Two days to go

I've been in Kerteh for 10 days now. We traveled on the 1st of February (that was another public holiday for Federal Territories) on the new Karak-Kuantan highway, but I didn't see much of it because I dozed off. And I've been working every day since the 2nd of February, supervising and inspecting some tie-in and modification work at a Gas Terminal in Kerteh.

For the uninitiated, that means putting on hard hats and one-piece coveralls (mine is a bright neon yellow, because the blue flame-resistant Nomex type was too large for me), walking about in heavy safety boots (also at least 1/2 size too big, but fortunately high-cut so they don't slip off my feet) and cycling around the plant under the hot sun with sweaty construction workers wolf-whistling at you. And before anyone starts picturing tall, hunky men with glistening muscles - NO, they don't look like that in Malaysia. Picture a bunch of thin, dark-skinned Kelantanese or Terengganu men (with a few Filipinos sprinkled here and there for the 'masyarakat majmuk' factor) in dirty, ill-ftting coveralls and that's more like it.

Yesterday being a public holiday (today and tomorrow as well), I'm not quite in the mood for working. I'm supposed to do 12-hour shifts from 7.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. everyday, but yesterday I decided to come in at 8.00 a.m. instead. Breakfast at the resort where I'm staying starts at 7.00, so that was my first stop. Bad decision - I should have just given it a miss and bought breakfast at one of the roadside stalls for a more wholesome meal.

Nothing really happens at site till 8.00 a.m. anyway. And by the time I sauntered in an hour later, there was very little progress beyond where we had left off the day before.

But today I decided to be good and punctual. I'm going to be the first person in the plant, so I can start shouting to the workers about being slow. Show them who's the boss. As I walked past the canteen, fully decked in safety gear and pulling my bike along on the gravelly path (I don't want to ride my bike there and fall flat in front of everyone), one of the other Inspectors called out to me.

Dian, tak boleh masuk site lagi lah. Tengah buat RT. Pukul 9 baru siap. (Dian, you cannot enter the site yet. There's an RT going on till 9 o'clock)

Duhhh.

So much for showing who's the boss.