Subra and I were both there as consultants / contract professionals. We were both offered permanent roles but both had to decline for family reasons. Different ones, but largely because whilst we gratefully accepted the short-term work and good rates, we couldn't do the 4:2 roster full-time. Frankly I will never go back to FIFO again. I would consider a few short-term one-off contracts, but not on a permanent basis. It's too important for me to watch my kids grow up, and for me to be with my beautiful wife. Anyway, I digress, this post was for different reasons.
Nostalgia first. Wetar was an interesting project to be involved with. At the time it was a bloody hard place to get to. I lived in KL, and had to fly to Bali, then Kupang, and then take a 12-24 hour boat trip to the island. It is a small island to the north of Timor, and on the boat one often got East Timor mobile reception. It felt odd being so close to Australia relatively, yet so far logistically from anywhere. If shit happened, well good luck. It was a throw-back in those days really, and perhaps still is. The pic below shows the topography of the island with the project happening amongst it.
But this post is about Subra. He has been a good friend and colleague for all of my time in Malaysia. I always found him honest, professional, witty, and a good bloke. I remember our month in Jakarta doing evaluations on Wetar while we were waiting for our kitas to be approved (Indo work permit).
We were staying at the Bellagio apartments in Mega Kuningan in Jakarta, with the office either a 10 minute cab ride or 15 min walk away. We frequently opted to walk. We were also pretty much the only people in the office apart from the admin staff, so spent most of our time together. It was kind of odd really, as we only had documents to go by (shitty too, as most of them were), with infrequent contact with the guys on site. So we spent a bit of time twiddling thumbs in-between phone calls, emails, etc.
Most evenings we would go for a walk around the circle that the apartments were in, and end up either at Jimi's Sports Bar or another small bar inside the little mall, whose name escapes me and I cannot find it online either. Perhaps it no longer exists. That would not surprise me, as it was tiny, deadly quiet, and because of those reasons, suited us perfectly.
I could watch the IPL or Big Bash on the tv, or whatever cricket was being played. One morning I even watched some Aussie test cricket (albeit at Jimi's rather than this place). But I remember Subra and I ending up in this little bar for a couple prior to heading to the supermarket and buying some supplies for dinner before heading to bed. Subra was always good for a couple of beers, but after that he would switch to vodka. I remember clearly the way he used to ask - "give me wodka". It must be an Indian thing, substituting w's for v's. It's a silly thing to remember really, but it sticks with me.
Subra also sticks with me because of how he has lead his life. His work has lead him to most parts of the world, in all forms of mining, drilling and engineering, and he has a damn good name. He does it all for his family. I am not sure how many kids he has, but I know of at least 3, and he has put them all through university overseas. On a Malaysian salary, even when working for expat companies, this is no mean feat. It is a huge investment, and one he does freely. He even spends most of his spare time visiting his kids, be it in the US or UK, and making sure they are all good. Subra must have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on his kids, and they are doing bloody well because of it.
I admire you Subra. You are a good friend and colleague. But you are an incredible father, at least in terms of your sacrifice, and what you are willing to do to give your kids a chance in this crazy modern world.
This last pic shows Subra himself, with my mate JR, at the Avocet Chirstmas Party in 2010, in KL. My wife and I bailed early that night - I had had a huge few days with the boys in Bali just prior and the Mrs went hard on the night and paid for it. I might write another post about Avocet social life sometime, as the series of photos I have of this night bring back a lot of memories.
