It's the time of the year again...

to reflect on your year!

Keep calm and keep bloggin'

Tata commented we didn’t change a bit!

That’s music to the ears, haha. But all of us did la, I’m very sure of that! My face used to near flawless, but now laugh lines appear when I ever grimace slightly. /sigh

So after Fab’s wedding banquet I was walking out when I suddenly saw a familiar face that registered in my long term memory – and so did she. We exchanged ‘hi’s. Curiously, both of us know we knew each other from Uni (which is like >6 years ago), but don’t remember how exactly! I asked for her name, hoping it’d aid my recollection, only to have her reply that I bo sim -_-…  Anyway, during our conversation whose main topic was on how fun holidaying in Europe is, she mentioned she read my blog recently and is pretty updated on my new daddy lifestyle. Just before we bade farewell, she asked for my name too… -_-''''

Ahaha. Thanks wor, someone actually complimented my writing! :D

Sometimes I wonder who else follows my blog, other than the few whom I know do... Laughably, even my buddies don't read my blog! Haha. I like to catch up on friends’ blogs too, but frequently updated ones are a couple only (Jingxy, Ivan)… and though Xia-xue’s blog url is still under the ‘favourites’ widget on the right column of my blog, I haven’t been following her since post-nose surgery. 

Perhaps with the modern convenience and accessibility of fb and instagram, ranting or sharing interesting reads/photos have taken over the desire to pen down one's thoughts in a blog. But I prefer blogging leh... find it more personal and expressive? Blogspot's archive and labels functions make it easier to search your previous posts, too. I have this dream that when I am retired and old, I will make myself comfortable on the porch/balcony overlooking calm scenery (e.g. beach, sea, greenery, padi field, mountain valley), sipping tea and reminisce my blog posts, diaries I penned when I was in primary school, and other childish stuff currently collecting dust inside my drawers. That's the reason why I'm stubborn on keeping them, my dear wifey, HAHA. 

Keep calm and keep blogging ya!

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Editor's input: Oh, but I did kpo selectively on XiaX's blog, specifically about the alleged defaming of a fellow blogger and the distasteful stinktel marketing saga in 2014? That was a real eye-opener.

Why can butches strut down Orchard Road and do not garner any more attention than other passer-bys, but gays who cross-dress are scrutinized from head to toe to nail colour?

Do butches prefer to be addressed as ‘miss’ or ‘mr’? I am worried I'll offend any if mistaken by their dressing and/or haircut...

Pass on a good deed!

I was more than very happy in my previous job. Yes I clocked countless OT hours and needed to incessantly read and follow up on the beeping SMS and whatsapp msgs after office hours; but the fulfillment gained from my job provided the energy and motivation and kept me in the hot seat for a few years. And I was proud that my last held position was one where I could exert a significant amount of command and influence.

As much as possible, the BU heeded the G’s preaching to allow older workers to work beyond their retirement age.  However, they must fulfill a few criteria – which I shan’t disclose here, but you should know they are of course transparent and fair.  Rehiring retired workers has been a practice for many years already.

Once, we were reviewing a few technicians who were reaching 62 years old later in the year.  As all of them could fulfill the criteria set out by the company, we were more than happy to rehire them. However, one of them does not hold a SG citizenship/PR and I was advised that there would be difficulty to extend his Work Permit. The exact words to me were “not possible, we tried writing in to (the respective agency) before many times for previous technicians, but not successful”.

I wasn’t gonna be fazed by that comment. First question I posed to the supervisor – do you want his services? Yes was the reply.

And so I requested HR to send in an application to (the respective agency) to extend the technician’s WP. Different from previous appeals was that this time, it was appended with my personalized letter.

Two weeks later, I was informed that the technician’s WP was extended, and HR could follow up with the necessary paperwork to rehire him. The supervisor, who earlier said it wasn’t possible, was beaming when he thanked me. It was the first successful case and would set the precedence for future applications.

My pleasure, it was the minimal I could have done. When I moved on some 18 months later, the technician was still gainfully employed. :)

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Outside of my own job scope, I was a beneficiary of a kind deed from a station staff in 2010/2011.

So what happened was that one day I was on my way home when I dropped my bunch of keys into a drain outside Tampines MRT station. The drain was deep and the metal grilles couldn’t be lifted without the use of tools. I was seriously distraught. Without the keys I couldn’t unlock my bicycle which was parked there, and worse – where in the world could I find a metal cutter to free my bicycle?

Dejected and at a loss, I approached the station staff for help. Ms Faridah was the staff on duty. Upon hearing my plight, she put aside her work and went into the staff office. To my amazement, she came out armed with a long crowbar and with it, removed the grille in no time. The drain was dark and musky and at least a metre deep. I volunteered to climb in to retrieve my keys but Ms Faridah ushered me aside and promptly climbed in without hesitation! I was stunned like vegetable! Sticking to the daunting task, she quickly grabbed the keys and hopped out nimbly from the drain – with soiled hands, dirtied elbows and my keys intact. You could imagine the joy and relief that overcame me at that moment, the feeling was akin to someone returning your lost wallet or mobile phone you thought you’d never see again. But Ms Faridah was not done yet, together with another passer-by, the three of us heaved and slotted the heavy grille back into its original position. Phew! I thanked her profusely for doing such a great favour beyond her call of duty.

The next day at around the same time, I was tapping out from the train station and noticed Ms Faridah was on duty. Coincidentally she also saw me, recognised me and we exchanged a smile. Her personal touch prompted me to write a letter of appreciation to her Mgr to express my heartfelt gratitude.

I never knew if my appreciation reached Ms Faridah at all – until many months later, in Oct 2011, I was invited to attend the National Courtesy Awards ceremony. Ms Faridah was just one out of three ‘Kindness Champions’ (and the only one from $MRT) from a total of 316 recipients! Helping me retrieve my keys wasn't an isolated kind deed Ms Faridah had done; she had been a consistent excellent service provider and received numerous compliments! During the ceremony, the personal experience from yours truly was given a special mention from none other than Mr. Lui Tuck Yew himself:

Ms Faridah Bte Salim, a Customer Service Leader from SMRT Trains, is well-liked by many commuters for the countless times she has gone to their rescue. On one occasion, Faridah went beyond the call of duty to help a passenger retrieve his keys from the drain. The drain which was located outside the stations boundaries, was deep and dirty but Faridah was unfazed. She stepped into the drain and successfully retrieved the passenger's keys. It is because of such selfless acts, her consistent customer first attitude, and her willingness to go the extra mile that has won her the hearts of many appreciative customers. 

(Source: http://www.mot.gov.sg/News-Centre/News/2011/Opening-Address-By-Mr-Lui-Tuck-Yew-At-The-National-Courtesy-Awards---Transport-Gold-On-18-October/)

See also:

As for Ms Faridah, she did not mind getting her hands dirty to help a stranger. When Mr Eric Ng dropped his keys into a filthy drain covered by a heavy metal grille, Ms Faridah took the trouble of finding appropriate tools to help lift the grille, and stepped into the drain to help recover the keys. She then proceeded to use her bare hands to replace the grille over the drain.

(Source: http://kindness.sg/blog/2011/10/19/upping-transport-service-standards/)

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Be generous with your compliments, pass on a good deed every time you can! You'll never know how much goodness your kind actions will generate and multiply :)

Always check:

1) The amount displayed on the credit card bill before you sign it. $29.90 is just one click of a button wrong from $299.00.

2) Your monthly utilities bills. Why would your household of 2 be using twice as much electricity or water than the average household?

3) Your IRAS NOA. Why no SG50 rebate?

Complacency may lead you to trust the e-system 100%, or placing mistakenly high trust in the cashier keying in the credit card amount; and you could be paying more than you need to - unknowingly.

True stories!!!

Maintenance statistics

So the preliminary investigation of QZ8501 crash was disclosed a few days ago, 12 months after the fateful Airasia flight from Surabaya to Singapore went down into the Java Sea.

The cause of the accident was highlighted as a congruence of technical fault and lack of pilot training.

(A) Technical fault

The Rudder Throttle Limiter (RTL) is a component which operates the rudder of the plane. Records retrieved from the black box revealed that it failed 4 times during the fateful flight. The pilots managed to resolve the issue during the first 3 occurrences. However, on the 4^th, one of them breached protocol and manually reset the RTL by disconnecting the relay. The electrical circuits broke and resulted in the plane carrying out a 6 deg/sec left roll (whereas a ‘safe’ roll is 2-3 deg/sec). Both pilots quickly tried to level the plane but did not immediately notice that it was ascending. Awhile later, one pilot alerted to the other to bring the plane down; however the instruction was overlooked. Unable to ascend any further, the plane then stalled and plunged into the ocean, killing all 167.

The investigation also uncovered gross under-maintenance issues. Horrifying was that the RTL had been reported faulty a staggering 23 times over the last 12 months! Details such as the break down of the exact faults and rectifications are not disclosed yet, but this shocking discovery raises many eyebrows of Airasia’s maintenance regime and standards.

(B) Inadequate pilot training

One of the pilots was a former Airforce pilot. Apparently, Airasia admitted that both pilots did not undergo emergency procedural training (can’t recall the term for it) as they felt there is no likelihood of the occurrence of such emergencies. Not sure what other flight operators opine of this. Unfortunately, the decision made by the pilot to troubleshoot the RTL by taking matters into this own hands (pun intended) was a severe lapse of the individual.

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This investigation does nothing to alleviate the pain, sorrow and heartaches of the immediate families affected but I hope it at least provides them with a reason... or a closure to their endless whys.

In addition, I hope this incident serves a wake-up call to all MRO companies to critically review their maintenance regime and not be complacent.

23 times in 12 months? By any standards that is too striking a statistic, let alone from a critical component and for a flight operator! IMO, this incident merely uncovered the tip of an iceberg of the incalculable, dormant ‘timebombs’ of all MRO operations. I am a serious advocate for an independent, third-party analysis for all MRO operations. The analysis must be conducted CHC – comprehensively and holistically and continuously. Before any analysis can be done, there must be a reliable system which allows maintenance records to be logged, documented and tabled. And of course, there’s no way that maintenance activities can be logged down by themselves… an awful amount of investment has to be put into technical skillsets training.

Half-joked to wifey that perhaps, just perhaps, I could consider the path of a MRO consultant...

Wah, December liao ah....

(and time for the yearly review...)

This is da bombzzzzzzzzzzz

Courtesy of Magic Mom!