In retrospect, 2008 seems to be easily summarised by one word: 乱. Be it in the social, economic or political aspects, this year is simply nothing but a mess. I doubt there is need to elaborate more; we can simply summarise the events that happened as "3F crisis": food, fuel and financial. To add on, we should not forget all the disasters that happened: cyclone in Myanmar, earthquake in Sichuan (the same time that Chelsea lost to Man Utd in Champions League), and so on. Not that there isn’t really anything good to remember this year, such as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the 2 cheena pandas that went to Muzha zoo in Taiwan (and I am cursing as I am typing this, because these 2 pandas should have moved to Taiwan 1 year ago so that I could have visited them during my ORD trip blahblah) and I got my GST offset package and all. But after thinking for so long, these are the few things that are worth mentioning about, unless you guys can enlighten me further. So I can simply say that this year is basically a pretty bad one and may 2009 be a better year. I mean it.
Sidetrack: during yesterday’s meet-up session, wong mentioned that it felt as though we just ORD not long ago. Time flies; it has certainly been a while (over a year in fact) since we stepped out of camp with our pink IC. Post-NS life has been nothing but work for me. I was exposed to 2 companies during my 6-month holiday, each being pretty renowned in its own area. Come to think of it, although time passed by very quickly, it seemed as though it was forever when I was working. I have decided that working life sucks and it felt really good when I ended work at June, although I would say that during these 6 months, I really learnt a lot of soft-skills that I probably wouldn’t have learnt elsewhere. And getting exposed to those office-politics probably wasn’t a totally bad thing, it just reminds you that one always have to be careful and tactful whenever something is done, so as not to offend the other party. I am glad that I have remembered this by heart and even during my university life now, I am applying what I have learnt while I was working as a temp staff.
Working in Recruit Express was no doubt an experience for me. Having able to work in a competitive and fast-paced environment, I was glad to be able to survive for the 3 months that I was there. The staffs are nice and friendly, and I am grateful towards my mentor Liz, who was there to assist and guide me whenever I met obstacles along the way. In addition, I have made a lot of friends with fellow temp staff and we are still meeting up after every one of us has left the company for our further studies. I am glad that everyone is alive and kicking well. Of course, credits go to my working buddy CJ; it’s really fate that we are able to work together in a corporate world after working together in HQ coy for 1 year plus.
I also gained insight through working in SMRT, though working there was pretty much a chore. Working as a temp staff but covering a perm position was certainly not easy; the amount of stress level was high and having a perm staff as your employee was definitely weird. But I still managed to survive working there for 4 months and I am glad I did as I really learnt what it is like to be a HR executive after going through various recruitment drives and handling post recruitment issues like salary issues, promotion, and resignation and termination cases. I still vaguely remember one incident that some drivers were repatriated on the day that they were terminated due to undesirable behaviour (sorry but I can’t reveal too much, it’s private and confidential). It was just so... dramatic and I could still remember my boss saying “it’s part of the job. You have to be cold-hearted sometimes and be rational.”
School started in August, and between June and then I had 2 orientation camps and I am glad I went for it, cause I made new friends with my OG (quote: zee(: says: you made new friends. XD) MAFIA and CONAN! And lots of other new friends as I joined different sub-committees in Science Club. School has been fun and interesting so far and sometimes stressful and tiring too, especially during labs and projects. But I am not complaining because I feel that I have made the right choice so far by majoring in Chemistry. The December holidays have been great so far, I completed a marathon, caught up with friends, went Malaysia, bought a new phone, highlighted by hair… changes (for the better?) and now that the hols are ending soon, it’s time to recharge and gear up for the coming semester!
Also, this year marked by 21st year in this world. It’s supposed to be a very significant year where you are supposed to have more freedom and such, but for me it’s nothing much I guess. Expect for more burdens ad more responsibilities, and probably higher expectations too especially I am the eldest son of the family and the eldest grandson for my maternal side and now that I am 21 I am expected to be able to do more things blahblah. But it’s ok, I am still handling it well, not that stressful at all. Being 21 means that friends around you turn 21 too, this meant lots of 21st-birthday parties to attend. Apart from parties there were lots of outings and meet up sessions; with my JC classmates, sec 4 classmates, army mates and also my RE temps. Busy busy busy! And I seriously spent A LOT this year as compared to the previous 20 years of my life. This is scary; I ought to spend less next year and start saving money.
This year has been nothing but eventful (good and bad, probably more bad events) but I am glad 2008’s coming to an end. I am gonna say what I am going to say last year, may 2009 be a better year for me, in terms of my work and studies and I also wish for better health for my family and friends.
Happy 2009! (in advance lah, still got 20 odd hours and I am going shopping later! WOO FINALLY)
Labels: family, friends, fun, university, work