newsflash

~~reported by cleo~~

on 26 june 2008, ksn quarreled with that ill-bred boss, and even banged table wor!

according to eye witnesses at the scene, ksn, boss and the 2 service managers (read : engineers) were having their weekly service meeting, when the ib boss commented that the big boss (who's due in town next week) always say the singapore team has no teamwork.

bcos ksn was very frustrated that she had to deal with the iso preps by herself (not without TEAMWORK from her young team) she blurted that the singapore team really had no teamwork.

ib boss got really upset(later ksn learnt that ib boss has always been sensitive to this teamwork thing, but i think he is just in self-denial mode), and challenged ksn what she meant by that.

ksn cited the example of when the demanding customer wanted a quote on a certain spare part, she could not get the assistance from a cetain engineer and his manager(read : lazy).

ib boss refused to listen, and started shouting and accused ksn of not communcating with the engineer and manager. there was teamwork all right, it's just she had problem n communication.

of course ksn was very angry, because she stayed back to call the US factory AT NIGHT to seek advice on the subject matter, and worse, she learnt from ib boss that she was NOT supposed to contact the factory directly. what was she supposed to do? she just wanted to get back to the demanding customer as quickly as possible.

one thing i must tell you about this ksn. she cries easily. however, it was not tears of weakness, it was tears of anger!!

so in the midst of shouting and banging table by the ib boss, ksn reciprocated by banging table and argued back, with tears of anger.

i wish i could help ksn. she really was trying to do her job. later ib boss had a one-to-one talk with her after the eventful meeting, and told her basically she had to follow his lead, or else he will make life VERY DIFFICULT for her. he even cited what he did to her predecessor.

ksn is very perplexed. she knows she is doing the right thing, yet she is penalised for that, and the real reason she thinks is the company is so slow and messy, whatever she does now will piss those lazy people off, bcos she is rocking the boat.

i noticed that this weekend, ksn never brought her laptop home. i think she has given up trying to do the right thing. afterall, if you cant beat them, join them lor.

what do you think?

random post about work

so i have been in the new company for 1 month already.

it has been an adventure, to be sent to eastern US before i barely warm my seat in the office.

i have been back for 1 week, and finally, i have recovered from jetlag.

thinking back, the 2-week US trip was nothing compared to what i have to face back home.

my boss whom everyone fears (because he will not hesitate to reprimand you in front of everyone else), stammers in front of the big boss!

it's not that he is not aware of his inconsideration. in fact, he told me on my first day, that he has a temper.

i dont think it is a temper he has. i think he is just ill-bred. he has the rudest habit of interrupting others. and he will start by saying, "sorry to cut you off, ...."

well, DONT. he is non-repentant. he is just RUDE.

the first time he did it to me, i just STARED at him. i could not believe it.

such a young, respectable, hardworking, and well-dressed director, he is just RUDE.

i think everyone has been giving in to his rudeness, thats why he flaunts it legally.

everyone else are guys, so i guess they dont give a shit.

well, i DO. it's called MANNERS.

i have to think of how to stop this rudeness of his, at least when he is in a meeting with me.

otherwise, lots of challenges and interesting problems awaiting me to conquer!

happier post

so the first 2 posts i blogged about usa are bad.

this is going to be a happier post lah. partly bcos my luggage finally arrived, and not without incident lor.

luckily i was hanging around the lobby, when the front desk staff came and tell me my luggage came (i was blogging the other post and COMPLAINING and WHINING). happily i went out to see, only to find the bag WAS NOT MINE. heck, it wasnt even red!

heng the (stupid) driver still at the driveway. then i got MINE back.

during the last 22 hours, besides COMPLAINING and WHINING, i also wondered why a series of suay things happened to me.

i came up with 2 conclusions:-

1) ksn's theory as to why the US airlines keep losing money. bcos they keep losing passenger luggage, they have to pay for claims and courier service to deliver to passenger hotels.

2) the logistics here sucked because my luggage arrived at boston airport at 1pm but it was delivered to me only at 10.30pm. surely this is a sign to make me feel what my customers may feel if the parts they order come late, especially if it is critical? that means i must work really hard to ensure my company's logistics work, and send the RIGHT PARTS

wow, i am so blown away with my 2 findings...

i must have been very bored in the last 22 hours lah. haha.. i shall go take a shower and do my face mask and pamper my body a bit...

my own room

complete with name on door!

long trip away from home

i will be going to boston for 2 weeks come this saturday.

i will miss my cats, esp lincoln my darling boy.

i hope i meet many cats there...

i am sure i will be blogging often there, as (blah) i dont drive and it is quite handicapping to go around without a car in the states.

pls drop me a line or 2 to ease my homesickness!

my first day at work

was rather uneventful, except the pleasant surprise that i get my own room!

wow, my virgin room leh... hehe...

the hr manager had his 5 week old baby boy photos as screen saver. and i realise that i am not at all impressed with babies. but if i see cats, i will go goo goo and ga ga over their pics.

very excited...

to plan yet another trip to the land of cat adorers!

yes, as promised (to myself lah), once get a new job, must take holiday.

this time, i am torn between northern tohoku (where yummy apples come from) and izu peninsula (where fisherman villages line the coastal area).

also, since the intention is to relax before the start of a fresh and exciting career, most of the accomodation will be at ryokan or minshuku, where freshly caught fish served as sashimi. these inns usually cater to a minimum of 2 pax so they dont make a loss

i need a travel partner at short notice!

restructure... again!

sigh... 2nd re-org in 6 months...

is this a crazy company or what?

i think i better prepare to be axed... in case the big boss changes his mind again...

weird dream

2 nights ago, i had a really strange dream.

i dreamt that my current next-door neighbour cornered me, violated me, and forced me into prostitution.

i have to say that for the last 33 years, i have never had a dream as such.

my confidante at work said that subconsciously, i must be feeling very suppressed.

i dont usually believe in dreams, but i am not surprised if it were true.

it has been an unethical working environment for the last 2 months.

more later. and also got juicy stuff about ceo and pa.

who's the evil boss

i have a shocking and not too pleasant announcement to make.

i sacked my only staff on 1 nov.

yes, people asked, why dont you give her a chance? i am sure she could be guided. she needs the job.

blah blah and blah

well, my conscience is clear. i could sleep well at night before and afterwards.

i have given her way too many chances. i have tried the soft approach, the hard approach.

i am very glad i made this decision. especially so after sorting out her stuff afterwards (mind you, i have to do her work till new staff is found).

she has not followed up on a lot of things, even though i have spelt out very clearly in writing and verbally!

good bye, alice!

我的心情是秋天

the ceo i respect and idolize the most...

is having something with his p.a.

sigh... and worse, cannot be more obvious lor...

why???... cant they be more discreet? dun they know it's really inappropriate in the office..

i know i sound jealous... but cant help it.

他已经打破在我心里的完美型像。。。

holiday's over

i am going back to work on wednesday...

tomorrow... ashley's grooming day...

will take pictures!

no need to spend $$ on slimming

slim down by 5kg in less than 4 weeks!

proven...

in the last 3 weeks, i have lost almost 5kg. thanks to working till 9pm everyday, and staff resigning on me so i can work even later.

for the record, since i held the reign of my dept, there has been 3 resignation and 1 restructured.

am i a slave driver or what? not that the resignees have ever stayed late. the one staying late is moi hor...

haha...

was pleasantly surprised i could fit into my levi's jeans once again.

no need to go shopping for new clothes liao.

i need to pick up a 4th language

to me, cantonese is very difficult. of course, those canto serials i can understand maybe 60%.

however, business cantonese is a totally different ball game.

i dunno whether i should be proud or not - my japanese is better than my cantonese any time.

especially pronounciation. you know, some speak cantonese with a hokkien accent.

well, i am one of them :(

fortunately, i want to boast that i can sing cantonese songs without (90%) hokkien accent.

i think my new ceo is getting a kick out of hearing me speak.

and he speaks so fast... he's quite cute, by the way :-))

help, anyone? canton pixie!!!!???....

changes in the workplace

so exciting...

first time in my life i feel really energized, in a pool of shit (not literal)!

i am enjoying my work, not that it is easy, cos there's really a lot of shit. inventory's in a mess, no proper procedures, high turnover of staff..

i finally feel i can make a difference...

i will be participating in a restructure exercise..

time to kick some butt!

ps sad thing is i wont be able to go to japan as planned in nov...

bitchy witchy bitch

something happened to me at work. dont think it has happened to any one of you..

here goes...

the new financial controller (mid-thirties, around my age) saw one of my staff (whom she disliked, for whatever reason) skyping her temp boy, and my staff (let's call her "A") defamed her. cos earlier FC made one of her girls (let's call her "J") cry.

FC printed out the skype history, which consisted of 2 pages, and shot straight to HR room.

of course i was called into my boss's room, with FC and HR director, and the 2 pages of skype history.

women are the pettiest creatures on earth! in that 2 pages of skype, mostly harmless chatting, consisted of one liner, A saying FC was a bitchy witchy bitch.

thanks to A, i was lectured for not taking my staff into hand and blah blah blah... of course i had to say she was very irresponsible and unprofessional, blah blah blah...

i looked back and wondered what i would have done - prob nothing, cos when there's instant messaging, there will be gossip...

ps FC is really a double-headed snake, as confirmed later by J. J has tendered her resignation...

i lost weight!

wah... if i knew getting the flu for one week can result in losing 3-4kg, i wouldnt need to spend that kind of money to go for slimming lo...

do take care people, flu bug is very resilient.

i can be labelled as MC queen already. work for 3 months, took 5 days mc liao.

stress plus crapping my style to micro-manage incompetent and new staff caused this.

i'll share more over the weekend, over a cuppa and perhaps after a nice traditional indonesian massage... aaaaahhhh....

challenges

i've been in my job for a month now, and lo and behold, the 5 staff in my dept i am managing, are all older than me!

it's not easy, i have been accused of "throwing my weight around".

i also segregate the company staff into 2 camps, "new school" and "old school" (it helps me manage them better).

"old school" are all the people who still believe in hoarding information, who draw very clear (and deep) lines on depts, job and responsibility, that if the customer gave wrong part number and that caused a delay in fulfilment its the damn customer's fault.

wah piang eh, dealing with uncles and aunties is a big challenge man. and i am sure 他们吃的盐比我吃的米多。

alas they are so outdated. we are in the 21st century, and virtual team is a buzz word not a myth liao.

醒醒吧，阿伯阿婶们！

this company is living in stone age

i realised in the past few days, that this company is just very backward. back in the good old times, logistics always fought with sales.

hello!!!!! 时代不同了。 now it's all about winning teams, virtual teams, collaboration and fundamentally TEAMWORK.

close encounter with the old fashioned Admin Manager (AM)

Dear AM

As spoken, the desktop PC at my workstation has been removed, pending IT contractor diagnosis and solution/recommendation.

According to the IT contractor yesterday, instruction given to him was to swap a motherboard from an old PC and put into my desktop PC. But he seems to be facing difficulty and could not boot up my PC due to incompatible motherboard

AM: I hope you understand that we will usually try to use as much resources the company has before we proceed to make any purchase. For this case, since the spare motherboard is not compatible, we will definitely get a new one for you. Please refer the email from Michelle and put up the CEA form for Manjit’s approval.

The Toshiba laptop that was passed to me by Michelle, persistenly hangs when I boot up and/or use Microsoft Outlook.

AM: We are not informed till this morning when you came over and speak to me.

I will use my personal laptop for the time being, as it has been very difficult to work for the past 1+ week with constant system freeze and rebooting.

AM: As I have mentioned, you should have feedback to us earlier if the loan laptop is not properly function. As spoken, you should have come to us yesterday when our IT engineer is here so that they can look into the matter immediately. Even though they have other tasks to attend but it will be arranged according to priority…

Please expedite on getting a fully workable unit to me.

AM: Of course we will chase our IT vendor to expedite this matter.

Thanks in advance
ksn

win already lor. sent this email cos she was taking her own sweet time trying to recycle a very old motherboard.

i feel sooo.... motivated!

i have 1 disgruntled and very negative 2ic, 2 chubby execs (both joined in march) who yak yak yak all day, and a replacement to be hired.

i guess i cant blame the execs - they didnt seem to get much help and support from 2ic before i joined. they were struggling on their own, at the mercy of the sales wolves.

time to test my management skill... hahaha...