Jan 4, 2023

First work day where I did not have to go to the office. I began the day by waking up at 11.30 am- a great improvement on the previous morning but still a ways away from the 2 pm target. I placed a call to ICICI bank to try and reset my internet login which had for some reason been disabled. I needed this account to be accessible pronto because I had just given word to Santosh that I would contribute  money to his agro- food venture in exchange for shares in his company. They were not listed yet but hopefully it would be a good investment. If not, I could write it off- no worries. But I did want in- into this startup environment- not necessarily because I wanted to be an entrepreneur myself but to learn a bit about the space. It may help with the non-profit project that P was leading…I could formally tap into Santosh’s expertise to help with that. All said and done, I keep telling myself that I am a recent judge of people and I find Santosh quite capable and authentic even if we dont have that much in common on many other fronts. He does not seem a bad sort- I could put my money on others- but they never asked me- he did. So here goes.

But the ICICI call center experience was painful- as seemed to be all call center experiences lately…particularly travel related ecommerce sites and budget airlines. It seemed to me that we had entered a post- call center era where it was not even possible to speak to a live person virtually when needed. Earlier you had to dial a number and fiddle your way to an option which might connect you to a person- now either there was no option offered where you could  speak to a person - or worse you could not even locate a call center number anywhere on a website. They were replaced with completely useless chatbots. If these are the future then I’d rather not travel nor fly. Anyway, after I finally got through to a guy from ICICI, he asked me for my particulars following which he did something ( I only had his word for it) and then he asked me to try to log in after 30 mins and all would be sorted. I did so- and nothing was. Still could not get in. Exasperated, I turned my mind into something else. I had just received an email from ICA Singapore confirming a 1 year extension on my PR but warning me in stern words that I needed to relocate back to Singapore within the year or else I would not be further extended the next time around.

While I clumsily proceeded to make the 20 dollar payment to ICA and obtain pdf version of the files of the renewed re-entry permits for my safekeeping, I started also to ponder my options given this ultimatum. I really wanted to maintain my PR- at the same time I wanted to be with the family in Dubai. I could not do both. I was beginning now to look at job opportunities outside of Shell- but based in UAE. But this made me think I should probably shelve all this for the next year or two- until I had secured a 5 yr PR term in Singapore. Equally, I had a citizenship application in place- I really wished I could hear of the outcome there quickly- because that might provide more clarity for me on my next moves. Life had suddenly become so complicated- where I was to be situated became subservient to such a multitude of considerations that a linear program was becoming necessary to land a firm decision. I didn't mind moving to Singapore and living apart from the family for a bit more-

I had my band scene in Singapore and also a few friends which would keep me going just fine- it would be far more happening than Manila for sure. But I did not want to show up in the office- for a variety of reasons….