Every once in a while, we need to stop and look back at where we hava come from, how much ground we have covered, and where are we heading to next. Looking back, my family and I have been very previlleged to experience two complete different types of lifestyles in one single lifetime, along with many other life experiences along the way. The ability to compare issues, experiences, privileges, lifestyles gives us a very unique perspective which helps us to appreciate the best of both lives and lifestyles. Without a doubt, there are also the flaws in every system which is often glaringly clear to us, but which many living 'within the system' either can't see or choose not to see. From my vantage point, in both cases of lifestyles, the ultimate goal or outcome in life still appears to be centered around people, friends and relationships. The other central theme, is simply 'survival'.
As we move forward in this more and more technologically connected world, survival becomes a key issue. Population in cities are growing, but jobs and pay do not seem to be proportiaonal. The demands of today's lifestyle puts a huge pressure on individuals simply due to the cost of living. House prices here in Sydney are incredible and I can't imagine how would an average income worker manage to buy a house or apartment, or even rent in some cases. With simplification and downsizing, the bulk of our material goods have been shrunk, expired, disposed, compressed, virtualised, networked and antiquated. CRT TV's, computers, VCRs, DVDs, CDs, radios all replaced by smart phones, smart TVs, tablets and cloud technology. Good as we need less space, but bad as we have lost many other industries, workers and skills. In years to come, I see even these new technologies being replaced by even more sophisticated individualised technology. Wearable technology will be the way to go. Possibilities are via 3D networked glasses, projected displays and even more wireless technology. People in the future will never know the feeling of holding a newly purchased, brand new 12" record, Laser Disc, DVD or music CD with it's artwork, new smell and smooth clean touch.
At home, we're still in our pondok in Northmead. It's a great location but it is sure getting busy around here. Development is springing up all around us. We've got new shops and apartments around us. Prices are still rising, and what we paid now looks like a bargain. What will happen to our kids I wonder?
The kids still haven't stopped growing. Iz is my height and R is catching up. Got to actually stop and take a look at them sometimes to see how far we've come in our lives. Where are all those days going? Have we done enough? Do we need to do more?
Let me tell you a little about Wichita. Wichita is in the center of USA. It's a relatively quiet and peaceful city. The land is very flat and you get to see beautiful sunrises and sunsets with perfectly clear skies. In spring, the temperature is a nice low of about 16 degrees celcius. The grass begins to grow, the trees come to life and the flowers begin to bloom. Busy squirrels are seen running tree to tree. Summer is nice and hot, with lots of activity and life. Activity seem to peak as the days are long and temperatures are high. When Autumn comes, the pace begins to slow down. The trees turn to shades of yellow, orange and brown. Evening temperatures begin to drop. Somehow, the nights seem to be quieter. Winter brings light snow and cold temperatures. The days are shorter and we go around wrapped in layers of clothing. Our noses run and we get to perform gymnastics (unintentional) on iced car parks! It snows lightly and you occasionally get to see a fresh blanket of snow in the morning. Wichita is also a very windy city, so when the wind blows, you need to hold on to your hat! When the wind really blows, you need to hold on to a lamp post just in case!!!Wichita is a very old city. Wichita started off as a village of the Wichita Indians that became a trading post in 1864. It gradually evolved into the biggest city in Kansas as it is today. It has the states largest buildings, biggest industries and most venturesome businesses.
Let me digress for a moment and talk about Malaysia. I'm a Malaysian. What's that you ask? Well, that's what you call a person from Malaysia, which is located in Southeast Asia, a little above Singapore and a little below Thailand. We have cultural influences from many neighbouring countries with large portions of population divided by race as determined by early migration patterns to the country. The whole contry is probably about the size of Kansas. The population consists of Malays, Chinese, Indians, local tribes people, and minorities of Caucasians, Eurasians (like myself) and other nationalities. The country has progressed well under the guidance of our leaders. One of the primary exports is manufactured goods, especially in electronics, but includes furniture, cars etc.
From my most recent visits back to Malaysia, the country is clearly still prospering with continous ongoing development taking place everywhere. There is a major light rail transit project taking place at the moment, and there is simultaneous construction taking place throughout Kuala Lumpur.
To date, I am proud to say that I have worked in many different environments and done different types of jobs. I find that this gave me an edge such that people can't take me for a ride. I have done all kinds of technical work like repairing and maintaining electrical equipment (computers, monitors, printers, hi-fi stuff and almost anything that runs on electricity) as well as IT support roles. In Unisys, I've done pricing and proposing, so I've got a fair knowledge of the business side of a company. I've also done some software development, using Gupta SQL and databases. Pretty fun stuff, if you go for that kind of thing! After Unisys, I got into an offshore job, then into a theme park job (designwork) and then into my current company.
At one point while I was working in Unisys, I was offered an offshore job. I was taken in as an ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) Pilot/ Technician. Basically, the job description is to go out to oil rigs or wherever the need demands, and to maintain and pilot ROVs. What's an ROV? Well, it's a pretty cool toy actually. It's a vehicle that is sent underwater to inspect or repair anything underwater. It can be members of an oil rig jacket, or fibreoptic cables. There are several types of vehicles. The smallest ones are sometimes called 'eyeballs'. They basically just have lights and cameras, and a probe to measure cathodic potential. The larger vehicles have arm attachments and tools to clean, cut, repair etc. Piloting the vehicle was quite fun. Pretty much like playing Descent! In fact, I think playing Descent is more difficult!
Following my offshore stint, I moved on to Farnell Malaysia as a Technical Support Engineer. Over in Farnell, I gave support for over 75,000 electronic and electrical products. Farnell also bought over Newark Electronics in US and Buck and Hickman in the UK. Our combined product range well exceeded 100,000 products. Good job for an information junkie like myself! I enjoyed the challenge of speaking to anyone from hobbyists to procurement engineers to army personnel to students to lecturers and dealing with anything from batteries to digital signal processors and everything in between.
In Australia, I started off with a transfer from element14 Malaysia to element14 Australia. It was quite a change from my previous work experiences, but it's a good experience, as I get to understand the business better by viewing the operations from an entirely different angle. It's interesting to see how data is handled in a large business, especially the databases of customers, orders, products, warehousing and many other small databases. My job mainly involved handling day to day operations of the IBM i720 series servers. The company was eventually bought out by an American company, Avnet. This ultimately led to multiple element14 and Avnet branches around the world being downsized as roles were merged, restructured and made redundant.
That ultimately led me to moving on to a new role and workplace. I am now happily employed at the Marian Catholic College Kenthurst. Over here, I am responsible for looking after the IT systems of the school.
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Brian's homepage. Produced by yours truly, Brian De Padua. 2020