Back in Action

Saturday
22:06 hours
Café Faru
Four Seasons Resort Maldives Kuda Huraa

Listening to… DJ Khaled – We Taking Over

Public Cleaning and Good Governance
It has been a long and dreadful week at public area cleaning. From what started out as a seemingly humbling and good learning experience, it became quite the labourer’s nightmare.

During work as a public attendant, I also realised I really liked talking and need to talk. I think it’s an inborn trait, I remember my primary and secondary school report books always had comments like chatty, talkative. Ha! And I think most of you people reading this would know how much I like to talk too. Not talking on the job kinda made me pretty reclusive and I started avoiding people a bit.

I know it’s kinda unbelievable but it felt like I lost the fire but thank you Krystle, it is me and will never change. ☺ I realised if I were to become mute, I might just kill myself, but then again I thought maybe I will become Mr. Muscle with my hands trashing all around trying to communicate with sign language! Ha! Touchwood though, my fingers are crossed that that day never comes. ☺

Back to work, as a Singaporean, it would be quite unimaginable for you to be clearing your trash in your HDB estate, washing the toilets for your neighbours, sweeping their flats, cleaning their windows, polishing their mirrors and basically touching up their houses.

But this is exactly what I did, or the above is a very appropriate equivalence of what I did. Not to mention the UNBELIEVABLE FOURTEEN-HOUR (I’m typing it out in words to illustrate the magnitude) SHIFT I DID!

FYI: Labour laws and unions are inexistent in the Maldives and are virtually alien.

It seems along with the affluence that tourism has brought it, the native Maldivians, have come to realise that perhaps it is time they ought to do something about their working hours before these hospitality giants take their hardiness and conscientiousness for granted and exploit this significant gap that the backward government somehow managed to conveniently overlook.

Government offices work 7.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., Sundays to Thursdays, and their fellow countrymen are worked easily twelve hours a day, for six days a week. Unbelievable.

In the coming election in January 2008, I believe there will be some political transformation and a labour law will be imposed. Many of the staff I speak to in Housekeeping are looking forward to the political reform.

From a business standpoint, yes it is indeed convenient to cut down on manpower and work these hardy natives a little harder (they get paid about US$220 a month) since most of the companies can easily afford to provide full board lodging for them.

I’m becoming quite the activist but honestly, to work these guys 72 hours a week, expect them to get enough rest, have enough family time, which is also the basis of Maldivian culture, and also have time to enjoy the activities that the staff are entitled to, it is not humane.

My fourteen-hour shift was dreadful and it was just one Thursday night.

My Episode with the Nose
On Wednesday I had my ‘period’, my nose bled out of the blue during my break just as I was about to end my conversation online. The bleeding was pretty bad this time and I suppose it’s due to the weather here, really hot in the day and you don’t get much time for water. Anyway the doctor came, ordered I get rest and stay in, no talking and he will evaluate if I am well for work the next day.

If you’re thinking, “OH LUCKY SHAWN!” You’re dead wrong.

Having a hereditary nose episode that hasn’t happened in months and the doctor making a big hoo-ha out of it also means no diving, no surfing, no whatever, so you better get on your two-feet fast and get back to work so your off day’s not wasted!

It was both pleasure and penance to go back to work, pleasure as Friday was the off day so I’d be surfing again and penance because I started at 4.30 p.m. and didn’t finish until 6.00 a.m. the next day. And can you imagine these poor guys who train me so well that I can do what they do have to put up with this almost every other night?!

During the night’s work, I inquired a lot about the situation and basically, it wasn’t right and I knew I had to do something and I did email my Director of Rooms whom I have been talking to quite a bit during breaks and by chance.

To my relief, as I was getting pretty worried that an intern has no place to say things like that, he actually thanked me for making him aware of the situation and that he would discuss it with the management team and will involve me when necessary.

I think right now, there’s still a little bit of fear in me about how things will turn out. I’m not sure about most of you but I think all of us has had this experience, to see something that’s not right happening and not do anything about it and I think this time it will really bother me that I return to Singapore and wait for the really laidback and chillout government to do something about it.

Regardless of the outcome, my conscience is clear and I am glad I did it anyhow. ☺

This is going to be quite a long entry, have had some pointers laid out for a couple of days now but haven’t had the chance to really sit down by myself and just write.

Director’s Lunch
Oh yes! We had lunch on Thursday with Director of Rooms, Matthew, at the Café Hura restaurant! It was like winning a Survivor challenge in Vanuatu or something! I’m not kidding, when you have TUNA at EVERY MEAL, you really wonder if steak’s ever gonna be on the menu, not to mention the same salad bar EVERYDAY.

And yes I am VERY HAPPY to announce I had a good flank steak! It was probably the best meal I’ve had and will have in the Maldives, oh and I ended it with a really interesting coconut, lychee dessert that had generous layers of crème brulee of some sort.

Okay enough of my ravings, the purpose of the meal was more business than for pleasure but of course, it was definitely more pleasure! We were supposed to discuss our project that we had to do for the management because of school and Matthew responded very enthusiastically to it as he already had some ideas.

Basically our task is to look through all the service issues the resort has had in all departments on a monthly basis, figure out which are the most significant issues, offer solutions during a presentation at the end of the month. He was also giving us some tips and advice about how to go about it and I must say he really has it planned out in his head.

After all that talk about work we had a chance to just talk casually about our plans in the future, ask him questions about anything under the sun which I really enjoyed. It was a great lunch with good company and it made the day extremely bearable until the nose bleed. LoL.

The Dying Planet
I remember couple of days ago one of my dearest friend, Fen (yes you are and you know it!), was having an exchange on email and we were talking about the change in the environment.

Here in Maldives, couple of years back the El Nino effect caused an increase in the temperature of the seawater by just one degree Celsius and that killed tons of corals all over Maldives and also around the very island I live on. And may I remind you that corals take hundred and thousands of years to form and wonders like the Great Barrier Reef may have taken millions of years to form. And the corals at the Great Barrier Reef are dying as well.

In the Maldives coral reefs are more than just ecosystems under water that provides for an amazing biodiversity, they surround the 1190 islands scattered all over Maldivian waters and protect them from the waves and tsunamis. It is incredibly hardy and strong like the Maldivian people but it is equally fragile. You just have to apply so much as a pinch of pressure, they snap! And that’s it, the coral is dead, which probably took more than a hundred years to form.

Can you imagine the number of people learning diving and not know how to control their buoyancy and kick the reefs with their fins by accidents?! Millions of years of life which took forever to grow just going down the drain.

Anyway, Rory, resident marine biologist, said that even though there are conservation efforts and protected sites in place, there really is no way to stop the corals bleaching due to human activity and its effect on the ozone. All he said was that all we can do is to learn diving, put those wetsuits and fins on, and travel to see the world beneath before its all gone.

Marine animals are extremely hardy to nature conditions and will adapt and evolve and it is very likely that there will be behavioural changes like migrating towards the North and South in search for colder waters.

In an estimated 50 years, Maldives might cease to exist as its highest ‘mountain’ is only 1.8 metres above sea level and judging from the melting of the ice caps in the North and South, it becomes quite clear that preventive measures has to be planned starting now.

The one hour talk we had with Rory during orientation to be honest was quite depressing for me and he did say that he did not mean to depress any of us but instead wants us to have an awareness of the situation, make an active effort to conserve marine life and also see what we have while we still can. I guess this just about rounds up the talk about the environment and I hope for those of you around me who likes the waters, get your dive license and start diving, the clock’s ticking.

And last of all, to all the beautiful people that email me:

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy city/school/work/SIP schedule to email/Facebook me every once in a while. You guys are the only reason (aside food :p) why I miss Singapore and the only reason my heartstrings tug at me when I think about Singapore.

Your emails and msgs brings with it warmth and comfort when I’m feeling kinda burnt (To you Claire!) and when I do not get to have a quality conversation with anyone here, replying your emails already feels like someone’s listening to me and that I really appreciate.

Most importantly, you guys remind me of home and that I’m very much still a Singaporean and that there is really no place like home as much as I’d like to think I’m a global citizen.

And for the record, I am not homesick. :p