This started off as an exercise for Sean to train his skills in project management and execution, then he got busy and drifted away. I use this exercise to check on his work and also to complete the tender exercise.
This project is unusual for us at the moment, it is small, and the owner is not a repeat client. He had found me on Facebook, we met and visited the site. He and his wife seemed nice enough and liked our ideas, and I planned for this as a launch pad for Sean to get into 'work'.
After which, I cooked lunch for everyone (although not everyone was back at the office yet - the 2 bosses were away and ME as well). I dissected the duck from Mrs. Liew and added eggs to stew. Vivian dropped by to chat, while I was preparing lunch. And as I heated up oil in the pot and put the garlic pieces in, she came to stir the pot without my asking. We chatted as I dropped chopped vegetables into the pot, we talked about work and people (everything except the task in front of us). She cooked and I sprinkled water for the stir fry to sizzle, seasoned with soy, thickened slightly with cornstarch.
And in a few minutes, it is done. I enjoyed her company and her help; so effortless.
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| Eunice (calligraphy champion), MeiKey (PH's wife and Ben, Oliver and Ivan's mom), Bryan (the difficult-to-cook for vegetarian), Fiona, Ben, Louise Macull, Sara (darling), George, Melvin (laughing), Sam and little Ivan, Joanne, Pang (from Tokyo), PengHui (Ben, Oliver and Ivan's dad), Sandra (Longstoking), KaiWen (who needs a haircut), Peggy Chai, Mom, Me with Oliver, Vivian (champion), Lekheng (another champion), Sean (champion-in-the-making) and Ms. Cha (Chief Operations Manager, BSC) |
Yvonne and Lance zoomed in from New Zealand, it was good to see them bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Judging from the laughter amongst our young people, there is obviously a great deal of friendship and affection amongst them.
Ms. Cha from Bagan Specialist Centre dropped by for a chat and a bite to eat, she is a good sport; we talked about work and mutual friends, and about ways to manage people and projects.
Kai Wen and Pang flew in from Tokyo, they brought gifts and KW immediately became the butt of our jokes about haircuts and him turning Japanese. Eunice delivered her annual calligraphy couplets, and got Sean to install them on our front door.
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| Hui Joo and Tim brought some delicious rendang and ayam masak merah |
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| Terk Chyang, Freddie and Fabian watch on as I pan-fry Mrs Liew's Ngo-hiang. |
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| Chong Ling, my high school friend acting the YB and shaking hands with everyone. |
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| Sean and Bryan hung up the couplets that Eunice designed. |
Everyone left at 2pm, taking away the remainder of the food and then it was quiet again. We cleaned up and went for a hit of tennis. More of the same next year, I think. This new conference room with kitchen is so convenient.
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| This year, I see two former interns in the same photo, at the same reunion dinner; they got married after university. |
Since 2012, our interns started an unusual custom - of sharing photos of their reunion dinners in our Min-ions chat group. On the eve of our New Year, photos would come flooding in; from the other side of town, from different parts of the country, and from overseas. It is our little reunion in a way - many of these young people are like family members; ‘borrowed’ children from another life. And the practice continues to this day.
Over the years, the photos develop like story-lines within a stage set. The now familiar half-moon arch between the kitchen and the dining room framing the scene. A simple home-cooked dinner with fish served on a Formica table-top. Another more elaborate spread with roast meats on a glass lazy susan. Expectant faces; some familiar, some new, some missing - this year grandma is no longer in her seat by the window. This year, I see two former interns in the same photo, at the same reunion dinner; they got married after university.
This might seem trivial to some but it is precious to me; a privilege to be fleetingly included in their family. Familiar strangers connected by a 3-month internship. We were their surrogate family when they were training in our office – now they are returning the favour and including us in their story.
A longer version of this article was published here 8 years ago, the subject then was about nurturing interns in the work place. I wrote this shorter version to remind myself and others that some relationships no matter how tenuous might leave a lasting impression in someone’s life, and to be mindful of our words and actions. Quite appropriate for this Year of the Rabbit; intelligent, thoughtful and considerate.
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| Lance 2015 |
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| Kai Wen 2015 |
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| Kai Wen 2023 |
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| Melissa 2015 |
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| Melissa 2023 |
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| Sarah 2015 |
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| Mom in our library |
This also meant that I had to accompany mom downstairs in case she woke up in the middle of the night. I had a sleepless night not helped by the fireworks. The dogs had a sleepless night as well, Sean had to accompany Ellie in the kitchen - the old girl worries and frets in the commotion.
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| Ellie in her kitchen |
We prepared several projects to discuss with Teck today; the lakeside hotel, his office complex and a masterplan. The MAC2 was an additional project which Sara was working on, it was not on the list but I included it unofficially because I thought she would benefit from working on it with me and PH (only her). I thought the results of the project would be a good antidote to lethargy, mental stagnation and general out-of-sort-ness. I thought that meeting a client like Ah Teck would also be a good experience for her, since she had met him years earlier. She was quite tickled by the experience I think thought experience tells me that she has a ways to go yet, much of the present work was not her own and she had plenty of help (mine included).
I got her to think about 'what's next?'. I got her to text PH and pose this question. She was asked to re-do the sketch up based on the current cad and refresh her skp skills. I'll let PH lead for a while, he seemed to relish the idea of re-teaching her.
I rewarded myself with an Indian lunch, and an early afternoon departure from the office. The hampers were raffled off and the young ones trotted off with the giant baskets of new year treats. Sean showed good upbringing by offering his to LH who did not get one, it was a small gesture but it still show maturity I thought.
Today is the 2nd day of swimming for 30 minutes.
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| Chee Kiong, Angel, Azai and Si Yong at Kengo's Hyatt Centric, KK |
1215pm Lunch with Vivian, to discuss how to leave, whether to leave and what her parents thought of the situation. I have known her since her college days, 18 years old.
Later Sean helped Sara and I with an idea for the Mac2 apartments; skewed walls to avoid direct West and East sun.
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| 44 terraces |
Looking forward to today, to meeting R to move ahead on his projects. The condo in Sibu has all its elements in place; the unit mix, the overall height of the building, the roof to catch rainwater, and car parks. The 44 terraces was confirmed for building plan submission; the sizes of rooms, the translucent roofing skylight, the gravel driveway. And the office park, with input from its engineers while the showroom is without engineers at the moment.
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| Liew the builder and Fish waiting for Sean to start the meeting. |
Freddie texted to say that he is going to meet Vivian for lunch, they are going to talk about work opportunities. He promised to tell me the outcome (if any) of their chat - I think that there is a high possibility of a work relationship. There are many common denominators - the studio style work space, the mutual friends who are now colleagues, Freddie's partnership with me, Penghui and Leong in the picture as steady hands, the projects that we will be involved in. She can sit for her professional exams with her friends.
She knows that I cannot afford to employ her, that's why she went to the other office. But Freddie have the capacity, and will employ
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