Mr Rayns' Updates

Sighhh! Its been a looongg longgg time since my last visit/update on my own blog. I hardly find any time to post update nor to visit others blog too. There is only one reason for this... which is my work. For the past 3 months, it has been very challenging and difficult for me to do my work in my new company. A lot of issues have to be settled and yet i still struggling to learn and at the same time solving the issues.

I found it very difficult to make progress here because expectation is high from everybody. Little guidance is provided (compare to the previous company I worked before) and the process is much more complicated as it is hidden inside the machine. Sometime I just feel exhausted and thinking  about giving up. But deep inside me, I know that this is the right choice for me regardless of the suffering I have to endure.

It's really tough.... I lost control of my life.... It was the lowest point of my life ever. I was lucky my fiancee is here so I can share things with her. So, it helps a lot to keep me on track. When things like this happened, I cannot help myself from thinking, why I left my previous company in KL? I had a very comfortable life there. Learning is never been that easy for me. But here? its a total opposite!

But that was 2-3 months back. At this time of writing, I am glad because I stayed. I started to pick things. Everything started to make sense for me. I started to gain control over my work, which mean a total control of my life as well. I foresee that things is very easy here, as long as you know what you are doing and you know how to do it right.

All in all, I am looking forward to work here. Some ppl might see me as a dumb person... well, I have to accept that before but not forever. Sometime you have to be dumb in order to survive.... just make sure you know  ur direction and intention....The say goes as "Difficult times never last, but tough ppl do". This is such an inspiration for me to be tough, because I believe that difficult times is just temporary. 

Cukuplah sia berfalsafah... my last word is..."Tunggu lah kamurang"... I meant it in a good way...  dont get me wrong.

Proceed on: "Mr Rayns' Updates"

The Training

Today is the most interesting day I ever have in my company.... Why? Because I attended one whole day training about Integrated Circuit and wafer fabrication processes. I love it because now everything seems to make sense for me. Before this, I was kinda confused about processes which they called as implant, diffusion, etching, litho bla bla bla... I don’t really know what is being discussed during the meeting as I failed to visualize the purpose of having these processes.

I went to the clean room for many times, and yet since it is a highly automated system over there, I can only see the ‘surface’ of it. The whole processes is confined into a big machine which made it almost impossible to see how the machine working on the wafers. The trainer is very experienced as she relates her explanation with things connected to daily life. So, it’s easy for us to understand.

Overall, it’s a very interesting topic, and now I know how to relate things like chip size and processing speed, which I have been wondering all this while. The same goes to terms like nano technology, duo core, Celeron etc and how exactly this very tiny chip is being developed from layer to layer until it becomes usable to their intended end product.

It’s very interesting!

-----THE END-----

Proceed on: "The Training"

New Life in Singapore

It's been about 2 weeks since I arrived in Singapore. I just got my internet broadband yesterday, so I can start blogging again. After all life is not bad over here, at least for me.. I heard a lots of unpleasant things prior of leaving... i.e too strict, no freedom, cannot do this, cannot do that, cost of living very high etc....

I am not in exception, but as usual, I don't allow my judgment to be overshadowed by those remarks.... I used to think about the suffering I will have to endure  without my car, about have to get up early in the morning, about having to start over to build my network again and all those sort of "What If" questions which popping out of my mind most of the time.

It was not easy for me to make this decision, but as usual, I prayed. Thanks God, after about 2 weeks over here, everything seems to be alright.... work wise, well, ppl seems to be able to accept me even not all of them. You know, some people are mentally unstable, how good or friendly you trying to be, they just ignore you or pretend like you does not exist. But, that's just a small matter. Most important thing now is to find my footing.

Living cost? I would say it's cheaper compare to Malaysia if we compare dollar to dollar. In KL my average 1 day meal expenses like Breakfast -RM 2.5 (canteen food), Lunch - RM5-8(Including drinks) and dinner easily about RM6-8. So 1 day meals can reach up to RM16 - 18/day. But in Singapore, my breakfast is only $0.8 (Free tea and coffee).... my lunch and dinner hardly exceed $5 respectively (normal hawker shop).. so all in all its about $8-10.

What abt other things? I would say general items here are relatively cheaper. (Based on my experience) Energizer battery (2pcs) is $1.6 compare to RM 4, my favorite choclate is $4.5 compare to RM 8.3, KFC snake plate is $6.7 compare to RM9, shower cream is $4 compare to RM7 etc... There are lots more items which I found cheaper here..... Beer? believe me its only around $2.3/can (tiger  n carls)... Even with this price, they claimed it still expensive.

The only thing that I found quite expensive here is the accommodation. I am renting a common room at $700/mth for couple. Earlier I thought it was reasonable, anyhow many of  friends of mine told me otherwise. So, I am waiting until everything is stable first before making the next move. Some more, the environment is quite comfortable here. So will decide later on whether wana move out or not.

Transportation is very convenient and systematic. I thought I will feel isolated without my car ready at hand, but no... there are ample access to buses and trains as well. You can go almost everywhere as the transportation is well connected. You only need to know which bus to take. For MRT, its quite straight forward.

Lastly, I am getting my internet broadband at $27/month for 2.0Mbps speed. Do you know how much we have to pay for half of the speed in Malaysia? Its about 100 plusss.... The highest speed available here is 7.2 Mbps with monthly subscription of $41....cheap and affordable right?

-----THE END-----

Proceed on: "New Life in Singapore"

Moving again....

I finally tendered my resignation yesterday after weeks of thoughts and deep reflection and meditation.... haha... it was not that easy as much as it sound to be and it may not be pleasing and rationale to some ppl... but decision has to be made.

I will be going to Singapore by September as I received a job offer there. Now, I have started to look for a room somewhere nearby the company I am going to work to, and has shortlisted some of the potential owner. I will be going there somewhere in August to have a look and once finalized, I will be flying there right after returning from KK. 

It is a coincidence with my plan to go back to KK in August for I just realized that my passport is going to expire in Oct 2010. Renewal have to be done in KK if you want it immediately, otherwise you have to wait for weeks to do it here in Peninsular. I don't know what makes such difference, but that's what happening. I still remembered 5 years ago, when my company decided to send me to Japan for training, they have to send me back to KK just to get my passport done. Of course I am more than happy because I get a free ticket back to my lovely hometown.

All in all, I am looking forward for my new job, with a new company and environment. I don't know what to expect, but I want to be positive about everything :). We will know for sure in my next post 3-4 months from now.

-----THE END-----

Proceed on: "Moving again...."

Re-Location

The current company I am working with has 4 plants in Bayan Lepas area which are located at separate locations except for Plant 1 & Plant 2. Currently I am working in Plant 1 as an Industrial Engineer. I have another three colleagues which is an IE as well. We are doing the same job, but only dealing with different customers.

After working in here for about four months, next week I will be leaving my colleagues and friends at Plant 1. I will be transferred to another plant which is located about 3km or 4km away. I have a mix feeling about this re-location. Firstly, I am very comfortable with what I am doing now and also with the people around.

Moving to Plant 4 means leaving my friends behind. Not only my friends, but my colleagues as well. I will be the only IE there and of course the job requires greater responsibility and to be more challenging. Hesitating to go out of my comfort zone, nevertheless, I said yes to the re-location plan because the other side of me want to discover what they have in there.

I am now in the midst of training and transferring my current job to the newly hired IE. She is doing well so far and I think it is the best time for her to pick up everything before the next incoming project which is expected to be increased in the coming months.

I will be starting to work at Plant 4 by Tuesday next week. I do not know what to expect since I never been there and I do not know anybody around closely. But I believe its how you deal with people and fit in yourself into the crowd. Once you understand them well, and then start manipulating… hehe.

Proceed on: "Re-Location"

The Evaluation

I didn’t realized that time is flying very fast. I have been working in my current company for 3 months. Today, my manager called me for an evaluation regarding confirmation. I thought it suppose to be with my immediate supervisor first. But actually, my immediate supervisor had given his personal view about my performance with my manager. Appraisal score was ready, just waiting for me to read and sign.

The evaluation falls within 4 categories as follows:

Category 1: Goals & Job Execution
Remarks:
Perform job in direct & orderly manner.
Always with new ideas and suggestions.
Beginning to set aggressive goal.
Reliable & total independence.
Prioritization: Above average.
Grade: C.

Category 2: Performance Behaviour
Remarks:
Capable & competent,
Self-reliant and competent
Has drive and determination
Learns quickly and adapts to change and job enlargement
Meeting TCS, good customer feedback
Persistence & cycle time conscious
Always punctual and has not been absent from work
Grade: C

Category 3: Interaction

Remarks:

Generally capable of leading, motivating and work with team
Accepts and promptly carries out assignments
Able to communicate and express thoughts and ideas with all levels
Always get along well with all associates and work well with others
Pursue until issues resolve
Participate and assist in extra activities and maintain basic housekeeping
Grade: C

Category 4: Job Skills
Remarks:
Good quality of work with minimum errors
Imparting knowledge and skills as requested
Grade: C

I wonder what suppose a person should be to get an A or B? They must be very brilliant, excellent, and outstanding. Looking at the remarks above, I can accept that I indeed fall under that category and actually it is not that bad after all. But the grading makes it looks like….. WTF???

Even so, there are some criteria which I do not agree with, as I do not see any method or way to channel my efforts toward achieving it. Maybe it requires another 6 months to go? Or probably needs to be more aggressive? Or probably as a matter of fact, the ‘railway’ is not there. I am glad it is well communicated with my manager and he understands my concern.

Nevertheless, there are some positive points and words of comfort given by my manager. He is still the best manager I have so far since started working.

P/S:

If it is a self evaluation, I already put myself under Grade A as I usually did in the previous company. Hehehe

Proceed on: "The Evaluation"

I Dont Know

I had been busy lately. I mean in the office; as there are a lot of things to do. Anyhow I enjoyed doing it, as it is not boring. Relationship has improved as I gained more respect and responsibility than before. Thanks to God for answering my prayer….. and thanks to my ex-company, for the precious knowledge they had given me. It’s really worth it.

I’d finish downloading Prison Break E21 & E22. Thanks to Mr Well, for such a resourceful blog. I am gonna watch it tonight after taking my medication. I transferred money into my ASB account through Maybank2u. But I am not sure whether it goes through or not. So, I tried for a small amount first. Need to update my account especially the correspondence address which is still written USM Transkerian as the current record.

Yesterday my friend sent me an email which contains a picture of a kind of food which I used to eat during my childhood as what people say can cure sinusitis or Resdung ka??? It’s a pig nose (Hidung babi). I forgot to save the picture but it seems very delicious. Hehehehe

Well, talking about swine flu, eating the SWINE actually does not make you get the flu. I read about this before, but still some people seem to be misunderstood. See the Sabah Government banned for pork import. But, it’s ok. Sabah does not need imported pork. They have enough on their own; be it a city swine or a jungle swine (New Term)….. hehehe. But I love both.

-----THE END-----

Proceed on: "I Dont Know"

Attitude

It’s has been a month since I started to work in the new company. My job is very simple. First, I need to do the Work Instruction as guidance for the operators to do their jobs and to prepare the Bill of Labor for quotation purpose. This job is not difficult to do, but it can be a tedious job as it requires a lot of details to be taken care of.

After the first month, I get to know that my boss, is a new comers as well. He is a nice guy and I am glad to work under his supervision. By the way, some people with bad attitudes also colours my one month life here. What do I mean with bad attitude here? Well, I meant exactly those people who are too afraid to share their knowledge and giving looking angry face whenever I asked them about something.

If they read this, and if they think they are the one whom I meant to, please do not confront me as you will be only getting harsh words from me. Instead, I suggest you to do a HANSEI or self-reflection on why you behaving in such a bad manner.

No offence to anyone please!! I have the right to write anything in my own personal blog.

Proceed on: "Attitude"

My Flip Flop

Even though I am a bit free, but I keep myself busy as I need to prepare to move out to Penang soon. I decided to move on Friday. Actually I am wondering about how many of my stuff I should bring together. Considering of a limited space of my car is one thing. Another and most importantly is, how big is my room size in Penang?

I talked about this with my friend to whom I will stay with, and he said the room is “small but not really small”. How small is small? I asked him to compare it with any room he knew during our old days in the university, but no concrete answer given. Well, I don’t blame him.

So yesterday, I decided to ask him to take a picture of that room in 4 different angles. I asked him how many tiles covered up the floor, so that I can estimate the room size and he did reply me the info, thanks to him once again.

Well, as an IE, doing layout is one of my job descriptions. So I try to apply this skill in deciding about the most conducive layout for my room, so I can have the most possible efficient layout in town. To my amazement, the room is real small!! Is this the room I am going to stay in?

Look at how many unutilized tiles left? FYI, one tile measured about 30cm square. So, I am pretty sure that my room is really small. I shouldn’t even think about what things I should or should not bring along.

Anyway, I remind myself to be simple. It’s good enough to have a friend to offer me a room to stay and it really avoid me a hassle to find a new room around. So, thank you Henry. One thing is, I am going to negotiate further so that the rent can be made lower than what we verbally agreed earlier. Hehehe…..

----- THE END -----

Proceed on: "My Flip Flop"

My Last Day in PTM

Last Monday was my last day working in PTM. It had been a great day for me as i had wait for that moment for such a long time ago. Me and some other friends had farewell lunch together at Pizza Hut.

I did not managed to go around the factory to say good bye to everybody. I don't think it is necessary for my case..... or probably deep inside me believes that sending email will do.

So, I wrote a very simple email to everybody, which read like this:

Dear All,

Today will be my last day working in PTM.
I would like to thank to all of you, for everything; the support and guidance towards carrying out my job, and most importantly for being such a good friend all the time.

I am sorry if I ever hurt all of you in one way or another, and I hope the same thing from you too. No one enjoys saying goodbye, but sometimes it just happen for a reason.

Take a good care of yourselves, and till we meet again in future.

I felt a bit sad of leaving my close friends behind, and also upon leaving the company area. Anyhow, thanks God because at the same time, i embarked a new starts. My sceptical boss ever said to me "Dont' expect the grass to be greener outside"..... I am not sure what his purpose of saying that.... it might just the way his brain work.

Why should i be afraid of something i do not know or out of my control? Why i should let my fear keep me from moving and stay the way i am forever? Well, I cannot predict the future, but who else can?

Since i will be reporting to work on the 6th April, I am taking this ample time right now to relax, watch as much movie as i can, eat and sleep as much as i can, wash my car, and so forth. Tomorrow I want to go shopping. Need to buy 2 clothes since I almost forgot that the new company wear casual at work. I only have 3 t-shirts. Lets make it 5 so that 1 day i will have at least 1 t-shirt to wear.

Till then..... bye bye

----- THE END -----

Proceed on: "My Last Day in PTM"

The Crossroad

Today, I officially send my resignation letter to the HR. I had been waiting for this moment and I love the feeling of resigning. Shortly after that, the HR manager called me. He returned my resignation letter, and saying that my resignation is not accepted. They asked me to reconsider my decision.

This Friday, my immediate boss will return from oversea trip. He will talk to me regarding the current situation. So far, I haven’t retracted my resignation or the job offer, but I am giving a chance for my boss to say his view, and I am listening. Come to Friday, I will decide what my final decision would be.

For the time being, I am shielding myself to keep me away from making any decision based on any influence. By the way, a V.I.P will be visiting me this Sunday. I think I will have a lot of things to talk and share with her. Just now, she texted me….. “We are on our crossroad”

Now i have to go for my running session. I must improve my flabby belly. See you again.

-----THE END-----

Proceed on: "The Crossroad"

Last Week (WK 43)

It had been a nice week because of the Dojo. Dojo is a Japanese word and it referring to a learning and improvement activity in my company. I don’t know the exact word in English anyway, but in this event, a number of people will involved. They will be divided into smaller group and working together to realize their group’s aims or objectives.

I have forgotten how many Dojos’ I have joined so far, but I believe it shouldn’t be less than ten. I have different feelings on each different Dojo. I hate those which need me to stay back more than 10 o’clock. But, luckily last week’s Dojo only last mostly until 7-8pm.

It was a nice Dojo since I did not have to do my daily reporting which I always consider as a waste of time. How much of job are you talking about to complete in a day? But if your reporting is a one day report short, people will think that you are not doing any job. People expect to hear more. That’s what makes me sick.

The last day of the Dojo ended with one hour written test which compulsory for all candidates. They need to sit for this test in order to be qualified for a Level 1 certificate. Currently I am at level 1A. Practically, the highest level to achieve is Level 3.

During the examination, I sneaked at the questions while walking around, to my surprise, I found that some of it was indeed very difficult to answer. No wonder most of them cannot finished it on time. Luckily the time was extended. At this time, I don’t think I am fit for my Level 1A certification anymore.

I knew the reason behind. It’s because I seldom use it in my daily job. Not because I don’t want to, but because my job direction doesn’t need it to be used. Thus, I forget. What a waste of HUMAN CAPITAL. You get this people qualified for this and that, but never used them for what they had been trained for.

Talking about my job last week, the Dojo was the only thing worth to be mentioned then. A lot of terrible things with terrible people and terrible situation happened too, but they were all history, and Mr Lett is not going to write about it here. Probably next time when the time is right.

Proceed on: "Last Week (WK 43)"

Industrial Engineer Pt 1

I seldom talk about my job, what exactly I do, and what does it mean to be an industrial engineer. Back in year 2000/2001, was the time where I had to decide what course or which field should be taken to further up my study. I actually had no idea. My first choice was engineering. But then, what engineering? Civil? Mechanical? Material? Chemical?. I had no idea at all.

Anyhow, I did some study, and found out that the terms and description of Manufacturing Engineering & Telecommunication Engineering just got my attention more than others. So I raised application for both, but ended up being offered with the first one.

I don’t want to talk about how bad I did on my study. I loved my life as a student but really felt sick when it comes to study. I prayed to God to help me to get through my study on time, and indeed with His help, I managed to finish up my study on time but at a very average result. I am not a smart person, if you want to know.

Then after sat for my final examination, I started looking for a job. I prayed hard so that at least will get a job. I did not being choosy, as I knew what my qualification deserved for.

So after merely 3 weeks, I got a job offer as a Business Development Engineer. I like my job, but this company was really a vampire!!. They sucked all my ‘blood’ and energy and emotion. I just can’t stand it and left only after 1 month and 23 days. Well at least I can use this company to get me a car. It was really difficult without a car during that moment. And without a car, I don’t think I will take such a drastic decision to go to KL, just looking for a job.

I drove to KL, just 3 days after my resignation. I arrived in KL in the middle of nowhere. I promised to meet up with my brother at Mid Valley, so he can guide me to the next destination (He knows KL well). Anyhow, since my Nokia 3310 did not support GPS technology during that time, I ended up stopping at KL Sentral. My brother and I met up half an hour later and went to my old friend’s house, where I supposedly be staying.

Since then, I sent a number of applications, and a week later got a job interview and a job offer, as an Industrial Engineer. I thought earlier, I suppose to write directly regarding what Industrial Engineer is all about. But, I guess my mukadimah is very long, and would be very boring if I continue further. So, I stop here and will continue in the next post.

Proceed on: "Industrial Engineer Pt 1"