You know, once upon a time, people who were able to work in
MNC electronic firms in Penang Free Industrial Park were thought to be creams
of the society and they were high and mighty. When you talk to them, their eyes
would be looking upwards rather than looking at you. I am not about to put any more
cynical remarks on these folks as their good time is over. What I am interested
to tell you is a bizarre story about a senior manager, Mr. Tan.
During the beginning of millennium, an electronic firm with
initial ‘I’ were expanding rapidly in Penang. The company built one factory
building per year for a consecutive of a decade; and Mr. Tan was the person in
charge of this rapid expansion. It was a local custom that prior to
construction projects, a sumptuous offering session would be in order. However,
since Mr. Tan is not local to Penang and he is not a believer in supernatural
things; not only he scorned at the suggestion, he also forbade his fellow
workers and contractors to set up any forms of worship at work site.
Now, Mr. Tan was a high-flyer in his company and he was
pretty respected amongst his fellow workers. It was said that he was the ‘next
in-line’ in the top company management…
Due to Mr. Tan’s very important position in the company, he
was given a brand new company car to facilitate his position as the project
manager of several construction projects. Just as everyone was jealous about
Mr. Tan’s success, an unexpected incident happened:
During one of Mr. Tan’s site survey trips, he dropped by a
petrol station to refill his tank. Suddenly his car caught fire unexpectedly
with him trapped in his car. Although the station workers and passer-by tried
to put off the fire, the fire was too fierce to be handled and fire brigade was
called. When the fire was finally put under controlled, Mr. Tan’s brand new car
was completely burnt to bare bone. Luckily this Mr. Tan was pulled out by a
worker at the last minute. Though he was escaped unharmed, Mr. Tan did inhale
much of the smoke and he was sent to hospital for observation.
Everyone thought Mr. Tan’s ordeal was over and he finally
returned to his office. Though Mr. Tan seemed to quite himself in his work,
everyone worked with him could feel that this Mr. Tan is not the Mr. Tan that
he/she used to know. Many of his instructions to his fellow workers were quite
harsh and plans were changed at the last minute. Consequently, many of the
projects were delayed and underestimated. As I heard, this poor Mr. Tan was put
in ‘cold storage’ until he left the company.
Please bear in mind, before the fire incident, Mr. Tan was a
sharp and capable person and he could manage multiple projects at one time.
No one knows for sure what caused Mr. Tan’s performance to drop dramatically.
People who sat closed to Mr. Tan claimed that they felt Mr. Tan became dumbed
and he always had his eyes fixed towards the space in front of him and self-talked
in his office. He used to mummer: “I saw her… I saw her…”
I am not about to guess what happened to good old Mr. Tan
but perhaps it was the fact that he didn’t made offerings to the Datuk spirits
in his project sites?
Coincidentally, I came across Mr. Tan a year ago when I was
having dinner with my business partner but he tried to avoid me by going out
from the restaurant back door…
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