9 January 2021

So it's 9 days post New Year today. Here are the current status updates: - I've officially completed my Masters in Organizational Psychology in Aug 2020. - I started working at a beauty giant company called Coty as of Sept 2018 on a yearly contract, got renewed thrice and finally ended on 31st Dec 2020. - 2 kids = Nayden 7yo and Nadine 4yo this year - VJ runs his own gym - I am officially jobless for 9 days - WE are in the 1st year anniversary of Covid19, it's a pandemic which started last year around this time from China, Wuhan - The entire world has changed in the past 1 year, trees started growing again, mountains more green, we started getting fresh breathe of air, families were either closer or grew apart due to differences. THe pandemic has made most parts of the world go into a state of lock down, with limited travel across state, cities, borders, countries and worldwide. Yet the entire world got closer and more connected via the internet. We are at a super advanced internet age and while most human and social values were starting to diminish, the pandemic took place. Everything started to make sense in a way, and not in another. From being very distant from one another, being locked in like zoo animals, everyone started too look within them for answers and parents began spending more time with children, which brought families closer together. More babies were made, more fights were created and families began to see differences and learn more about one another. Most interestingly in a unique way, we started to get closer to God as prayers were made accessible online, daily, hourly from all over the world. Our weekly masses were looked forward to as a family, at a time when papa VJ would be available to join along too. For Christmas mass, we were able to view mass from any part of the world yet we still watched our own church mass. For the first time in our lives we didn't attend mass in person or receive the body of Christ in the form of communion for more than 6 months. Perspectives were changed and mindsets shifted. Where corporate work is concerned, what used to be a taboo of is applied with no choice - the option of working from home. Some companies have started to implement work from home options by default, while some others stil gave this as an alternative option where applicable. MOST if not all companies were implementing some form of cost control, be it hiring freeze or retrenchment, downsizing or cutting office overhead costs. I, for one am one of those impacted by such actions, due to hiring freeze, my contract as local HR was not approved to be renewed so in my last weeks of work I was preparing handover to my Singapore support team, lead by the HR Director of SEA who will act as the business partner for Malaysia as well. Such is life, a decision I should have taken in Sept 2020 was eventually done in Dec 2020 by force. I am happier now, spending more time at home, sorting out things for the kids and our home life. I am able to do anything I want as I had the freedom of time. And I am excitedly looking forward to what the year has in store for all of us.