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It has been a long two months since the last post in our blog. Baby and I have been busy - preparing for exams, taking exams, studies, work etc. I think some of our friends have forgotten about our blog and I don't blame them. It was till I received a email from Long-ge during Christmas (Thanks for the e-card Long-ge!) and he mentioned that I should update my blog so that he, who is thousand miles away from Singapore, could know how I am doing currently.
So very well. I guess the most significant thing that happened over the past two months was I became a proud owner of a Kangoo! I bought a second-hand Renault Kangoo, which is a Eurovan, for $22k in late Nov. Reason why I chose a Kangoo was it is cheap and most importantly, it consumes diesel. So far, all those who had an opportunity to sit in the van says its quite a good catch at $22k. I'm crossing my fingers still, hoping that no major problems would surface for the next one year.
I have to admit that driving a manual car for the first time in perhaps two years did provide a challenge to me. I was literally sweating especially when it comes to steep slopes, where there is a danger of rolling back too much or a "die car" situation arises on the slope. I kind of avoid those roads that may be potentially embarassing for me. But now, with constant driving everyday, I must say my driving skills have improved though still not yet the level of the uncles who can even read newspaper while driving.
Work-wise, it has not been a good few months for me because of my colleague, Jeff. Jeff came to my section in Jun 06, replacing one of my colleagues who left the service. Before he came, my section head asked me what is my opinion of Jeff. I told her that he seems okay and among the shortlisted candidates, he is perhaps the best choice among them. He came in and within a month, Jeff proved that he was more a liability to our section rather than an asset. Joe, my other colleague in the section, and I were trying to go through the job scope and guide Jeff along the way as much as possible. Whenever we asked him if he got any problems, he would give a definite no and appeared confident in the job. However, when his supervisor starts to ask him questions, Jeff would either say "I don't know", "They never teach me" or he would try to bluff his way through, or what we Army guys normally term it as "smoke". Joe and I got fed up with him (we come to a conclusion that it was Jeff's ego problem - he was a SSG and 32 years old at that point of time - that causes this) and when Joe left the service in Sep 06, he said good luck to me. Ya thanks.
Replacing Joe was a guy called Patrick. Patrick was the opposite of Jeff. Patrick was eager to learn the ropes and asked questions whenever he was unsure of the things that Joe and I taught him. With the departure of Joe, I was the most senior specialist in the section (4 years), followed by Jeff and then Patrick. However, Jeff, by virtue of rank, is still the most senior specialist, and therefore was supposed to oversee some of the work that our section does. From the time Joe left till now, almost 90% of the work that Jeff had to oversee became my task. It's either he conveniently forgets or he does such a bad job on the work that I have to clean his shit behind him. At that point, I was damn pissed. I kept thinking how did he attained his SSG rank and can't believe a person older than me by 6 years old could be so irresponsible. Joe's words were beginning to come true.
All of a sudden, Jeff started to talk about leaving our section. He told me that he is getting old and finds it hard to remember some of the things that our officers asked him to. He even said that he is a liability to the branch and leaving the branch ASAP would be better as he does not want to get the branch into trouble. Jeff subsequently talked to my section head, branch head and head of administration department about posting out. I was puzzled and at the same time, curious. I talked to him a few times during our teabreaks and lunch, trying to fish out what is the cause for this sudden decision. Eventually Jeff started to open up to me and told me something that pisses me even more. Jeff said he would be leaving the service in Jun 08 and pointed out that one of our colleagues, Max, who will also be leaving the service in Dec 08, was in a branch that is doing basically nothing. Jeff said why is it so unfair that Max, who is leaving later than him, gets to "rot" and wait for his time in that branch while he got to slog it out in our section. Jeff repeatedly said that our administration department should just post him there to "tuang" with Max and a couple of guys there.
I was furious! So the real reason why Jeff wants to leave is he wants to get his monthly pay of $3k-plus doing nothing in that branch instead of having to work for his pay! So all this talk about he can't remember stuff or he doesn't want to get the section into trouble because of his mistakes were all rubbish! I am planning to leave the service in Mar 08, three months earlier than Jeff, so does that mean I should also look for a posting to that branch? Joe worked all the way to his very last day in the service and I respect him for that. Jeff is just rubbish. Eventually, my branch head refused to let him leave, asking him to "bite the bullet". Hurray! He isn't going to get his way so easily because this aint his father's army. But Jeff proved me wrong in the end, with a price to pay.
Jeff's work improved slightly for the next few months after the I-want-to-post-out incident, though I still have to clear the shit after him. I even chanced upon his business plans when he was printing out the label design for his products and he sounded quite enthusiastic about it. All was fine until last week. Jeff was preparing something with a supervisor and a lot of mistakes were spotted due to the frequent last-minute changes to the work. Jeff showed a black face all day long [It has become his trademark whenever he's stressed with a lot of work (even though to my section, its just a little work but to him, its like a big project is thrown to him. Seems like he can't handle stress too well.)] and started saying things like "Ya la, every mistake also blame me. I'm okay with it because specialists are paid to take the blame." Childish. Nonetheless, I tried to tell him that nobody is blaming him and he just need to rectify the mistakes. That's all. Don't take it so hard man. That didn't work. Jeff remarked that he will expedite his departure from the section and even started clearing his stuff in his cabinet. At that moment, I thought to myself, "Siao". I couldn't believe how accurate can I be.
Jeff arranged for a medical appointment at Institute of Mental Health (IMH) the following week. He was later diagnosed with some anxiety depression disorder or something along that line. It was said that he was stressed by the working pace of our section and it has become so bad that he began to turn violent at home. Jeff again requested to be posted out. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this time he got what he wanted. He was posted to the branch that would allow him to "rot" and wait for his time, while collecting his $3k-plus pay per month. My branch head believes that Jeff has a serious problem, my section head wants us to believe that Jeff has a serious problem but you know what? Call me cynical, skeptical, cold-blooded or whatever shit that you could think of. Up till now, I still do not believe that he has such a serious problem. My branch head commented that nobody in the right frame of mind would go to IMH and declare himself problematic as it would virtually destroy his future. My branch head is right in a sense but you can never underestimate a desperate man.
To me, Jeff is so desperate to get out of our section that even going to IMH and having a record thereafter wouldn't bother him. I have my reasons to doubt him. My previous conversations with him already indicated his intention to "tuang" in the branch that does nothing and his business plans. If a person is so stressed, got into depression and even becomes violent at home, does he still have the time to plan for his future business? Does he still have the mood to plan? Who could be witness to his outbreaks of violence at home? His wife and his sister were the ones who told the doctor this. Who could certify that what they said is true? In a few years time, all Jeff got to do is to go back to IMH and declare himself "healthy" again. There is a record but how many employers would really check the mental state of an employee? I rest my case.
As such, my workload has increased and so is Patrick's. Both of us have to suffer for one's rubbish. Jeff got what he wanted and I'm certainly not happy. But what can I do? Suck thumb. All I can do is just to complain on this online diary and that's it. I guess I should leave it at that. That's all folks! I'll be back! Soon... I hope...
P.S. - Long-ge, see you in a couple of weeks time!