Dec 3 > 7 - Speak Singlish, can?
My first proper week of work started, and while I was feeling confident after last Friday, I still wasn’t too sure as to what to expect. We talked with Rahim (project manager with Octopus Group) about the possible course of action, and I liaised with the beverage manager Alan to hit up the outlets over the next few days and conduct inventory stocktakes. I was starting to get the idea about the ultimate goal of all these little things, as it was part of a greater equation that would mean inventory tracking across the whole company would be standardised, consistent and easier and less time consuming for the outlet managers.
Monday I just spent doing some brainstorming, thinking of opening and closing procedures and training guidelines for the bars. The idea was that sometime early January, when we implement the electronic databasing of Octopus’ inventory, that we’d also take the time to train the staff on certain rules and guidelines that would make each outlet’s measurement and service methods consistent across the board. After five years of hospitality experience myself, I had a fair idea about the key things that would benefit such a training programme, so after an hour or so I had a couple of pages full of stuff. Jon (the owner/CEO guy of SOS) looked through it and basically told me, while it was good, I might have to tone down the sophistication so that it would be better understood by the employees. It’s something that I’m still even now getting used to, the differences in language; not just ability to speak English, a lot of people do very well here, but it’s a different kind of English.
Many of you have probably heard of ‘Singlish’ before... it took me a few days to train my ears to realise that while it sometimes appeared that people were talking in some asian dialect, that they were in fact speaking the weird hybrid language that is Singlish! It’s very informal, dispensing of many ‘irrelevant’ words that tie subjects and nouns together. Instead of asking someone ‘Could you please do this for me?’, the omnipresent ‘Can’ replaces most of the former sentence. It’s a common joke for ex-pats to remark to each other ‘Can do, lah?’. The tones of voice used throughout conversion are similar to the sing-song style of most asian languages, with heavy rises and falls of intonation. I’m not sure, but I feel that after the first two weeks here, my own way of talking has changed a little, and I’m probably leaving the odd word out, and I definitely hear myself going ‘yaya’ a lot, and calling people ‘monkies’ instead of idiots... the ‘c’ word gets a lot of air-time round here too, which I know many of my girl friends dislike, but I’ve never had a problem with myself... could be all the working with chefs!
Tuesday and Wednesday were taken up with a lot of cab rides with Alan, visiting all the outlets located in the outskirts. Serangoon Gardens, Upper Thomson Rd, Bhukit Timah Rd, Holland Village... I’m glad I had Alan with me because I had no clue wtf I was in relation to anywhere else. Alan is a cool guy, who’s been working in hotels a lot of his life, and joined Octopus Group about 4 months ago, taking care of the beverage ordering throughout the group. It’s a quiet word between those in the know that Alan’s most likely being trained up to take over from the current beverage manager, Edwin, whose inventory system (which is a mess!) we are replacing with our own. Anyway, Alan was fun to hang out with on these trips, and we talked a bit about travelling, his experiences with Australia and cocktail recipes. I couldn’t believe it when he told me he was in his 40s, and it wouldn’t be the last time I’d totally misjudge someone’s age. Whether it’s the heat, the food, or the fact that they’re just shorter, I have no idea, but they definitely age slower!
He really helped me at lunch time by taking care of the ordering process in the food courts we visited.. I’m still quite nervous when it comes to doing these things; not because I’m uncomfortable with the food, but more so because of how self-conscious I feel being so very, very white. That feeling just doubles any anxiety I have about everything else that I feel uncomfortable about, surrounded by unfamiliarity, and it’s hard to overcome that strength of irrationality... Orz, I know it’s ridiculous, and it’s easy to think ‘Why do you feel this way, it’s so stupid!’ but it’s something that I can only hope to get used to and break free of. Vietnam may be the time for it, when I no longer have the safety net of Sachin and his friends, and I’ll really have to make my own contacts and step out alone.
Bleh!
On Tuesday, Alan had commented to me how unusual it was that it hadn’t rained for a while, given that it was that time of year for almost monsoonal rains to hit Singapore. So, wouldn’t you know it, on Wednesday it poured down for eight hours! We got caught out at one of the venues, waiting for an hour after lunch to see if the rain would let up, but if anything it kept getting stronger and stronger. Finally hailing a cab, we went to Duxton Hill to do inventory of the ‘Toucan’ Irish Pub there. By the time we were done, the rain was still plonking down, but nothing too heavy... so in our stupid optimism, we figured we’d walk the 15-20 mins back to the office. With the rain, it wasn’t like we’d have much luck grabbing a cab anyway :/
By the time we got back to the office, I could’ve won a few wet t-shirt competitions... The rain just kept pouring down heavier and heavier with each block we walked, the awnings of the street’s shops hardly providing much cover at all. If that wasn’t enough, walking back into an air-conditioned office didn’t do great things, and I probably caught a cold that day which would make my next few nights a little shitty.
By the end of Thursday, all the inventories were done! I calculated the discrepancies and reported them, and we scheduled a meeting with Octopus director Andy Lim, for the following Monday, so we could kick start the next wave of procedures. Friday was pretty laid back, with me just finalising the week end report, and doing a little bit of account spelunking through Octopus’ files, which were a bigger mess than I could ever hope to unravel. Millsy, I feel your pain now!
Most nights that week were either spent down at Robertson Walk for happy hour beers, or over at Bar Stop to catch up with Tim and Robby (I wasn’t feeling to great that night, from the aforementioned cold... but remembering last time I felt like that - which turned out to be tonsillitis! - Le Bouffant had recommended I take a form of alcoholic cough syrup: Tequila. So, I had a few shots, which a chaser of carlsberg pints, and before long my throat sure didn’t hurt anymore!).
On the Friday afternoon (I say afternoon because we were all finished up at the office by 2.30pm ohohohoho) Jon, Sach and I popped round the corner to Boat Quay and sunk a few pints at The Penny Black. It was quite amusing seeing them both flirt with the waitresses, and I wonder if the name tags that the girls wore were meant to encourage that... and in turn the extra drinking and tipping that would follow ;oa The weather was still pretty gloomy on the Friday, with the odd shower or two, grey skies, but still a mild, warm heat to the air. Jon took us over to the Cricket Club afterwards, where Shruti joined us. She was a little stressed with all the wedding stuff going on (her parents had arrived on the Sunday, I think? Or they were arriving on the Sunday coming, I can’t remember now), even though she wouldn’t admit it.
Not that I’m one to choose, but I don’t think I’ll ever marry into an Indian family. Weddings are hectic enough, but the ceremonies and obligations tied into an Indian union are frankly a little too much! As a guest, or an observer, it must look like a bunch of fun, but after chatting with Sachin and Shruti about all the goings on, I wish I could be more help than I have been. But they plough on through it all, and they’re getting it done... while every now and then putting the foot down on the more ridiculous requests made by their elders. Good for them!
After Jon dispensed his wisdom and advice on matrimonial affairs, the engaged couple headed along to get to bed, dreading the day full of familial commitments to come. I ended up chatting and drinking with Jon till what ended up being the wee hours of 2am. Twelve hours of solid drinking, good lord. And I didn’t even have a stumble to show for it!
The conversations that evening were quite interesting, not even counting the wedding talk. Jon and Sach both filled me in on some of the other projects that are currently going on in SOS and the projects they’re working on getting clients to jump on board for. Throughout it all, I heard so much praise for my father, who as Chairman, I gather inputs his ‘greyhair’ voice and seeks out opportunities for possible expansion. I never really got a sense of how much experience and respect my dad had accumulated in his time working abroad (not just abroad, I’m sure he had a hell of a lot of it even before he was based in Singapore), so it was quite surreal to hear it from my contempories. I’m pretty sure it’ll take me a little while longer to fully appreciate what my father has done, and can still do. I’m kind of looking forward to that surprise.
So the first full week of work was completed, and again, it wasn’t exactly hard, but not really easy either. It’s interesting and engaging, and I’m kind of happy being the extra pair of hands just running around helping out wherever possible. I think Jon and Sach are both glad for the opportunity to take some time off Octopus and pursue their Courts and Altair clients, safe in the knowledge that someone’s back at Octopus taking care of shits. Fingers crossed!