Work is something YOU GOT TO LOVE




Interview with PC World Magazine

I just did 3 interviews lately , it was really fun to do and met a lot of great people along the way . All the interviews were for different genres of publications . However , in all the interviews , 1 similar question was asked ` Do you enjoy what you're doing ? '


I answered in a short manner , however this is the geist of it :


Many years ago ...when I just started out , I would have never have thought that I'll be traveling the world doing something like this . Who would have imagined ? Magic ?

People told me it couldn't be done . I believed them . It's alright , I'm sure they said it with good intentions . I myself couldn't reason or give myself solid confidence that this would be a profession . I took up a degree , however I continued doing magic on the sidelines .

It was only when I started working as an engineer in a consultancy firm that it hit me . Oh man , this is NOT for me . It was an epiphany . I'll always remember this scene when I was at a meeting with GAMUDA Sdn.Bhd . I was the youngest person there pulling a cool front , and everybody there were senior engineers . Why was I sent ? because the head engineer from my company had `other' work . I was supposed to re-present my company , and all I was told to do was to sign in the attendance sheet .....

During the meeting , I got a shocker when I was being called out ....

Lead Engineer : So Mr.Lai , what do you think about the drainage layout of the whole structure ?

he was referring to a track layout somewhere in Kedah . My company was in charged of the drainage plans .

Me : I think it's ok ....

Lead Engineer : Could you explain on the discrepencies at R1 d5 ?...........

Me: Hmm.........



To cut the whole trauma short , I never felt stupider in my whole life even with the combination of all past embarassing moments . I must have uttered some of the stupidest solutions in engineering history . You see , in a meeting like that , no matter how creative you are , you can't lie your way out if you do not know technicalities . Period .

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Somewhere along the lines of waking up at 6am in the morning and reaching home after 7pm everyday repeating the same routine , I solidly made my decision that I was going to lead an interesting life .

I told to myself that , screw the money , it's not worth it . Hey , I always thought that I'd be rich if I was an engineer . Believe it or not , at one time of my life , due to hearing a testimonial at a oil and gas symposium , I thought of spending the next 10 years of my life on a oil rig , earning some big bucks , save up and enjoying life after I turned 30 ..... weird goal huh ?

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In comparison of what I was previously doing , incomparable .

Do I eat bread and water everyday ?
Somehow , I don't . Believe it or not ,I'm doing pretty well in that department and I believe that if you insert some intelligence into a passion of yours , the moolah will come ...by huge numbers . Have some faith .

Was the decision easy ?
Made my knees shake in terms of thinking about how am I going to put food on the table in the future .

My future plans ?
I have a small little company that brings me enough to survive even without my magic so I think I'm doing pretty well in terms of security . I have other plans in the development stages that do not involve magic , and am happy with the progress so far .


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“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”