UniSIM Work Review: Part II

The workplace ain't complete without its people. I firmly believe that a major part of why I love my job so much was due to my colleagues. These wonderful people will never fail to brighten up my day everyday. So, here's a tribute the wonderful people who made my work-life a very memorable experience.

Here are the people, in order of appearance:



First, we have Kelvin Ng, our beloved supervisor. (Yes, yet another Kelvin in my life. I can't seem to escape from the Kelvins. =p) He's a really nice guy. Really really really nice. I really remember him thanking me sincerely for every single little thing I did for him. I feel very appreciated by that, actually. He can click well with all of us. I think being around our age group helps a lot too, in that aspect. I can really see that he is good and responsible in what he does, and for that, I am really glad to be given the opportunity to work with him in these two months. =) All Kelvins are the best, right? ;)



Next comes Anson. LOL! He's a real funny guy. I remember going up to him to ask him about the bus routes at the end of my first day, but I don't remember being gan chiong, ok! Then, as more and more people came in, he started to show his funny side. Omg. Thinking of all those things he did (hint hint: look at the picture =p) makes me laugh out loud now, haha!! But, he can also be a very "deep" person, after reading all the articles he published online. Thanks for the great memories, dude! Good luck for your studies in UniSIM! =D



Chong Hui was the first temp colleague I talked to, and was "forced" to be my lunch buddy. LOL. I am sorry I was so irritating, and keep insisting to eat lunch with you. I damn scared of eating alone ma... Hehe! But hey! Thanks for being so nice to me for all these while! I wish you all the best for your police career! May you catch all the big bad criminals and get your pic in the news! Then you will get promoted big big! =D



A week later, comes Alan, or aka, Ali. =D Ali was my traveling buddy when going home, for he lives near me. At first we didn't talk much, but as the days go by, we can sure talk a lot, hor? I will forever remember the "Indian Boy" comment one of the monitors made. Looks like Alan is our multi-racial representative of our group! =D



Ah Guan, the Silver Surfer dude, came with Alan on the second week. Actually, his name is Kun Guan, but we shortened it to Ah Guan. Sounds nicer, right? He's also 好人Guan, because he likes to do good deeds and help people. Hehe! Thanks for helping me pull and put back scripts at such short notice wor, really appreciate your effort. Good luck in your studies, yeah? =)

Then the week after, came a whole bunch of 5 temps....



This is Chun Liang, aka Ah Liang. LOL! I didn't really have a good impression of her at first, but slowly, her openness and loudness managed to break the ice between us. Her jokes and laughter will never fail to brighten up my day. OMG. This girl is damn loud and funny lor. Because of her, I learned all sorts of bad habits. Now things like "aha!" and her "HARLLLLOOWWWW!!!!!" are part of my daily vocabulary. LOL LOL! See la you, see what you did to me! =p Hee Hee! I really admire her openness and how easy she connects to people. I wish I could be like that too! Hee! But well, good luck girl, in your OCBC job this Friday! Maybe I'll see you when I use OCBC in the future wor! =D



This is Pei Jun, our teacher-in-training. She is cheerful and 开朗, and never fails to give a warm smile to her friends. She is also easily embarrassed. Just say her a bit, and her face goes red instantly. LOL! Very funny lor. She does a very good Indian accent. Actually, her and Ah Liang both. Because of the two of them, now, whenever I hear Indians talk, I will feel like laughing out loud. Very bad you know. LOL LOL! Good luck in your teaching, Miss Calcutta! Don't go crazy over the little kids hor? =p



Eric always meet me in the shuttle bus to work. I really admire his dress sense. He can really accessorize well, putting on jackets and t-shirts with some accessories and creating a whole new daring look. He really has good fashion sense. I enjoy working with him too. The two of us have similar work principles and view a lot of things in the same way, and we got along really well. I am glad I got to know Eric as a friend. =)



This is Edwin Wong. (Yes Quinze, this is the one who shares the same name as you. =p) He's a ultra friendly and cheerful guy. His wide smile will brighten up everyone's day. He uses the EDMW language fluently, with all his "zeh zeh"s and "up lorry"s and his ultra funny sms-style. I am glad to know you, Edwin! =D



Chin Hian is a rather quiet guy who doesn't talk much, but I can tell that he is full of thoughts (to quote Micheal Kors, "cerebral"). He's forever getting teased by Ah Liang on his reaction to her announcement of "我要大便", haha! I wish I could get to know him better, but I can definitely tell you that he's a nice guy who can tolerate all of our nonsense. HaHa! All the best to your studies, yeah? =)

That's it for everyone... .... Right?

Wrong! How can you forget about me? I am after all, part of the team!



Here's me eating breakfast (The JH drink stall aunty makes the nicest toast!) in the office, during one of those busy days when I decided to become a workaholic and started work super early and asked my friends to buy breakfast up for me. =p

Hee! Now the picture is complete. The following are several group photos...





This is a drawing by Anson using a highlighter. Can you make out who is who? =p



This is us at our pizza party in the office on 20th June, when majority of the temp team ends their contract, leaving only 4 of us to continue to help out for one more week. The unfamiliar guy you see is Colin, Ah Guan's and Eric's uni friend, a temp working in the HDSS department.

Well, that's the end of the narration. I shall remember my two months with much fondness and happiness, and I must once again, thank all of you for giving me so much happy memories. I love you all! Lurvee lurvee!!! =D UniSIM Work Review: Part I

I worked at UniSIM's Exam Administration Department (EA, for short) from 7th May to 27th June 2008.

During the 2-months that I was there, I did many many things. I re-did the exam seating plans for the Grand Hall. I sorted scripts and gave them out to markers. I became a part-time loan-shark and nightmares to markers and monitors. I checked lots and lots of scores (before and after moderation). I did a lot of other small things for my supervisors. I processed appeals. Basically, I can say that I was involved in the whole process, from pre-exam to post-exam.

In retrospect, I am very very glad that I landed this job. It really opened my eyes to the examination process, and it gives me a very in-depth view of what actually goes on behind the scenes. I certainly learned a lot from this job. I don't know whether NTU adopts the same processes, but I dare say that it should be within the same area. I now know what to do, and what not to (like, don't ever appeal. Waste of my bloody money). :) (See, I can make everything into a learning process, and that's what I am proud of. I get to learn something in everything I do.)

This job has also introduced me to a good friend: coffee. Yes, that's right. The coffee-hater has become a convert. Okay la. I don't really love it, but I don't shun it now. There was a period of time of two weeks where I practically did OT everyday till 10pm+, then coming to work at 8 the next day. I realized I really needed the caffeine boost to keep myself awake during work, so I forced myself to drink a cup of coffee every morning. It really helps you know. Once I got over the initial bitterness, it's not so bad after all. =)

In this job, I have seen a lot of things. I have seen perm staff come and go. I have seen my own temp colleagues increase from 3 to 5 to 10. In the end, I am proud to say that we are one big happy family! =D We have been though thick and thin, we have been through happy and stressful times together. Like what Anson said, "Temp job, but not temp friendship".

Hmm... After so much was being said about my work, I think it's time to take you through the journey of my life for two months. Let me take you on a trip of how the daily life of a typical EA Temp goes.



Every morning, as we make our way to our room, we are greeted by our lovely whiteboard! (Don't worry, you will get to put pictures on those names pretty soon!) However, as cheerful as our whiteboard is, we will soon have to face the horror that is....



The thousands and thousands of scripts that await us to tally marks, sort, bring out for monitoring and moderation.... Probably burning all these scripts can power the UniSIM Level 2 office for about... half a day? =p



This is our messy messy work desk where we tally the horrendous amount of scripts that keep pouring in day after day after day.... On the desk, you will be able to find our best friends: green pens, calculators, snacks, drinks and of course, scripts. Oh! What will we do without you guys, our trusty tools?



After slogging for a whole morning, it's time for lunch break! Look how happy we are at the prospect of eating! (Except, not really for some of us. Guilty as charged... =p) After our one-hour lunch break outta the office, it's time to hit the scripts once again (and the computer screen for me)...



Finally! It's 5.30pm! It's the end of one working day! If we don't have OT, we would be taking the staff bus to the MRT stations most convenient for us. This is the group of us who would take the West Bus to Clementi and Jurong East. This is where we say our goodbyes for the day, and "see ya tomorrow!"s with cheery smiles. =)

Okay... We have reached the end of Part I of the After-Work Review. (I decided to split the whole thing into 2 posts, or else it will get really really long.) Stay tuned for Part II, where I will introduce everyone who made my life better for these 2 months.

To be continued... Tomorrow is my last day working at UniSIM's Exam Administration Department...

I am feeling very 依依不舍...

Tomorrow is the last day I am taking the shuttle bus from Bukit Batok (after religiously taking it everyday since May 8th)... Tomorrow is the last day eating breakfast at JH Cafeteria with my colleagues... Tomorrow is my last day picking up Today at Bukit Batok MRT Station... Tomorrow is my last day working at UniSIM...

I shall do a After-Work blog review soon... Just don't expect anything until after Sunday, cause I am gonna be busy on Friday and Saturday... Out of so many punctuations, I really hate the question mark. I prefer full-stops and exclamation marks anytime.

Question marks signify unknown and uncertainty. To a extremely curious cat like me, not knowing is extremely antagonizing and torturous.

With full stops and exclamation marks, at least, I know something. At least, I have some closure. At least, I have some answers. 我在看“我不会唱歌”的MV。。。

罗志祥就在MV说了这段话：

“会唱情歌的人不一定懂得如何去爱。我们都会唱情歌，但我们都无法把爱说出口。。。”

我非常同意这段话。每个人都会唱情歌，可是，那并不表示我们会把心里真正所想要说的话都能说出来。。。 I really believe it's important to have someone you can talk to, someone you can share you joys and sorrows with. It's important to have someone whom you can trust with your inner-most secrets, someone who will be there for you when you need him/her. It's good to have someone you can ventilate all your anger and sadness to, and along in the healing process, discover something new/another perspective about yourself and/or the current situation you are in.

In this 100th post of my blog, I am dedicating this entry to my BFF, CQ.

CQ has been through thick and thin with me all these while. He has listened to me sharing my joys and laughter, as I laugh and smile at the pleasures I have experienced. He was there for me when I was ventilating my anger, as I screamed and shouted and bitched about the nasty side of life. He comforted me when I was down and under, on the days when I feel like just hiding underneath my blanket and not come out forever.

Without my Best Friend Forever, I would have gone mad already. He is the first to know everything that has happened, and he would always offer sound advice. He makes me see things from another perspective; things that I would never consider without CQ pointing out.

I am so fortunate to have CQ as my BFF, and I won't ever treat him for granted. So, in this 100th post, I am saying a big THANK YOU to you, my BFF, for being there for me. =D

P/s: Credits must also go to Kelvin Ng for inspiring me to blog. Your words about needing a ventilator are so true. =) I was watching Hillary Clinton's exit speech on YouTube. There were a couple of things she said that I felt were uplifting and very true for me. I wanted to share with all of you those quotes.

"Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. And when you stumble, keep faith. And when you're knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on."

"Being human, we are imperfect; that's why we need each other. To catch each other when we falter, to encourage each other when we lose heart. Some may lead, some may follow, but none of us can do it alone."

I have always supported Sen. Hillary Clinton in her campaign to become the first woman president of the United States. Not so much because she's a woman and I long to see one be the Commander in Chief, but because she cares and campaigns for the issues I deeply care about. Equal rights for everyone, health care, ending the war in Iraq... Like I have said before, and I will continue to say, if I am in the US, I would be an active staffer in her campaign. =D For this past week, a storm has been brewing all around me, while I am at the centre, unaffected by it all.

Yes, I am literally at the eye of the storm, unharmed and unaffected while things around me are blown into shreds.

I use work as my excuse. It's a very convenient one, and very true. Working till 10-11+pm everyday, and then waking up at 6 to get to work at 8, leaves one very little time and energy to care about anything else other than sleep. I now understand how some people use work as an excuse, because I have experienced it myself.

Honestly, up to now even, I really can't muster up the energy to give a damn about what happened.

Yes, my stubbornness sparked off this whole storm. I have certain priorities and principles in life, and changing hotel to a lousier one just simply doesn't sit well with me. Yes, I may go along with the decision, because hey, majority wins and all and since this is a democratic society, but it doesn't mean I have to be happy with it. (Which reminds me that Hillary Clinton lost the US Democratic Primary Election, and I am not happy about it, but I recognize that this is democracy, and I will put my hopes in Senator Barack Obama for the presidential election)

For the record, I think withdrawing from the trip is not necessary. You're thinking too much about what can happen and letting your fears cloud your judgement. My views are simply this: if we can sit down on a Sunday to play mahjong happily for the whole day without arguing, then I think we can survive the HK trip without the worse for wear. But well, since you made that decision, I am not gonna bother to dissuade you. If you want to quit on us and quit on working to improve our friendship... *shrugs*

Now, it's only the three of us left in the HK trip, and we are determined not to let everything spoil our fun. We are going there happy, and coming back happy. I better come back happy, cause I am gonna spend my 21st birthday in HK. I better not to be sad on 7th July. =P I haven't blogged for a week plus. Not that I am a regular blogger, or what, but I feel like blogging.

So, erm, what can I blog about...

Oh yes. My work. For this past week, I have been working OT almost everyday. I even came back yesterday, on a Saturday, and worked from 9am to 6.30pm. I've been putting like 12+ hours almost everyday.

And no, contrary to what some of you might think, I did all these voluntarily. Yes.

Obviously, I love my job a lot. I have got great colleagues (MEOW TO ALL OF YOU READING MY BLOG!!!!! =D) and a great supervisor. I don't mind putting in extra hours to help clear his workload. I've got nothing to do at home, and anyway, the OT money is great. Who doesn't want money, right? :P

The job is not easy, especially not now, during the post-exam period. It's quite stressful now, with a lot of things still not completed.

I am such a workaholic. I am thinking about work now at home, and even during the concert I attended last night. I can totally understand how stressed my supervisor is everyday during this period.

Ha. YAY for work and money! =D