One Job, Many Stories

I did many part-time jobs after school.
But this is my first official job.

In this country, every normal & able male-citizen must serve in national service.

It's the law, the enlistment act,..woh.

No need for any job interview, nor negotiation in salary. They just examine you physically to make sure you are male, ask you some questions & then certify you fit to go in.

I remember my performance in the first 3 months of basic military training (BMT) was so...so, but at the end, they still sent me to OCS (Officer Cadet School).

When I was in OCS, the 9- months training was very tough.

So, I told my commanders that I was an artist. I told them I could create a wall mural on our dormitory building to be unique & different. As the icon for charlie company is a cougar, so I drew a BIG one. 

When my fellow-cadets went for trainings in the field, I was happy to stay back, taking my time to create this artwork. So far, it's my biggest project to-date.

When I was about to leave the army, the economy was in a deep recession & the job market was gloomy.

For once, I considered signing-up as a professional soldier as a career, like this person here who did.

Before my ROD (run-out-date=discharge from army), I took a week's solitude in the cameron-genting highlands, malaysia with 2 army buddies to reflect & to decide our future. There were so many distractions during this trip & we never really think about it.

After this trip, both my 2 army buddies signed-up. But I  did not.








For a few years, I worked as a product designer, industrial engineer, mechanical engineer.

I often need to produce technical drawings by hand, using the drawing board & T-Square. 

With the invention of computer-aided-design & drawing softwares, my technical drawing skills are now obsoleted.

It's technology that kills such skill......Sigh !

But I think, now most people cannot produce such drawings by hand. Who cares !

 

As an engineer, I was tasked to manage a quarter-millions machine.

I told the technican the machine needed to "rest" to maintain its performance.
So I asked him to go for a long-break.
I then loaded my prepared programme to cutout this aluminium 3D-puzzle.

 

"The eagle has landed",
is a stainless-steel cutout.
The inspiration came from the chinese paper-cutting but in metallic-form.

Those who saw it, including the technicians, asked me for a piece too.
But I told them to keep mum, especially the "boss".

When you are young, you tend to take risks !





These chinese characters were my next challenge.
The programming process took many hours, but the cutting was quick.
I made a few limited pieces & plated them in gold.
They make great momentos & a few bought them.






After a few years, I was bored, so I quit & became an industrial engineer.

But I did not design & make any thing except jigs & fixtures, talking & observing how others work in a factory. 

The most memorable experience was working with prisoners in a production facility set-up inside the prison in changi. 












On day, the quality manager quit.
So my boss asked me if I want to take up that position for a change.

I was a young man then, so I took up the challenge.
In later months, I realized that I was doing a manager's job for an engineer's pay. Sigh !  

When you are young, & if you are not careful, you could be conned. 








This is my friend, Maurice who is a veteran financial advisor.

At one time, I was retrenced.
So he asked me if I want to join him.

I find the title : "Insurance Agent" not attractive, and it would be tough to sell "papers" (insurance policies) to people who rarely see their benefits.

It's alot easier to sell COE (certificate of entitlement) that paper policies.










In this country, the cost of living is so high and rising that everyone needs to keep working till EOL (end of life) to support oneself & pay the bills. Provided you are still healthy and able. Still, it won't be anything easy as I can see that many foreigners are taking up many white-collar jobs here. And I do not know why.