• Ramblings

    Bangkok Thoughts

    March 20, 2009

    Arrived back in Singapore after spending 4 days in Bangkok.

    It was the first time I attended a presentation to the top management of a company. It was really an eye opener. The amount of preparation my management put in before the presentation, and the way they go through everything with a fine comb was another new experience. Every single line, every single word in the presentation slides, was discussed, debated. The flow, how questions are going to be handled, etc was discussed at length. We were working for 15 hours the day before the presentation, finally having our dinner at 11pm and continuing to work till 3am.

    The presentation went well, and the demonstration that followed, which was conducted by me, went smoothly. We were able to provide a satisfactory, and in some cases, thought provoking, answer to every question they asked. My management thought that the presentation was one of the better ones they have done, and they have done countless of them.

    It may seem that I might need to spend even more time this year in Bangkok.

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    The best moment for me was when the senior management pat me on my back and said, ‘A job well done’ after spending 4 hours demonstrating and handling every single question they thrown at me. It made all the hard work that I put in, and all those sleepless nights in the hotel because of stress, worthwhile.

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    My management broke to me the good news over drinks after the presentation. My reaction was one of relief. It was just way overdue.

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    I am getting more and more impressed with the Thais. As the session was a full day event, they provided an executive lunch for us in the executive cafe on the executive floor. As I remarked to my management, in Singapore, the companies expect us to pay for the lunch. Our local partner told us in his broken English that because they are the ones who requested for a full day session, they feel that it is their responsibility to take care of us throughout the session. We really appreciated it.

    The traffic jams in Bangkok are notorious, but throughout the times that i was trapped in the traffic, I hardly hear of any cars honking. Hardly any Thais I meet raised their voices, and they always smile. Walking on the crowded roads, I hardly encounter anyone pushing their way through, and they actually queue to get into the trains.

    The warmth nature and the kindness of the Thais really make all the traffic conditions, the weather, the polluted environment more tolerable.

    As I reflect on all these while on the plane, I realised that for the first time since the numerous journeys to Bangkok, I actually do not mind working in Bangkok for a short period.

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    I had to take Cathay Pacific for this trip as Singapore Airlines was fully booked. Both the flight to and from Bangkok were filled with tour groups from China. As usual, they treat any location where they gathered like a village back home. Everyone was sitting everywhere, and raising their voices like it was their home. Luckily, I have my noise cancelling headphones. It helps to filter out the noise, a lot.

    And the free upgrade to Business Class on my way back makes it even more tolerable.

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  • Ramblings

    It Has Started

    December 18, 2008

    The signs were there. The big boss cancelled his quarterly message. The next day he sent out an email to everyone confirming that retrenchments are going to happen during this festival season.

    The day after that, I went back to office to submit my claims. I was then informed that people were being asked to go to into the HR office, and retrenched. Most of them worked in the company between 10 to 20+ years, and most of them thought they were safe. As such, there were a lot of emotions involved.

    The worst part is, nobody knows if that is going to continue.

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  • Ramblings

    Ramblings About The Economy Crisis

    November 18, 2008

    Some ramblings about the economy crisis.

    1) My colleague who used to complain that he has no time, and very busy, suddenly requested that the company do not employ any more staff, and instead he will take on any of the tasks that are planned. I mean, should not he be actually having this kind of attitude from the very beginning and not just wait till there is a threat of retrenchment before adopting this kind of positive attitude?

    2) I was remarking to my friend who worked in the public sector about how I am worried about my job due to this economy crisis. His response was, ‘Yah. I wonder if my bonus will be affected.’ I mean here I am worrying about whether I will still have a job and he is there worrying about his bonuses. Main difference between working in the public sector and private sector I guess. And yes, he is still going ahead on getting a new car.

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  • Ramblings

    Termination

    November 12, 2008

    It was the first time I witnessed someone got terminated because of poor performance in my working life.

    It was pretty sad actually, he had a family to support, the wife is not working, he just managed to get his mother-in-law into this country, and he was renting his place. But it was not as if chances were not given. My boss had warned him three times about his performance, and with the client sending multiple official emails to complain about him, I guess he really cannot blame anyone. He was lazy, kept missing his promised deadlines, submitting poor quality work, not leading his people when he was employed to, had no initiative to find out what is happening with the project, refused to attend meetings and had absolutely no interests in the project. And nothing changed even after being warned three times. In short, a really ‘no hope’ case. We all gave up on him months ago, and he seemed to be contented doing mundane tasks, like documentation, while everyone just ignored him. His people started to report to me months ago, and he does not even seem to care.

    After hearing the news, he came back to pack up his things, asking for 30 minutes to ‘say goodbye’, which was rejected. He then went around telling everyone that today is his last day, and he was going to join another company, which of course, none of us actually believed him.

    No matter how bad his performance was, I really wish he can find a job soon, since he had a family to feed. Considering the fact that the whole economy is in a meltdown, and companies are retrenching, it is almost impossible to get a job nowadays. And when he does get a job, I really hope he performs better than he did with us.

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  • Ramblings

    Work Ramblings

    November 4, 2008

    So the new Project Manager came in like 2 weeks ago.

    The previous one did not do himself any favours by immediately emailing all the stakeholders about the new guy taking over him. Granted that he was asked to take over the position temporary, granted he was feeling unhappy doing something that was not part of his KPI, but the least he could do was to wait for a few days. Besides, I have been helping him out, taking a lot of burden off his shoulders, things were easier for him. If it was not the fact that I willing helped him because I wanted to gain project management experience, I would have kicked up a storm over it.

    I heard that there was a big hoo-ha as the client was firmly against the idea of introducing a new major risk at this critical point in the project. So I guess in the end, it did reflect very badly on him.

    So far the new PM is doing pretty well, but I have the feeling he was just testing water, slowly probing, slowly learning. Which is not a bad thing actually when it comes to managing a project.

    The plan for me next year seems to be 2 months in Malaysia, and at least another 2 months in Thailand. If everything goes according to plan, which I have learned that it is never so. So far, the short trips to Thailand are bearable, but I am not too sure how I should feel after learning that I will be there for at least 2 months. One thing is for sure, I can never get used to the hot and humid weather there, and this is coming from me being in Singapore.

    I am also very concerned regarding the economy crisis gripping the world now. I am pretty sure there will be a few rounds of retrenchments, so yes, I am worried, enough to keep me thinking about it pretty often. Sure hope this crisis ends soon.

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  • Ramblings

    Working Aboard

    October 19, 2008

    It is with great significance when I read about Cowboy Caleb’s entry on traveling overseas alone to work.

    With the recent trips to Bangkok, and the forthcoming trips next year to KL and Bangkok, I can foresee that I will have the same feeling as him, feeling lonely in the hotel room, wondering what I will do next. I have been fortunate so far, I do not travel alone yet. And nights are spent downloading the whole day’s office emails and replying them.

    There was a time not too long ago that I actually love to travel aboard to work. Maybe I am really getting old.

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  • Ramblings

    Bangkok Thoughts

    October 9, 2008

    It was a tiring trip, the weather was sapping my energy, and the juggling between a full day session and another project back in Singapore was really killing me.

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    And I pity those elephants that the Thais used to earn money on the crowded roads of Bangkok. They should be happily roaming in the wild, not being driven by someone on his back along the roads, with cars so close to them. Their sad eyes seem to tell me that they are resigned to the fact that they will never be free.

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    I checked the hotel invoice, found some discrepancy, and got them to reprint it again. Smiling smugly to myself, I forgot to check the reprinted invoice again. The hotel had charged me for an extra night.

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    Did not realise there was a bloody riot going on the day I left Bangkok. I was mildly frustrated when I had to go through another security check upon landing in Changi Airport, thinking it was just to be cautious. It was only when my mother called me to make sure I was fine as I was about to board the taxi that I realised there was a riot. The area around my hotel in Bangkok was calm, and I saw no panic nor fear in the Thais I met.

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    I have to go back to Bangkok again.

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  • Ramblings

    Bangkok Again

    October 1, 2008

    I am needed at Bangkok again.

    Truth be told, I am needed too in Singapore. But as I realised long ago, I let the management decide where they want me to be. And this time, they decided that I should be in Bangkok for two days. My boss said that I have to make plans to ensure that my work in Singapore will not be affected. Hmm, I don’t know, how about I plan to have myself cloned? The world will not end, the sun will not rise from the west and the rivers will not turn into blood when I am gone, so I am not going to make any extensive plans.

    The previous few times to Bangkok were a rush, fly in, check in, do my job, check out, fly back. This time round I am thinking of flying there earlier and doing some tourist activities, like some shopping. I just might do that.

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