Farewell to Elene

Parting is such sweet sorrow, especially for those of us who have been working together for many, many years. And so it turns out that the next in a long line of farewells is none other that our old friend, Elene Tan.

Personally, I've known Elene for over 10 years now, way back in the days when the "pioneer group" of Vishay were all young and restless. Ahem, we're all still young today (at least I believe so) - just that we were younger way back then. Since then, many of us have already become fathers and mothers, but the Gen X spirit is still burning strongly in our hearts.

L to R : "Auntie" Chong SC, Elene (VIP Queen for the night), Sussan from Singapore, VSM-ex-VSM-VSM Chea Thin, "Pinky" Foo (if I understand correctly from Low CL)

Elene was initially in the production planning group, but somewhere in the years gone by made a successful transition to the logistics team. Always on top of the situation, managing things as they happen, and not waiting for something to happen, working with her sure dropped the difficulty level down a couple of notches.

A few of us banded together for a night together at the i-Tango family karaoke, conveniently located at the 2nd floor of the Bukit Beruang Bazaar opposite the gym. I had no idea there was a karaoke there in the first place, but we're most fortunate to have Chong Sew Chu in our group, as she is very "in" when it comes to this genre of socializing....

The VIP room was fitted with 3 screens and was large enough to accommodate our group of 20+ pax. I'm not one with "golden ears", so I can only say that the sound system was not lacking in any particular way. There was 1 wired microphone provided, along with 3~4 wireless ones. Throughout the night, there appeared to be some minor technical challenges with the microphone, mostly coming from weak batteries / dropped connections.

As for the karaoke system itself, the interface was at least orderly and user-friendly and the song list appeared to be quite extensive. Did not really look into it in detail, as my main intention that night was to see Elene off, and not to practice singing. Overall, I do rate the experience more positive relative to the one we had at Mybox karaoke last year.

Though there were many of us from the original pioneer group, like Chong SC, Tan HC, Low CL just to name a few, there were also some "new guys" like Ang CK, Lim CN and Goh YF, and even Sussan from Vishay Singapore, which just goes to show that our team spirit extends across all boundaries.

Ultimately, people come and people go, for various reasons, sometimes unique to the individual. As I understand it, Elene exits the world of semiconductor manufacturing - in fact, leaving entirely the workforce, to focus on family.

Must be the effect of haze getting in their eyes....

Farewell to Mr Moey

It was the eve of May, Labour Day. A fitting date for our farewell dinner in honour of one of Vishay Semiconductor Malaysia's "founding fathers" - Mr Moey Sam Fook.

Mr Moey had been with Vishay since 2002, heading the Finance / Costing departments (which I always manage to mix up, sometimes even today), literally keeping a watchful eye on every penny that goes in and out of Vishay's pocket.

Besides his "real job", Mr Moey has also proven himself as a natural orator and radiates confidence, as anyone who has attended events with Mr Moey as the faciliator / host / MC can agree. With a small but diverse team of individuals in VSM, it was no easy task keeping the people all working together as a team, and feeling great while doing so. Call it the soft skill or art as you may, team building sessions conducted by Mr Moey were far more effective that the typical generic offerings of the garden-variety consultant (with the possible exception of Dr Lawrence Walter Ng, perhaps).

In my years working with Mr Moey, I've had the opportunity to come to know him as a friend and fatherly figure. In the recent years, I thank him for introducing me to great "spiritual software" that is the work of Don Miguel Ruiz - The Four Agreements.

The most memorable piece of advice that I got from Mr Moey was "If you believe that something is yours, just reach out and grab it!". Which has since brought me far in my life, inspired to go all out and work for what I truly believed I deserved. Thanks a count-less many times for this - Mr Moey!

So today, though I was late to arrive (as those who are close to me can already guess, due to work - why else?), my thoughtful friend reserved some tasty dishes for me so that I did not have to dine on only the standard servings of rice and noodles.

It was nice to see everyone get together for this occasion outside of working time - a true depiction of the closeness or "kam cheng"-ness of our circle of friends. Set for the occasion, I had my trusty DSLR with me to capture some memorable photos.

As our event drew to a close, we all bid our fond farewells and best wishes to Mr Moey as he enters a new and well-deserved phase of life called "semi-retirement", going back to his family somewhere in the region of Subang Jaya. I bid good night to a dear friend, with hopes for a happy and healthy life ahead!


Photos:

Farewell to three : Chong SL, Loh CK, Lim KS

Three's a company, but now, three are leaving the company. To be more precise, tonight we came together to bid a fond farewell to 3 more of our colleagues (soon to be our ex-colleagues) : Chong Siew Leet, Lim Kian Soon and Loh Chee Kiang.

Farewell to thee (L-R) : Chong Siew Leet, Loh Chee Kiang and Lim Kian Soon

Siew Leet (known also as Jennifer to her friends) was a material planner, who, by virtue of her job scope, meant we often worked together on common issues. Of course, every time that happened, it involved production as well, so you can imagine the circumstances were at times nerve-wrecking and not an easy stroll through the park. Luckily, working together, we usually succeeded in ablating whatever challenges that popped up - or at least softening the impact to production. It's always good to have colleagues working together, aligned towards a common goal, rather than everyone going on the defensive (and sometimes offensive) pointing fingers at each other. It was nice working with her, and I hope that Siew Leet's successor would be as good as she was.

Siew Leet standing behind with Rachel and Ryan in the foreground

I first remembered KS coming on board a few years ago, together with Benny Lee (who left Vishay some two years ago) as he mentioned he came in from Omega Semiconductors, the place where I had my first job as a Process Engineer many, many years ago. KS came in filling the void left by Kelvin Tan, who left before I started blogging about farewells.... :)

KS was in Quality, and some would say, fortunately, quality for Sensors / IRDC. Fortunate because I was with Coupler / SSR, so there'd be no work interactions, which, when involving Quality, always gives rise to some tension. Well, I did have a chance to work with him on several occasions, as we went to a TS16949 Lead Auditor training together, as well as several Six Sigma coaching sessions. It's tough being Quality and still be a nice guy, but somehow KS managed to fine a balance.

KS and Tai Hwei Chuan

Finally, my good friend and lunch partner, Loh CK. Loh came into the company, bringing with him expert knowledge on End-Of-Line tooling and equipment, as well as Package design. Somehow or rather, we got together and became close friends. Loh hails from Penang, and so plans to return there to be closer and spend more time with his family. Will definitely miss my dear friend - lunch will never be the same anymore.

I believe that's Coca Cola in the glass, right...?

Our farewell dinner was at Taipan Restaurant in Taman Merdeka. This was good, as it was just 10 minutes drive away from Vishay (depending on the route taken, and how well your vehicle clears speed bumps). This place is non-halal, so just for non-Muslims only. We booked a large room / hall on the ground floor, that was large enough to fit 4 tables, with a small stage and karaoke sound system set up front.

Now, Vishay had a number of good singers around, like Rachel Ng and Lim Chun Nam for instance, who had no trouble occupying the stage. As the beer (and other beverages of higher alcohol content) was flowing, the mikes were rocking.

Guess who's had a little too much to drink?

It was an enjoyable evening, but soon, the Master of Ceremonies for the night, Yong Keng See, called for attention and brought our thoughts back to reality - the fact that we were gathered to bid our friends a fond farewell and to wish them luck on their new careers. The three of them were each presented with a small souvenir to remember us by.

Well, that's life for you - friends come, friends go, but remain friends forever!

Thanks to everyone for joining tonight's dinner - all's well that end's well too!

Farewell to Tham Moong Sin

Just a month into the new year of 2012, here comes the first farewell of the year. This time, none other than my friend, Ms Tham. Hmm, just a little over two months after my old friend Kam CL left the company.

Tham was a relative newcomer to the company, being here for just over a couple of years. In her time in the company in the challenge-filled QA department, Tham has proven her versatility in handling various different roles, which include outgoing QA, failure analysis and ESD coordinator. Sort of like a human Swiss Army knife....

Well, it's no wonder that hard-working and bright people such has Tham would be able to find better opportunities. And so she has indeed, finally deciding to leave just before Chap Goh Mei (15th day of Chinese New Year).

To my friend, I bid a fond farewell. Like so many others who have left the company, I am sure that she will be moving on to a brighter and successful career wherever it is the winds of change carries her.

Farewell to Kam CL

11th November 2011 is a good day for some. 11.11.11. For my old friend, Kam CL, that would be his last working day in our company.

Towards the end of the year, things are picking up the pace down in the office, so I only discovered on Thursday, 10 Nov, that the following day would be Kam's last day at work.

Kam was from Production, so our dealing in the past were always centered either on borrowing resources for our R&D activities or in phase-in to mass production. Finding the spare machine time and people to run our stuff, while still meeting the production weekly cut-off is a fine art in resources balancing indeed.

Kam leaves for a better offer, I hear. Which should be really good news for me, every time anyone leaves, a new doorway of opportunity awaits. Still somewhere in Melaka though, so I look forward to meeting up with him again (as well as his wife, Florence, also formerly from this company).

Well, as the end of the year approaches, invariably there will be more departures, so goes the annual migration trend! As for my old friend, best of luck in your new job, and may we meet again soon!

Tea-time farewell for Juliyana

DSCF3828-M.jpg
L-R : Yan (and son), myself, Suhairin, Asri, Juliyana

It's never easy to plan a farewell gathering, especially on such short notice. Well, for those of you have been following my humble life story, my long time aide and trusted colleague, Juliyana, left the company last week. Fortunately, we managed to round up some old time buddies for some cheese cake and ice-blended coffee.

It was a tough job to find a suitable date where everyone could make it, but finally we settled for a nice weekend. To tell you the truth, we only decided on Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at the new Jusco outlet near Melaka Sentral some 2 minutes after changing our minds (you can see now how *dynamic* we really are!).

Though Juliyana had barely been gone for more than a week, her absence was already felt by me and the rest of the colleagues. It was basically an ad hoc meeting, though we did manage to meet up with my de facto leader and former boss, Suhairin, who just happened to be in town. Nice that she's still in touch, after walking out for the last time nearly 3 years ago....

As the vicious, incessant cycle of attrition takes its toll on the on our organization, our numbers are steadily dwindling as time goes by. I wonder if there will be anyone around to organize a farewell for me when inevitably the time comes?

Farewell to Juliyana

Sigh, another successful product from our company's *Elite Training Academy*. As of last Friday, I bid a fond farewell to the last working day of April 2011, and also to my dear old friend and decade-old colleage, Juliyana.

I came to join this company 10 years ago, immediately posted to training in a company of joint-venture, located somewhat at the other end of this country (the Northern end, that is). It was during this time that I came to meet up with my future team-mates and office buddies, one of who was Juliyana.

Can't talk to much in detail about what I do (company P&C policy makes me a hush puppy), but basically, Juliyana was in charge of computer aided-design software. Effectively using it to serve as a guide to our team-mates (both inter and intra department). Over the years, amassing lots of experience and learning from our activities, she was effectively the best epitome of a *walking dictionary*, proving indispensible to both me and my predecessor.

As are all of us, so was Juliyana a *swiss army knife* as well, capable of handling tasks well outside a generic Job Description (again, careful choice in words, so that I don't imply something that gets taken the wrong way by some strange people who are more interested in accurately documenting what one should do....).

As I know it, Juliyana moves on to greener pastures, like many of my past colleagues, have no trouble getting a better job out there in their chosen field (in some cases, even leaving the industry seems to yield better results). As a friend, I'm always happy to see any of my friends hop off this stepping stone and move on towards another milestone.

As the song goes, the sun goes on rising, the sea still rushes to shore, although Juliyana is with us no more, life goes on in the *Offiice 2*, though I think it will never be the same, without her among us....

Farewells YTD, April 2011

The rate of attrition is normal, as my bright colleague from Human Resources puts it. I'm combining several farewells into a single post here, otherwise this will looks like a blog of farewells...!

First up on my list is my old friend and colleague, Jackson Goh. I've known him for as long as I've been in this company, which is *only* around 10 years or so. Believe it or not, Jackson has been around for 35 years - so he and some of the other colleagues really go back a long, long way. As this is a small, small world, once upon a time he was even the boss of my wife.

Leaving to enjoy a well-deserved retirement, Jackson brings along with him irreplaceable knowledge and experience in his field (a loss to the company indeed). Outside work, Jackson is particularly fond of his orchard / plantation, and loves the outdoors - going into the middle of the jungle with the Puma 4x4 Club Malaysia.

We had a separate farewell dinner for him with the management team, and also a free-for-all wilder night at Seafarer (a sea food restaurant at Klebang).

To an old friend, also my swimming partner when we go for off-site management meetings - enjoy your retirement, and don't forget us come durian season!

Next up, just a week after Jackson left, is Ms Gan Szu Min, who worked under Jackson.

She's the lady on the right (without glasses). The other two are still working in the company, as of the time of this writing.... :)

Unlike Jackson, who's been around for years, Gan's only been here for months. Too brief a stint to get really acquainted. Still I hear that she leaves the semiconductor industry to do something else, so whatever it is, I wish her the best of luck - may her new endeavours bear as many fruits as Jackson's durian trees!

The next two, first up is Vijay, who work in Logistics. Quiet fellow (or so I believe), after many years of working here, decided to move on (next destination unknown to me). He's the guy in the center below. Take note of the guy on the right for a moment....

Next, sitting in the Logistics Block, but working in the Environmental, Health and Safety department as a Safety Officer (also for just a few months, like Gan), I now bid farewell to Ravee. He came to us from our *former company*, but to where he goes next, I haven't the slightest clue. In the brief time together, due to the mish-mash nature of work (formally known as inter-disciplinary teamwork), I've worked with him on several small projects, and found him to be a helpful and co-ordinated person. Well, wherever he goes next, I'm sure his future employer will be very happy!

Now the next one is not really a farewell, so to speak, as he already left the company many years ago. Since moving back to the "former company", my old friend Sean Lee has reached another milestone in working life and decided to move on to self-employment in or near KL, city of opportunity. Well, there are in fact a lot of us who have moved back to the "former company", so it was a sort of mini-reunion during our small dinner at San Francisco steak house (ground floor, sharing the same building as the new Melaka Club).

Which brings me to the final famous guy to leave the company. The guy who shares the same name with the beau of Barbie, and professes he doesn't use Facebook because he is not from Gen Y (or even Gen X). I bid a fond farewell to Ken (Ng Wai Khean) from the Process Engineering team.

L-R : Me, Loh CK, Chong SC (standing) and Ken

We had a small farewell dinner for him at JT (which is a restaurant / karaoke joint next to Holiday Inn and Century Mahkota Hotel.

Now, a small note about *inbound traffic*. Some time ago, a famous guy from Logistics left to do his own thing. Well, now he's back, and we welcome once again, Anand! He's quite a looney guy, who definitely spices up our annual dinner and external functions with his antics and costumes. Here's his photo as "Dr Bombay* during the 2007 Deepavali Musical Night celebrations:-

Remember the guy on the right in Vijay's photo above? Well, same guy as the one here, sans turban and dark glasses!

Well, to all those who have left, good luck in your "new lives" - who knows, we might see each other again some day soon - you'll never know or guess who might leave or rejoin next! The farewell dinners may be over, the food digested, but the fond memories live on!

Farewell to Chung KP (Extremely Belated)

Ha,ha - For those who are reading this and wondering, "hey, didn't he leave like 2 months ago?", you are absolutely right. Talk about extremely belated farewells....

Well, for support group staff, sometimes someone does their job so well that you hardly ever need to contact them. Either that or you're not fully using the system. Well, in any case, in the almost 9 years that Chung KP has been with the company, the only memory of me asking for "tech support" from him is concerning some labeling - a relatively trivial matter to contend with.

Sometime in the beginning of November (NEARLY 2 months ago), we had a farewell lunch for Chung at the Chinese Restaurant at the Renaissance Hotel (we used to call it the Ramada Hotel many years ago). Astonishingly, they offered a Dim Sum buffet lunch (call them before hand to book though). That's an all-you-can-eat Dim Sum lunch, to be more specific.

Present was practically the entire staff of the IT department, with some HR, Finance and other guys (I fall in this category).


After the lunch and a short, short speech, NK presented Chung with a souvenir, which turn out to be none other than a laptop bag (befitting of the real IT guy - sans laptop, of course).


After that was the usual photo taking session, before shaking hands and bidding our farewells.




In his exit e-mail (sort of a tradition for those of us leaving the company), Chung wrote it short and witty, complete with an 8 point FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) too! :)

Well, with so many things going on, I never really got a lead on where he'd be headed off to. At least I don't hear standard cliche for leaving the company to "further studies" any more!

Farewell to Saiful

It's become quite common place for these "farewell" posts throughout the year. This month of August 2010 seems to be no exception to the rule....

Last Thursday sees the exit of Saiful from IT. There goes a friend and excellent source of tech support. We've gone through many tough times together, such as blue screens and Vista...! :)

It was unfortunate that I heard that he was leaving the company on Friday, one day after last Thursday, so (once again), I missed the opportunity to meet personally someone on their way out. Did get an SMS from him though, so at least I could SMS back a parting shot to him.

During the time he was here, Saiful was an excellent provider of technical support when it came to IT. True that he was scurrying all around the plant almost single-handedly, most of our woes were resolved by him promptly once attended to. Not everything could be tackled via remote access, after all....

Well, another entry in my ever-growing list of friends moving on to better prospects. Let's see when my own name makes the list...! :)

Farewell to Tan Pei Chen

Yes, another entry for my records of friends / colleagues who have made the choice to leave for greener pastures.

A couple of days ago, I found again another "goodbye" e-mail sitting in my Inbox. This time, from none other than my colleague from Planning, Tan Pei Chen. She had only been in the company for a couple of years, but during her "brief" tenure, we had worked together on several projects.

Typically being a planner, there was very little interaction (which was good, as when a planner looks for you, rest assured there is something that has to be fixed in production!).

I am sure that she will be sorely missed by production (or celebrated, depending on how one looks at things)! :)

Well, the distribution of staff seems to have taken on an inverted bell shape - on one end, we have a lot of young people coming in (fresh or with little experience), on the other end, we have the veterans who have positioned themselves in their niches. It's those people in between that prove themselves highly mobile. Time and time again.

Another name to strike off my phone book printout that I pin up against the wall of my workstation for quick reference. With all the going and coming (yes, we have new people coming in too), I'll have to print a new one soon, as the old one is starting to look pretty messy! :)

Farewell to Jerry and Tharuma

I make it a point to note down memorable dates, such as the last days of my friends and colleagues at work. Over the span of nearly a decade, I have since lost track of countless farewells that have been said.

Last Friday was the last working day of my colleague, Jerry, a veteran and true authority in the field of Environment, Safety and Health (and even Infrastructure / Facilities / Security as well). Once again, due to poor flow of information in my direction, I found out DURING Friday lunch, that Jerry was only in for the first half of the day. Meaning, he wasn't coming back after lunch, or ever.

Well, in a meeting late into the afternoon, I received an e-mail from yet another colleague, Tharuma, that it was his last day at work. Didn't hear any mention of him leaving, so this came as much of a surprise, not only for me, but to practically everyone else, even his co-workers over at the logistics department.

That's 2 less people in the company this week, practically disappearing overnight. All the more reason to remember, don't put off meeting anyone, and always treat everyone like they are the most important people that you've met so far that day. You will never know when the next meeting might take place!

Farewell to Tan SH

As mentioned near the end of my last post, yet another of my long-time colleagues would be leaving the company for greener pastures.

Well, two weeks ago was the time to say my goodbyes to Tan Swee Heng from Product Development (same department as mine, but for a different product family). Though we had never worked together before, in such a small company, it was hard not to frequently bump into each other during our daily routines (especially since we shared the same office building, separated only be by the wall of our cubical).

Soft-spoken and mild-mannered, Swee Heng was more famously known for his technical prowess than his commanding presence, but rest assured that if a problem or issue ever came into his sights, it would be dealt with systematically and swiftly.

Swee Heng adds his name to the bottom of the long list of colleagues who have since gone beyond the walls of our factory. As with the others, I'm sure that he would go far in his career with his next step forward. According to my sources (considered to be reliable), he has found a new job still in the small state of Melaka, in a Multi-national semiconductor-manufacturing factory (given how small Melaka is, making a correct guess here would be easier than striking first prize in the lottery).

Well, one evening, a few of our office colleagues got together for a small tea-time function, to bid farewell to him. There was subsequently an "offsite" dinner for this occasion, but alas I was out of the country and thus was unable to join....

In any case, may fame and fortune favour the bold - especially those like my dear friend, Tan Swee Heng...! :)

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen and hello again

Zero posts in March are not an indication of an idle month. On the contrary, my classification of *busy* just ascended to yet a new level, at both work and at home. That was basically why my last blog entry was a good 2 months ago!

As what I do, after a long time away from posting, is to write about the things that concern the people around me. That is, yet another outgoing stream of friends / colleagues.

This year, Valentine's Day happened to fall on the same day as the Chinese New Year (also know as the Lunar New Year, for those who are not Chinese but who celebrate this event all the same). It was on the eve of the eventful weekend did I have to wish additionally a "goodbye" to my colleague in Finance, Ms Siew Hong. Typically, I only hear from my colleagues in Finance once a month (during monthly cut-off). For Siew Hong, she was in charge of annual asset checking, meaning by right I would only hear from her once a year. Of course, if I know someone in the company, their reputation surely preceeds them! :)

Anyway, for the few years that we have worked together in the company, I found that we have certainly learnt a lot about each other's work. I know as much about Finance as she knows about Manufacturing. I asked, but never got a definite indication as to where her future endeavors might be taking her....

A good part of the month passed, up until the end, where I found out (by sheer accident) that I would have to say goodbye to Blossom, the cheerful girl from HR. She had been around for barely a year, it seems to me, but all so soon, she decided that factory life wasn't her calling, so off she went to a happier carrier of choice!

It was during this time too, that I found out that my old time friend since the days of our initial line transfer from Penang to Melaka was also leaving the company. To Thiagoo, who I owe a special debt to, along with the rest of the original failure analysis team, who played a decisive role for the chemistry that developed between me and their engineer (who would later become my dear wife). I nearly missed chance to say goodbye, as he was in all of the sudden after a long leave to hand in his badge and other company assets. Fortunately, my old friend managed to call me up before he departed the company grounds. Anyway, Thiagoo would be taking time off to recover his health. As his residence was close to my wife's hometown, we plan to visit him one day soon.

On the way out, an engineer who specializes in analyzing failures - Benny Lee. Don't know him personally very well, as he was stationed in a location some 10 km from our plant, which we have some agreement to lease the usage of analytical equipment. Well, so I hear through my colleagues that he would be leaving the country (that's certainly a new one), so I hope he finds better prospects where he's going.

There is another one leaving, much to my surprise. Another old friend. Though I found out today, the news has already proved to spread faster than fire through a kerosene-soaked rag. For those in the same company, you know who I'm talking about. For those who don't you'll find out soon...! :)

With all these "farewell" posts, I end this one with a slight twist. There is a small occurrence of counter-flow to the typical outward stream of people, though. A somewhat small consolation was the fact that we welcome again the strong and capable Dr Gunalan to once again fill the shoes of IEHS Head of Department. Well, after what was effectively a long, long holiday, he's back! Now, if my old boss could just do the same...! (here's some wishful thinking)

Well, so much for friends at work. To those I've mentioned (therefore I won't forget), congratulations on finding a new course in life, and for the strength and courage to take a step forward!

Farewell to Tiew HT

I found that having to stay back late in the office for work on one particular day was actually a blessing. Last Friday, as I set about clearing some work before heading home, my long time colleague and friend Tiew Hin Teong stopped by my office and shook my hand, as it was apparently his last working day. I was a little surprised, as I had asked him the night before if I would be able to see him next week. When he said yes, he did not mention that he meant "yes, of course you can see me next week - outside the company"....

So in a way, I was fortunate to be able to bid farewell to my friend in person. We've worked together for nearly ten years now, since the owner of my company bought it over from the previous owner, who still has some manufacturing presence in Batu Berendam, not far away from here. Tiew was a hardened veteran in his field, and was a great contributor to the Maintenance Team where he had worked. We rarely needed to approach him to help out on problems, however, when the occasional "impossible mission" brought us to a grinding halt, Tiew more often than not manages to help us pull through.
I missed several farewell events organized by some of our colleagues, so I had nothing more on the spur of the moment save a warm handshake and some words to offer. Didn't even have time to snap a parting photo together.... :(

As I understand from Tiew, he was moving on to pursue his career elsewhere, but he'd remain in Melaka still, with the occasional business trip overseas. As this part of town was such a small place, chances are that we'd meet again someday, perhaps while shopping at Jusco or maybe during dinner one of the many restaurants?

Regardless, I'm happy to have made the acquaintance with Tiew, and I wish him well in his journey onwards!

Farewell to Shazlie

Sigh. Yet another entry in my "Farewell to...." series, it seems!

Shazlie and I weren't directly involved at work (which probably explains why we could get along without fighting over yield, output, etc..). However, I did have the opportunity to work together with him in several of the committees in the company, notably, related to Environment, Health and Safety, as well as our Recreation Club.

I was notified of the farewell dinner somewhat earlier, and, though I marked the date and time on my calendar, a last minute rescheduling of my almost weekly teleconference with Germany resulted in me arriving nearly 1.5 hours after the starting time. This was by all means late, even by our fabled Malaysian standards...! :)

Some of us had chipped in and put together a farewell dinner for Shazlie, at the Dragon Deluxe Restaurant in Batu Berendam. Unknown still to many, this "Chinese" restaurant actually has a halal certificate, so it is Muslim-friendly (thus the ideal spot for our dinner). We booked a large room upstairs, which was large enough for a couple of tables, and comes with a karaoke set, so you could sing the night away.

Met up with a couple of ex-colleagues there too, which is a good thing to keep in touch with true friends. As opposed to, say, those who "bakar jambatan" (burn bridges) the moment they leave.

Shazlie's last day wasn't until sometime later in the month. However, due to my unexpected business trip in the following week, I shook hands with him for the very last time as an employee of the company that night. It's not yet known to me where his endeavours will take him, but nonetheless best wishes to my good friend. And thus do I brace myself for more resignations in the weeks to come (keep checking here for updates as they become official)!

Farewell to ...?

As mentioned last month during our little farewell dinner for Ee, just when you though it couldn't get worst, alas, yet another valuable member of the team has decided to look for greener pastures elsewhere.... :(

Did you manage to guess who it was?

Well, to make it easier, I've taken out from our group photo those who have ALREADY left, as well as the obvious exclusion of the little girl that is the daughter of Norfarazian.

So, moving on, we start with Candidate 1 (Asri):

Usually jovial and full of cheer, however glum and solemn tonight. Looking at the expression in his eyes, could it be him?


Candidate 2 (Zul):

He replaced Hasnol, who replaced Zoolfadli. Would it be his turn to be replaced?

Candidate 3 (Me):

Nothing worse than being at the helm and watching team members leave one by one. Like being the captain of the Titanic. Will I be leaving next?


Candidate 4 (Yan):

Seldom outspoken, letting actions speak for words. What untold tales lie behind that Mona Lisa smile?


Candidate 5 (Ju):

She's already lost a lot of weight, as a result of diligence and hard work. Are we going to lose her now?


And the answer is:


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Candidate 2 (Zul)!

Yes, alas, so soon after saying goodbye to Ee, I now have to bid a fond farewell to Zul. In his brief time with us, he has demonstrated his willingness to work hard and flexibility in handling unexpected situations (and now finally giving my an unexpected situation to handle).

Sadly, as of today, I still know naught of his current whereabouts, though I'm told he still is in employment somewhere within the state of Melaka.

Well, wherever you are, my friend, I know that you will go far in your career, and hope that you continue to add value to your new team, as you once did when you were here.

Farewell to Ee WC

Forgive me for the lack of variety on the subject matters of my posts. Lately, there seems to be a domino effect that results in a chain of events faster than I can think of some "non-related" events to write about....

Last Friday, I shook hands with my engineer, Ee Woei Chang. A move that is becoming well-rehearsed and almost instinctive, due to the amount of practice I've had in the past few days. Not surprisingly, young and vibrant individuals rarely find themselves without options - and as fate would have it, Ee did indeed have an ace up his sleeves.

As of this moment, I only know that he will be going to "KL" (which more often than once turns out to be somewhere in Selangor).

Thus, last week, we had a small farewell dinner, inviting along some of the former Engineers who once served under the banner of our department. Here we are, against a totally unrelated backdrop depicting the "Legend of the Barcelos Cockerel" (no prizes for guessing where this is). Due to the fact that our dinner was smack in the middle of the week (last-minute change of plan), it was not possible to extend our invitation to other members of the ever-growing "Ex-PD" group, as some of us really did go to "KL" and start a new career. Anyway, we managed to get Sean (seasoned Engineer), Kek (fresh out of the company) and Tai (who came also with Kelvin, not in the picture as he was holding the camera).

L-R (back row) : Asri, Zul, Ee (the VIP), Kek, Sean
L-R (seated) : Me, Yan + daughter, Juliyana and Tai

Actually, there is another (person leaving). Can you guess who it is? If you have no clue, don't worry, as you will ready about it at the beginning of next month.... :)

Well, tomorrow, I start another day in the office with less one man on board. Ee was with us for just over a year, but in this brief span of time has contributed immensely to our department goals and efforts. It was great having him on board, and so, like the others before him, I sadly close yet another chapter in our department's story....

Farewell to Boon GC

Sigh. I was just lamenting on how often I had to shake hands and say goodbye to my colleagues - today I got yet another chance to perfect my technique....

Boon Gaik Chu was a quiet and reserved lady, for as long as I can remember knowing her. So it came as no surprise that her decision to move to greener pastures was devoid of much "hoo-hah". It almost slipped my mind that today was her last working day (knowledge of this came to me through mostly unofficial channels, so the validity and accuracy of my sources left much room for improvement. Luckily, for this particular instance, my sources were spot on). Rushing back to our common office block from a really long meeting that held me up way past the official working hours, I was fortunate enough to find her just packing her things, logging off from her PC for the very last time....

As usual, she greeted me with a smile. Not uncommon coming from Boon, who, in spite of the rigors and challenges of daily working life, somehow always manages to put up a bright and cheery front. Where does her future lie? That's still a mystery to me. However, wherever she may go, given her diligence and great working attitude, I know that she will certainly go far (up the ladder, not far away).


In the rush to say goodbye, I did not manage to snap off a parting shot. So, I have here an older photo taken some time ago (actually, she still looks pretty much the same, albeit with a change in hairdo).

Well, my friend, Aloha ʻoe, until we meet again....

Farewell to Audra

In the limited time that I have to indulge in one of my former favorite past-times (that is, writing), I choose to give priority to matters that mean the most to me. Friends rank amongst the highest, so I'll take this opportunity to bid a fond farewell to (yet another) colleague.

Now, it is a common misconception that only people from my department are leaving the company in droves like Israelites out of Egypt (during the Biblical times, that is). Last Friday I took the opportunity to go down to HR to say goodbye to Audra for being a valuable member of the team, as well as true friend, since she joined the company a little over a year ago.

In my impromptu "exit interview", Audra expressed that she would be taking some time off from working life to spend some quality time with her family, before seeking employment again perhaps early next year. Which is a great idea, that serves as a reminder to us all that family is one of the big, important "stones" in our life that we should put in our "jar" first.

Well, best wishes to Audra, with hopes that a bright future lies ahead for her and her family....