One Year Anniversary (Part 2)

I stood beside the window near my seat.

The first day in eProtea was alright. I was given a nice seat! Besides me is the window where I can enjoy the the beautiful KL City especially at night. I could see the KL Tower right through the window.

KL Tower can be seen right through the window where I sat.

The first person who guided me and assisted me is Edmund who work under CCRIS project. He brief me a little about what's CCRIS and the system developed. After that I was given some documents which I spent two boring days reading them. Then I could not help but to ask for something else to do. Then Edmund gave me some programming work to do. I think it's MBF's programme.

I rememberred there's this application which required me to send a report (successful/failure) to a user through email where the report is attached in the email. That was a very challenging task for me (then) as I never did that kind of program before. Of course Edmund gave me some clue and tips, and I also looked for help from the internet. I worked till very late for a few days and I somehow managed to complete the program. Ooh, satisfaction!

And then I was given some other tasks which I couldn't really remember. Then I was assigned to work for Hong, who is currently my senior and "Dai Lou"! He was developing a new product named LASS (Loan Account Submission System) and he needed an assistant to work with him. So I was assigned to help him.

From there I really learn a lot. As the system is still new and not fully developed, I got the opportunity to learn to develop the system from many aspects. Not only did I have the chance to explore more on Java programming, java script (jsp, servlet), I also got to learn more SQL statements and also the DTS (Data Transformation Service).

I still remember there was a period when Hong got into an accident and were absent for a few days. I was the one who need to do all the works. Being blur and helpless, I needed to explore, learn and solve the problem as fast as I could. I called Hong whenever I needed help and luckily he still managed to listen to the phone and simulate the problem at home and try to help me to solve most of the problems. During that period, I really forced myself to pick up and really learn a lot about the system. I have a better understand and get the big picture of the whole system.

From then on, I work mostly on the LASS instead of the CCRIS b2b project.

Oh did I not mention that the eProtea office was initially located at Cangkat Raja Chulan. Many bitter sweet memories at the old office. I remember I never joined the Company Trip to Pulau Pemanggil. I always go to have lunch with colleagues like Edmund, Wayne, Boon Seng, Hong, Panacie and Jasline. Then Chao Learn and King Chung later came in and become the permanent staff in the company too.

From left : King Chung, Chao Learn and I.

Other memories like delivering chinese oranges before the the Chinese New Year was also fun! We never really got to work but being the postman and deliver the oranges to our customers.

The decoration somewhere near my seat.

After the Chinese New Year, the office has shifted to a new place which is the current location. Menara Promet Level 29. We have a better environment and facilities. Besides, there is a Monorail station right in front of the building. Very convenient for me!

One Year Anniversary (Part 1)

OK! Not marrying someone for 1 year! Not having a girlfriend for 1 year... But...

Hurray! I have been employed for 1 year. Wow, time really flies!

I still remember after I graduated, I stayed at home for about two months. In fact more than two months I guess. Doing nothing but woke up late in the afternoon, ate brunches, watched TV and slept again. That period was a disaster as I was not only unemployed, I suffered from depression and paranoia. Quite pathetic, indeed! Never mind about it! It's over!

Then after procrastinating for two months, I finally decided to look for a job and be good. There are many IT companies indeed in Malaysia. But I have no target in mind which company I want to be in. At that time, I only want to get a job and get busy! So I asked my friends (or more specifically, members in RC as those were the people I got contact with at that time).

I got to know two companies which were hiring IT programmer. First, eProtea Technologies Sdn Bhd (introduced my Merina) and also Hong Leong Bank (introduced by Rachel Ng). Without much consideration, I desperately prepared my resume and letter and sent to both companies. See! Stayed home two months really doing nothing - not even preparing resume and any letter. I still remember clearly I asked Melissa to help check my resume and letter for me. So pathetic! Shame on me, a university graduate couldn't write a proper letter and resume!

I did not have to wait long to receive response from eProtea and called me for an interview. Blurred and not very well-prepared, I groomed myself and took the LRT to the company. I forgot when was the exact date when I had the interview. But I remember Merina did chanted a lot for me and assisted me in any possible ways.

When I got into the company, the first person I met was the Administrative Manager, Sim. She gave me a form to fill in and a "examination" to complete. Gosh, I spent more than an hour to finish the paper. Then I was interviewed by Mr. Ho. Most of the questions asked were expected. :p (Oops! Guess I should say I was well-prepared?!) Then, he asked me to create a function using any language (either C or JAVA) to compute x power of y. I think I did it correctly.

Then, I was interviewed by Mr. Yeoh who is currently my boss when we talked about jobs in the company, salary and et cetera. I was almost sure I was gonna get the job. And I did! After a few days, I attended another interview in Hong Leong Bank which I can hardly remember. The only thing I remember is that they have this IQ test and writting essay. That's interesting!

So that was one year ago... I started working in eProtea MSC Sdn. Bhd. on 1st August 2005.

Mariah and I

I am currently listening to Mariah's song while working (OT) in the office. Thought I would take a rest and write something here.

I started listen to Mariah's song when I was 12 or 13 years old when my friend introduced her album (DayDream) to me. That was the first english album I bought in my life. Honestly, the first time I listen to the album, I don't really like it. I somehow find it hard to get the melody as Mariah's good at twist and turn the melody.

But then the more I listen to the album, the more I like it. Especially songs like "When I Saw You", "Forever" etc. I still remember the only song I know before I bought the album is "One Swee Day" as it was so popular then.

After that, I kinda dislike her when she release her next album - "Butterfly". Her image was like too sexy for a conservative mind like me (then). I hated it when I see the single "Honey" was on top of the chart. Again, the more I listened to it, the more I enjoy the song. When her next single for the album (Butterfly) was released, I bought the album.

From then on, I bought her every album.

I listen to them night and day and even sing along nonchalently, regardless how other people will think a guy singing Mariah Carey's song! (Imagine when reaching the high notes, I would screamed like an idiot!)

I have to admit singing Mariah's songs is not "healthy" for a tenor like me. I would have to use "Falseto" (Spelled wrongly!) which is not too good if used incorrectly or too often. So I controlled myself not to sing too much of her song.

However, I have to admit that her songs really accompany me through thick and thin. Her songs are definitely inspiring! Whenever I am down or feel sad, despair bla bla bla, singing her songs will definitely got me through the rain.

Mariah absolutely have a special connection with her fans. I don't know how to describe but I really take her as a good friend even though we've never communicated directly before. It's through her songs and her lyrics that she touched my heart.

Challenge with Courage and Hope

I was informed that one of the bass might not be able to participate in the choir competition next month in Singapore as his company has assigned him to Hong Kong to work for about one month.

There's nothing much we can do but to send abundant of daimoku to him. Life has too many uncertainties and we should never give up hope even until the very last minute. As stated in the Daishonin's teaching, there'll be obstacles and devil functions that will challenge us when we're doing the right things. Then we should be certain that we're walking on the correct path.

Yeah I have been challenged in many ways which I could not imagine and never though of. But now I've learned that to be defeated will only lead to unhappiness. So, it's better we face the challenges with courage and hope.

Challenges will make a courageous person stronger and wiser; but challenges will make a coward weaker.

It's when we face the challenges courageously, the light of hope will definitely shine for us.

ISME

I've joined the Seremban Chung Hwa Alumni Choir to perform during the ISME in KL Convention Centre and KL PAC. The following are some selected photos taken during the event.


The two tenors and three basses. Aren't we cool?!



My colleagues and my parents.



Posed after performing in KL PAC.



The Australian Choir and my colleagues.



My colleagues and I in Plenary Theatre, KL Convention Centre.

The Opening...

I have to decide what I will need to do with this "new place"/blog. I realised it's another kind of management.

It's hard for me to start writing after "never write" for so long. I doubt if it's necessary to force myself to write something, but I enjoy reading my writing (even though some of the entries aren't good). After all it's my works and I know how much efforts I put to "produce those works".

It's a normal Saturday night I guess. Trying to leave all the bad things behind. There's another thing I need to decide : whether to write down all the sad events or avoid negative "stories" in my life. Sometimes writing down those sadness, disappointment, frustration etc will make me feel worse because that make me really feel the negative energies before I can put them into words. And each time I feel them (the negativities), I will be more "negative". Then it'll become an "addiction" which you'll have hard time to pull yourself out of the "trouble". So I guess I could write them down but not so much. Besides, keeping bad memories won't bring me any good.

So, my dear audience, expect happy and positive things from this blog. However, should you find too many negativities here, do remind me about that! I have to keep myself positive! Hahaha...

OK. I must hit the sack.

Peace,
Ryan

Justin is going to be back with his new album soon!

Ooh la la! Can't wait to buy his new album!

New Blog

It's been a while since I last blogged. Guess I have to start to write again.