Anyway, my feature article did appear in The Straits Times last
month. F was the one to tag me on Facebook and I woke up to several people
commenting on my wall – many of whom I have not heard from in years. So this is
a tiny glimpse into fame. Amazing how newspapers still have that much power.
Source of congratulations aside, there were a few people, whom I have shared
certain parts of my journey with, calling me out for the “politically correct”
version of events. Come on guys, this was supposed to be an inspiration piece
for promising graduates, and not meant to scare them! It was quite regrettable though
that a certain line I wrote as a tribute to my boss in the bank previously, was
edited out. I had wished for her to read the news and make the connection
herself. Oh well, at least it prompted me to get in touch with her and thank
her personally again after so many years.
This Chinese New Year was pretty quiet in keeping with the
trend of previous years. It is interesting how nobody bothers anymore. It was
good though to meet my cousin R again since her migration to Malaysia. She also
brought along her two kids who while annoying are also pretty endearing; my
nephew transferred all my Pokemon and the niece insisted on grappling with my
shirt. Of course, at the gathering, they couldn’t resist making fun of my
feature in The Straits Times.
I also caught up with some friends from the AGG days and a
couple of them are now married and even own their own businesses. They were
among my closest friends at one point in time and it was really good to see everyone
again and know that everyone is doing well. Unfortunately, this also means that
I need to buck up and start thinking about how I should proceed in the game of
life.
At work, I just had another surprising announcement dropped
on me. My fellow associate, ST, is now on long-term secondment to a client.
This comes at a time where everyone is particularly stretched and weary. Ever
since I came back from Finland, it’s been one thing after another and I really
don’t know what I should be feeling anymore. It is quite a quality secondment
and there are fellow colleagues and ex-colleagues who didn’t seem happy and
thought I should go instead. And then for some reason, they get angry at me for
not being angry that I was passed up for this opportunity. Apparently, it is a
sin to be unambitious. To me, I am just so incredibly tired at the moment and I
just don’t see how and why I should be fighting for this. I don’t even know the
specifics of how this opportunity came about and there might actually be
legitimate reasons why she was chosen. Are people forgetting that she has two
years of experience over me? What concerned me more though, is that with her
gone, I have to take over one account of hers. This is a twisted form of irony
as I was the one who gave up the opportunity to be on that account (BECAUSE I
DIDN’T WANT IT!) and recommended that she take it when she just joined. It is
now coming back to me. So… what goes around comes around. Argh… That is
frustrating. Because of that, I had to make a day trip to KL last Monday; it
was pretty tiring from the morning flight and the midnight return flight.
LT as usual is still trying to get out of her job and is in
touch with several agencies. I helped her with one of her writing tests on the
caveat that if she gets it, I get a free treat at Jumbo Seafood. This girl
makes people worry because while she is competent in her technical skills, she
can be pretty brittle in the face of criticism. It is quite a harsh world based
on the personality of the bosses in the PR industry, and she doesn’t have my “I’m
bothered but can be bothered” mentality. AS seems to be doing quite well with
quality exposure and guidance at her new agency, and apparently we are working
on several projects together but on different sides! Of course, our discussions
on those are a huge breach of the non-disclosure contract but oh well… And LAB
is doing fantastic as far as I can tell. Looking forward to the catch-up dinner
with her when she gets back from Berlin. It really struck me that I had lost
incredibly good “colleague friends” when all three of them left. I just can’t
seem to replicate that 默契 we have
with their replacements.
Anyway, I met MC and her friend a few weeks back just to
catch up. It was good to know that she’s doing ok (relatively) and that she
still has the time for dating. Her friend’s personality though is the complete
opposite of hers. On one end, we have the brazen and go-getter personality, and
on the other, a considered one bordering on being wishy-washy. Interesting how
people pair up. And yes, I maintained my 28 year track record of being single
during Valentine’s day. And for some reason, many people seem to be more vested
in my love life than I am myself. JK especially, wants to match-make me to a
friend of hers! On my own end, I can only say… I am confused. And I’m not the
only one. C is also struggling to make his affections for a certain lady known.
Apparently, he has a gift prepared for Valentine’s day but chickened out at the
last minute. I ended up having a consolation dinner with him on Valentine’s day…
What sad lives we both lead!
[Quotes]
"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me." - Pastor Martin Niemöller
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