exit?

We were all trying to find our way out, but my colleague was the most panicky; climbing up and down the big boulder trying to find a crack for a way out. I was there looking at him helplessly and trying to console him that things are going to be alright.

I take it that the two faceless Caucasians were our Customers that came here to announce their pull-out, and maybe that big boulder is something that could force them to stay put.

If I leave it to the Chinese interpretation of the dream, it would be the opposite. I would be the one panicking! Maybe I was trying to convince myself?

I think that many dreams are silly and meaningless to me. The many past events and lingering thoughts; fears and happiness all fused together in a haphazard way to form a somewhat, silly sketches in our dream.

I know my mind tells me to go take a piss when I dream of going to a very dirty toilet that I cannot go. I had to find a cleaner one to do my business... that sort of silly triggers.

Then again, if there is that one chance in a million years that his dream came true, and I was the helm of operations, wonder what kind of a boss will I be... hmm...

Yeah right! Dream On!