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Monday, July 18, 2011

It's almost 4 months into work now and all I can really say is 'WOW!'. Surely God has His way in getting you through times you never did thought you'll ever get through because He sure is awesome. It just makes you start the day with a prayer of strength and serenity and end it with thanksgiving for not the troubles you have faced during the day, but being able to get through it. Prayer makes me hold on to my faith that He is with me and He'll never let me walk alone. The day that I stop praying for His guidance and strength is the day that I start falling away which is the day I fear.

Another 8 more months to the end of my bond, another 12 more months to my proposed departure from the company and another 5.5 months more to give to ground my decision if I should be staying or going next year. I know God has his will willed for me and He will surely reveal it on the decision that I should make when the time is right.

It's been almost 4 months of awesome colleagues and heaps of angering moments triggered by the boss but he will NOT put me down for my values, morals and faith for he does not know what he says and does and I certainly hope God will forgive him of his errant ways and poisonous tongue and thinking. Grudges shouldn't be held and I leave it in God's hands in whatever ways in which the boss shall be dealt with for it is not my calling to judge and condemn him.

Had a great array of music shopping for US$10+- for 5 albums and whole lot of awesome tracks.

Donated blood just a week ago. My first time and surely not my last. It's definitely a feel-good kinda feeling. Even though there's bruising after that, I couldn't give a hoot about that. What's a little bruising compared to someone who needs blood and suffering bad? What's that little inconvenience of ugly looking clots under your skin when someone else can be saved with the blood you give? I know it's a little mental to be saying it but it was actually pretty fun.

Signed up for mobile broadband again today. That means I'll have internet access again at work which will anger the boss quite a bit if he were to find out. So, I'll have to keep it hush hush as much as I possibly can. Fake my way through a 2-yr student plan of S$15 a month for a 7.2 mbs internet which is capped at 10gb a month which I reckon is more than enough from experience. Can you believe that a 2mbs internet can cost you $27 to $38 depends on which duration of a contract you sign and I got mine at 7.2mbs at only $15? Of course I did feel a little guilty to still be using my student card when by right I do not have any student rights anymore. I certainly have to find a way to make up for my guilt.

Seriously, how long it may be, I am still in awe on how Kina Grannis and Colbie Caillat can instill both 'calm' and 'happy' in the same sentence of the kind of music they portray.

I seriously anticipate the coming of August for I am sure it'll be an awesome month. It's a month of 2 public holidays, 2 days of time off I'll be taking from work, the mates' graduation at SIM that I had promised to attend a millenium ago (of which I would be part of if I didn't transfer, but of course I'm not really regretting it much) whether I made the decision to come back to Singapore to graduate or to graduate in Melbourne, a free night at Resorts World Sentosa with the Careteam with massive thanks to Xin Yi's dad who was able to get that free night and gave it to us and I'm quite sure I'll be renting a car for a couple of days too!

I am thankful for just everything and everyone around me, which makes me more appreciative of what I have rather than what I don't. Life is not what you have and what you don't, what you like and what you detest. Life is about living it well, see what you have been blessed with and bless others with what you have and how much you can give to make the life of others easier and the world a better place to live in.

Cheers to those who have played a part in my life, even if it's the tiniest role or just showing up in any chapter of my life for just a couple of minutes, you've been awesome.

joce blog dusted at 12:32 am -

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Can't believe that I'd actually forgotten that I have a blog for a whole entire month!

I'd been working for 2 months and a week already. It seems really fast looking back, but looking forward, it still seems like it's a long way to go with another 10 more months with the intention to tender in exactly a year's time if work condition remains stagnant come end of the year.

My plans of returning to Melbourne over christmas this year is not looking good with the twin not being able to take leave in December. If I still plan to be out of the country over christmas (as I had been the last 2), it'll either be finding someone else to travel with or to change destination altogether.

To be honest I don't really have much to be blogging about, just posting something for the sake of posting and not letting my blog go up in dust. Since I tend to forget that I have a blog, don't reckon anyone will bother to come read either.

So, that's it for now i guess.

joce blog dusted at 3:51 pm -

Friday, April 22, 2011

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother blogging when nobody's really doing so anymore and I am pretty sure nobody reads mine. On the other hand, it's a better medium of thrashing out everything than facebook which it's so closely monitored by the parentals.

Disagree if you may, but I feel God is awesome and a genius in His own right. Many things in which we may not understand on why they're happening at that time may just be realised later on why they happened and plus the fact that there are just so many things we just do not appreciate til it's too late.

There are just things which I did not really realise til the past month. In my previous job in the accounting firm, I didn't have an email address and gave the excuse that I was just there temporarily so not to get one as I wasn't comfortable and did not want to communicate with clients, letting alone verbally talking to them. However for some strange reason I feel so much at ease in communicating with them whether through email (which I actually do prefer) and over the phone in this first month of my new job. Furthermore, upon hearing about working OT and stuff like that, the first thing that'll come into mind is...oh shucks! But then again, when it really comes to having to actually work OT, I didn't really mind at all.

And then I realised why it's all happening the way it should. I know why God let Australia happen for me, His intentions may not have been seen then, but I know now. He let Australia happen to boost my confidence in having to be alone in a foreign place, being firm in what I do and decisions that I have to make and having to push myself to work long hours for school purposes. Having the opportunity to be somewhere else for a period of time gives you a wider perspective on things other than what you're already exposed to and somehow makes you more aware of your surrounding. I guess I actually have more personal views on things compared to the past where I just agreed with what everybody potrayed. I wouldn't say all Asians, but I'll say most Singaporeans believe that there's always a correct or model answer to everything, but what I feel now that is important is not giving the model answer, anything can be a correct answer but how you derive at it is the most important of all.

I thank God everyday for plans he had for me and the many more that are planned ahead.

I can't believe I'm saying this after close to a month, but I think I may just be starting to enjoy my job. I always believe that God had His purpose in having me in this company but I just didn't know why as I actually felt the sense of regret of accepting it within the first few days of work. Even though the boss may not be the ideal boss, but my fellow colleagues are awesome. However stressful work may be, they will always take the simpliest of events and turn them into big jokes to lighten the atmosphere and sometimes we just laugh til our stomachs cramp. They're quite helpful too as no matter what jobs they're rushing for, they always put them on hold for awhile and help you on things that you need help on. With the boss' wife, Doreen, joining the firm this month and officially taking over the accounting department, things are just better. Doreen is so much better in managing the staff than the boss will ever be and is really generous. This month is GST peak period and we're working our brains dead with so many companies to file GST for by the end of next week that she's actually giving the whole accounts department a lunch treat after the labour day holiday!

Like I told my colleague, if it's solely based on my boss and partly the manager who previously was in charge of accounts, I will quit after I serve my bond. The reason that I will stay is because of Doreen and probably my colleagues too (provided they don't leave too soon!). I prayed and am still praying that I will have good colleagues and God granted me that. Work will always be there but having good colleagues to work with is the ultimate in keeping you in that company for a really good amount of time.

I pray things will continue to get better and I sure am appreciating things more now as they come as I know they all have reasons attached to them on why God allow them to take place, or not. We may not understand all of them now, but we will in the future.

It's Good Friday, my first public holiday and the break that we're all looking forward to. It's been a month since I started work and how time flies when you look back. 1 year will pass with a blink of they eye (I hope). Whether I decide to stay on after my bond depends on the next 11 months.

Grateful I am, grateful will always be.

joce blog dusted at 12:11 am -

Friday, April 08, 2011

Been working 2.5 weeks now and gotten my first pay check. Although it's only less than a month in the company, it's been rather demotivating to see 5 ppl leave the company within the first week and another one at the start of next month.

The boss has been quite a jerk, well jerk may be a rather harsh term, probably a joke i wil say. Nobody in the company respects him and his the reason why the turnover rate is so incredibly high. His wife has just joined the firm last friday to take over the accounts department and hopefully things will be better. All of us agree that his wife seems more capable than the boss himself and you'll just can't help feeling that he has a dumb touch when talking to him AFTER you've spoken to the wife. One good thing about the company is even though turnover rate is incredibly high and most staff are relatively new, everybody can get along really well because we're all facing the same problem with the guy on top and i guess everybody knows the problem that we're all facing.

I've no idea how am I gonna finish that 1 yr bond but I think i can do it. Like 1 of my colleagues who's under a bond too and 2.5 months ahead of me, we just have to hold on and work that 1 year off. If we break the bond, we have to compensate 3 months and we're not letting them earn that money for nothing!

On the brighter note, I made a promise to myself that once i officially start working and earn some proper salary, I am gonna sponsor one of those kids on world vision and I did. I'm gonna sponsor this kid named Adrian from Zambia. :) I'm just curious and excited on how things are gonna turn out. If all's good and when i'm more stable in my income, i'm gonna get on to another kiddo. :D

joce blog dusted at 10:13 pm -

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Got the job.
Accounts Executive at an Accounting Firm right back in Bugis.
Starting tomorrow.
That's a little too soon considering that I was just offered yesterday and gonna start tomorrow.
On the brighter note, I'll get paid for that 1 week in March.
I'll be able to pay my handphone bill and start saving to take my CPA in July.

God is good.
He knows I needed a job and he gave me one at this time when I'm crumbling under the bills and expenses.
He listens and He'll deliver as long as we are patient.
He blessed me with this offer from an accounting firm which pays higher and in a more accessible location after rejecting one from a distribution company right in Ubi Crescent where is not an ideal place to be in after dark (considering if I work OT).
I prayed to get a better offer after deciding to reject that company and there I go.

Now I pray that I'll be able to adapt well to the new job.
I pray the colleagues and management will be a good crowd to be working with and being around.
Work am worried about, but not as much as the people factor.
I pray it'll all be good and that I'll be able to enjoy working there.
I am under a 1 year bond, having good relations will not lead to a miserable year ahead.
I trust and hope and pray and put all my faith in Him whom I know will provide and watch over me.

joce blog dusted at 11:25 pm -

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Japan Japan Japan. To think one of Asia's wealthiest country is partially wrecked just like that. There you go, mother nature's fury and the showcase and our annual reminder of God's wrath.

When as massive a tsunami as that and the one back then in 2004 that left almost a quarter of a million people dead, along with the other disasters, sometimes it just leaves a bittersweet feeling.

Why sweet? Because it reminds us Singaporeans on how blessed we are to be living in Singapore where we don't have any major natural disasters, the most we'll get out of it is the Orchard Road and Bukit Timah floodings which seems pretty mild compared to such phenomena happening else where.

Why bitter? As blessed as we are, people elsewhere are actually suffering and worrying about what's life's next plan for them and how much more will they have to fight for life's basic needs before life gets back on track, but again, will it ever? What we Singaporeans here are fighting for instead is a job, an opportunity to get promoted, a place in the University or even a space to move into in a packed MRT train or bus. What are we struggling for? Earning enough/more money? Getting good grades for assignments? Getting recognised for efforts you put into work or by backstabbing someone?

Sometimes i wonder what can people like us do. People like me are obviously financially inadequate to be contributing and all i can do is pray for them. However rotten Japan's history may be, on a personal level, they're people like us who need air to breathe and food to nourish our bodies. If there's nothing I can do, at least praying for their safety and receiving the comfort for their loss is all I can offer.

No matter how brutal a history they may hold, the modern Japan I know is a very resourceful and beautiful country and wealthy not only financially, but in may aspects too. I personally feel Japanese are one of the most courteous people in the world and there's so much that they possess now in terms of economy and culture wise that i think that the rest of the world should learn from them. God will watch over them and bring them through, no doubts and qualms about that.

Since the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, natural disaster as been an annual affair. We see at least 1 or 2 disasters a year in all parts of the world and every few months you see something new. The last was still so vividly fresh in the mind with the cyclone and flooding of Queensland and Victoria in Australia. Now's a massively larger scale one in Japan. I've no idea what and where's next but somehow i can foresee it in the next couple of months to come looking on how disasters are coming at a more frequent timeline as the years go by.

I feel it's one method God is using in bringing back the compassion in people. No matter how high up the corporate ladder you are at, we're all still people. We are all gifted in our own ways and nobody is better than the other. As we progress into modern times, I personally feel at least in Singapore, people are getting more arrogant, it's always about making money and decisions made are mostly about self interest. What about the basic principle we all once hold so dear of taking the time and effort to think about others than ourselves? I know a lot of Westerners with the freedom of speech and actions, self-centeredness lingers a great deal among the people. Part of why God allows natural disasters to have their way on earth is to bring back compassionate-ness among the people. We see many people giving their time, effort and money to help but at the the back of my mind I know there are heaps of people who are not affected in other countries showing a 'i'm sorry that it happened to you but luckily i'm good where i'm at' kind of mentality.

Life's not easy, it'll never be easy. God didn't promise us an easy life. He promised us growth in all aspects of life and it's hardship that we have to go through to gain them while holding on to our values. We'll never be lucky in life because all that we have are a blessing. Luck are just for those who holds no faith and hope and do not believe in anything.

What can you do to contribute or help in such a massively brutal disaster and a generally sick world?

I want things to be better on a personal level for myself, for the people of the world and I am sure God will provide for us all and He will take care of things in Japan.

joce blog dusted at 2:41 pm -

Friday, February 25, 2011

When blogging has become such a chore, updating it is no less an achievement in its own right.

I know for sure God has His purpose in all things that goes in and out of life, for all that is or has taken place has a reason all attached to it whether we do realise it now or at a later stage.

Yes, I am still without a job and should I be frustrated? I won't lie and say that I am not, I am truly frustrated but should I be so? It seemed as though I had sent out hundreds of resumes but so far only got called up for interviews of only 2 that I had sent and a couple more of which I did not send. Just sent out 5 this week, possibly another 2 or 3 over the coming weekend. Am I tired of sending and waiting? Yes I am.

A lot of people got a little shock when it came to their knowledge that I was going off for a random trip out of the country which had just randomly came to me and booked the flight 8 days before I flew. Some said I was mental and I thought I was too but I know why God had allowed the trip to happen.

Prior to leaving, i had 5 interviews within a span of 1 week and I was exhausted and frustrated as they were interviews for jobs that I wasn't interested in, didn't like it or for the job that I placed much hope in getting but got rejected in the end. I was frustrated that if I wasn't out for an interview, I'll be at home waiting and the whole world seemed to be busy or caught up with something and there was always this constant lack of people to talk to outside this house.

I'm running pretty dry on funds and this month my dad actually decided to cut my allowance from 300 bucks to 200 bucks which pretty much leave me a big fat ZERO for my daily expenses and i'm surviving on my ang pow money for now. Why the zero, you may ask. Let's see - I have $100 of insurance to pay monthly, that leaves me $100 of which around $35-40 goes to paying the handphone bill and the rest on transport. What am I going to eat for the whole month? My fingers? He said I'll get the other $100 when i get a job. The parentals are going on and on about getting a job, this and that. Come on, why are you talking and acting like I'm not doing anything? I'm sending my head off resumes, I'm going for random interviews and I am so freaking trying ok, I am TRYING! It's not my say if I get an interview or further still, land a job! Why I wonder, why is the whole world trying to squeeze the life out of me? I'm just so glad that it's the end of the month and it'll be March soon and I'll be getting my allowance again and I hope that they'll give me my whole $300. I've no more ang pow money to survive on anymore and I've no idea what I'm going to do if I don't get a job soon.

Going to Malaysia never did cross my mind and oh, did i mention that i flew there? The idea only came across when Jun Ai skyped in and mentioned it 2 Mondays before I left and suggested that I could probably spend a couple of days in Malaysia since I've yet to find a job and she only starts school this week and I could stay at her house. Was pretty frustrated on how things were going on for me here so just booked it with no qualms at all.

I guess I was going for all the right and wrong reason. I went because I just wanted to get out of the country and run from the frustrations but on the other hand, I did want to go visit Jun Ai, haven't seen her for more than 1.5 years! She was in Singapore last year but unfortunately I wasn't around and it just dawned on me how much I actually missed her. Met her at Wangsa Maju church when I was there on a week long church mission trip just over 2 years ago. It's just so rare being able to find someone you can actually talk to who's from another country and especially when you've only met them for a really short period of time. Home stayed at her house for 2 nights during the mission trip, so was partly there to visit her parents too. Amazing it is that when she came to my place to stay a few days when she was in Singapore in 2009, she found how similar my mum was to hers and that was exactly what I told her during the mission trip. Basically all of them are like a family to me away from home. So, what I realised was that God knew that I was frustrated and needed a short break and there it was, God knew I needed people to talk to and He sent Jun Ai in, God knew I needed encouragement and He provided it throughout the trip through Jun Ai and the people at the Wangsa Maju church. How greatful I am, is not for me to say because I have no words to describe it.

I may not have as many friends as a lot of people do but I know for a fact that my friends who I know personally and who knows me personally are one of the best that I can ever find. Good friends are friends that still do keep in touch with you effortlessly no matter what you're doing or where you are in this world and they are people that I treasure and hold close to my heart. Friends that stray and vanish after some time or go MIA indefinitely are just not meant to be. I know I'm blessed for God has blessed me with many good friends even through time of uncertainty especially in Australia and I am sure that there's nothing I should be worried about for as Jun Ai said, we have a wonderful God and He will always provide the best for us. If I didn't get the job, there may be one more out there that's probably more suitable for me. I trust Him and I shall be furthermore patient.

Next week will be a better week or at least that is what I am hoping. I want next week to be a better week and I am praying that next week will certainly be one.

joce blog dusted at 1:33 pm -

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