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.