Gender Equality

When I was a well testing engineer, I was the second female engineer in a team of a dozen men. The first female engineer then, was only too happy to welcome me. It was tough at first, being one of the only females on the team. Opportunities skated by us because most countries didn't accept female engineers onboard their rigs. So, we were limited to domestic operations. Communication with guys, were mostly problematic. Partly because they spoke so fast, and mechanically, that we never quite catch up to what they wished to convey to us. Some of them didn't even talk to us, much less bat an eyelid, when we joined. Some talked down to us, while some just treated us like irritating little ants who would, presumably, be gone in a matter of months. 

There are,  on rare occasion, some who take the time to guide us and teach us patiently, and provide every little opportunity now and then to allow us to design, guide, supervise, interpret and analyze the data. It was all part of working life. The pros and cons. 

When I confided my concerns to a well-travelled male colleague, he cited an instance of a German female engineer who carried a 136 pound formation tester tool (equivalent to 61kg in SI units) on her own shoulders. As she walked, the men at the supply base dropped whatever they were doing, and stared as she strode across the yard. Some of them couldn't even lift the same tool on their own. 

Yes. As humans, we adapt to any situation the best we can. As females, we have a tendency to express our dissatisfaction whenever we gather together. Looking back, it was tough. But it certainly taught us to stand up and be proud of our profession, be confident in our work, and strive even harder to catch up with the seniors and the guys. 

I was only too glad when the opportunity came to move out of the team and be a reservoir engineer. Here, the ratio of females to males increased. But I realized that in the higher management level, males still outnumbered the females. But of course, that's besides the point. 

Before I attended the workshop, I thought this type of gender disparity only existed in my current organization. Silly me. The workshop proved otherwise. Out of 66 participants, only a handful were females (maybe less than 10). Amongst the men, we felt like fish out of water. Half of us felt like going back into the sea, half of us felt like swimming up to the surface, to check out the atmosphere. Anyhow, years of experience have taught us to stick with our guts, go with the flow and see what the tide brings us. 

Then, I found out that my company isn't so bad after all, because women constituted about 30-40% of the overall workforce. In the engineering department of other countries, Saudi Arabia for example, only 1% of the workforce are women. When I heard that, I immediately took off my imaginary hat to salute these brave women. They are the frontiers of lady engineers in their country, inspiring others to do the same, giving them hope that they too can achieve this seemingly far-fetched dream. They are the ones who set the benchmark for future female engineers. 

Perhaps, in a decade or two, gender disparity will be significantly reduced, as education opportunities are  increasingly being opened to women. Achieving gender equality in our field is unfathomable to me, at least for now. In the meantime, on my part, I'll make it my mission to dedicate my life to learn more about this exciting field of petroleum engineering. 

Opportune Revelations

As human beings, we tend to complain a lot. Well, most of us anyway. As adults, we complain about the political situation, terrible management in our organizations, the never ending queue at a waiting line, frustrating domestic issues, education system, and a host of other important matters in our daily lives. 

Children, I observe, rarely complain. At most, they complain about petty things, like not getting their toys, or being ridiculed in school. Petty things, compared with our predicament. 

But, the minute we hear children complain, we advise them to do something about it. If the child complains the soup is too hot, we ask them to blow it and cool it down. If the child complains about being exhausted, we tell them to hang on, we'll reach in a little while. If a child says he's being bullied, we tell them to stand up and fight back. The best part of it all, is, the child actually listens to what we say and acts on it. 

These days, as we mature into young adults, our ears seem to tune out to the words of others. We have our own opinions and our own ways of doing things. When others say turn left, we go right. When others say 'hop', we fly. We do the exact opposite. And what happens when things don't go our way? 

That's right. The very first thing that we do, is complain. It's never our fault. It's always the fault of the tool, the stranger, the team, or the environment. Even when we think it's all our doing, we rarely admit it. In fact, sometimes, we even turn a blind eye on the situation, which makes it worse! 

Yet, one important lesson I've taken away from this workshop, is that despite the hurdles, champions are those who turn complains into opportunities. None of the people I've interacted with throughout the workshop, lamented about their environments or situations. Often, they looked at obstacles straight into the eye, stared down at it, and faced it head on. 

Every waking moment, they are thinking of ways to hammer complicated problems into little chips and pieces that could be stored, evaluated, understood and shared. They analyze the chips under the microscope to  understand every ion, going down on their knees, cracking their heads to break down pages after pages of complex equations, and come up with the most simplified mathematical functions. The most amazing thing is, not only do they apply their analysis in their technical area, they even look at its application in other industries to see how it can help to improve the lives of others. 

Ever heard about nanotechnology? I first heard about it 10 years ago, from my coursemate, who had a vision that it would define the future of our world. At that time, nanotechnology was still at its budding stage. Scientists had grand visions of it. It would eradicate poverty, heal incurable diseases, and improve economies. It'd give us higher hopes and a reason to live.

When I was first exposed to it, it scared the hell out of me. My naive mind thought, "Wow... wouldn't that replace God?" It shook my faith in the powers above for a while, for I thought with such magic, we wouldn't need God anymore. So, why should I have any religion, for that matter? 

Today, after being exposed to the wonders of nanotechnology, I am a convert. Because of nanotechnology, cancers can be cured, bomb threats can be detected in the air through nano-particles. Nevertheless, there will always be limitations to our work. As we strive to achieve breakthroughs and revelations, we discover that our knowledge is consistently inversely proportional with our ignorance.  

But, should that stop us from taking up leading roles and initiatives in our efforts towards improving the quality of lives of humanity.? Ought we even complain when plans go awry? While others are going all out to resolve issues, how can we play our parts in ensuring the problems don't go out of hand? How do we take an active role in ensuring that our voices are heard, our concerns are noticed? How do we increase the number of our manpower? How do we create solutions? 

We, can achieve this by first being passionate and interested in areas we are most concerned about. Solutions will hit us and flow like electricity the moment inspiration strikes. Like the waterfall, once it finds its highest falling point, it will never run dry. The least we can do, while our hearts are still beating, is to resolve one issue at a time, to make this world a better place. Taking it step by step, and innovate along the way. 

Work Life Balance

I love my job. So much so that it engulfs my life in fiery flames. I devour work like a ferocious piranhas who viciously chews their victim. Every morning, the moment I open my eyes, my first thought is, "Hmm... what kind of work should I do today? Analysis? Reports? Email? Study?" Rarely a day goes by without me touching my work. 

As a result, I am aloof. I space out regularly, and my mind wanders away from typical conversations that revolve around relationships and daily matters. My brother describes of me to others as being 'not quite here', as he gives a gentle, playful knock on my forehead.

Work is my life. I breath it, like a dragon who breathes fire. It defines who I am, gives me a reason to keep on living. Most of all, it keeps me happy. I derive much pleasure and joy from my work. The more  I put in to keep up with the dynamic changes, the more questions I have. As the questions increase, the curiousity multiplies.

This process of learning seems to be a never ending cycle. Like a hamster, who's running on a runged, hamster wheel. This journey of information seeking is especially addictive. It takes a lot of strength just to stop running. It's hard though, when the gaining momentum fuels my pursuit and quenches my thirst.

Among my circle of acquaintances, there are few who share my perception. To them, work is something we do as a means of living.  To me, work encompasses life. I derive too much joy from work that I often drown myself in it. Bobbing up and down in the bottomless sea, stuck so deep in this sticky, gluey stuff that even my friends and family can't pull me out of.

My family often remind me that I have other roles to play simultaneously, i.e. as a daughter, a sister, a niece and a cousin. The endless demands and hopes forces me to reconcile with the fact that I am not just an engineer, but also a person with flesh and blood and other abounding responsibilities.

Mingling with the people here for the past few days, I find that there are others who are just like me. We love our jobs tremendously. To tear ourselves away from it, would be like breaking our hearts into two. No matter how we try to compartmentalize our lives into work and social life, it becomes  excruciatingly painful to separate one from the other. Often, we find that they are closely intertwined.

So, between work and life, it is a constant compromise of finding the balanced proportions. Ultimately it is our priorities that determine how we distribute our time between these two grey areas. Right now, to me, my work, is still my life. Take it away from me, and I'll probably be flinching, sulking and in absolute misery.

Perhaps, in time to come, I might be able to take off my Wizard of Oz green spectacles, see everything for what it is, and come to terms with reality.

~"Oh Lord! Please grant me the wisdom of discernment."~

Yes! Vacation!

Yes! I finally had a real vacation! After a year of slaving away in the office, in front of countless computer screens, I have finally earned the opportunity to go for a long vacation! 

This time, it's in Tasik Kenyir (Kenyir Lake), a Malaysian destination. 

Being a person who's not very interested in general knowledge, I had lots of misconception about Tasik Kenyir. I thought that it's situated in Pahang, a round lake, with a mass accumulated volume of water in the middle of plain grasslands.

Apparently, I was greatly mistaken. Tasik Kenyir, is actually located right in the middle of Terengganu. It is not a big lake, like Lake Toba in Indonesia, where a huge volume of water accumulates in the volcano. Rather, it's like a small sea, where many rivers flow into it.

The rivers used to flow out in all directions. However, in 1985, the government decided to turn it into a dam, to generate electricity for the nation's supply. So, they sealed up all the exits, and turned it into a lake. Hence the term 'man-made lake'. 

According to the locals, Tasik Kenyir is twice or even three times the size of Singapore. It would take around 2 or even 3 weeks to circle the whole lake by boat. But, according to Wikipedia, the size of Singapore is 710km2 and Tasik Kenyir is only 260km2. Theoretically, the lake is only about 30% of the size of Singapore, not twice its size. Either the locals are misinformed, or one of the authors of Wikipedia mis-typed the information.

The lake is used to store water during the monsoon season, from the months of September to February. In March, when the water level is at its highest, the dam is opened and the rivers come to life. It is thus best to visit Kenyir Lake in the months of March and April, where the whole lake looks really green, with the mud virtually invisible.

Today, some of the rivers have extended into Taman Negara (National Park) in Pahang. The locals are extremely grateful that the lake was constructed. It has not only helped to divert the flooding of the residential areas, it has also helped churned income for Terengganu state as a popular tourism spot.

Lodging

There are altogether 15 resorts around Tasik Kenyir, with varying levels of comfort and facilities. When I told my boss that I'd be camping at Tasik Kenyir, she thought that I'd be setting up a tent in the middle of the jungle, constructing bonfires, cooking Maggi Mee and catching our own fishes for supper with our bare hands. 

In actual fact, we were staying in a simple chalet at Musang Kenyir Resort. In the room, there was a Queen sized bed, a double decker and an outdoor bathroom. We even had a balcony, facing the lake! It was great! 

Thank God we didn't have to cook our own food. The owner of the chalet cooked really good, healthy, nutritious meals for all of us. Each meal consisted of vegetables, chicken, fish and soup.  The meals were so traditional that I had totally forgotten all about it. It was like tasting dishes back in the '80s. We had dishes like fried fish with ginger and soy-sauce, steamed fish with sambal, steamed chicken with cili-padi, ginger and salted fish, steamed tofu, ayam goreng kunyit and baby kailan.

The fishes of course, were fresh from the river. However, it didn't have any of those muddy river taste at all. It tasted really delicious. There were talapia and ikan patin. Yummy! No ikan kelah though. Probably 'coz it's a protected species. Definitely a far cry from our meals in Mulu where we had instant noodles for breakfast and fried rice with garlic for dinner.

 

 The Chalet

  

 Musang Kenyir Resort - in a secluded spot of the lake

 

View from the Verandah

The Food

Boats & Waves...

The resort that we stayed in is situated at the top left corner of Kenyir lake. Direction - North West.

To get there from KL, first we flew to Kuantan, and drove 240km to Kuala Terengganu, where we spent a whole evening touring the town. The next day, we travelled to the jetty, another 50 minutes from Kuala T'ganu. 

The journey was long. But, it was a transition from the city to the countryside. Scenes of grey brick buildings, gas stations, house pets  gradually distanced and faded in sight, only to be replaced by green hills, fruit trees, healthy brown cows and merry, little lambs. The best part was the phones lost its coverage, with every step inched towards the lake. By the time we arrived at the riverside, there was totally no coverage at all! Yes! Cut-off from the outside world!

Setting foot on the river banks of the TNB bridge jetty, is like entering a whole new world. Stepping off from the hard, steel metallic floors of the car, and onto the soft, cool mud, with a whiff of fresh, green grass early in the morning, is sufficient to remind one of our natural ecosystem. Mosquitoes buzzing around our heads, crickets chirping, frogs croaking, and swinging monkeys on the trees were a well harmonized orchestra, creating music that resonated through the woods. 

To enhance the experience, a small perahu that could only accomodate 5-6 persons at any one time, was awaiting us by the river. We stepped into the rusty-red laterite soil, and sat in this simplest, most basic form of transportation. For a moment, we were transported into the era before the creation of bridges, roads, speedboats and helicopters. It would have been perfect had the helmsman-the person who steered the boat used a paddle to row the boat, and a long stick to guide its direction. That would have been like sitting on the gondolas in the Vienna Channels. 

The heat was burning into our skins. Fortunately, the guy used an outboard motor, installed at the rear of the boat powered by gasoline. Within minutes, the engine roared and we were skidding across the surface of the river, creating waves. 

From the looks of it, steering the boat seems so easy. All one had to do was power up the engine and move it to the left or right. Yet, we witnessed a group of tourists who decided to rent a boat and 'drive' it out on their own for a fishing trip , without depending on experienced hands. 

As they selected on the spot to fish, the amateur stopped the engine all of a sudden. His passengers lurched forward and sideways, and dropped into the waters. The boat capsized, along with important travel documents of the keen, young fishermen. As a result, they had to return to the same spot  (this time, with their life jackets on their backs) with another boat, dived near the area of the incident, to search for the lost documents.Fortunately for them, they managed to retrieve their bag of important papers, thanks to the help of the locals.

Note: Never underestimate the process of a seemingly easy job, not unless you've been through it.

Mode of Transportation - Sampan/Perahu

High Waves Generated by this Small, Little Sampan