Back early from training

Don't tell the boss but the training at at a neighbouring plant finished early and here I am, in the comfort of my room at home, at 2.15 in the afternoon. Must make the most of this valuable free time. Hehehe. Suddenly I realised that I haven't updated my blog for a few days already.

The training which I attended with Wan, was mostly for the IT people. Within our organisation, the IT people are all facing some sort of predicament. According to the plan presented to us about 8 months ago, the whole IT operations, involving almost 600 people, will be outsourced to another company. The problem is that not many of us are convinced that this new company will be able to handle the overall IT operations of one of the largest corporation in the country. As it is also, the IT people are struggling to keep up. The change of management and transition to another setup will surely cause distress to the people involved and disruption to overall service of the many companies within the corporation.

I am also involved in this scenario. I changed skill group from Process Engineering to IT because I really like the field and I know I can be really good at it. I am enjoying my time at the moment, with the people and also the work. However, to take up the offer to the new company, which by the way has not been presented to us in anyway, will require an element of gambling on my side. I don't know how that company will be, what the culture is going to be like, who my new bosses will be, what is my future with this new company, will I be easily laid off if they ran out of money and won't be able to pay my salary? I've come across this one company, where its staff has to work without any salary being paid to them for 3 months. I am afraid this could happen with the new company. The risk is higher because the return is higher. That is the maxim of investing, higher risk, higher profit. My current employer at least is a good paymaster which I can be sure of because if the company goes under, basically the whole country will be in trouble. So, I'm kind of reassured by that fact.

So, what do I do? Do I take the risk of doing something I like but I don't really hell know what the work is going to be like in the new setup. I guess I won't mind that much if I'm in KL because the HQ is there, the main people is there and I suppose it is better to be near where the key people are. Instead, I'm here on the East Coast and I doubt that I will meet the top management very often. These kind of things are important if you're working in a big corporation. And, one more thing, sorry if I offend any of you working in KL, the work here is so much critical and exhausting. You have plants running 24/7 and you just need to make sure that they can maintain operations. If not, you'll really get screwed if their PCs suddenly crashed or they cannot access their mail during a weekend. So, unless there's higher pay for people working here, I don't think I should join the new company.

What if I remain with my current employer? Not too bad, just that I won't have any work or position. Some people might not mind that but I don't think I'll survive too long in that way. My brain will go mushy. So, I need to get hold of a vacant position, of which I can do the work and like as well. My main concern is that I don't want that position to be here in the East Coast. It's back to my original intention of wanting to set up base in KL. I don't want to work here for any longer that I need to. I've put up 4 years of my life here so I think it's time to go back where I belong. The situation gets more complicated because Awi is working here and it won't be easy for her to get a release from her boss. Apparently, there's a lot of her colleagues who are waiting to get a transfer in KL. I know that with her skills and experience, she can find work within the corporation easily in KL. But just because her boss won't release her, she'll be stuck here until she is allowed to go. Isn't that a sucky situation?

I promised Awi that I won't leave her and Haziq here all alone. But what if I can secure position in KL before she can get a transfer to KL? Do I decline that position? Do I accept and then commute every weekend back here? I know all these depends on a lot of things but I need to think about them now. It's such a headache and it's so difficult to make the correct choices for the benefit of your family and yourself.

For the time being, the only thing I can do is just pray to Allah for the best possible outcome. It is a challenge and what is life without decisions to be made and problems to solve? I just hope I'll be able to make the correct decision when the time comes, that's all.

Turning 27!

It was my 27th birthday yesterday, 14 December 2003. It's not such an immensely long period of time, only 27 years since I landed on this Earth. In the hereafter, 27 years will be just like a blink of an eye. But I suppose I've gone through quite a lot in the past 27 years. Abah commented to me when he called to wish me Happy Birthday, that he only got married at 28. I've already got a son at 27. Hehehe. Talk about being advanced.

Anyway, didn't do anything special on this supposedly special day. Came to work but my god, I was so not in the mood. The family in Bangsar joined Abah's office trip to Kuala Selangor and from what I heard, it was really a fun trip. Its been a while since we went somewhere as a family. Hopefully, we can do something like that once in a while. Of course, it's nice to be at the house in Bangsar, eating together etc, but going on a trip or holiday with your extended family, it's kind of like old times when we were small. Oh well, good things never last and you just have to rely on memories to relive it.

Awi told me that she wants to bring me out to dinner somewhere, just the three of us (Haziq will act as the chaperone). I suggested Awana Kijal Resort, that's the only closest classy place around here. What I didn't know was that she had been scheming with Shai, Am, Junai and other close friends on having a surprise birthday for me!! On our way out to Awana, Awi got an emergency call from Shai, saying that Junai was vomitting and feeling sick. Well, Junai had complained a few times to me during the day that he wasn't feeling well so I didn't suspect anything lah. So, we got to Shai's house, and he came running out. While driving up to the house, I noticed some people sitting around, which was rather suspicious to me. Come on lah, if someone is like sick near you, wouldn't you help by doing something like sending the poor guy to the clinic or something? Well, being the sharp guy I am, I had a strong feeling something was up, went close to the door, heard some soft voices and Junai stifling a laugh, I knew it then, they're having a surprise party for me. My first thought, "Oh well, there goes my Western dinner down the drain!!". :)

Anyway, there were cake, candles, nasi dagang (a Terengganu delicacy) and spaghetti-ala Shai. For entertainment the host had prepared a home-made karaoke parlour right in his living room. It has been a while since I did something like last night. So, all in all, a great time indeed, in the middle of sleepy Kerteh town.