The Farewell

FRIDAY APRIL 24


And so it is...I have finally left Amex.
A decision, whether a good one or bad one, we shall find out later.
But what ticks me off is that some people would question my decision.
By all means, you can ask me which company I'll be going to, what position and etc etc, but please do not ever QUESTION my decision.
It's my life, and I make all of my own decisions for the past 24 years of my life, so I don't need anyone to tell me what to do.
I have been taking risks all this while, i.e coming out to work after getting the diploma, leaving HSBC, and now leaving Amex, etc etc.
The point is, I survived every ordeal.
And I am confident that this time I will survive this too. And even if I cannot survive it, I shall make this as an experience and move on, like how I always do.




Anyway, this post is all about my final week in Amex.
I went around the call centre to take pics with everyone (team by team) starting on Wed, Thurs, and finally, on Fri (cos the whole call centre consists about 80-90 peeps) - which explains the 3 different outfits that I wore haha.
Hence, here are some of the pics of my favouritest people in Amex - in random order (The full album is on Facebook) :

Tony Wong, Me, Steph Nair, & Valerie Lim - my seniors from my team (Resolution Team).

Nick Lee from the Centurion team - also my senior, hailed from Ipoh haha. Very funny guy, drives a virgin-white modified Myvi, and always talk to me in Cantonese.
(p/s : The Centurion team consists of mostly seniors, servicing our highest-ranked VIPs/celebrities/the most privileged Black Card in the world - The American Express Centurion Charge Card)
This is the Centurion Card.

Ahh Sharon Kaur from Premium Team - my senior by one month, she's such a bubbly, funny girl, always laughing in a high-pitched tone.

This is Grace Chin, a senior from Save-A-Card team. At first, I was very afraid of her because she sounded so garang on the phone and even sounded me once when I was still a very fresh junior.
But then, slowly, I have gained her respect, and she became my friend, and one of my favourite people.
(p/s : The Save-A-Card team is responsible to retain/sweet talk customers who wanna cancel their cards/get Annual Fee waivers. Very tough job, but good commission, and I have almost almost joined their team, but I chose Resolution Team instead).


Param (from Centurion team), the boyish-looking macha who is actually 25 going on 26, and we always think that he can easily pass off as a 19-year old.
He is my junior by one month, an intelligent dude who was promoted to the Centurion team within months with the company.


Two of my bestest friends in my team.
On the left is Alia Ahmad (the most Senior in my team), a Subject Matter Expert Officer specialising in Membership Rewards (I am her assistant haha). She has been with the company for 8 years. A fun, down-to-earth married woman, who is also compassionate & gave me encouragement to move on from here.
On the right is Neha Naganandhini, also a Subject Matter Expert Officer, been with the company for 5 years, whom can speak Mandarin fluently (I get her to help me to talk to customers whenever customers speak to me in Mandarin). She is very pretty, slender, and looks young for her age. Can you believe that she will be turning 30 this year?


Ahh Lynn ahhh, that's what I call her in the office.
She is my junior by one month, real name is Azlin Rahim (from Premium Team), but nama glamor is Lynn (Melayu campur Cina campur Welsh campur Java campur India campur banyak lagi).
She is a sweetheart, always feeding me with food, but recently since I am on a strict diet, so she also didn't tempt me with any food.
I left her some souvenirs on her table before I left, in which I know she's gonna smile when she sees them today. Thanks for the super huge + tight hug, girl :)


Me with the Centurions! I love this pic coz almost everyone is in green (in coincidence!! how amazing) or at least with a green pillow haha.
The Centurions are really fun & cool people. Heck, ALL of the teams are really fun & cool people hehe.


Me & former highschoolmate Jackson Lum, and fellow batchmate in Amex (we joined Amex at the same time).
We have never talked in school before, but then we recognised each other on the first day of work haha.
He has been a great older brother to me in the office, and I am happy that he has moved out of customer service and to a better department in Amex now - The Collection Team.
Thanks for coming over to my place on my last day, bro :)


Simran Kaur, my first ever Trainer in Amex. She was the one who put me as her favourite until SourGrapeGirl became envious of me.
Simran was not only my trainer, but also my friend :)


Rizal Samsuddin, another Trainer, who trained me when I was promoted to take Platinum calls, and when I was promoted to be a Dispute Officer and Resolution Officer. He is downright funny, because we laugh at him haha. He burps continuously after eating, and that amuses us a lot.


Donna Doss, fuhh her name cekap kan.
Her long name is Madonna Caroline Maria Doss, hehe damn powerful right.
She is with the Centurion team, a senior who has been here 5-6 years.
Same like Grace, at first I was afraid of her, but then as time goes by, we became friends, and she told me on my final day, "I am gonna miss you lah".


Ayuni Zainuddin, my great friend, my batchmate.
She is now with the Centurion team, very proud of her promotion!
She is a cool girl, and she listens to non-mainstream good stuff, and studied in New Zealand, which explains her great command of English + modern mentality.
Mixed blood too - Malay, Chinese, Punjabi, Java, etc etc.
Hahaha I can never forget that she told me that she is a "Ma Chi Bai" - Malay + Chinese + Bahyi.
WAHHAHAHAHHA i rolled on the floor laughing when she told me wtf.


This is my Twin - Shaleni Sangaran (Resolution Team), my senior by 5 months.
We were born on the same day, same month, same year - 23 Nov 1985 (She is only older than me by a few hours).
She is so much similar to me in so many ways - our taste in music, our opinions, our thoughts.
We were even promoted to the Resolution Team at the same time.
She's currently pursuing CLP (Law) part-time while working, and I am proud of her because she is good at Law and a scholarship recipient too! I have always admired those who can study while working.
I lap you, twin!! Thankius for the bear in the vase that you gave me for my farewell gift! Haha


Haha this is Alia Ahmad again, see her profile above haha.
(p/s : Thankius Alia & Neha for the weighing scale that you gave me for my farewell gift hahahha it's good cause I dont have a proper weighing scale. And also for the song dedication on Amex radio, really sweet of you guys!)


Haha this is Neha Naganandhini again (additional creature in the pic : Tasmania), see her profile above haha.
(p/s : Thankius Alia & Neha for the weighing scale that you gave me for my farewell gift hahahha it's good cause I dont have a proper weighing scale. And also for the song dedication on Amex radio, really sweet of you guys!)


Anna Banana, her nickname. Real name : Anna Frank, my senior by 7 months, but she is younger than me by 2 years.
She is a genius, also another one who was fast-tracked to the Resolution Team.
She has Chinese eyes wan, very cute! Haha when I first knew her, I asked her "Do you have Chinese blood?"
She said she has Siam blood.
She sits next to me in the office, and I have named her as "My Neighbour".
She cried on my final day, and said that she's gonna miss her neighbour :'(


I named them as "David and Goliath", because Rai (on the left) is a six-footer, while Philip (on the right) is a smaller-framed guy.
Both are from the Premium Team.


I simply like this pic of us in cheongsam tops! Hee


And last but not least, my dear friend/teammate Tony Wong (Resolution Team), my senior by 2 years, the one who has tied my hair with roti canai rubberbands, the one who has cooked dinner for me in the office, the one who has bought the farewell gifts for me (heart-shaped necklace, heart-shaped earrings + card), and the one who has said a touching farewell speech for me, in which his voice broke off emotionally with tears in his eyes.
Prior to my last day, he said sadly, "What am I gonna do without you?", and I couldn't respond because I was as sad as him.
Now, after leaving, he said, "It just feels weird without you."




It was really hard to leave behind a great ensemble of friends - each with a different personality, but what makes it memorable was that despite all of the hardships that we went through in the company, we still have each other.
Like I mentioned in my farewell email to you guys on Friday, this won't be goodbye.
We will definitely meet one day.
And until we meet again, I love you all :)

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