Hello my dear friends... I have not blogged in a month and boy was it a long month... not because it was difficult but so many things happened, it's truly experiencing the fulness of life....
I have started my new job at NTUC, one year of secondment w.e.f. Mar 27 (Tues) after having spent one year at KPMG... Really wanted to share with all of ya how awesome and faithful God has been to place me at the exact place in a perfect time within the organisation.
Aug/Sep 06 --> Started to pray about whether I should extend for one more year at KPMG... and it became clear that I would not stay... fundamentally, the financial industry and the private sector at large does not motivate me... I really needed a job that impacted the lifes of ppl, not just dealing with dollars and cents, and impacting only businesses / organisations.
Knowing that leaving KPMG is certain, I wasn't sure whether it was to return to EDB or go for one more year of secondment to another organisation, and if the latter, where? there are so many options... the thing that I felt most peace about doing, was to set up a meeting with my ex-Dir in EDB (Mano) and to speak to him about this. I contacted his office but due to his tight schedule, we weren't able to nail down an exact time then.
Oct 06 --> Some of you would know that I went through a burnt out phase in Oct triggered by hectic dance schedule. When I was moving out of that phase, out of the blue, I got an email from Mano's PA telling me that he wanted to schedule the lunch that never took place... That is how gooood God is... even when I forgot totally abt arranging for the lunch... in HIs perfect time, He never forgets and He is never late. We scheduled the lunch and I started to pray real hard about what to say to him when I met him...
Not sounding presumptious, it was quite apparent to me that this appointment was divinely arranged and I would have favor with Mano... the only challenge at that time was... I did not know what to seek favor for... I had no idea where I would like to go!!!! I just kept praying and few days before the lunch... NTUC became an increasingly likely option. Actually the option to go to NTUC came up just before I joined KPMG... but because everything has been settled with KPMG, it didn't feel right / wise to pursue the NTUC option too aggressively then. So I really prayed that GOd will give favor when I speak to Mano about going to NTUC.... and HE did!!!!
He was more supportive than I expected him to be... and offered to speak first to EDB HR Dir (Anna) to see if they would have any concerns abt me going to NTUC...
Nov 06 --> at an EDB offsite event that I was invited to... Mano told me that informally, Anna was supportive and would work out the details with her staff to see how they can move forward with my request for secondment to NTUC... though she didn't see any huge problems... her preliminary support was yet another favor from God. It was clear to me that I would honor EDB and not speak with NTUC unless with EDB's consent / introduction.
Jan 07--> Up till one week before my scheduled "mini-round-the-world" trip, I still haven't heard from EDB HR. On 23rd Jan, 3 days before I was to fly off, I dropped an email to Anna to check on status of my secondment. Almost immediately, she replied and gave the go ahead to contact NTUC. In particular, she has spoken to my current NTUC boss (CS) who had quit EDB to join NTUC full time and had only been at NTUC a few months. I dropped an email to CS, and again, almost immediately, he replied and called to fix tea that evening at 6pm.
Meeting him is clearly a favor from God. He is a good buddy of Mano and back in Dec, Mano had already mentioned to CS of my intention to be seconded to NTUC. God really showed favor by allowing CS to also speak to me as a fren and not just as a prospective employer. I told CS of my intention to join the Job Recreation Department in NTUC and he shared candidly about his views on that.
To summarise, essentially, I agreed to join his department, Corporate Development Division a.k.a Strategy, Planning and Research department, trusting that God is placing me in exactly the place that He wants to be at. I had an interview with NTUC HR on 25th Jan, just a day before I flew off and it went very well. As always, I prayed for the Lord to show what must be conveyed during the interview. It was to communicate the real reason for wanting to join NTUC, which was God.
Feb 07 --> All new officers have a final round of interview with SG (i.e. Secretary General of NTUC Minister Lim Swee Say). By this round, it's 95% chance of getting ok, but 10-15% chance he may reassign the officer to different area if he thinks the officer better suited elsewhere. I trusted that God will place me exactly at where He wants me to be and SG was the best person to work through. My interview with SG was scheduled in mid-Feb. When I was praying about what to say to SG, God spoke 3 words to me that must be said... "you have to tell him that you are a person that is "Driven By Vision" and that is why you want to join NTUC"... I did. And you know what?? haha... he said "i agree with CS that you should be based in CDD but I think we should also see how we can expose you to some operations work".... yoo-hoo!!!
NOW --> My dear friends, the whole account is to really share with you how faithful God has been in guiding every single step to lead me to this organisation and in placing me in this exact role.
70% of my time is with Corporate Development where I get to work out / strategise on issues that pertain to improving worker's welfare and 30% of my time is spent with Employability Enhancement Department (EED) to have interactions with workers. The former allows me to have a broad overview of the organisation and its strategic direction and initiatives; it also allows me to have closer interactions with the top NTUC mgmt, union leaders and CEOs of coorperatives. The latter allows me to really feel the ground....
So my first day alone, I was tasked with an interesting project and experience how God can supernaturally generate ideas and angles of analysis to generate possible solutions / impactful stratefies, and I got to sit through 2 dialogue sessions that SG had with union leaders and mgmt of a coorperative. and in the next couple of days, I went through 2 retrenchment exercises and witness the reactions of the workers and understand the support that NTUC provides for the retrenched workers.
What can I say, God is so AMAZING!! If you ask Him to,
He will be faithful to guide you to that place of purpose and passion. It took me over 3.5 years before God led me to NTUC... not that EDB and KPMG were wrong places, God called me to each of those organisations as well, but He was preparing me then to be effective at NTUC. In the past years, He has also been doing a deep work in me as I walk with Him before I got to be at NTUC. His timing is always perfect as we learn to wait upon Him and allow Him to do the deep work of transformation in us.
I am very mindful that I have not arrived... NTUC is
not the end of it all... It is true that I have great job satisfaction, but more importantly, I know that beyond the job,
it is Jesus that really gives meaning to life and while I enjoy every moment in NTUC with Him, at His perfect time, He would move me somewhere else, and I will only be most glad to follow because I know it will only be to experience a greater revelation of His love and power in and through my life.
Labels: Life
