He sacrificed his life for the company but.....

 I don't want to discredit the company I used to work for. It was and still is a good company. Sometimes, it's the senior people who are to blame for some of the policy. 

Lam (not his real name) was working for umpteen years for SIA as an executive. When he decided to quit, SIA's management refused to give him discounted tickets on SIA's flights let alone gratuity like cash etc.

He confided in me that he had given his entire working life to airline at the expense of his family. He used to work overtime and weekends voluntarily without any compensation. He became the most unpopular execuitve as he had "spoiled the market" so to speak. Lam regretted for being dedicated and loyal to SIA.

I hope there are'nt many Lams anymore but if there are I think the company should view them objectively and positively. Such people should be given some recognition!

It's nothing new in cabin crew division

 It's nothing new in Paul's case (post below). I was complimented by a prominent banker and straightaway I was given a merit increment of a month's salary. Before the compliment, I was not awarded any merit increment nor rewarded for the hard work I put in. As a matter of fact, my director (aka svp)disliked me as I did not toe his line.

It isn't who you know but.....

I want to relate a story about "It isn't who you know..". This happened during the time I was still with SIA. One chief steward by the name of Paul Foo was rejected at a inflight manager promtion interview. Paul was a dedicated crew and amicable chap. The then director of cabin crew disliked Paul and didn't approve of Paul becoming an inflight manager. Paul approached me and asked for help. I could not do much to help Paul until he showed me a black and white photograph of our then prime mminister Mr Lee Kuan Yew inspecting Cambodia's guard of honor with Prince Norodom Sihanouk in Phnom Penh. The photograph was given and signed by Mr Lee Kuan Yew. This was a good opportunity I thought to myself and advised Paul to see the director of cabin crew and showed him the signed photograph. 

Mr Lee Kuan was a much revered and well loved prime minister. It was rare to see Mr Lee giving a photograph signed by him to a commoner like Paul. Therefore the photograph should carry a lot of weight I told Paul.When the director saw the photograph, he was please with Paul. He told Paul he should be promoted instantly. Within a month, Paul Foo was promoted to the position of inflight manager.

So it isn't who you know that matters but rather "who knows you"!

Currently, SIA is recruiting cabin crew from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Korea. Please visit https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/careers/cabin-crew-career/

His son's attitude shocked him

Meng was a stingy senior crew whom we knew for many years. In the decades we knew him he had never bought us even a cup of coffee. However, one day he surprised us by deciding to buy each one of us a cup of coffee and tea. The story behind this gesture was according to him his son had pissed him off. The young lad was laid-back and refused to pursue his studies. When corrected he answered that since his father was a rich man he did not even have to work but just wait for him to die and inherit his wealth. The attitude of his son shocked and sadden him and told us he was going to spend all his money before he died.

We all know Meng was worth a lot of money. He had a few properties due to his thriftiness and shrewd investment. To cut a long story short, Meng passed away recently and you can imagine how happy his son is!

Business as usual

 Now that the issues are settled and ads are reinstated, I will continue blogging here again. You will notice that my posts from 2006 till 2010 are not visible but will try to get them back again.

Thank you for your patience and support!

Ex-stewardess want to live in Japan

 A former SIA stewardess contacted me out of the blue and asked me to help her move to Japan. Somehow she knew I am residing in Japan and having a good retirement life and wanted to experience it too. She is in her fifties and a retired business woman. She is divorced and has grown up children. She loves the onsen (hot spring),food and weather etc in Japan and wanted to leave SG and resides in Japan.

I heard from the grapevine that a foreigner need to deposit about S$300,000 in an approved Japanese bank (something like a FD in SG) and may be allowed to buy properties like houses and land and given a year visa (renewable) to live in any part of Japan.I told her it was difficult for her to live in Japan as she can't speak nor write Japanese. I am facing this difficulty but thanks to my Japanese wife I am getting by. Without my wife I am lost as I too can't speak nor write Japanese. It is a known fact that most Japanese do not speak English especially those who live in small cities like where I am.

This may sound odd because even a small thing like switching on the heater or air conditioner correctly can be a difficult task. I don't even know how to use the dual heating or air conditioning system because the instructions are all in Japanese. Turning on the cooking stove or micro wave oven can be stressful. But she still insist on coming to Japan. She told me she could use the Google translator to help her. Sounds easy isn't it? I did try using the translator but again it is so stressful. 

After some sound advice, she told me she will contact me again. So far she has not contacted me and I assumed she won't be coming to Japan.

Modern houses in suburban Japan cost about 400k SGD each

This Toyota Prius is about 3 million Yen or S$30,000