Defending Champions For 6 Years In A Row

Finally,the pressure is off..4th Divison has won it again for 6 years running!All the hard work have been paid off and credit also goes to my team members.Without our bond and support,we wouldn't have made it.I am so gonna miss them as we will go back to rota duty.The laughters,the stories and lots of activities together as one.Thanks also to my friend,Nuralina, and her friend for coming down to support.Don't forget the video hor..


Mental Training

Having a great time

Team event champions!

Lifting the trophy

Enjoying ourselves before the start of the competition

Here goes the video of me climbing the extreme left wall in the team event clocking 44secs which led to the team winning the event!

It was really nerve wrecking but eventually we made it through. I am really looking forward for next year's climb.Enjoy the video!

Good To Be Back

Back to ROTA duty as our rock climbing training has been stopped for a while.The competition is postphoned to the 4th of March. It is going to be held at SAFRA Yishun and those who want to come down, do support us.

Last two duties,I was the Sec Com for PL411 and I remembered we had 8 calls for that 24 hours! Which means,no sleep and no rest.I was totally shagged.I had 2 fire reports to be done.Sighhh..But next week our rock climbing will resume as per normal..back to Office Hours!We have one week to give it all out before the competition.Wish us good luck!!

Starting My Life Anew

Goodness gracious.I almost couldn't sign in to my blog after a long time of not updating.Somebody has been pestering me to update my blog and well...here I am again.It was months since I last updated my last post regarding my resignation while working in a shipyard copany based in Batam.I relaxed at home for three months without a job to spend time more with my family.

The good news came as my medical checkup was finally approved after being KIVed for 8 months!I was accepted to join SCDF as a regular firefighter and the best thing was I was posted to my former station which is Jurong Fire Station located at Boon Lay Drive.At that point of time,I was too excited that I can't wait to start my career immediately.

22nd January 2009,my first day at work.I'm already used with the routine and I'm already recognised the moment I step in the station.I didn't immediately start my ROTA duty(I'm officially in ROTA 1) but instead I was selected to participate in the oncoming Inter-Unit Rock Climbing Competition so I had the privileged to follow office hours from 8am to 6pm.

Initially,I thought that rock climbing is pretty easy but in actual fact it is really hard.Before you even reach the top part of the wall,most of your energy is already drained.Training was intense as the competition is getting near so we need to put in a lot of effort.Training venues for rock climbing is held at Bukit Batok Fire Station, Singapore Polytechnic or at SAFRA Yishun which is rather much challenging for a newbie like me.

This is me climbing the walls of SAFRA Yishun.

I will inform you guys if anyone of you is interested in supporting us for the competition which is held at SAFRA Yishun.I'm not sure about the date but I will tell you later on.

Tendering My Resignation

I'm back again for so long not updating my rusty blog. I was too busy as I was working at Batam. For 2 months, I worked in a different environment. I managed to pick up the culture, language and the people in Batam. In fact, it was an adventure. I have already resigned and the only thing is to tell my life experiences.

I have loads of pictures and videos to share with you the memories I had while I was in Batam. Every good thing must come to an end.

This was just a normal thing which usually happened on the early Monday morning where I took the morning ferry at 7am. Almost reaching at Waterfront,Teluk Senimba.

I guess I was just bored inside the car. We were going to Nagoya as my friend wants to go to Bank Mandiri to withdraw his cash.

I took this ferry ,Batamfast, from Batam Centre to go back to Singapore. I stumbled upon a great scenery, a rainbow and a sunset.

This a floating dock. For your info, this platform can submerge underwater so that huge vessels can berth and dock for repairs. See how huge it is. The place is breezy too.

An overview of how high a vessel can be.

My medic giving stitches to a worker who had an accident on his shin. A very deep cut. WARNING! Not for the faint-hearted.

I managed to catch a glimpse of Singapore when my ferry was heading for Batam.

Golden Globe or known as GeGe like the Indoesians call it.Popular during Friday nights. A must go place if you are here at Batam. Do visit Nagoya to enjoy the live band here.

This is me in full uniform including the body harness. So basically, you guys have the overall picture what I did when I'm in Batam. I have made lots of new friends. In fact, Bahasa Indonesia is a beautiful language. Below is the pictures of my colleagues which I was in charged of.

They are great people to work with and I won't forget thir hospitality when I was there as their superior. They are my brothers, family and working colleagues.

I promised them that Iwill be coming over in a month's time to visit them again so anyone interested in following me just leave me a tag. Do not worry about the safety of the place there as I know some contacts especially the police.

So since I have resigned, where am I heading next?Of course,back to firefighting.

A Week of Culture Shock

Unveiling my new title

As an explorer, you have to take risks. I took my risk by taking up a job outside of Singapore. Alone and unknown of the working environments, I rise up to the challenge. Working in Batam, Indonesia ( a third-world country) - totally a culture shock for me. Overall standards in Batam are way behind Singapore. I will touch on that in a little while.

Foreigners working there at Batam are called expatriates so I'm one of them. The people there look up to us as we are better certified and knowledgeable in different areas. I felt honoured when I step into the office on the first day as they called me "Boss" or either "Pak Iskandar". There are also other Singaporeans working there.

I did manage to learn and speak Bahasa Indonesia that fluently within the week. My co-workers comes from different places of Indonesia and have different ethnic groups like the Bataks (mostly Christians), Flores, Javanese (mostly Muslims), Manado and Riau so it is essential to communicate with them using their language as majority do not understand or speak English.

My jobscope is actually to monitor workplace safety at the shipyard cum fire & rescue. I am in charge of the fire & rescue training department as I have the certificate and experience back in Singapore. I am a newbie in marine industry and also how the work is done at the shipyard but luckily I met another Singaporean expatriate, Nor Isham, who is much knowledgable and experienced in this line.

My colleague of mine is actually in his 40s and seriously I am the youngest expatriate working there at Batam. He was really a nice person and does have the same interest as me like travelling. He has travelled to almost every continent so it was great listening to his adventures.I think without him, I will be disheartened because of the work conditions here. He was my mentor who never fails to impart knowledge to me.

My trainees in training

Expenses there is really cheap. One box of cigarettes cost from S$1.50 - S$2.50. I only smoke Dji Sam Soe, love it. Fried rice or Mee Bakso only around S$1.50++. I do save loads of money.

View of shipyard

Going to the repair site can be very dangerous.Without proper equipment like safety boots and helmet can endanger you. You can also face a fine for not doing so. That is why I am here at Batam to monitor safety.

Touching on the first paragraph, I have heard lots of stories from corruption, law, system and supernatural sightings from my colleague, Isham. He has his own house and have been working in this company for 3 years. He always emphasize to me not to put too much trust on the people here as they might backstab you. The police..hmm..well, you know..I don't want to say much publicly. Most of the places here are not that well-developed. Lots of forests here and there, so it's not surprising if people see strange sightings. That kind of feeling is not felt in Singapore but at night at Batam, it is damn scary.

It's been only a week but I still have a long way to go. I will update you more about my experience when the time goes by.

2 Months of Emptiness

I do really apologize to all those people who patronise my blog but I haven't been doing my job to update my blog. You guys must be wondering what actually I'm up to right now. From my last blog update, I told you that I was looking around for jobs and I did manage to find one.

With the help of my relatives working at the airport, I got myself a job as a Cabin Data Management Technician. My office located at Terminal 1, near gate C17 pronouned as Charlie-One-Seven. Frankly speaking,it was a great job. No pressure from your superiors, working shifts and your work is own time own target. My employer is from SIAEC. My jobscope is actually to inform the technician to rectify defects that occurred in our SIA aircrafts which happened during flight. Great working environment. Most of the people in the office are males. Lots of foreigners, the Phillipinos and the pakciks and abangs are friendly.

Outside the office, you can see different types of airplanes at the parking bay. To name a few: SIA, Jetstar, Cathay Pacific and etc. In case for those who don't know, I have this fascination of planes so sometimes when I need a breath off fresh air, I just step out of the office and took some time off to just see airplanes: landing and taking-off. If I'm lucky, I get to see SIA's new Airbus the A380. When working shifts, especially night, I get to see the beautiful sun rise. For every lunch, I ate at the Terminal 2 foodcourt. My colleague, San and I would always walk back to Terminal 1 via the departure hall.

My misery: For two weeks, I made great bonds with the people in the office. Until one day, I was told to end my job as the company is taking in foreigners. It was unfair. It was beyond my control and I have to face the facts, It's no use complaining anyway.

Back to square one: I was searching for jobs again until one day I received a message from my friend who told me that there is a position for a Fire Trainer based in Batam. Teach the Indonesian people to deal with ship fires as it is a marine company. Nonetheless, I sent my resume and I got a call from the company the next day. I went down to Pandan Road for the interview at the ASL Marine building. It was quite fast for an interview as I was asked just a few questions. Guess what? I got it.

Benefits: Free food and accomodation. Working hours starting at 8am to 6pm. Workplace is just beside my quarters located at Batam Harbourfront. I was told that the quarters is like a condo and you have an own maid. There is overtime pay.It is up to my own accord whether or not to go back Singapore in every week or a month. Ferry to and fro from Singapore will be paid by the company. Salary wise = CONFIDENTIAL.

Actually right now, the company is processing my visa. They told me that it would take 2 weeks or so to be approved. The fasting month has already started and I believe I have another 1 more week before everything is done. I can't wait to find out how is the working environment outside of Singapore.

I may or may not be celebrating my Hari Raya once I got the job. I may not have time to update my blog that often. I will be missing my friends and families back home. This is what I want the rest to know.

Reminiscing

I didn't realize time flies really fast. 2 weeks have passed by and a lot of events happened. Got to see a few of my friends got married. Met up with some old friends of mine.

My friend, Muhairin or more known as Rino has a great voice. I took a video of him singing with his cousin at his younger brother's wedding.

It was like a picture from the old days. It's been a while I never met this fellas..

From left: Rino, Bai, Amy and me

For two straight days I had to attend a wedding function. The other one was the wedding of my old schoolmate friend of mine, Hafiz. Still can't believe he is already married. His single days are over. Wonder when is my turn?Hmm..

Hafiz and his wife

It was also a day where I get to see all my former schoolmates. People do change and all have grown up.

Introducing my smart wear! This was taken by Hassan at Northpoint as we were going for an interview. Sorry for not updating for sometime.