• This is me, Simba…

July 12, 2004

I must have a call sign, I was told. I tried to bargain and asked, “Isn’t Joyce a good enough name?” After all, I like being called Joyce, and though I do have a second name, Nesamani (which means 'Bells of Love’ in Tamil), no one ever calls me by that name. Since my attempts of trying to convince the management team that I wanted Joyce as a call sign proved futile, I had to resort to try to come up with a call sign.

I think that I bugged each person I met that I needed a call sign. Gosh, I sure was offered lots of names, from ‘Sparkle’ to ‘Twinkle’ to ‘Diamond’ and ‘DeBeers’, all because of my braces. Then, there were the more ambitious, ‘Puan Sri’ and ‘Datin Seri’. There were also the feminine and affectionate ones like ‘Princess’ and ‘Precious’. There were names associated with Africa like ‘Scorpion’ and ‘Oasis’. There were names associated with movies like ‘Matrix’ and ‘Pocahontas’. And, well, there were definitely many more, but I would stop with the list or this article would be about nothing but call signs. Finally, I settled for Simba. Why Simba? Well, it sounded nice. Lame reason?? Oh, well, let’s just say, I liked it.

I have been in PETRONAS for about three years. I must say that I am not a fraction of the person that I was when I joined the organisation. I still remember my orientation in January 2002 whereby we had to complete the abseiling and flying fox exercises. I screamed my lungs out, simply refusing to do those exercises. I must say, that PETRONAS has helped me to shed the fear and grow for I was privileged to have excellent bosses and colleagues. I was given the privilege to try new things and venture into terrains that were unknown to me, namely the 4WD Adventure Team. My current and former bosses, Encik Abdul Rashid bin Hussin and Encik Mohd Ali Shamsuddin were truly supportive. I looked up to them and admired their charisma and the sense of presence they commanded each time they walked into a room.

Through the course of the week, I met Harun Rahman and Malek Hasim. I would be in their car for the expedition. Malek would be the driver, while Harun would be producing the documentary as well as reporting via the website. It was a delightful encounter meeting Harun. He briefed me on the preparation and the things to do and bring. I think that throughout the conversation, he would have reminded me almost 65 times to have fun.

I also attended the launch of the PETRONAS Trans-Sahara 2004, which was held at Sunway Lagoon Theme Park on the 5th of July. I met the rest of the team members. Standing in their midst, I felt truly, truly privileged to be part of the team. All of them seemed very experienced and accomplished. I also had my first taste of being swarmed by photographers. All of the photographers were frantically clicking their cameras. Since I have braces on, I simply did not know whether it would be better to smile or not to smile. In the midst of all that, I kept telling myself, “Just be brave, or at least, pretend to be, for no one will be able to tell the difference.” I learnt that lesson from one of the books on public relations. Then there were the interview sessions. I felt a mixture of emotions, being delighted and excited one minute, and having traces of uncertainty and doubt the next. I had to tread with caution and I definitely did not intend to ruffle any feathers.

Strangely in the midst of all that, I observed that the silence of nature could be very eloquent, while the noise of excitement and euphoria could actually be very silent. Nevertheless, I definitely look forward to the expedition with great anticipation.

Simba’s paw note: In Harun’s words, “By the way, did I remind you to have fun?”