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. :)
---------------------------------
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.
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.
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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 :)
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