Working hard in Shell Petroleum, Pulau Bukom

With my supervisor and colleagues in Shell Petit - Couronne, France

Shell conducted out interviews and a one-day assessment during August and September 1995.  I managed to get through both stages and was selected for the company’s training programme: 3 months in Singapore and 3 months in an overseas Shell company, which turned out to be in France.

The first 3 months of IA was held in Pulau Bukom, the Shell refinery in Singapore.  I was attached tot he Maintenance Department and assigned several projects to do.  The major one dealt with rotating equipment and their classifications in the plant.  This project allowed me to move around the refinery and I managed to meet and talk to all the Operations Engineers working on these equipment.  I developed a good understanding of how the plant works as I got to know every operations department better.  I did two minor projects that were concerned with an up-coming shutdown in the refinery and a study on the use of heavy vehicles on the island.

The people in the company were warm and friendly; everyone had interesting stories or experiences to relate.  In my interaction with my colleagues, I got to know the demands of working life, and specifically, the expectations of working in Shell, for example, they do not overtax the workers and ensure they get sufficient coffee breaks.

I left for ‘la France’, via ‘Londres’, sometime at the end of March with another student from NUS who was also doing his IA.  We were both sent to a town called Rouen in Normandy.  I was attached to the refinery there while he was located at a research centre a few kilometres away from the refinery.  Our accommodation had been arranged when we arrived and we were put up in a worker’s hostel.  I later found a more suitable hostel in the university there and moved.

The company provided for all our financial and health matters.  The return airfare, living allowance (for food and other daily expenses), medical benefits, accommodation and even insurance were provided by Shell.  We were assured that the company was taking very good care of us and this allowed us to settle in very well with the people, culture and environment there.

In Rouen, I was assigned my most interesting IA project.  I did a feasibility study and cost analysis of changing the seal for a compressor in the plant.  This project introduced me to the wide range of knowledge an engineer would need in the working environment: to understand technical manuals and drawings, to extract data and costs from various sources, and to analyse available information.  My secondary project there dealt with designing a user-friendly presentation of on-time data from the plant.

During the 3 months in Rouen, I got to know my colleagues well and often went home with them for dinner (these usually lasted at least 3-4 hours).  I also had the opportunity to play for the company football team and even travelled to England for a friendly match with another Shell company.  Some weekends were spent with my colleagues who were willing to bring me to places of interest in the area.  I also had the opportunity to travel to Belgium to visit Brussels and Bruges.  After my IA period ended, I had a holiday in the south of France, Nice, Cannes, Monaco and Monte Carlo, for a few days before returning to Singapore via London.

This opportunity that Shell has provided me is really one to treasure.  I have not only learnt the realities of working life, I have also observed the workings of a big and famous multi-national company and the culture of another country.  The attachment has inspired me to take up Introductory French even though I do not need the AUs.  My parting message to you readers in French, "C’est stage magnifique et maintenant, je parle francaise; un petit peu."