I Work At Home

Everyday passes really slowly especially when my wife and son are away in Brisbane. I am alone in the house after work. I managed to go through some of the photos that my wife took in the laptop.

I recalled my son telling me that he works at home when I told him I was about to go to work in the morning.

Exactly what work does he do??

1. He cleans the dead leaves and twigs that falls into our fish pond at the back of the house. This is normally our driver's job but my son likes to help adults do chores. Maybe I can get him to wash the plates next time!...LOL! Washing plates is my most hated chore as both my brother and I were forced to wash up after dinner every night (we had to rotate everyday)!

2. He pretends that he is an excavator digging the soil that we put into this cut-into-half oil drum from my work place. We had to plaster the sharp edges of the drum so that he does not get cut.

My son normally would find worms and caterpillars and cut them up! We tried to let him cut the caterpillars only because they eat up my wife's plants whereas the earth worms help loosen the soil for the plants to grow better.

3. He is also the construction team coordinator. He instructs his shovel to scoop soil into the dump truck. The soil we have on the ground is mostly clay, so it is hard to dig and gets messy when it is wet.

We thought of building him a sand pit. However the thought of cats doing their business in the pit put off our idea. My friend also just reminded me that it would be very difficult to find clean sand in Palembang.

Wishing that I could reunite with my family in Brisbane soon, all that I could do now is to continue to browse through the many photos that my wife took throughout the 3 years we were in Palembang. I never really had time to go through all of them when they are around. Yes, 3 year olds do work at home!

What Do You Do In A Fertilizer Factory?

Working in a fertilizer factory is a niche job. There are many types of fertilizer factories in the world. Mine in Palembang happens to be a chemical compound or NPK fertilizer factory.

Basically we blend the different raw materials such as Urea (Nitrogen source), Phosphate Rock (Phosphate source) & Potash (Kalium source) plus other elements like Magnesite, Copper & Zinc Sulphates to the appropriate proportions, then we add water and heat to make them into granular form (oval shaped) then screen them, coat them and eventually pack them.

Below are some most common questions coming from people who are not from the fertilizer or agricultural industry:

1. What do you do at work? - ensure the people carry out instructions!! If you pay peanuts, who would you get?
2. How is the working environment? - it is a "sweat shop" because the environment is hot. Air is limited inside the plant because it will cause the fertilizers to "melt" (hygroscopic in nature when in contact with high humidity). The condition in the plant is often "muddy" as when teh products fall off the belts/chutes/leakages, they will become hygroscopic. I should say that it is quite similar to a muddy construction site which is indoors.
3. Does it smell? - yes, when water comes into contact with urea, ammonia gas will be emitted. so you think you would ever fall asleep at work?
4. Will it explode? - Ha ha, no....only ammonium nitrate plants in Europe has potential of explosions.
5. Do you like working there? - It has been 5 years since I changed my career from the semiconductor industry (clean) to the fertilizer industry (dirty). I should say that I am contented with what I have at the moment in PLM, except for the long working hours (5.5 days week), power limitation of my company sponsored house and the mosquitoes (I get bitten almost everyday)!
6. Would you like to work there forever? - I am entering my 3rd year in Palembang and throughout the 2 years here I have learnt a lot about the Indonesian culture, language and people. If opportunity calls, I might need to make another career change? Life is unpredictable!
7. How many staff do you have? - 86 permanent plus 100 contractors (forklifts, packers, loaders)
8. What do you like best about your job now? - expat life. No need to pay for rent, driver or maid.... making me a lazy bum. Sucks when maid is sick or away.....getting too dependent on others to do household chores!