Priority List

I have made my priority list as follows:

§  Learn business very fast and keep boss happy: In my company there are very few people and they are doing lots of work, competition is intense and the only thing which matters here is doing right things right. So i can’t let people take me for granted because i can’t afford to.

§  Start APICS CPIM prep from May: I had been waiting to get this certification from long time  but due to placements i had to give it a miss.But come this June, I am hell bent on clearing my CPIM anyhow. Life will be much tougher from May because as it is i don’t get time to think anything for 5days a week and on top of that i will have a responsibility to slog hours each night to sit and study for the exam. Hard times are on cards but i am not afraid. This too shall pass and the result will be sweeter. My motivation is very simple. I am absolutely beyond doubt now that the importance and recognition of CPIM is very high in industry. I got so far here is only a livid example of CPIM.

§  Be frugal for another 2months: I am living this entire month on my last half month salary, next month I have to pay the rent and deposit along with the APICS exam fee. That will leave me with no savings so I will not have room to splurge here for another few months to come.

Message for tonight: Exceed Expectations. Always!

Supply Chain Analyst- Challenges Aboard

As the days pass by and I am getting more drawn in the life of Singapore, I am getting busier and busier here.My 5 days are very very busy and is full of pressure, lots of work. I believe my honeymoon period ended much earlier than I expected.It has been just a little more than a month that I have arrived here and started work so I dedicate this blog to my 1month anniversary.

 Before I came here, I did not create any hopes about the city, but one thing i knew it very well that i am here for only one thing and that is HARD WORK. I am trying to be modest but i believe that i really have stepped into too big shoe fit for me since my role is very demanding. I wanted a job where i would have opportunity to learn, to grow, make good network, get exposure and be exited. I am elated to see that it indeed is true. The work culture here is very good. Environment is very free. Minimal rules are imposed and nobody questions anybody. All they demand is result with deadline. And that’s what we are here to deliver.

But to sustain here in this role is not an easy task. This is something which i have understood very clearly. You need to be very aware and conscious of things happening around in business to form a judgment; you must have a huge appetite to manage the loads of information flow. Trust me with so much data, sometimes it is mind boggling. And most important, you have to be fast and very efficient.But as they say, the job of analyst is to extract the information from the data and ask intelligent questions to people and get down to the crux of things.

Challenge to me is to increase my efficiency and maintain my focus. Focus is very crucial in the role of Supply Chain Analyst. If you know very well what you are looking for, you will filter out the unnecessary information very fast, form the right questions and highlight important things to top management. Not always it happens that your boss has got so much time to mould you into this role but i am fortunate enough to have my boss like one. He is very objective, firm and data dependent. You just can’t tweak things in front of him, you need to be very well prepared in front of him and that’s where the focus comes into play.

I am trying to be fast enough to understand the business but still lot more needs to be done. The idea is to keep a very keen eye on each and everything, have a firm control on the message passing across, and be good in MS Excel and SAP. The trick is if you have a good command over system, work is like a good game of managing supply and demand.

Inflation a worry across Asia

I read a very interesting news today in Wall Street Journal.As we know that HongKong is one of the richest economies in the world and is just the next in the ladder to US.it has got so much of money that it is literally giving away cash to its citizens after the upcoming elections..Each HongKong citizen will be entitled to HKD771.The good news is that the country's GDP is growing at 5%annually but at the same time the internal situation is very fragile.There is an increasing disquieting business class over the rising bureocracy and the government's out of touch with the locals.
At the time when the country is attracting the foreign businesses and FDI in tune of billions of dollars there is a rising divide between highly paid and lowly paid workers.The land prices are skyrocketing.Last year it increased by 24% and last to last year it was 30%.The 'sandwich' class is getting sandwiched all the more.
I see there being an inherent problem with all those countries who have pursued the policy of opening the FDI and FII inflows.It increases inflation and the money gets unevenly divided among rich and poor.Oil prices are rising,headline inflation is just at dangerous mark...I ask,where are we going?
I don't think that the situation will be dissimilar for Singaporeans if this government too carefully evaluates this dichotomy.inflation is in single digits here but it is increasingly marginally on Yon basis.
just a food for thought!

How have I been??

It’s quite frustrating when u’ve taken so much pain in writing a real long blog but you can’t save it because u have written it in a different lappy and you can’t open it now because it doesn’t have a battery and whose charger doesn’t work in sockets of Singapore. I mean last weekend i actually sat down to write a very thoughtful blog and now am unsure if that will ever see the light of day.so its frustrating me but never mind, I’ll just post some new incidents..

I have now completed close to 3weeks in Singapore and a lot many things have taken place in my life.

1. I made couple of good friends here.All Indian of course and males (much to my dismay).i think it’s pretty easy to make friends here because there is common thought which binds all singles and foreigners here.A feeling of insecurity and loneliness.so you don’t have to find a reason to get jolly well with people here.

2. I became a witness of the making of a history. India won the world cup 2nd time in its cricket history after 27years.its a very proud moment. I was really shocked so see so many Indians fans in Singapore and the all night maddening celebration which took place that night in Singapore. Young and old, everybody waving flags, singing anthem, honking horns and for whole night.it was just amazing sight.

3. I shifted to a flat from my lovely business hotel room. I am going to stay here for another month and then i will shift to a flat living with an Indian family. That house has a very homely environment; it is very beautiful and very spacious. Most of all it is at the heart of city, in a posh area and will be very convenient from my office too.

4. I have got a good hold of the business where i am in, I am now able to understand my profile and also contribute in terms of the output according to the expectations of my boss.

5. Hey, i got my salary. First salary in dollars. Although it was only half month salary but i felt great. I paid my rent with that and i guess it should suffice me for my expense this month.

6. From a converted vegetarian (which i was in India, I reconverted to non-vegetarian in Singapore). The food is simply amazing here and if you are a non-veg then you've got variety of options. I literally eat non veg twice a day; I relish on them and drink 1litre of Australian milk too. Am not joking.

7. Tonight is the beginning of this weekend. I am looking forward to buy some necessities from Mustafa, Little India, catch up some sleep, got to East Coast Park, booze and party.FYI i am going to a party at Marina Bay tonight. It’s been a long time since i have been to any party. I hope it will be a fun time.

Have a great weekend!!