generally, thank you for the whole experience within this 1 year journey, ups and downs, i've learnt alot about this industry, not so much abt the technical aspects, but more towards the backend paperwork and dollar and cents behind those shiny leading edges and clean aircraft seats.
just 1 year ago, it was really by accident that i landed up here. "no one is here by chance" is quite a right way to put it when all mistakes amounts to paint quite a pretty landscape even though it may not be an intentional action.
let's take it right back to start...... at the Job Fair at ITE Central.
i didn't want to go for it coz that time i was very stubborn about wanting to just go to that one company whilst also considering going back to my OJT company to work. But well, i heard that they have got an B737 literally in their backyard along with a few aircraft engines in their student lab so as a student then, i really wanted to go and check it out.
it was quite unexpected at a job fair that other booths didn't seem to be have openings. they were just giving out flyers and that's about it. not many though. and so there was my company, with quite a list of sign ups. and with the influence of peer pressure, since all my friends were penning their names down, i reluctantly did so though, and stating that i'm looking to be a trainee engineer, not technician.
ok. then school ended.
and i still roughly rmbr that almost immediately, i got a call for an interview. it was early June then. and i rmbr gg for interiew on a wednesday and having to start work on monday while still having other commitments to my other part-time jobs.
to cut the long story short, for an interim period, i was supposed to be an upholstery tech. i.e, just changing carpets in the aircraft. however, my GM then stumbled upon my colourful resume on the table and then after another round of interview by him, i ended up as a Business Development Assistant. since this was a relatively new department for the company, they needed people to get things going, together with this other fairly new guy who's the BD snr executive. we all report directly to the GM since there's no firm structure yet.
really, i think its by God's grace. i mean, at that time, the GM dont usually go to the main office. and, he dont usually take note of the resume of the new hires. so i guess that moment was a critical period for me. hahas
so yep, under his guidance, my partner and i did get quite a few things going. though there were some failures along the way, there was still evident growth.
3 months down, got confirmed and promoted to a BD exec.
at this point, i want to thank my GM then for his faith and belief in me. honestly, i didnt have confidence in my business proposals and costings, but he just trusted me and continue to guide me along. i think its that period of time when i was working all the numbers out that i learnt alot. since our department was just the 2 of us, we're doing everything, from ground studies, to abit of the engineering work and then to the numbers and then to the marketing and selling of the idea. it wasn't easy coz i didnt have a camaraderie of marketing team mates like those in my poly days. my partner had an engineering background so sometimes, it could be quite frustrating when he didn't get my point. haha. but glad we managed to learn from each other luh.
i think it was about late oct/nov that i was tasked to help out with the Hangar ops with uncle J. he's the AM of the hangar ops. quite glad coz i managed to speak to quite alot of business partners and associates. sometimes it feels quite overwhelming to be talking one-on-one to the VPs and even the SVPs of the companies. so i'm really glad for these exposure coz when they express a demand for certain product services, u get to hear things from their perspectives and point of views and then seek out business opportunities from there. managed to tidy up the process abit there, hoped to do more but it was quite short-lived coz it was about feb/mar when it was more or less being solidified that the company was going to be restructured.
so at that period of time, it was alot of staff movement, handovers, and my GM went back to his company.
instead of doing business stuff, was focusing more on the marketing part of the big official event that marks the 25th anniversary as well as the celebration of the restructuring.
and in about mid april, was posted to Airport Ops. was quite happy coz i get to be closer to the planes and try to improve the work of the techs. however, i was still quite tied down with the event... wanted to do more but by then, there's so many changes, not just externally, but more intrinsically as well.
so now, its already July.
k, that's the summary more of physical part of the job.
as for the growth as a person as a whole and working in the industry, i guess there are changes that i didn't really want to acknowledge
no doubt my knowledge in this field did grow exponentially at beginning while i was doing lotsa ground studies and talking to people with decades of experience and having the support of my GM. however, i guess the whole business/office/politics (if you want to call it), did have a toll on me.
each time i go to the aircraft, it gets abit emotionally confusing coz when i want to make an improvement which is technically, supposed to be my job scope, i tend to be abit withdrawn from the idea of it. the fear of getting indirectly mocked at and condemmed when one seeks to implement changes becomes part of the consideration factors for improvement. i mean, those are strong words. but to me, i was starting to see the "no point" in doing things. so what if changes are driven by such passionate anger but yet bogged down by others who have superiority / authority in the final decision of the outcome? does that mean that we keep trying? or do we give up, not to ease ourselves, but to just hope that the problem will solve on its own with time and ignorance as a remedy?
towards the end, not only did i not have the support, but getting mocked at with sarcastic and unjustifiable statements was enough to do the damage to my pride and drive for what i wanted to do.
i guess that's what it means by "everywhere is the same".
and well, yes, i will continue to hunt my "my perfect world out there".
perhaps our definitions of "perfect" may not be congruent with each other, but at least i'm not giving up just yet. then again, i do know my place that i'm still very inexperience to this whole thing.
now that i'm moving on from here and back into the mechanical /engineering part of things, i can't wait to learn and gain my experience coz at the end of the day, i still do want to make accurate judgements for the good of everything and everyone. perhaps now the passion really lies straight to the hands and legs; hopefully when i get older, i'll start to appreciate the value and sense to what drives the plane to fly rather than just the air, fuel and engine.
but clearly for now, it's not yet.
well i guess the whole take away if i do want to make 1 summarized learning point is that, before i start to pick up a spannar and turn the nut, i guess i'll have a better understanding of the pain and constraints that companies have go through to just allow me to do that. haha, i think the HR along with the govermt's caps on the policies takes the most direct and biggest toll.
well, gonna miss being in the 44 deg c cabin.
its not everyday that u'll get to go to a sauna in ur fully work attire and safety shoes. but really, respect to the techs. i mean, i just walk from door A till the end of the cabin, and i was dripping wet. imagine the techs who gotta be in there for hours just to fix ur aircraft seats and overhead bins. it's really sheer hard work and one of my aim in this industry is to find a way to cool the cabin down (specifically in an A380) at the lowest cost.
1 ground aircond doesn't do much for the lower deck, what more the uppder deck.
using expensive fuel for the aircond for a few hours is not cost justiable.
opening the door only can so much and when it rains, carpet gets wet and more work needs to be done.
besides, the safety barrier/net isn't cheap and only can be purchased by the OEM. we can make them ourselves and use the static load gig in the loyang facility, but i think the paper work / approvals is gg to take forever and not a 100% yes.
using positive air pressure from the ducting vents can also only do so much.
its the stepping up of the common 50 or 60 Hz 400 Hz that's the big barrier from getting cheap and powerful fans.buying the inverter is neither cheap and from what some of the guys have sourced out, its too heavy to be carrying up the steps / putting it in the a/c for it to run. and with the operational limitations, doesn't make it viable to use additional vehicles to provide assistance just to make the working environment better.
well, i dont know. hahas
but... it's gonna be a long period of time that i do not need to be wearing my own work clothes to work! :) uniforms will be my new wardrobe! i dun have to think of what to wear/ spend money on what i have to wear to work. :) its interesting how there is an unspoken gap between the ppl in uniform vs people in own work clothes in this industry. i guess for this, everywhere is the same. ahhahs. well well.
well, i still want to end this off with one of my encouraging work quotes:
"Aviation is proof that given the will,
we have the capacity to achieve the impossible."
- Edward Vernon Rickenbacker
and lastly, a joke i got from twitter:
is your rendang missing a chicken? cause ayam the one for you.
HAHAHAHAHHHAHA
:)
and thanks for the helmet guys! it was very thoughtful and timely!
and from tonight, I'M AWAY ON HIATUS AND BACK ON 8TH AUG!
pray for me thanks!
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