I finally managed to draft out the story of Uncle Lim which I mentioned way back in my first blog post . This incident which happened in my previous company’s cafeteria on a slow and arduous weekday, set off a chain of events which lead to who I have become today and what I aspire to achieve in the future. But first let me clarify that this Uncle Lim is not the late Lim Goh Tong of the Genting group of companies. He was just an ordinary middle aged man working his ass off for a reputable MNC and happens to carry the surname Lim.
Enter Uncle Lim
I was in the company cafeteria with sitting way back in a low-visibility area. My up-line was with me briefing me on the ups and downs of the MLM industry and was trying motivate me into staying on. He was trying to pass down some his energy which is what most of the leaders would do when their down-lines are down low. Our session came to a close as I agreed that I will try to bring myself to strive harder. We finished up the rest of our tea time snacks and were ready to head back to the office. That was when out of nowhere Uncle Lim sat down beside us with his tray.
He greeted us briefly in Hokkien, “An chua? Ho boh? (How are you?)” and my up-line replied him with “Ho, ho. (Good, good.)” Following that was a moment of awkward silence as the three of us quietly fed the snacks into our mouths. It was obvious that our private session was interrupted and there was no longer a window where my up-line could further discuss MLM-oriented topics with me so he quickly finished up and left.
Now Uncle Lim and I weren’t strangers but we were not the best of friends either. He was a regular in the four o’clock yumcha sessions but somehow we never really had anything to talk about. The only conversations we had were work related and those were only through e-mails and phone calls. When my up-line left, I couldn’t bring myself to go as well but I knew sitting there with him we would not have anything to talk about. So I sat there slowly sipping my cup of diluted tea while Uncle Lim dug in to his curry puff.
It was really starting to feel weird when finally Uncle Lim broke the silence. “How long have you been working here, young man?” he asked. I was surprised that he spoke to me in English as all previous conversations I had with him were in Hokkien. I replied him that it was my second year here. Uncle Lim asked me another question, “Do you know how long I have been here?” I was frank with him and told him I didn’t.
He said that it was his 15th year in the company and continued to illustrate that he had switched five departments throughout his career here. All five departments gave him various experiences ranging from purchasing, finance, sourcing, engineering and the list goes on.
Now the next part here really took me by surprise. Uncle Lim casually looked at me and said with a big smile on his face, “and you know what? Today is my last day in this company.” I was startled. I did not hear anything about him leaving the company. Apparently he took a voluntary separation scheme a.k.a. VSS and this was not the first time he asked for one. According to Uncle Lim, he had requested for the VSS for 7 times and finally he got what he wanted.
So what was the oh-so-important lesson that Uncle Lim taught me? ALWAYS ask for VSS.
Haha not quite but that is actually a good way of making fast money provided the package is good enough ;) Okay, let’s get back to the story shall we?
Uncle Lim’s Story
I asked Uncle Lim about his repetitive requests for VSS and the reasons behind it. The first was pretty obvious and it was definitely about the money. The company gave him a decent payout, enough for him to pay a 50% down payment on a landed property in Penang and landed property in Penang don’t come cheap. Next, he told me that he had enough of working for someone else and he had been searching for the way out for years on end.
Off work, he was juggling his family’s needs, staying up late nights monitoring the US stock market and now he has finally attained financial freedom. The reason behind him switching departments was because he could not find any satisfaction in the jobs he held. So finally he made it a point to get out of the rat race and the methods he chose were tapping the potential of the US stock market and also seizing the opportunity for a VSS. Both activities combined eventually gave Uncle Lim the big break he had been looking for.
One thing however, Uncle Lim did not share what he would do with all that free time. He only mentioned that he would use the time to do what he always wanted to. I guess it was a private matter so I did not pry further. What he did share with me was on the lessons he learnt throughout his life. He started his story all the way back to when he first graduated. He started working and pledged his loyalty to this company and not long after he was able to take up a loan for a car. Next came love, marriage and Uncle Lim found himself borrowing again to finance a property he would later call home.
Children came and his expenses went up. To cope with the rising expenses Uncle Lim wanted to start off his own business but he couldn’t risk it so he stuck to his job. Realizing that his salary wouldn’t suffice, Uncle Lim went on looking for alternate sources of income and eventually he took up trading. After many years of balancing between work, family and his side income, Uncle Lim was finally granted the VSS he longed so much for.
Pausing a moment after finishing his story, Uncle Lim looked me in the eye smiled and said to me, “Now that’s my story and I don’t think you would want to live like that.” The reason he shared his story with me is that he didn’t want me to walk down the same path as he did. He did what he had to because he didn’t have a choice.
Most of the time Uncle Lim was chained to his job because of his commitments and that forced him to keep on working. He transferred from one department to another yet he did not feel any fulfillment from his job. His mind was always wandering away from his tasks at work wondering how life would have been if he did not buy that car or if he did not get married so early in the first place.
The Golden Egg
“So do you still regret your decision till this day?” I asked curiously. “No, young man I do not regret what I have done. I am happy and content with my life. I am proud of all that I have achieved today but I cannot help thinking back wondering what I could have done and how things could have been different,” he said.
I could see the wisdom in his eyes when he finished that sentence. His gaze was clear yet distant as if reminiscing the past just as old war heroes would. That look in his eyes reminded me of my late grandfather, only younger. I wanted to ask him more questions but he stopped me with the next statement, “My time has passed. The question now is how will you live your life?
“My advice to you is to take 5 years to discover yourself. Do not make any commitments that will tie you down yet. Take up crazy activities. Join groups and clubs and do some charity. Read more. Get to know more people. Discover who you are and what you want to do with your life. Once you know what you want to do with your life then work towards it and never stop until you reach your goal.”
That statement still rings in my head until this very day. That was the last of what Uncle Lim had to say to me. Why he chose to tell me all those things was really a puzzle to me. Maybe I happened to be at the right place at the right time. Maybe it was part of the process where you impart some of your knowledge to someone on your last day at work, hoping that it would do some good.
It has been almost three whole years since the curious incident of Uncle Lim during tea time. That little weird session of sharing gave me new hope and inspirationwhich fueled the search for my calling. I realised finally why the start-ups I took upon earlier did not work out. It was because I lacked the passion and interest in those areas. I knew that if I wanted to be successful in my business I should not ape anyone and should venture in something which is close to my heart.
I can proudly say I finally found what I was looking for and now I am making plans for my dreams to come true. If you want to succeed in life, you too should concentrate on what you really love doing. That way it would almost guarantee total satisfaction. Who knows, you might even make it big in whatever it is you are doing! As John C. Maxwell used to say in his books, “If you do not know yourself by 40 then you are in a whole lot of trouble.” So take the time to discover yourself. The faster you discover yourself, the nearer you are to your goals.
Perhaps I shall write another post on what are the lessons I learnt from Uncle Lim. That way everything will seem clearer to whoever reads my posts. Hopefully it will do more good than harm, steering you towards a more fulfilling journey in your life. Until then, take some time to ask yourself, “Are you really YOU?”
Read the next chapter: 6 important lessons from Uncle Lim’s story
yea, finding our the thing that you truly love is really tough. just need some time to really figure things out. coincidently, i was just listening back to Steve Jobs’ speech at Stanford’s commencement back in 2005. awesome speech. bet u have watched it too.
did u change the fonts yet?
yea i heard the Steve Jobs speech before. Cant remember much of it but I remember it was awesome and very inspiring.
i did change the secondary fonts to Minion. Primary font is Cambria. Still dont know it it works well. I’ll need to check at browsershots.org
What an inspiring conversation with Uncle Lim.. ah… I’m sad to say, I haven’t found my calling. HOW… I have no commitments, and I’m not holding back on anything, but still, I can’t find it! Help me!!! :P
haha witch…then the question here should be, do you find fulfillment in what you do currently?
one word…..IKAN
kekeke yours is ikan, others…still searching kekeke