Never bite the hand that feeds you~

As the sayings goes "做人不要忘本。"

But I say "做人更不要忘恩负义。"

Never bite the hands that (once) feed you.

Why am i blogging about this in the middle of the night?

I feel I had to let this out.

We recently let a skilled technician go. He resigned on his own acccord, in the beginning of this year.

Citing " better opportunities that other company is giving him and a promotion and some foreign "S" pass privileges etc.

Looking at his rosy future ahead, of course we let him go. Wish him well and that's abt it.

He's a foreign Indian, quite an okay fellow in my opinion. work when told to, although showed some attitude. but for me, quite manageable. the rest of the workers didnt give much thought abt him, 'indifferent' i must say.

So today I was busy as usual, managed to find some time to visit a customer in Pioneer sector, and saw a competitor brand sample on his desk. But we had been business partner for so long, he * an australian* didnt hide anything from me, so we were talking about our directions, how the economic situations is making the shipping repairs business decline.

And i causally brought the topic of the foreign object in his desk. He didnt minced his words.

HiM: "Oh yes that sample was brought to me last week. Some new company getting a distributorship and he brought his foreman with him last week. "

Him: " I remember him working for your company as well. He used to pour the resins for my company I remembered"

ME: " Is his name S ? "

Him: " Yes. He was wearing his foreman uniform, he seems like he's promoted?"

Me: " well, if you need my opinion, I see some poaching going on. and some idiot thinks he's getting a bright future but actually the company is using him as a 'publicity campaign' ? "

S is a smart man. Having cheated some many overtimes for small jobs, got good salary every mth because we chose to'close one eye' due to the work nature. We given him what he wanted. His wife came to stay with him, we gave him long leaves. Basically we took care of his welfare and that is how he is rewarding us?

I feel sorry for him somehow. the company on the surface offers him yes, a better salary every mth. but w/o overtime, its really shitty for a foreign worker here. even if you're a foreman or not.

But he doesnt know how much he is being exploited for this job? Maybe he does. or trying to get back at us. that I duno.

If you think my remarks is scathing, you should hear his 'presentation' to my customer about our product.

Just becoz " I have been in this line for years and working for them, I am doing an undercover exposure for you regarding the weakness and let you know how my new company product is superior etc and all that fucking shit coming from his stupid mouth.

My customer is no fool. he was telling me, 'although u guys are expensive, never gave me any problem, i dont see why i wont be using you just becoz of some new boys in town'

Really some people.. can stoop so low just to keep their head up.

its not the first time i see ex colleagues joined competitor and expoilt every single thing they could gained from the ex company.

I feel sorry for the morales and ethics that corrupted the competitivness of the industry. Sure, poaching is quite a norm in every industry. but surely, dont one have a certain principle in life call .... " 骨气? "

Somehow, I can forsee people will tell, ' I need to eat, my family need to eat, so if someone offer me a better opportunity in the same industry, I will go for it '

So morality and ethics is not even an issue at all. whether its pure ambition or family issues or financial crisis of your own, the push factor for ppl to join the competitior seems endless.

I sigh.

I sigh because somehow, one day I MIGHT walk that unethical path. I tried not to.
so far, because my work experience spans across industry, not within industry. I didnt want to end up eating my own words.

So the number of competitiors is slowly piling up. I am going to have a 'good time' in the coming months. perhaps years, but one thing for sure, I will climb my way up. whether in this companny or the next. and i wont turn my head back and says ' fuck the ex-coy'

Never bite the hands that once feed you. Or at least, brings you to where you are.

With this, I bid you guys good night.

The Curious case of Benjamin Buttons

I watched this show recently.

The 3 hr long show, filled with peculiar plot involving peculiar personalities, made the oscar nominated movie, truly a fresh perspective to anybody who been through life and thinks that times only goes forward. Never backwards.

I dont really have the usual attitude to watching movies, esp when it isnt, horror, blockbuster, or filled with adrenaline rush.

But I just cant give this show a miss. "The story of an infant borned in his eighties, almost blind, almost deaf and on the verge of his death. "

But God had other plans for him, he grew up, in reverse order. We watched his life unfold. From an emciated old man, into much handsome and younger man, to teen, to toddler and finally back to a baby again. "REVERSE AGEING"

But we knew deep inside, although the clock on his appearance appears to be going backwards, the clock inside his body, is going forward. A teen well in his sixties? I think the storyline manages very well in creating the whole movie and setting the audiences mood.

I truly enjoyed the show despite being a 3 hr melo-drama. (and friends knew i totally hated drama)

Time is a funny thing. Some people chose to forget. Some people chose to move on. Some people never really left at all.

There were times when I felt like I was breaking down... bit by bit. there were times, when I felt I needed help. there were times, when I cried sitting on the bathroom floor with the sound of water pouring through the showerhead, diluting the tears I have in me.

Sometimes, I will appear to be the life annd soul of the party, or group. that humorous gesture or jokes that emit from me, makes this man a jolly good fellow.

Sometimes, I will be deep in tots, beating 1-2 redlights, but just in time to e-braked and realizing death is merely inches away from me. Heart pounding. Eyes dilated to the size of saucer-pans.

Sometimes, I will fall asleep @ 12mn, and woke up @ 3am, pottering around the house. just wanting to get tired and fall asleep again.

Does depression comes and goes? Sub-consciously, is my body going against my will? I duno. I never knew. Infact, in this whole life of mine, I tried to knew many things. but things... I will never knew.. matters the most to me. Funny when i said that.

then anyway, its just random tots I have in my mind, I just let it out on words, and hopefully this period will end soon...

On a slightly happier note:
I won some money on all the days on Chinese New year. I bought myself some items which I would normally buy if i have the extra cash. Yesterday, I bought myself a nice looking pair of croc shoes without flinching about the price.

I usually look @ the pricetag, take a brief look at the item, and put them back where they belong. but its different this time, thus I knew, maybe I won, quite some money.

Today is my last day of the gambling season, before setting back into the workaholic mood for work. Looking to my fat bonus in April 09. Plan to travel abit, before coming back to work. hOpefully it work out.

I have a vietnamese enggr coming to my company, from the sister company in vietnam. His name is Ho Duc Minyh. Learning the trade i am in. I took him in, but he's too soft spoken for my understanding.

I told him the first thing you should understand when working in shipyards.
"IS NEVER BE INTIMIDATED BY PEOPLE WHO HAD A LOUDER VOICE THAN U"
He's a uni student, my foremen and Eric thinks he's too 'soft' for the hard work in shipyards. perhaps so, but we'll see.

Anyway, its the end of my blog again, I wanna share with you people a nice song, milk introduced to me. I found it on youtube, hope you people enjoy the song, esp the lyrics. Meaningful last lines. and oh, the piano rendition.



Adious.

Have you watched them sleep?

Well, folks.. new year is over as of today. (for me at least, I won some money on the table but somehow.. i knew i am losing something as I am gaining at the same time =S sigh... )

I came across this article today and I thought I will share with you this piece of parental essay with you guys...

Do cherish the people besides you...

Have you watched them sleep?
By SHAKUNTHALA DEVI



I RECEIVED a message on my Friendster account the other day. It was one of those forwarded messages, the type I would usually scan briefly before hitting “delete”.

But this message, written in Bahasa Malaysia, started with a simple question that caught my attention. A rough translation of it goes like this:

“Have you ever watched your parents while they were asleep? Your father’s body, once big and strong but now, the big is withered and the strong is weaker. Wisps of grey peek out from his hair, wrinkles now “scar” his forehead and face.

“This man works hard every day and would sacrifice anything to make sure his family is provided for and his children get the best education possible.

“Or how about your mother, whose soft hands once cuddled and held you close when you were a baby? Now, those hands are dry and rough, bearing evidence of the challenges she faced just for us.

“This woman takes care of our daily needs, constantly nagging and scolding us because of her love for us. But sadly, we often misconstrue her love as control and unfairness.”

I have never thought of watching my parents while they slept. I’ve watched my cousins sleep when they were babies, all round and cuddly and sweet smelling. But watch my parents? No way!

But after reading this message, I realised that there was indeed much truth in it. In fact, my parents do not have to be asleep for me to realise that they have aged.

Just looking at my mother walk tells me that her legs are not as strong as they were before. Or hearing her ask me for help with that flowerpot in the garden, the one she used to be able to push and drag around the garden without my help.

Or watching my dad lift a 10kg bag of rice. I can easily carry that bag now. I am young. But to him, it is a struggle.

What do all these observations tell me? Yes, my parents have aged. They are ageing, just as I am ageing. But as I age towards my best years and become stronger, they in turn are becoming weaker. They were once the caregivers and I the receiver. In time, I know our roles will reverse. Like it or not, want it to or not, this is life.

I suppose I have always subconsciously thought that my parents would always be with me, never growing old. It took that message to make me realise that my parents are not immortal. That they, too, will one day leave the world and me. Until then, I will make good use of our time together.