rants & rambles

why do i always meet the most unreasonable ppl. weeks ago, it was banana skin man (refer to an earlier blog). monday, i faced another one. one that somewhat contributed to my first headache in ages.

for all that don't know yet, im working for a company that delivers enrichment courses at schools. and this woman i met is one of the part time trainer we engage.

the first sign of things to come is my phone conversation with her, to see if she can help us with this particular program. she bargained for a good salary and my boss said ok (since she did an okay job for us in the past). she missed the complusory briefing which is to inform the trainers of the content. but fair enough, it was given to her on very short notice. so we ask her to go to the sch an hr before the session so that we can brief her. she said ok.

turned out, she decided to appear only 10mins before the program starts. and my colleague had to squeeze 1 hr of briefing in 10mins. she did a horrible job. she failed to control the class. she failed to give proper instructions to the kids. she failed to carry out the activities correctly. she failed to teach the kids the right thing (she kept saying 'nursery rhythm' when it is obviously 'nursery rhyme'! and i thought i am the one with poor english). i could see the students' puzzled look everytime she said that when 'rhyme' appears on the powerpoint. worse thing is the HOD for english was sitting in.

so after the session, i decided to give her my comments abt how it went. i started by making an attempt to differentiate rhyme and rhythm to her, to which after 1 min she still dont know what im talking abt. i mention that all the activities were done incorrectly. and i kept reminding her that it was because she came late and missed the briefing.

that was when she blew up and said something like "i have already apologise for coming late (by which i think she wasnt sorry at all) so why are you harping at the fact that i was late?!" in my mind, i was like, everything went wrong because YOU WERE LATE. what else can i say. at this point, my tone got a little harsh. but she insist that i lost my temper (ho ho ho.. if i lost my temper... it will be 10 times worse than what she went thru). she also say that i was unreasonable for not listening to her "reason" for being late. i said "fine, so why were you late." her reason was that she waited for the wrong bus, and upon boarding the bus, the driver told her she has to take another bus.

ya right.. some reason indeed. if she was suppose to be at the sch at 1230, why is she only at the bus interchange at 1245? dont tell me she also took the wrong mrt. want to be paid highly yet cant be bothered to figure out how to get to the destination.

anyway. she said i shld probably wait for my colleague to debrief her instead since i lost my temper. i said fine.

fast forward a bit. so later that day, i got back to my office, and my supervisor asked me into a room and showed me the sms this woman sent him. the gist of it is that she said i was being very negative, and i lost my temper. she thinks she cannot work with me and hence would like to pull out of the program. (that was 5pm that day, and she was suppose to conduct another class next day at 130pm) she's really full of it. if she really cannot work with me, im sure my boss can reassign us, but no... she wants to pull out and be an irresponsible adult. well, by then, my boss heard what my colleague and i had to say abt her and he was planning to sack her too.

being late due to uncontrollable circumstances are fine. not finding out how to get to the destination and hence became late is not fine.
so Ann Lee, if you want a good paying job. start by learning the difference between rhyme and rhythm and then learn to be on time.

(well.. i honestly think that she is so upset is because she had to receive criticism from a younger person)

And this marks the end of my first week of work. for most who don't know, im working as an operations executive at this education center. My job scope is pretty much like an events planner. Everytime a training session comes, i have to deal with the manpower and the logistic. Wednesday was the killer day. With two half day events on thu and fri, i had to settle all the logistic within a day, and i worked from 9am till 8pm with only 10 mins lunch. printing handouts, sorting them, buying stationery, etc etc. to top it up, i had to give tuition after 8. long exhausting day.

but i guess my job isnt hard, just long at times. and the people seems nice, so much so that i dont feel very good having to give my  opinions abt certain senior colleagues to my supervisor. for one, the guy is really nice, but his working style and ability seems a little questionable.

this aside, im beginning to enjoy being able to eat breakfast again. (office right opposite a hawker center) relax before a day of work with food, tea and some people watching. one of my observation is how clockwork this guy's schedule is. every morning, wearing the same pair of berms, he will order a plate of bee hoon from this same shop and order a cup of drink from the stall beside. every day at 845am.

off to kl to watch man utd!

what does for the benefit of the team means? does it mean that the more peace-loving majority should change their style to make the minority happy, to keep the peace? so in this case, should these majority suffer all the way so that there will be seemingly peace in the group? something that will keep be wondering for a long time..

place: bishan park. it started pouring during frisbee training, and hence, everyone ran to the nearest shelter to take cover. already there was this indian man and his two sons. from their attire, i think they were probably playing soccer before than, and the dad was passing food to his kids. nice image huh, quality father son time. but that was it.

next thing i know, the dad took the banana skin and threw it onto the grass patch in front. i turned and saw a dustbin just outside the shelter. so i tapped him on his back, and this was the "conversation" (don't really rem word for word..)

me: (in one of my most polite tone) sir, there is a dustbin right there (pointing to the dustbin)
man: (yells) (so early in the conversation! i know right?) i throw where i want to throw, its back to nature what! (what a stupid argument)
me: but the dustbin is right there!
man: (still yelling) what's your f***ing problem?! (yes, with his... two maybe 7-10yrs old kids right beside him)
me: this is my country you know, you litter, of course i care
man: (ok.. he is yelling throughout the argument) its back to nature what! (ran out of reasons probably.. so use back same one)
man: and its raining, you expect me to get wet?!
me: no, you dont have to throw it away now, you can put it in the bag (pointing to a empty plastic bag he was holding)
man: (sensing that he lost the argument) what's your problem?  i let you all come into MY shelter. you all not even bother to ask.
me: (got louder, not wanting to let him think im bulliable) YOUR shelter? did you book it?
man: (sensing another defeat, he turned into my teammate and started ranting, something along the line of..) fine, i MAY have made a mistake but.. (didnt catch what he was saying anymore)

my teammate just stared at him. obviously everyone knows that he is in the wrong. they just tried to calm him down. after that, my captain gathered us in another shelter just across to talk abt some tactics. boy was that indian man mad, kept staring at me throughout. haha.

i pity his kids though, have to grow up with such a dad. he is obviously too proud to admit a mistake, and decide to get loud and vulgar to keep his pride intact. i hope the kids are old enough to know that their dad was wrong and dont follow in his footsteps. and i hope he, if ever, become more responsible, and be a good example for his kids.

i forgot to check whether he actually picked up the banana skin later, chances are, i think not.

it all started with an email. an email on tuesday night asking me if i could turn up for an interview on wednesday afternoon. this is the first time that a company actually email me to discuss interview dates rather than a phone call. its even more strange because of the tight timing he wants it, the next day. i saw the mail on wednesday morning, and because of another interview on wednesday afternoon, i asked to reschedule. he suggested 2pm on thursday (today) which i replied almost immediately saying 2pm is fine with me. There was no confirmation from his side so i emailed again in the evening asking whether its confirmed and where the venue would be and whether i need to bring anything. he finally emailed back this morning telling me the details.

so the venue.. at far far away tuas. which took me a 40 mins drive? reaching 15 mins before the appointed time of 2pm. i went up and found out that he is out for lunch. fine, i am early, it's acceptable. after sitting for half an hour, i started thinking of leaving. so far away, and the person that suppose to meet me is so unprofessional. late and not even leaving a word with the other staff. 245pm, he finally strolls back, and ask me what's my name (appointed interview and he doesnt know my name...) then he ask me to wait a while. so after 15 more mins of waiting, i finally walked into their meeting room with him.

first thing he asked me was whether the location is an issue. tuas.. is probably an issue for many, so i said it might be a consideration. his next words left me speechless for a while. "to be honest, if it is an issue, then we shouldn't go on anymore". after a few seconds, i decided not to let the feeling of pickyness affect me and said that i would like to find out more abt the job and see whether it outweighs the distance. you never know, they may provide driving subsidy or something. then without trying to explain more, in an impatient tone, he ask me what i would like to know. the next few minutes is all about me asking questions and him replying with short answers. sensing that he has no interest what so ever, i said that i shouldnt waste our time anymore, and left.

hopefully, this post will get to you some how, mr charles chua, marketing & business development manager of Sheng Sheng / Ice Cool. this is to commend you for your top notch professionalism. by going out for lunch when you have an appointment you suggested, not leaving a note to let your other colleagues know when you will be back, being uninterested in an interview, and not apologising for coming back late. i'm thankful for what you have done though, if not, i will never know what a horrible manager you would have been.

to sum up a lousy afternoon, stupid road hoggers on the expressway made me miss my exit.. for the first time ever... ggrrrr...

every sunday morning, on my way to church, i will always pass by this starbucks cafe at UE square and see some westerners sitting there having their morning coffee and reading the papers. i always envy them for being able to do something that looks so carefree and relaxing. technically i can do the same.. just that i never wake up early enough to do it. today, i had the opportunity to do something like that.. just that it was in the afternoon.

so my friend melissa decided to skip school but discovered that she has no internet access at home decided to head to starbucks to study and do her work. not wanting to be a loner, she asked me along. i thought.. i can use my computer there instead too so i went along.

on way to the novena outlet, i saw alina at the bus stop when the bus i was in went past. we decided to play a short game of charades in order to find out where each other is heading to. after she pointed to the collar of her shirt, my only guesses were tailor or interview, which till now i dunno the answer.

anyway, during the afternoon at starbucks, this western woman and her 4 year old daughter came over to share a table with us. she looks like a typical wife of an expat, and just bringing her daughter out on a lazy afternoon. soon after, the daughter took out drawing paper, and positioned herself on an empty spot on the floor and started drawing away. the woman meanwhile kept encouraging her daughter while at the same time started a conversation with mel and i.

her way of dealing with her daughter is really different from what a typical singaporean mother would do. mel also noticed that the little girl was nicely dressed in a pink dress which she thinks is the way girls should be dressed by the parents.. and not like the many skimpy outfits singaporean parents force upon their daughters. one would wonder why the number of sexual predators are on the rise.

one of my friend posted a link to this video... of a dog rescueing another dog who was hit by a car on the highway in chile



this dog did something that not many humans will do. most of them would just ignore and hopefully avoid the poor animal. this dog.. probably was just a random passer by, put his life on the line, and dragged the injured dog to safety.

recently read 'treasure box' by orson scott card. it is this spooky story about this guy who lost his sister whom he is very close to, to an accident when he was a kid. he aced his way through school, became a millionaire, but never met anyone he likes enough to start a relationship with. he finally met someone he likes at a random party. after a really short dating period, they got married. the spook begins when the couple went back to visit the wife's family. after a bizzare event, the wife disappeared from the face of earth. it was as if she was only part of his imagination. it wouldnt be that strange if that is so. the only thing is that his parents and friends met her and remember her too.

it turned out that it is a story about modern witches. the rest of the story after the wife disappeared was still pretty interesting, but i thought it was a let down. although i cant think of better ways to end it, i felt that it was pretty much an anti climax for it to turn out to be about witches.

i just had an interview last week with a company named dreamworks advertising (not the animation company that created shrek). once i entered the company, i had a weird and uneasy feeling about the company. young posers looking guys walking around in suits that seem too big for them. a small office shared by different companies. so after the interview with an overly enthusiastic woman, i went home feeling unsure about the job. as much as i dont want to remain unemployed, the job scope and company really left me uncomfortable.

nonetheless, they called me to go for a second interview tmr which i agreed. according to the person who interviewed me the first time, the second interview is actually a "get to know the company" process where they let the interviewees mingle with the employees and then later on visit one of their ongoing event venue. i decided to google the company a while ago and found various forums talking about them. 99% of the comments are negative given by people who been to second and third interviews and even by people who worked there previously.

in a nutshell, it is a company which says it does below the line marketing for clients. though some of the clients are big shots, essentially, they do stuff such as road shows for them, and their employees are the people who are placed at the roadshows. career progression feels like some sort of MLM style method (without the recruiting part). 

i was really wondering why over the 9 months of job hunting, i keep seeing the company advertising for people for the same position. now i know why they are having such a hard time finding and retaining employees

i really dont wish to be picky but.. i think im gonna skip the interview tmr.

i received this question today. XXX happens to be a common friend of mine and the couple who asked me that question. my general belief is that although this couple doesnt not dislike XXX, they seem to not have a very good impression of XXX. so when they ask me this question, i really wonder what they want to know. for the record, i think XXX is really a nice friend and person. i suppose things are like this between them is probably because of the personality clash. i really hope there are no hidden negative agenda from that question.