2009 was eventful, work-wise, only because of the very bad start. Gosh, I remember over Christmas 2008, it was "hell". Due to a mistake (or rather, a series of mistakes from the same root cause), we basically lost quite some money... enough to put one's career in jeopardy. And so, 2009 started with mopping all the problem.
Well, 2009 started very bad at work. Was almost alone in mopping the problem and frankly, till date, it's really something best forgotten though we'd probably use this "case" as one where internal controls went wrong (or rather, where there was no internal controls put in place in the first place!).
When I first took over the UT Ops department back in end 2006, I knew I was getting into a department famous for "staying late" and "fighting fire". I guess I survived but you know, there are some problems that only surface at the worst possible time. To put it simply, sometimes there's still fire underground and if the firefighters are not careful enough, the whole forest will burn.
It sucks to drive a bus that was mis-handled for long and waiting to break-down! But life goes on. I probably kept my job because I was not 100% at fault. But hell yea did I learn that being in operations can sometime be only shitty work, and no knowing when bad things can happen if you are not prepared.
And so, 2009 was kind of a year spent on boosting internal controls. We were 'audited' 4 times (2 internal and 2 external). I got to learn the "language" of auditors and though I still feel sometimes they are just "airy-fairy", I acknowledge that they do have valid points. It's just the execution that's always difficult - and I guess that's what I am being paid to do!
Christmas 2009 was a much better one. And I am looking forward to 2010. Family-wise, all was great. I became an uncle and my parents were in town for 3 months. Married life is still blissful though we have settled into a nice routine - tuesdays and thursdays dinner at the in-laws for instance. Thinking of starting a family too but leaving it in God's help. My wife is as supportive as since day 1 and I'm doing my bit by leaving work relatively early (around 7-8) - must work to bring this to 6:30pm... yea!!!
2010.... 2010.. maybe it's time to put the effort to cut down the weight... I'm not below 30 anymore! Time to focus a bit more at work and must think about the next decade or so. WOuld be great to do something for the industry... and for the community. Must look into new routines in our personal life... exercising regularly, cooking regularly, handing out with friends, and getting closer to friends.... we've kind of lost touch with a couple of our friends...
it's looking great though...
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The popoAttan Clan
Something amazing and out-of-the blue happened, and still unfurling! Just over a couple of days ago, an email originally sent by one of my cousins snow-balled into more than 30 other emails, a google group being created, a family tree being drawn, a google site being developped, and a big picnic being planned.
Well, families originally from the "Attan" side (my dad side), which now include the Cheng Kai On, the Ah Kai Mun, the Hung Tim San (and a couple others, which i could not find out at writing time), are coming back together and getting re-acquainted. Don't get me wrong. There was nothing bad. It's just that over the 2 generations (my generation) since popoAttan and kungkungAttan landed in Mauritius, we have kind of grown apart; even among the still-around Attan side (that's me).
I myself (and my side of the family) was not that super duper close with most of other cousins, save for a couple few, probably because of the age gap (>10 years?). No wonder we (myself and 2 sisters) landed in Singapore and married here and would probably be back only for my parents' sake (if we can't convince them to stay put in Singapore that is).
But I am very excited about this reunion of sort. We have to get this done else the next generation will simply lose touch with each other. And this time round, I am "grown up" and can contribute :) I remembered I was the shy one (yea yea, don't chuckled and choked) and generally quite ignorant when it came to family ties/issues/stories. Was probably closer to 1-3 cousins, in the sense that we spent time playing and sharing etc.. always thought it was generation gap.
So, here we are again trying to ensure that the next generation won't become unknowns to each other.. and I am looking forward for the outcome!
Well, families originally from the "Attan" side (my dad side), which now include the Cheng Kai On, the Ah Kai Mun, the Hung Tim San (and a couple others, which i could not find out at writing time), are coming back together and getting re-acquainted. Don't get me wrong. There was nothing bad. It's just that over the 2 generations (my generation) since popoAttan and kungkungAttan landed in Mauritius, we have kind of grown apart; even among the still-around Attan side (that's me).
I myself (and my side of the family) was not that super duper close with most of other cousins, save for a couple few, probably because of the age gap (>10 years?). No wonder we (myself and 2 sisters) landed in Singapore and married here and would probably be back only for my parents' sake (if we can't convince them to stay put in Singapore that is).
But I am very excited about this reunion of sort. We have to get this done else the next generation will simply lose touch with each other. And this time round, I am "grown up" and can contribute :) I remembered I was the shy one (yea yea, don't chuckled and choked) and generally quite ignorant when it came to family ties/issues/stories. Was probably closer to 1-3 cousins, in the sense that we spent time playing and sharing etc.. always thought it was generation gap.
So, here we are again trying to ensure that the next generation won't become unknowns to each other.. and I am looking forward for the outcome!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Execution is tough!
Started to wake up early... well, because schools resumes and my wife teaches @ 8am every single day of the week!
Anyway, went to Shan office, bought a new erm, got some tau-sa-pia, got a new radio for the smurf (our van) and back to work.
Over late lunch, I "munched" through the list of tasks and things that have been documented ever since we started 2 new web-page-post on our Twiki (our Unit Trust wiki). Essentially, these document meetings or discussions that require action, or execution.
Realised that while some of the tasks were executed, a number was not. It's really tough to get our priorities right. People have been bombarding us with the "important' and the "urgent". We know the drill; do the most important and most urgent (well, sometimes we ought to do the most important and least urgent! Cos we tend to make more errors when tackling the urgent stuffs). Anyway, it's all true but I truly believe that one can only learn through experience on how to differentiate between those 2. I keep struggling with this when it comes to (a) long term aims and (b) short terms! My long term goals is to build the team because without people, I can only achieve a multiple of my own capabilities but with others, I can achieve much more, on a geometric scale! The short terms? Well, these are the things that our boss wants! Want this, want that, why not this, why do that!
There is probably no solution but this calls for the right balance. And today, I think that it is about time to start focussing more on what management wants, leveraging on the team that has been built.
There's gonna be a new monthly meeting that will focus on our UT business, and involving the front, back and maybe even IT. That's great but well, challenging too. It's time to put to test what we have been building over the past 2 years. Can we get things done within the month in-between the meetings. Whatever else it might be, it surely is my own personal test to myself! I will know if the right things were done over the past 2 years. When the team shines, I will shine. If the team fails, so would I doubly.
Anyway, went to Shan office, bought a new erm, got some tau-sa-pia, got a new radio for the smurf (our van) and back to work.
Over late lunch, I "munched" through the list of tasks and things that have been documented ever since we started 2 new web-page-post on our Twiki (our Unit Trust wiki). Essentially, these document meetings or discussions that require action, or execution.
Realised that while some of the tasks were executed, a number was not. It's really tough to get our priorities right. People have been bombarding us with the "important' and the "urgent". We know the drill; do the most important and most urgent (well, sometimes we ought to do the most important and least urgent! Cos we tend to make more errors when tackling the urgent stuffs). Anyway, it's all true but I truly believe that one can only learn through experience on how to differentiate between those 2. I keep struggling with this when it comes to (a) long term aims and (b) short terms! My long term goals is to build the team because without people, I can only achieve a multiple of my own capabilities but with others, I can achieve much more, on a geometric scale! The short terms? Well, these are the things that our boss wants! Want this, want that, why not this, why do that!
There is probably no solution but this calls for the right balance. And today, I think that it is about time to start focussing more on what management wants, leveraging on the team that has been built.
There's gonna be a new monthly meeting that will focus on our UT business, and involving the front, back and maybe even IT. That's great but well, challenging too. It's time to put to test what we have been building over the past 2 years. Can we get things done within the month in-between the meetings. Whatever else it might be, it surely is my own personal test to myself! I will know if the right things were done over the past 2 years. When the team shines, I will shine. If the team fails, so would I doubly.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
One year on!
Gosh, it's been slightly more than 1 year since I last posted anything! Anyway, nobody's reading :) Not even my dear wife!
Still, it's indeed a good way to "store away" the experiences. Interestingly, I was just sharing with my wife about the fact that I tend to "move" on around 2-3 years! And it's going to be 3 years since I joined UT Ops! For one, my counterpart in Marketing is also moving to a different role. I am even thinking about starting to think about taking a front end role! That would be a great new experience, though I will really want to finish a few things in UT Ops!
So, the great thing about UT Ops right now is that the people has been with me for at least 1 year. The officers are around 2-3 years now and that's great. A lot more things can be accomplished through the people. That was always the most important thing to me since day 1, even sometimes at my own expense!! So, it is like a critical stage where we can really start "testing" whether we can live to our "aspired" core competencies which are "execution, execution and execution" and "IT".
We want to get things done. And we want to leverage on our IT knowledge. I have a few guys who are good at projects and handling such IT stuffs. I myself am quite confident about understand the current system, which is important if we were to make changes! Our system, UTIBO, was like started from scratch and it's like we have deposited layers and layers of functionalities over them. Now, we are thinking of even changing to a new ones. Management keeps harping about having a ledger system, which is great theoretically but execution is key. Sometimes, probably one of the main problem with management is thinking that too much that IT can do anything, anytime. Maybe even to the extent of taking it for granted. Yes, everything is possible but it takes time, and more importantly, nothing gets accomplished without the people :)
That's why I am very proud of the people right now. I think we have a good team.. Well, I've always thought so. Now is truly testing time. Can we get things done fast and efficiently! Can the workload be distributed among all the people nicely!
It sure looks like that! I'm being an optimist for once ;)
Still, it's indeed a good way to "store away" the experiences. Interestingly, I was just sharing with my wife about the fact that I tend to "move" on around 2-3 years! And it's going to be 3 years since I joined UT Ops! For one, my counterpart in Marketing is also moving to a different role. I am even thinking about starting to think about taking a front end role! That would be a great new experience, though I will really want to finish a few things in UT Ops!
So, the great thing about UT Ops right now is that the people has been with me for at least 1 year. The officers are around 2-3 years now and that's great. A lot more things can be accomplished through the people. That was always the most important thing to me since day 1, even sometimes at my own expense!! So, it is like a critical stage where we can really start "testing" whether we can live to our "aspired" core competencies which are "execution, execution and execution" and "IT".
We want to get things done. And we want to leverage on our IT knowledge. I have a few guys who are good at projects and handling such IT stuffs. I myself am quite confident about understand the current system, which is important if we were to make changes! Our system, UTIBO, was like started from scratch and it's like we have deposited layers and layers of functionalities over them. Now, we are thinking of even changing to a new ones. Management keeps harping about having a ledger system, which is great theoretically but execution is key. Sometimes, probably one of the main problem with management is thinking that too much that IT can do anything, anytime. Maybe even to the extent of taking it for granted. Yes, everything is possible but it takes time, and more importantly, nothing gets accomplished without the people :)
That's why I am very proud of the people right now. I think we have a good team.. Well, I've always thought so. Now is truly testing time. Can we get things done fast and efficiently! Can the workload be distributed among all the people nicely!
It sure looks like that! I'm being an optimist for once ;)
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