It has already been 24 weeks into my 32-week industrial training. It feels as if it was just two weeks ago that I stepped into the Twin Towers. Without anyone realising it, it will be another eight weeks before I return to Ipoh and back to UTP to complete my final year studies.

It is really unbelievable how fast the year is ending, and as I recall the days I spent in PETRONAS Carigali Sdn. Bhd. I realised that I have never complained about the workload, nor have I ever complained about the people who are in my department. (Of course, there were days where I wished there was more work for me because I tend to be idle, and sometimes there really isn’t much work going on at the time – PCSB engineers, don’t feel offended, all right? Maybe I’m a workaholic, which I actually doubt.)

In fact, I have enjoyed every single day that I spent in the 17th floor of Tower 1. The engineers and managers in the Civil and Structural Department (DFCS) have been very friendly, helpful and humorous. You must understand that an engineer’s work is no mean feat, and we also need some time to release our mental stress and have some fun. Often, engineers love to poke fun at me (being the trainee, of course) but in the end  we could always share a very light moment, which I enjoy immensely. Even the secretary is not left out of the fun.

Would I have wished that I were posted elsewhere rather than in KLCC? Perhaps I would have – maybe I should have requested to go to Sabah or Sarawak so that I can see all that is out there. However,  I don’t regret being in KLCC, for the people here have also taught me a lot about engineering, most of which I would definitely remember till the day I die (thanks to the engineers who have been “grilling” me till I drip cold sweat). It is here also in KLCC that I get to enjoy my favourite activities, namely music, being with friends, etc.

Although I do not get to travel offshore unlike some of my friends, nevertheless I must thank my engineers who have been so gracious in inviting me to accompany them to the fabrication yard, the vendor, to seminars, SACS training, etc.

Perhaps I will not learn as much as trainees who are posted in the project teams or posted offshore, but I believe that this is what I would need to go through if I were to attempt to balance between work and life. However, in the long run, I also believe that I would not be in the losing end. To have experienced the working environment in PCSB, to have mentors who are willing to look after you, to have a share in the ups and downs and perhaps to be the only trainee in the department are more than what I have bargained for.

I may not have been involved in a particular project, unlike some of my friends. But the bits and pieces of knowledge that I have acquired throughout my 24 weeks of industrial training are also the very same that other trainees of my batch may not acquire, too.

I have, indeed, grown fond of the people around me, and them of me, too.

And now that I have another eight weeks to go before I leave the company to complete my final year studies, time seems so short already. It baffles me to see that reports which I had labelled as “Week 2″ or “Week 3″ have now progressed to “Week 23″ and “Week 24″.

And coupled with my trips to the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS, to Bukit Ampang Lookout Point, SS2 in Petaling Jaya, Damansara Mutiara, etc. etc. I believe that I have gone through a very memorable and enjoyable industrial training here in Kuala Lumpur. I am glad to say that my industrial training has not only been work and more work, but also with a mixture of the things that I like to do.

I guess I shall miss my industrial training days when I get back to UTP.

Last night was a special night. Joanna Chia, her brother Joshua and I went to the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS to watch a very special show which I don’t think will come to Malaysia again for a second time.

Yes, we went to watch the performance by Igudesman and Joo, with the Kremerata Baltica led by Gidon Kremer. Aleksey Igudesman and Richard Hyung-ki Joo are well-known for their musical skills, but they have somehow decided to make something more out of music; they decided to do some on-stage comedy with classical music. And Gidon Kremer, with his Kremerata Baltica, had joined in the fun with the comical duo, too.

The theme of the show was “The Rise and Fall of a Musician”, and while Gidon Kremer kept a somewhat serious tone throughout the whole show, the overall wittiness and humour of the show were maintained; not to mention that Kremer had a few questions that really got me thinking.

The show was full of creativity and humour, with Igudesman and Joo doing some funny acts, such as wallowing in self-pity and crying their hearts out, with Igudesman releasing a suppressed sneeze that sent a cloud of water droplets out of his mouth. It was also hilarious to see Igudesman saying out certain phrases in some broken English and then repeat the same in Bahasa Melayu (really, for a Russian German, he certainly was doing quite well in his diction).

The favourite part of the audience was when Joo and Igudesman were arguing on whether to play Mozart or the James Bond theme. Finally, Joo relented on having the Mozart, but while performing the piece, would occasionally jab in some Bond motif into the piece, thus ending up with what they called “Mozart Bond”.

They had also played “Where Is the Remote Control?” and it received a round of applause and laughter from the audience.

In all, I am happy that I had managed to secure the tickets two months before the show, and I really hope that someday I’ll be able to catch up with them again somewhere. If only they came out of the hall so they I could take photographs with them (then I can show them off here! Haha!)! But they didn’t.

To Khai Lin and Jia Min, you have my most sincere sympathy. To Joanna, a good first-time visit to the DFP, wasn’t it? We didn’t need to see Igudesman and Joo do anything funny; they already looked funny enough. To Joshua, Happy Birthday!

The Chia siblings - Joshua (L), Joanna (R)

At the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS

There I sat quietly,
There in the loneliness,
Blissful in the nature of serenity,
The lilting nature of the tranquil flute.

The harp joined in the mood,
Complementing the lovely wind,
I picture myself in a hood,
And lost myself in the green, calm scene.

And the music kept its graceful calm,
It brought me to a dreamy state,
The harmony like a divine psalm,
Gone were all my anger and hate.

The strings came to complete it all,
The beguiling tones charmed me to a new world,
There my spirits will not fall,
There I can rest in eternal tranquility.

Thus, in the very end of things,
The sea of beautiful harmony,
Continues to charm, to sing,
To the days of end, to a quiet sunset.

Of all the weeks spent during my industrial training here in Kuala Lumpur, the busiest week is most likely to be this week, with lots to do, lots to learn and lots to laugh!

My senior structural engineers had been so kind to invite me to come along for the SACS Software Training and I am very much gratified that he extended the invitation to me personally. SACS is a very important and powerful software that structural engineers use to model the offshore platforms and how they will be behave under different load conditions. It is a software that can simulate the deflections and any impending problems before the structures are actually fabricated, launched and installed.

I had a more enjoyable Monday and Tuesday when the training materials were light and easy to understand. It was on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (today) that the training materials got more and more difficult to comprehend. Most of us, even the current engineers, sometimes found it difficult to clearly understand everything that was said on the latter three days of training. More often than not we would require much clarification and verification on certain concepts.

Nevertheless, the whole training has been a very fruitful one for me, especially. Now that I have learnt how to use the SACS software, it will be easier for me to analyse a SACS model and understand the nature of the SACS software. I enjoy viewing the animation of the simulated platform when it is subjected to different load conditions.

I could actually hardly believe that I spent up to thirty-five hours learning about SACS and what it could actually do for me. Now that I have learnt to model the offshore platforms and performed certain simulations, I could actually appreciate the hard work that consultants are doing.

And due to the SACS training, I had decided to spend about two to three hours in office after working hours to complete on my weekly reports which were due to be submitted this week. Thankfully I managed to complete my weekly reports by Tuesday.

Thursday was quite a special day for a friend. Kee Siong finally reached 21 years old and a few of us friends decided that we would celebrate it for him. (Oh, but before that, last Friday was Ivan’s birthday. Too bad that he was in Port Dickson; nevertheless, I hope he found the card which I left for him on his table!) We went to Nando’s and had a wonderful time there laughing and poking fun at one another, talking about certain scandals of the month (if not the year)!

Tomorrow being a Saturday, I certainly am looking forward to a beautiful performance in the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS. I sure hope that “Carmen!” will be a great hit tomorrow. After tomorrow’s show, I’ll be looking forward to Igudesman and Joo, together with the Kremerata Baltica, performing in the Dewan on the 16th of November.

Hmm… the end of the show tomorrow would also mark the end of October 2009, and I’ll only have another two months left in PETRONAS Carigali before I’ll be going home and continuing with my final year studies in UTP again. I wish I could have more time in the company, considering the fact that I have just begun, not very long ago, to really make myself feel so much at home in the company, and having people treating me like an engineer.

I’m happy to say that the engineers and managers in my department are friendly and full of laughter. It is indeed a very warm department which I believe I will miss very much upon my return to UTP.

A good friend of mine recently wrote an article “MPPUTP in Perspective” which I found to be a good read. It covers the issues and problems that students often have regarding the most important student body in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, known as the Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (MPPUTP), or also known as the Student Representative Council of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (SRCUTP).

I, too, had my own share of bittersweet moments – more bitter than sweet, unfortunately – and it has come to a point where the SRCUTP is no more than a façade to me, and that I have entirely lost trust in the administration of the SRCUTP. I have, in my past almost four years of academic pursuit in UTP, been given empty promises made by candidates of the SRCUTP, and all the top five members of the SRCUTP have, more often than not, disappointed me ridiculously.

No doubt they are good in their communication, they behave in a somewhat professional manner, and they project a powerful image in the eyes of UTP students (especially the new students who have just joined the university). It is as if they are the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministers of the students in UTP, fighting for the students and ensuring that the students get what they deserve from the university.

One of my best experience with the SRCUTP was when my friends and I had a big problem regarding our Concrete Technology laboratory sessions about a year ago. Laboratory sessions were supposed to be capped at two hours per session but our demonstrator insisted on setting the duration of each session at four hours, citing that a longer period of time is necessary. This created clashes between our Concrete Technology lab and our Geotechnical Engineering lecture. The demonstrator, however, refused to give in to our protests and insisted that we had to do something about it.

I managed to contact the Academic EXCO of the then SRCUTP board, Viknesh Kumar (through Jared Ee), who promptly made an appointment with me and I had the opportunity to pour out all my anger and frustration, which he thankfully comprehended. He promised to meet my programme head the following week, and he did! Soon after that, our problems were resolved and the instruction was that lab sessions must not exceed the stipulated two hours.

While the EXCO board of the SRCUTP may be doing its job well, my communication with the top five members of the SRCUTP have been anything but fruitful. I had, in the past, sent e-mails to the high committee (HICOM for short) members, through their MPPUTP e-mail addresses, but have received no response whatsoever. Clearly disappointed, I took matters into my own hands and decided to communicate with the Manager, the Senior Manager or even the CEO directly. In some ways, this was viewed as going against certain basic communication protocols. But if the people at the bottom part of the administration would not respond or that their e-mail addresses were there just for the sake of beautifying their personal images, then I will act on my own. But when I do act, it will not be at the best interest of the SRCUTP.

I am indeed appalled by the fact that the SRCUTP was formed to provide a check-and-balance between the students and the administrators, and yet I find the SRCUTP to be very weak and its voice is no louder than those who are not in the SRCUTP. They dare not challenge the administrators (which perhaps they view as being disrespectful) unlike the student representative councils in other universities such as MMU and IMU. Therefore, they best give the impression of a “yes-man”.

More shameful was the fact that they actually spent quite a considerable amount of money making banners thanking the university administrators for upgrading the Internet services, which till today is giving some problems every now and then. I remember the fact that my friends and I actually attended a meeting with the ITMS staff in Lecture Hall 1 to discuss on this issue and how 8 MB/s for the whole residential college at 75% efficiency will only provide at most 2.0 KB/s of Internet connection to every student in UTP! The ITMS provided numbers which my friends and I were not impressed at all; these numbers and figures were also produced by the SRCUTP sometime back before the upgrade was done and we were shocked to see that they gave in to the explanation by the ITMS without further dissecting the situation or analysing it properly.

We emphasised on the fact that when we came into UTP in January 2006, the Internet, though slow, was accessible even without any form of network block or firewall to MSN Messenger, Youtube, etc. In July 2006 when the firewall (or Network Box) was imposed, the Internet started to deteriorate until the network collapsed entirely somewhere around early January 2009 semester. Although they found that it was the GoogleTalk application that took up so much of the connection (as it is run on HTTPS protocol, not HTTP), they failed to understand that they have only themselves to blame for blocking the MSN Messenger application. Students need to communicate among themselves easily, so the only other option was to use GoogleTalk.

It was after such a long time before the administrators finally agreed to upgrade the Internet to 150 MB/s, which should be sufficient. And I don’t see how the SRCUTP found it fit to produce banners publicly thanking the administrators for upgrading the Internet facilities, on our behalf, considering the fact that the Internet is such an important tool today.

(Please, do not give me the excuse that “Hey, I never had the Internet during my student days, so be grateful that we’re providing you with it.” Yes, that’s true, but do not expect me to go back to your student days. Your era and my era are entirely two different worlds. People go forward, not backwards. These are harsh words, but true.)

The SRCUTP believed that it is of paramount importance that they maintain a diplomatic and tactful relationship with the administrators. While I see nothing wrong in that, it also brood weakness in their part. A good leader can be diplomatic and tactful while being firm also. The SRCUTP represents the students of the university, and it is important to note that while the administrators might view the SRCUTP negatively, it is more important to have the support of the students. If students back you up strongly, then you have nothing fear while fighting for us. But if you do not have the students’ support, then you are definitely easily bullied and looked down upon by not just the administrators, but the student community as well.

Had the SRCUTP got the full support from the students, then they can definitely voice up for help from the students, summoning petitions and have the students to show the administrators in their way that the SRCUTP is not to be trifled with, because the administrators cannot do whatever they like without being answerable to the SRCUTP, and eventually to the students.

It has come to a point where a shadow cabinet might be necessary to ensure that the SRCUTP is really doing their part of the job scope. This shadow cabinet may oppose or support what the SRCUTP proposes, and the shadow cabinet could be necessary to ensure that the SRCUTP maintains its confidence among the students without being virtual slaves to the administrators of the university. However, it is most unfortunate that a shadow cabinet is not recognised as part of an official organisation and as such students have no opportunity to entirely oppose any proposal which they find utterly preposterous.

What the SRCUTP proposes is not necessarily at the best interest of the students, and sometimes we truly need another strong voice to tell them to stop their fallacy in their mindset and thinking.

However, most importantly, if the SRCUTP wants to function well as a reputable organisation with authoritative powers which it deserves, it must have a strong support from all the students of the university. In order to the attain that amount of trust and to obtain that amount of power, the SRCUTP must improve its image and truly fight for the students in our best appropriate interests.

The SRCUTP must also remember this: students in a university are customers to the university – administrators, even the Vice Chancellor, are but staff working to ensure that our welfare and academic interests are protected. They are paid to do the job, and they must perform excellently. The SRCUTP is there to assure exactly that. Staff who under-perform deserve to be given the boot out of the university. In fact, they do not deserve to work anywhere for their sheer lack of understanding and lack of commitment if found to be truly so.

So, to the SRCUTP HICOM of the 2009/2010 term, do you actually know what to do when you are in power? Are you there just to just beautify your résumé? If you are, you’d better step down and let someone else more sincerely committed to do the job.

Edited 29th of October 2009

Henry Yew will now bring you back to moments quite sometime ago, at no particular order:

Class of 3A10 Year 2003 (St. Michael's Institution) - I was seated, most right. (Picture courtesy of Nor Nafis Shazwih - captured by Rev. Bro. Matthew Bay)

Class of 1A10 Year 2001 (St. Michael's Institution - picture courtesy of Mr. Peter Khiew)

Class of 5Sc1 Year 2005 Farewell Party (and also a birthday-cum-retirement party for Mr. Louis Rozario Doss) - Hillciti Hotel Ipoh (picture courtesy of Wong Sen Loong)

Class of 5Sc1 Year 2005 Farewell Party - Hillciti Hotel Ipoh (picture courtesy of Wong Sen Loong)

Class of 5Sc1 Year 2005 Farewell Party - Hillciti Hotel Ipoh (picture courtesy of Wong Sen Loong)

Class of 5Sc1 Year 2005 Farewell Party - Hillciti Hotel Ipoh (picture courtesy of Wong Sen Loong)

Teachers for the class of 5Sc1 Year 2005 Farewell Party - Hillciti Hotel Ipoh (picture courtesy of Wong Sen Loong)

Freshie's Talent Nite January 2006 - Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (picture courtesy of Nguyen Thi Minh Anh)

Health, Safety and Environment Public Speaking January 2008 - Amphitheatre of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS

Canning Garden Methodist Kindergarten Year 1993

Graduation and Dean's List Award ceremony for Foundation Studies January and July 2006 semesters - Chancellor Hall of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS

Rector's Cup Debates Year 2007

National University of Singapore Arts Festival, March 2008

National University of Singapore Arts Festival, March 2008

Class of Primary 2 Hijau of SK St. Michael 2 Year 1996 - Assembly grounds of the old primary school, now demolished

What do you think?

Times have really changed over so many years. We have all grown from something to another, from nobody to somebody. We start to create a niche for our own in this society which initially knew nothing about us. But as we continue living and working with people of various backgrounds, we build our network extensively. We move on from one phase of life into another, and in the process of moving into a new phase of life, people come and people go. Sometimes this process of growing up (and growing old) is a bitter moment for quite a few of us; some would say that it brings them much joy and happiness.

Yet, when we look back into our earlier years, we marvel at how much we have changed over the years, how much our impression of people have changed, how best friends suddenly no longer become so intimate anymore, and how our enemies during our earlier years become friends whom we can call for a drink and talk. In the process of growing up, unfortunately, we have also moved from Ali, Ah Chong and Gopal into just Chong, Tan and Wong; Ali, Abu and Ahmad; Gopal, Muthu and Krishnasamy.

Nevertheless, these are memories well worth keeping.

For those of you who did not know, I was in Ipoh last Friday (9th of October 2009) till Monday (12th of October 2009). Initially, my intention to return to Ipoh was to attend the Masquerade Night that was organised by some of my university friends as we never really had a large-scale promenade before. As this was my once-in-a-lifetime sort of event, I thought that I should go.

However, my return to Ipoh turned out to be more than that. I accompanied my parents to attend the dinner held by the Han Kang Association of Perak, and though the food was good, I can’t say that the atmosphere was comfortable.

Nevertheless, I am not going to rant about the Friday dinner, for my Saturday night (the night of the Masquerade promenade itself) was filled with excitement. It was great to see people dressing up for the event, with unique masks, wonderful performances and appealing dances.

Did I get drunk? No, absolutely not. It was the policy of the organisers for this event to be entirely non-alcoholic, which I praise heartily.

There were about hundred over attendees and each of them stood out in their own individual manner. It was good to see old friends and make new friends, too, and to also keep my updated on the goings-on in the university. Overall, it was a very memorable social event, and I thought that one should be held again next year before I graduate! But this time, please start it earlier (grins)!

Now for some photographs (I regret not taking the tripod with me; the lighting was n0t good enough and the bulk of the pictures were either slightly overexposed, or that they were blurred and noisy):

In our masks - with Tan Xiao Ci. Lovely, no?

Girl (Jia Min) in evening gown, guy in tailcoat suit. I didn't really like this picture for its lighting, though. But this will have to do.

My juniors - Graham, Serena and Laura - all dressed up for the event. Laura, you didn't need high-heels anymore. You're already so tall!

The Chinese Orchestra group (me, Shu Wei, Xuan Hui) minus Aamir (far right)

Some entertainment shows here and there...

Dear readers,

(This post will be stuck to the top of the main page for about two weeks. In the meantime, any new posts will be posted below this entry.)

Thank you for following this blog so closely. I realise that this blog is not just about discussions on certain issues, be it political, social, economical, etc. but also some glimpse of my personal life and experiences that I have gone through, which I deem are worthy to share.

The purpose of this announcement is that starting from now, there will be locked posts. This would mean that readers will have restricted access to such posts. Readers who are authorised to view these posts will be given a password, which must be provided prior to viewing the locked posts.

The reason that these posts are locked is that these are insights into perhaps my personal life which I would prefer that only a handful of people know, or that the issues that I touch on are issues that I, for any reason whatsoever and at my sole discretion, choose not to disclose to whosoever party.

However, when the time is right, these locked posts might one day be opened for general public view, and when this happens, a notice will be provided at the Announcements section.

Notwithstanding the lock, these posts are not confined to only people whom I know. In fact, any individual who are interested to view will only need to request for permission from me either via e-mail, a text message, Facebook or any other medium of communication. However, when the password to the post is provided, it is expected and required from the authorised reader that sole secrecy is practised – no content of the post is to be divulged to any other party by any method, electronic or otherwise.

I may also choose to automatically provide the password to any of the locked post to readers whom I have confidence in their ability to maintain secrecy automatically, even if it means without them requesting for permission to view such locked posts. In this way, I maintain the absolute autonomy of this blog.