My industrial attachment in Keppel Land International Ltd was based in Kunming of the Yunnan province, China.  However, the workplace is situated in YangZhongHai County about one hour’s drive from Kunming City.  I was attached to the workshop maintenance section of the Spring City Golf Resort.  The resort is slated to be a world-class golf resort with first-class amenities and facilities like internationally renown Club Med, condo, hotels and bungalows. The whole resort is situated on the ridge of a mountain overlooking one of the largest freshwater lakes in the Yunnan province.  The scenery is picturesque with undulating ridges in the distant ground wrapping the land-locked lake.  The weather is cool and the air is intoxicatingly fresh.  The resort is a sprawling 500-hectare premise of semi-finished 36-holes championship golf courses, clubhouse, power utility structure and general infrastructure.  The massive investment project is slated to be completed in 15-20 years.

I was assigned to assist the workshop executive Mr Simon Wong.  Under his guidance, I was able to be familiarised with a wide variety of machinery like golf-cars, bulldozers, high-capacity generators, pumps and all-terrain vehicles.  The exposure and the opportunity to work on such machinery gave me a glimpse into the intricacy of mechanical engineering.  I was also given the opportunity to be involved in the general coordination and administration of the workshop local working staff.  Other aspects of the attachment included the preparation of purchase requisitions of parts, be it large or small, from the suppliers in and out of the provinces and country.  In the technical hands-on session of the training, I was able to work hand-in-hand with the local staff to carry general diagnosis and repair work on machinery.  On several occasions, I had the opportunities to interact with product service and supply personnel from other provinces and from the region, like Hongkong.

During off-hours, leisure activities with the local expatriate community included playing golf, travelling, shopping, watching movies, tasting exotic local foodstuff and so on.  The local expatriate community of the attached organisation consists of personnel of many nationalities like Malaysia, United States, Norway, Germany and Thailand.

The overseas IA attachment gives one the great opportunity to experience in person the true reality of living in a foreign land over an extended period.  One has to make many adjustments to be able to assimilate oneself into the local living environment.  However, much of the harshness is being alleviated by the help and support shown by the local expatriates and the local people.  Much appreciation for the needed support!  Most important of all, I believe that the best part of any overseas attachment is the chance to be exposed to a multitude of cultures and be able to learn from, and respect the sensitivity of, each individual and culture.  I would strongly urge all individuals to take up the challenge of an overseas attachment and help to forge better understanding between cultures and peoples of our global village.