It's nice to be back
On Friday, after many years, I stepped foot again at my former office. The last was when I was back to attend a farewell lunch for a colleague who retired and that was in 2002.
The opportunity was due to a meeting with my ex-colleague on an exploratory project. Apart from the meeting proper, it was a good choice for me to catch up with many old friends and bosses. I believe they were quite surprised to see me there, and even some had joked that i had come back for interview, as they were short-handed. Though the office setup had somehow retained, sadly it appeared to be a bit messy. But it was pleasant to see that the mgt had finally installed air-con at the canteen which i believed was much welcome by the staff.
While there, i spoke to many of them, and you could sense that the sincerity when they offered the warm hand-shake, and it was the kind of bonding which i terribly missed. When i started my career, it was the senior pple who taught me the rope of project mangement and others who invited me for soccer games though they knew that somehow i had two right feet (for me, my left is better than the right). Those were the formitive years of my working life. Now, it is more of a bread and butter issue. I missed the runs at Telok Blangah and the soccer games at the wide field at Henderson Road (which had made way to the SAFRA clubhouse,sadly). Some of my juniors told me that the corporate culture had changed a little, and the DM had made way for the new AD too.
Apart from those guys at level 17 (and the solo bird in 24), i met an old mate from 18 at the canteen. He was from the same batch of fresh grade engineers who joined in '97. From him, i got an update on the rest of the cohort, and it was nice to hear that most had gotten the promotions that they duly deserved, and this mate would be gog for another scholarship to pursue the next higher degree. In fact, hejust cameback from NPS before i left. He would definitely make good.
This meeting was the kickoff of many yet to come. There would be more opportunities to come to meet up with those who had worked together to give our two cents worth in the numerous LP, AP and WESSAB papers. The days when we drafted papers and gave presentations and awaited the buttering ...
The opportunity was due to a meeting with my ex-colleague on an exploratory project. Apart from the meeting proper, it was a good choice for me to catch up with many old friends and bosses. I believe they were quite surprised to see me there, and even some had joked that i had come back for interview, as they were short-handed. Though the office setup had somehow retained, sadly it appeared to be a bit messy. But it was pleasant to see that the mgt had finally installed air-con at the canteen which i believed was much welcome by the staff.
While there, i spoke to many of them, and you could sense that the sincerity when they offered the warm hand-shake, and it was the kind of bonding which i terribly missed. When i started my career, it was the senior pple who taught me the rope of project mangement and others who invited me for soccer games though they knew that somehow i had two right feet (for me, my left is better than the right). Those were the formitive years of my working life. Now, it is more of a bread and butter issue. I missed the runs at Telok Blangah and the soccer games at the wide field at Henderson Road (which had made way to the SAFRA clubhouse,sadly). Some of my juniors told me that the corporate culture had changed a little, and the DM had made way for the new AD too.
Apart from those guys at level 17 (and the solo bird in 24), i met an old mate from 18 at the canteen. He was from the same batch of fresh grade engineers who joined in '97. From him, i got an update on the rest of the cohort, and it was nice to hear that most had gotten the promotions that they duly deserved, and this mate would be gog for another scholarship to pursue the next higher degree. In fact, hejust cameback from NPS before i left. He would definitely make good.
This meeting was the kickoff of many yet to come. There would be more opportunities to come to meet up with those who had worked together to give our two cents worth in the numerous LP, AP and WESSAB papers. The days when we drafted papers and gave presentations and awaited the buttering ...
posted by kokweng @ 5:43 PM
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