The Way We Were . . . A Trip Down Memory Lane

This is a walk down Memory Lane. Some of you will recall fond memories of a time gone by when things were pretty much more laid back and work was a real joy. We are now consumed by the rapid pace of life which is evolving into what is now seen as a battle for survival.

I am one of the lucky ones to have caught a glimpse of how things were, back then, and how close-knit the MRO family was at that time. In fact, at one of our earliest meeting after joining MRO, some of us who came in at around the same time, had only nice things to say when questioned by the then manager, Chua Yean, on how we were getting along.

And the sentiments expressed by us, the new birds, were not superficial ones, but articulated with sincerity, honesty and truthfulness, right from the heart. The senior colleagues were such a helpful bunch and they were all willing to impart their knowledge and skills without reserve.

Like I said, the ever-changing face of healthcare, and the continual evolution from simplicity to complexity began to take its toll, slowly but surely. We have now moved into an era where quality and efficiency surpass all individual considerations. Such is the wickedness and unrelenting fact of life.

We can now only reminisce on times gone by. I often ask myself if it is a worthwhile attempt to try and bring back some of the camaraderie of old. I do not believe they have all but disappeared for good. There must be some inner longings, especially our senior colleagues, to want to return to the happy days of old. It is the amount of work and the pace by which they are expected to do their jobs that is stretching them from pole to pole and preventing them from building on this aspect of social integration.

It has become an age of 'all work and no play'.

Do we want to continue on this path, the path that has its only reason for our continued working life, because of our need to earn our keeps just to support our families.

Work will just be that; work. There are no long-lasting ties that bind. When the time for our retirement comes along, we will each retire to our own lives, as if we had never met.

An example is our uncle Tan Kim Heong. Does anyone know how he is keeping and what he is doing right now? Sad to say, most of us don't. Yet, here was a friend who worked alongside us for years. We joked and poked fun at each other. We called upon him to help us out on numerous occasions e.g. lost folders and the mandarin oranges he never failed to offer us at every Chinese New Year.

It is so unlike the bonds we have with our former manager, Chua Yean, and those who became close friends, like Mr Hay, Tang Wai Leong and almost all of the senior colleagues in the department. Here are people who have built lasting friendships and who continue to be a part of each other's lives, even after having left the department years ago.

Look at the colleagues we had after we moved to the new hospital. We had the Charlie's Angels with angels to spare. Shu Ching, Jennifer, Monica & Claira. Where are they now? What are they doing now? How can we keep in touch? We do not know.

This blog is one tool I hope we can stay connected. A small step but who knows, in time to come, we can always come back to this blogsite to revisit our lives and take a walk down memory lane.

This is the least I can do and I think, with all the numerous contributions I have made to the department, this is going to be the one I treasure the most. It keeps us connected for as long as we want to stay connected.