Our first Sunday of the year started with a long and nostalgic journey for me as I travel back 35 years in the time to when I was a young 18-year-old again.
We were bringing my younger son to the island of Pulau Tekong for his National Service registration, to be ready to serve the nation for the next 22 months. It is a compulsory rite of passage for every Singapore son since 1967. It is an Ah Boys to Men moment, where the young male teenager morphs into an adult over this period of time.
My older son had his moment here 2 years ago and we were all doing this for the second time now. We are more familiar with what to expect during this tour of the facilities, while the army assures the families that their sons and siblings will be well taken care of.
I guess the modern army is now so much more different from my time, where I had no point of reference as my dad did not experience NS during his time, before WW2. Even my older son commented that things are not the same after 2 years… I guess safety is paramount now after a spate of accidents and fatalities which had made all citizens stand up and question the training practises.
I wish my son a new journey where he will absorb, experience and enjoy the ride as he transforms into an adult. Mixing with people from all walks of life will prepare him for the future as he gains new friendships and go through physical and mental challenges.
On the following day, I concluded my last workday with Deloitte as my subcontract ends. The Digital Bank consultancy project with Grab ended more than 2 weeks ago. I had to return my laptop and passes to the client’s office as well as to the consultancy firm. This has been an enriching experience for me, to eat and breath in a Fintech environment for a short while. Hopefully, it opens up more consultancy opportunities for me. I will be reconnecting with another local consultancy firm again later this month. I have also put my hand up for the 6 months treasury consultancy role which the client would be hiring to support their new CEO for the digital bank. Let’s see how this will turn out in 2020.
Midweek onwards were catching up sessions with old friends over lunches and dinner. I had back to back meals from Wed lunch with an ex-colleague and then dinner with ex-colleagues who were all still at Citi except me! Then Thurs lunch with my usual group of buddies. Again, too much good food and drinks. A total of 8 bottles of wine consumed for dinner/lunch! No wonder I was flat out by Thurs evening. This uncle forgot that he has a 50+ years old body and not young anymore 😉
I also had a chance to meet up with the second mentee I had connected with for my 2nd year of participation in the NUSS Mentorship program. It is always refreshing for me to meet undergraduates to listen to their dreams and aspirations. I hope that I can add value to them by sharing my work experiences and help guide them along with their careers. I want to pay it forward as I have been given opportunities in my career.
For this year, I have decided to take up 2 new mentees while I am still in contact with the one I had last year. I wish I had a mentor during my uni years to provide advice and direction. But maybe I can change this now by doing my part to providing it to students who have like minded interests like me.
In my halftime journey, I do think a lot about how I can move from success to significance, to give back to society. Doing my Myanmar job is satisfying and getting more consultancy jobs fills up my time. Continuing my life long learning journey will also keep me busy. The halftime journey is shaping up…
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