Tiger Airway's new chairman

Pillay was a good and strict boss. He was clever at making SIA profitable. He was also proactive. When he was our chairman, we didn't like him. Fond of scaring the cabin and techical crew by asking questions about our jobs eg. "where did the apples come from?" pointing to the fruits we served him in the first class cabin. Pillay would ask the tech crew all sorts of questions pertaining to flying which he read from the books. He would personally check the aircraft toilets and chastised the crew if they weren't kept clean.
The SQ management staff were scared of him too. He ruled with an iron fist. But then at the end of the day, the airline made lots of money and we were paid generous bonus.
Now he is going to be the chairman of Tiger Airways. No doubt, he will succeed because the staff will be kept on their toes.
Welcome to Tiger Mr. Pillay cos I am a shareholders too!

BT: A YouTube Video dedicated to Tiger's new chairman.

Caught with his pants down.

Abe was thinking hard on how to explain to his pregnant wife about him sitting in a police lock up. He was a crew with a well known airline. Abe's favorite past time during his layover overseas was to visit the local brothels. China was his favorite country besides Vietnam and Singapore. Abe preferred fair skin women or one who looked like a Chinese.
The prostitutes in China were cheap and beautiful and the "service" was rated excellent by Abe. However, prostitution is illegal in China unlike in Singapore where the women were licenced and allowed to practise their profession albeit discreetly. The only concern Abe had about Singapore was the fees was a little too high as compared to China and the "service" wasn't that good. Of course, European women were out of the question for Abe because of their exorbitant fees and the lack of service attitude.

Abe was netted during a raid by the anti-vice squad of Shanghai. He was caught experimenting his viagra-ed dick on a Chinese prostitute. In short, Abe was caught with his pants down.

He had spent 2 nights in the lockup and had missed his flight (absent without official leave or commonly known as AWOL). His employer had sacked him.
The authorities in China required his relatives to bail him out pending being charged with "misappropriate" behaviour.
Abe's wife was shocked to hear the bad news. She had made preparation to fly to Shanghai to bail her horny husband out. She was a very understanding wife because she couldn't have sex with him due to her pregnancy and so sympathized with him.

It was a matter of another few days when Abe was fine an equivalent of $1,000. Back home, Abe was without a job. He, I understand is now a waiter at a down town restaurant.

Guess who were these people?

Who and where were these people? No,no not at the Simpang Bedok teh tarik joint.

Handing over of unaccompanied minors (young children).

UMs are children under a certain age who travel alone on the flight without their relatives/parents. Their well being and safety are in the hands of the operating cabin crew.

On a certain flight arriving into S'pore, an UM (small girl of about 6 years) left the aircraft with a male passenger who was a total stranger to her. The male passenger had befriended the UM during the flight and had told the chief steward he was a relative of hers. Mind you, no one else was supposed to bring the UM to the waiting relative/relatives at the arrival hall except a dedicated ground staff.

On arrival at S'pore, the UM's grandfather was waiting at the arrival for the ground staff to hand over the little girl to him. He waited for more than 2 hours before alerting the ground staff that his grand daughter was missing.

There was frantic search for the UM and it was discovered that she was with the male passenger "touring"the arrival area of the airport.

A formal police report was lodged by the grandfather. He also filed a lawsuit against the airline.

A medical check was carried on the UM and fortunately there was no sign of  injury or molest.

The case was settled out of court. The chief steward who was the crew-in-charge was almost sacked.

KNN they got my book in the library..like that how to make $$$ cos ppl would just borrow
the book and won't buy it...*sigh*...chin pie tan chiat la (hard to make a living)

Henry Chua my ex classmate from RI ( The Quest)

(DON’T PLAY THAT SONG)
Don’t play that song for me
It brings back the memory
Of days that I once knew
Those days that I spent with you
Oh no, don’t let it play
It fills my heart with pain
Please stop it right away
I remember every word you said
You said it (Darlin’ I love you)
You know that you lied!
(Darlin’ I love you)
You know that you lied!
(Darlin’ I love you)
Woe baby you lied, you lied, you lied, lied, lied, yeah, yeah
*Remember on our first date
I kissed you and you walked away
You were only seventeen
I never knew that
You’d act so mean, my darlin’
You told me you loved me
You told you cared
You said I’ll go with you darlin’, almost everywhere
But darlin’ (Darlin’ I love you)
You know that you lied!
(Darlin’ I love you)
You know that you lied!
(Darlin’ I love you)
Woe baby you lied, you lied, you lied, lied, lied, yeah, yeah

My classmates from RI 1961 to 1963

We were invited by an ex classmate for his son's wedding last Saturday at the Marriott Hotel. There were classmates whom I have not seen since 1963 when I left school. Some I can still recognized while others I have to asked for their names. We are now around 65 years old.

Most of all, I felt humbled by many who are doing extremely well in life. Among my RI classmates are 2 professors, a couple of doctors, engineers, a professional golfer and lawyers.

Majority of them are semi-retired. We promised to meet every month for a meal and chit chat.

How to play YouTube video non stop.

Simply add the word infinite in front of the url.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZQbT4_VUa4&feature=player_embedded and

it should be like this http://www.infiniteyoutube.com/watch?v=4ZQbT4_VUa4&feature=player_embedded .....as shown in the bottom picture.

Then click and you will be able to play your favorite YouTube video non stop.

The "Big Tits"

Do you remember Bernadette D'Souza? She was a stewardess with SIA and later promoted to Cabin Crew Executive. I think she left SIA about 10 years ago and emigrated to Perth, Western Australia.
We nicknamed her "Big Tits"and you may guess why. She was with the "Tidbits" when she won the talentime back in 1967.

Below is Edmond Tay's contribution ( he knew Bernie too)

Aiya a lot of crew aso got pet dogs one

Make $$ looking after cute doggies is better than working for SQ la. Here you are the boss and the doggies entertain,love you and make you so happy whereas working as a crew, your bosses and passengers can be bitchy, bullies and condescending hahaha

This one is even more influential.

It was quite frequent to have dignitaries,politicians, movie stars and famous people flying with us but it's rare to have one chatting with the crew.
On one of my non stop London/S'pore flights of 14 hours I had the honour to be able to sit down and chatted with a distinguished passenger by the name of Mr. K (not his real name). He was feeling bored and unable to sleep half way through the flight and beckoned me to his seat (first class ok). Before we started our conversation, I got my crew to serve him a cup of coffee.
During our conversation of about an hour, I discovered Mr K was a hired consultant to the Singapore government. He was flying down to Singapore to advise the government on how to invest it's vast wealth.
At the same time, he was to be in Singapore to play golf with the late Dr Goh Keng Swee as well as to have a meeting with the then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.
Had I knew who Mr K was from the beginning, I would not have talked with him for that long and that much. We talked and discussed about politics,economics and even religion ( those subjects were taboo on the flight).
Mr K was a British of Jewish descent. He was amazed at how much I knew about the Old Testament Jewish stories.
After our long talk and noticing that Mr. K was getting sleepy, I excused myself and let him rest.
A week later, to my surprise, my SVP showed me a copy of a letter written by Mr. K to our company Chairman. In it, he  praised me for keeping him occupied through part of his flight. He also stated that I was knowledgeable about many things and that it was good to have employees like myself.
My SVP never liked me personally because I was frank and outspoken in my views toward work. I was rather critical of certain cabin crew policy and that earned me as a the title of "arrogant and rude" staff.
I was never rewarded for any effort that I had put in towards work be it how constructive they may be.
This time round with Mr. K's compliment of me to such a high level of the management, my SVP had not much of a choice but rewarded me with a double increment in my salary for that year.
After that flight, I have never met Mr. K again.
Thank you very much Mr. K!

Nice but can be nasty too

From a distance,during boarding, we spotted a potential trouble maker passenger. He was 6 ft tall of Chinese descent, wore a matching bow tie with a white long sleeve shirt. He looked grim and unfriendly.

As he approached his seat in the economy class, he pointed at the seat which was occupied by another passenger. It was a transit flight and he was a joiner from TPE (Taipei). His seat was mistakenly occupied by a transit passenger. He looked annoyed.

The crew quickly diffused the situation by moving the transit passenger to the correct seat and let the 6 footer    take his seat. 6 footer wasn't happy and demanded to see me, the most senior cabin crew on the flight.

He started to complain and complain about this and that. He also told me how influential he was and that he was my SVP's mentor many years ago. He flashed his Changi Airport pass which showed he was accessible to many areas. "He must be some big shot whom I may not know"..I told myself.

During the flight back to S'pore from TPE, I gave him "Black Label" whisky from the first class instead of the "White Label" that was served in the economy class ( he was seated EY). All in all he had 5 glasses of Scotch from the FC. He was happy with the service and the crew who had served him, I was told.

Back in S'pore, a week later, my crew and I was given a pat on the back by our SVP. Apparently, Mr. 6 footer had wrote a complimentary letter about us.

Wah, this passenger was very easy to please indeed,we thought but a few weeks later, he lodged a serious complaint against another set of crew. He wrote a 30 something page complaint against the IFS and his crew. It was so serious that our SVP had to take him out for lunch and apologise to him.

One night, on my way to the aircraft, I met 6 footer at the airport check in counter. He recognised me and waved at me. I went up to shake his hand and asked where he was flying to. He told me it wasn't him flying but his daughter. He wanted his daughter to be upgraded to a higher class. She was booked to fly economy.

I was telling myself it would be extremely difficult his daughter to be upgraded. SIA has strict criterion for upgrading. Well, I found later on, 6 footer's daughter was upgraded to first class. She was travelling on my flight. Wow he must be some hot shot or else this upgrading couldn't be successful.

Each time, 6 footer wanted to fly SQ, he would call me and I would have to alert the crew to ensure that a "high standard of service" be accorded to him or his friends.

Year after year, he would send me a Christmas card. But there was one Christmas, I did not received a card from him. Someone told me 6 footer had died of a heart attack that year. I looked up the newspaper and managed to find that obituary page.....yes he had passed away. SIA had lost a loyal customer and me a friend!

Met ex IFS Ah Seng at the Singapore Turf Club

Last Sunday, I spend the afternoon at the Singapore Turf Club with the intention of watching the prestigious Emirates S'pore Derby. It was there that I met an ex IFS called Seng. Seng left many years ago in his mid 30s due to an incident with the then SVP called Drac. Seng was sabotaged by his own union colleagues who wrote an anonymous letter informing the Drac that Seng had registered a private business without informing his employer.
Poor Seng was demoted 3 ranks down to that of a flight steward by Drac. Unable to take the humiliation,Seng resigned from his job.
Ah Seng was bubbly as usual. We have not met for a couple of years. His whole head was white but still has lots of hair for his age. We chatted until the start of the Derby. We parted company because he had to return to his seat where his friends were waiting for him.
Seng told me how a Malaysian dignitary who used to be our regular passengers helped  him financially all these years after he had left the airline. The last financing was $200k (cash) in an envelope delivered to him by a bank manager. After that, the Malaysian died.
I personally knew the Malaysian friend of Seng's. He was rich,in fact filthy rich. Many years ago he gave me and my crew a treat at a posh night club in Tokyo. Of course, we were saddened to hear that this kind man had died.
As for the Derby, horse number 8 named Clint won the prestigious cup. (The above video shows the running of the Derby). It was an interesting afternoon, I must say.

Why envy huh?

This evening by chance, I met an ex colleague of mine after my usual walking exercise. Let me call him Vin. We had beer and kopi at a Kopitiam. We chatted about our time with SQ, mostly about our previous job and colleagues.
Like me, Vin was also quite close to the other dozen of  ex colleagues of about 35 years. Just like me, Vin was not welcomed to join their group when they started a cabin crew training business just after we left SQ back in 2003.
We were discussing about the secrecy which enshrouded their business plan. They didn't tell us nor hint to us about their business project. At least 7 to 8 of them were partners and trainers.
It was after they won their first project to train the cabin crew of an Indian airline that Vin and I found out about their activities. It was not that we do not meet often.....yes we did have teh tarik at least twice a month together but their business plan was a secret to us. It was not that we were against them not telling us or including us in the business but the way they kept it from us made us wonder what kind of friends we had.
Well well after 2 to 3 years in operation, their company folded up and they lost their money.

On the other hand, we were doing well in our own kind of business. Of course, by 2006, we had severed ties with this bunch of ex colleagues.
Now some and I am NOT saying all of them are envious of our progress. They thought we were a useless bunch of people and yet we are progressing very well. Many in the airlines thought we were dead woods but we proved them wrong. In fact, we knew from the very start they would fail.... remember we knew each other very well all those 3 decades of working together. Many were ball-less buggers who would instigate us to fight our bosses but turned against us behind our backs. They were the very people who secretly fed the bosses about our activities. They were great ball carriers and some of them were promoted even though they lacked leadership and substance.
Vin told me some of them were hostile in their approach towards Vin. He guessed that they were envious of him.
Vin ended up the evening by telling me he had bought a beautiful apartment facing the ocean along the Gold Coast in Australia. He did not have to borrow but had fully paid for the apartment (A$1 million)....he also has a property in Singapore that's worth around $3.5 million (fully paid too). I shook his hand and congratulated him for the purchase and we parted.

SIA names CEO for low-cost carrier unit

SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines said on Monday that Campbell Wilson will be the first CEO of the new no-frills, low-fare airline that it plans to launch next year.

Wilson, 40, has been with SIA for more than 15 years. He joined the Singapore flag carrier in April 1996 in Auckland and held marketing and sales positions in New Zealand as well as Australia. (Reporting by Kevin Lim)

The uniquely talented late Eva Cassidy

His nick name was TPK (quite similar to ex SVP TPT hor)

He was nicknamed (TPK) Tua Pek Kong,after a Chinese God (pic above). He was a fat slob (the said crew and not the one in the picture) and a not very enthusiastic worker. His hobby or shall I call it "side line" was making money out of anything his hands could get hold on.

Whenever TPK was on the flight, the free consumption of alcohol by passengers were noticed to be extremely high. The office had been monitoring the high consumption of alcohol on TPK's numerous flights. The office people strongly believed that TPK could have "off-loaded"(stole) the alcohol and disposed them off at the crew night stop stations for monetary gain.

On one flight, a trap was set up at an oversea station to catch TPK.
When TPK arrived at that particular station, the security people from S'pore and the custom authority of that station waited to ambush TPK.

TPK was a cunning fox because instead of him carrying the bottles of liquor, he made his crew carried them for him. Instead of him being searched,one of his crew was searched and arrested.
TPK retired like any other worker at age of 59.

BT: The following was how TPK was given his nickname........

There was a rich regular Indonesian passenger who was fond of tipping the crew. All those who knew that passenger simply loved him because of his generosity. One day, the passenger gave TPK and his crew a couple of thousands. TPK was visibly grateful to the passenger  knelt down with his palms clasped and addressed him as Tua Pek Kong or God in Chinese.
At this juncture, the passenger was offended as he was also a believer in the Chinese God. He told TPK he was nothing compared to Tua Pek Kong and asked TPK to refrain from addressing him as a god. So that's how this particular senior steward got his nickname of TPK.

Cabin Crew (Singapore)

SIA (Singapore Airlines) will be conducting a recruitment exercise for 


Flight Stewardesses/Stewards in Singapore on 27 August 2011 (Saturday) at:

Suntec SingaporeInternational Convention & Exhibition Centre 

Level 3, Meeting Rooms 303-305
1 Raffles Boulevard, Suntec City
Singapore 039593

Suitably qualified female candidates from Japan, Korea, India, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia are welcome to apply.


Click here for more

These two really owned 200K to 300k SQ shares (boh how siow boh kong aa)

This one (Rick) genuinely owned 200,000 SQ shares when they were listed on the stock exchange in the 1980s. He was given the option to buy the shares at $1 each from the company and as though not enough he asked for more and SQ obliged. This was before the shares went public. Many of us did not opt for the share option,offered at $1 because back then we were young and didn't think of investing our money. We spent our money on booze,women,gambling and cigarettes.....so sad we missed that golden opportunity.
Nevertheless, Rick sold all his shares before it reached half the current price of $14. He puntered on CLOB shares hoping to make a quick buck. It was a disaster and Rick lost all his good money when CLOB was suspended and later de-registered.
Today after his retirement, Rick is a defeated man and probably suffering from Alzheimer disease. He couldn't even recognised me when we met (maybe he does not like me because I am doing better than him).
There was another one, a retired manager who owned at least 300,000 SQ shares. This one was clever because he sold some of his shares and bought 2 private properties in Singapore. Today, he is living in one of his houses with his girl friend (wife died oredi)and collect good rental from the other one. I was told he currently owns around 100,000 SQ shares giving him an average of $10,000 per month dividends ( SQ gives about $1.20 per share dividends per year ).

It breaks my heart each time a crew complains about working conditions/hotel accommodation etc...

Anonymous said...

wanna be a cabin crew you better book your own hotel during layovers.

was in parisand OMG this hotel really sucks.....dimly lit corridors ,very scary female may get molested.tiny elevators that moves like a mouse,hotel no bigger than hotel 81 here in singapore,walls of rooms some thin.hotel surrounding not safe at night.open courtyard where room keys are given out,snow,rain,wind sure die lah.give it a 2star rating at max.our LMA will drop due to MOTEL menu pricing.what the fuuuucccc is the union doing.

BT: OK Ok La and this one just commented on the above and said this...you be the judge:

An FQ crew said:

BT: You sure or not. I am a FQ and I find it ok. You should be a responsible blogger and do a search before condemning the hotel and mislead ppl.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187147-d197438-Reviews-Hotel_Les_Jardins_du_Marais-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

http://www.kayak.com/Paris-Hotels.Hotel_Les_Jardins_Du_Marais_Paris.82427.ksp?page=reviews&rid=10125431

He "owned" 200k SQ shares

We cross our path recently, yes an ex supervisor ( Nick )who used to deceive people into believing he owned 200,000 SIA shares. The whole of cabin crew believed him because he was persuasive and a confident man.

Nick even hinted he was related to our CEO of that time. I did not believe him because to me he was a shady character. I caught him lying about things on a couple of occasions.
Nick like being respected not only as a senior crew but as one who was influential and loaded. Some of the girls were conned by him and one even married him.

One day when the CEO was travelling on the flight to Japan, we asked him whether he was related to Nick. The CEO was annoyed and told us he had heard of this from other people before. He stressed that Nick was not in any way his related to him.

It was a few years later that we found out from a cabin crew loan shark (Victor) that Nick had borrowed $5,000 from him. In fact, Victor was badmouthing Nick because Nick defaulted on his interest payment.

It was revealed that Nick was a big punter on stocks and shares. He lost a fortune and his wife and children left him. Later on, he married a stewardess who believed he was still rich.

About Tiger Airways by Tan Ah Pee

My dear Tiger Airways
What's happening these days?
Your share prices are coming down
Like an aircraft crashing to the ground

Why choose an ang mor as its head?
When all he knows is to slash and budget
Should have gotten people like Ah Phong
Or people from our same kampong

The Ozzies are no lesser fools
They know how to tighten the screws
On any airlines that slash and slash
Until the crew resign en masse

Aiya so easy to fix the Kangaroo and deers
Give them more of our Tiger Beer
But then they still prefer Foster
Which the say taste better

I punted a lot on the Tiger's shares
Now all I got are the tiger snares
Kick Tony that ang mor
And let bohtong be its CEO

This cc wannabe is" pretty clear ........................."

Hello,


You might have already been aware that there are other SIA interview guides around. I have gotten one of those guides, and have been to the interview several times, so i'm very clear on what's going to happen in the interview, and pretty clear on what is expected of the candidates already.


I'm interested in signing up for your seminar. Could you let me know if there's anything that you can help me with, that hasn't already been covered in those other guides?



BT: The above was an email from a cabin crew wannabe.If she "pretty clear on what is expected of the candidates already" etc...don't you think she will be wasting her money and time attending my seminar?

Drac's favorite mistress's favorite song

One of Drac's favorite songs

The Stylistics's "I'm stone in love with you" was and still is (so I am told)one of my ex-boss's favorite songs which he used to serenade to his mistresses.

Two other cases by Drac

Like in LL's case, Drac was also very  jealous and upset with one of my ex colleagues called Rick. This guy like fraternizing with young stewardesses and Drac had made it clear that he hated the idea. Rick had a weakness for woman and that weakness overcame the fear he had for his boss,Drac. Rick knew very well what could happened to him if he incurred the wrath of Drac but chosed to ignore.

Drac spent a lot of his time scheming like in LL's case to fix Rick up. Again whether by chance or not we can't tell because there was a complaint that Rick tried to cheat the company of some allowance thing. The sum Rick was alleged to cheat was small but to Drac it did not matter. Drac seized the opportunity and put Rick on the disciplinary charge of cheating of the company. If found guilty, Rick would be fired.

At this time, I was a unionist representing the crew. Also at this time, NTUC wanted me to help fight the general secratary of the main union who did not want to toe NTUC's desire of forming the house union.

Since NTUC needed my help,I thought it was the best time to bargain for Rick's case. Yes, NTUC did much to help Rick who got away with only a warning letter.

In view of my assistance in get Rick out of a tight situation, Drac was upset with me. He also wanted to fix me up,I was told but dare not to because of my position in the union.

There was another case which involved a fat old check stewardess by the name of SH. She would harassed the junior crew if they did not party with her. The whole airline hated her.
SH was reported by a fearless leading stewardess for stealing alcohol from the flight. SH was found guilty at the inquiry and given a severe warning. She was pissed off with the decision and decide to file a law suit against Draca and the airline.
On hearing the news, Drac sacked SH and asked the company's lawyers to deal with SH lawyer. Eventually, SH's lawyer knew there was no case against Drac or the airline and advised her to close the case.

Frankly, SH deserved the sack. This was the only time I had agreed with Drac over the SH's case. Even if SH's law suit was successful against Drac, the crew and I will be celebrating too cos we had no love for either of them.

"Bad bosses Seminar" by boh tong

Come and attend my seminar on "How to survive working with bad bosses". No fees required, it's free of charge but on one condition....that is....you would have to agree to bring your ass boss/bosses' skull/skulls to me,latest a month after attending my seminar....hahaha.

The boss is like a diaper...continues

.....A week after the unpleasant briefing session with LL, Drac had a phone call from a woman called Kim.
She identified herself as the girlfriend of LL. " Drac I know how much you wanted to axe LL and I can help you achieve that..." came the sweet sexy voice of Kim. Below that sweet sexy voice lied a woman who was full of hate and scorn for LL.
LL wanted to leave Kim because his wife who was studying dentistry in London was about to come back to Singapore. From the start of their affair,LL made it clear to Kim that he would never leave his wife for her. To him, theirs was a fling that had to end when his wife came back from her study. But Kim was determined to get hooked with LL and made him divorced his wife although at first Kim agreed to the terms set out earlier by LL.
Kim was very bitter with LL. After living with LL for the last one year like a loving wife,she now must leave him. Kim knew she didn't have a chance at all as LL was very much in love with his wife. Kim knowing that it was fruitless to pursue that matter,thought it was best to hit LL where it really hurt....and that was to get him sacked from the airline.
LL had been telling Kim how much his boss Drac hated him and wanted to get him a sack. Kim thought it now was the best time to call Drac, make friend with him and together conspired to get LL a sack.
......" Drac, LL had stolen 3 bottles of liquor from the airline and they are with me now"... "You see LL and I  are living together in my apartment and you could send your security people here to confiscate the bottles......and LL is away on flight....." came the sweet voice of Kim.
At the other end of the phone line, Drac was fiddling with his little brother. He was enchanted by the sexy voice of Kim. The thought of him going to bed with her excited Drac.  Now, Drac not only planned to get LL into trouble but sleep with Kim. Wow.....What a great idea! thought Drac.

Drac alerted the security personnel and ordered one of his admin officer by the name of Phil to accompany the security people to Kim's place. They seized the "stolen" items and brought them back to the security office.

A day later, LL was apprehended at the airport upon his arrival from London. He was shown the charge made against him and was asked to see Drac the next morning.

No explanation by LL could convinced Drac that the 3 bottles of liquor seized were purchased and paid in cash by LL.

The day came when the company hold a disciplinary inquiry against LL.  Poor LL was found guilty of theft and dismissed from the airline.

LL was in a state of shock when he found the 3 bottles of liquor had  " for passenger consumption only" stamped on them.

Whether the rumour was true or not we don't know for sure that Drac later on had an affair with Kim.

The boss is like a diaper........

My ex boss, a man in his mid 40's was a no-nonsense superior but only to the male crew. To the stewardesses he was a nice and charming boss who would listened and "empathized" with them. The following was a story of a chief steward (LL), stewardess (Mimi) and this boss ( Drac).

Drac with his stern voice told LL " you must withdraw the report about Mimi.... it would not do you and her any good". LL in his stubborn voice replied, "Sir, Mini wasn't exemplary in her behaviour during her night stop in London, she was spotted wearing the stewardess working sandals while shopping at Piccadilly Circus"... " and when I corrected her, she defiantly told me it was none of my business as I was not her crew-in-charge".
At the end of 30 minutes of the briefing session with his boss Drac, LL left without agreeing to withdraw the report he made against Mini. Drac was furious and felt insulted by a subordinate who refused to obey his instruction. Drac contemplated charging LL for insubordination, a charge which could land LL with a sack.
That night, Drac went home and thought about the charge he would bring against LL. He was advised against doing it by his close associates in the HR department.
Drac was upset about the whole episode and so decided to spend a lot of his time and energy hatching out a plan to get rid of LL.

Whether it was a coincidence or not, I can't really tell the things that followed...... (will continue shortly..)

A psychiatrist, a steward and I

Talking about the psychiatrist Dr. Wong, I happened to work with the other psychiatrists too way back in the 1960's. Because of past working experience in the Institute of Mental Health or formerly known as the Woodbridge Hospital, I was of great assistance to a steward who was "mentally" ill.
The story began like this:
A steward by the name of Ken was suffering from hallucination.  I knew Ken and his wife personally. The airline doctor and our director was eager to medically board Ken out. Ken wasn't really a good steward. His medically leave was excessive. It was due to his mental condition and was considered unproductive as far as the company was concerned. The company doctor referred Ken to a top psychiatrist in IMH whom I happened to know and work with, for his expert advice. If this psychiatrist felt that Ken was unsuitable for his stewarding job then the company would medically board him out. It meant that Ken would be fired from his job and given a small monetary compensation.
Ken's wife who was a stewardess and I knew exactly why Ken was in such a condition. Ken was a thrifty and frugal man. He would try to save as much as he could from his salary. He would then used his money to invest in stocks and shares. He made money from the stock market most of the time. However, one day the stock market crashed and he lost all his savings. He was broke and saddened by his huge loss. He couldn't accept defeat and went into depression. He could not go on flight and reported sick most of the time. He even contemplated suicide.
The day came when Ken,his wife and I went to see the psychiatrist. I saw the psychiatrist first and spoke to him regarding Ken's situation. I explained to him that if he was to state his opinion that Ken was too sick to work then Ken would be fired. This I told him would make the situation worst. I pleaded with him to help Ken recover from his depression and to still keep his job. The psychiatrist listened to me without committing himself but nodded positively to all that I've told him. I knew after the meeting, Ken had a fighting chance. Next he interviewed Ken and his wife and the outcome was also positive.
After a series of tests carried out on Ken and the subsequent visits to this psychiatrist, Ken recovered and was able to resumed his flying duties.
Ken went on to become one of the most capable stewards. He was eventually promoted to the post of Inflight Supervisor. He served in that position for many years but succumbed to cancer and passed away when he was in his mid-50's.

BT: I did not want to name the psychiatrist as I did not have his permission to write this article. In fact, I have lost contact with him.

Sorry la no crew stories for the time being

"Rolling in the Deep" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, 21. The song was written by Paul Epworth and Adele, who described it as a "dark blues-y gospel disco tune". It was first released on 29 November 2010 as the lead single off the album.
The song has been positively received by music critics. The single has peaked at number one in some countries in Europe, as well in Canada and the United States. As of June 2011, "Rolling in the Deep" had sold over 4 million digital copies in the United States,making it her best-selling single outside her country as well as topping her previous best-selling "Chasing Pavements".
"Rolling in the Deep" has reached number one in eleven countries and top five in several other countries. The song has also become Adele's first number-one song in the U.S., reaching the top spot of four Billboard charts. "Rolling in the Deep" has so far spent seven weeks in the top spot of Billboard Hot 100, becoming the longest-running #1 hit of 2011 so far.

Tips for cabin crew interview

Prominent psychiatrist Dr Wong Yip Chong

Recently there is much news about Dr Wong Yip Chong, a former prominent psychiatrist in Singapore. It is about the case of his 2 sons suing his partner Ms Ling over a 7 million house in Chancery Lane,S'pore. DR Wong is 82 and now suffering from the dreaded  Alzheimer’s disease Click here to read more.


I used to work in IMH ( formerly called Woodbridge Hospital ) with Dr Wong. He was a respected psychiatrist even in those days where I was from 1964 till 1967 as a nursing staff.
I still remember other prominent psychiatrists like Dr Ngui and Dr Tsoi. They are probably in their 80's now.


It is sad to hear Dr Wong is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. It is a dreaded disease and is a form of Dementia.  Dementia is a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases. Alzheimer's disease (AD), is one form of dementia that gradually gets worse over time. It affects memory, thinking, and behavior.

Memory impairment, as well as problems with language, decision-making ability, judgment, and personality, are necessary features for the diagnosis.

I hope and pray that the case of his 2 sons and his partner Ms Ling be settled amicably. Also, I pray that Dr wong against all odds recovers from his sickness.

"My Sweet Lord" originally by George Harrison