March 1997 Article 3
Thanks to SONY
By Ong Jon Min, MPE 4
 
    
Jon Min with Mr Yuguchi (Manager) and  Mr Okino (Supervisor)  Jon Min (front row, second from left) with his
 colleagues 
                     
1996 was the most memorable time of my schooling life. I was given the opportunity to do my Industrial Attachment under SPIA'96, or Sony Programme for Industrial Attachment. The program was divided into two parts: a 3-month attachment at Sony Precision Engineering Centre (Singapore) Pte Ltd, or SPEC for short, followed by a 3-month attachment in Japan.

In SPEC, I was attached to the Production Engineering Divisionwhere I was immersed in a real engineering environment  working on designing, assembling and installing a machine.

The sojourn in Japan was more fruitful and enjoyable. The cold itself was a memorable experience. I was chilled to the bones as I did not carry much clothing with me. I was not only able to experience the busy and crowded morning rush in and around Tokyo, but also the rural side of Japan around Sony Inazawa. I also visited Sony Atsugi and a plant tour. I visited several companies: Sony Media World, Sony Museum, Sony Research Centre, Sony Kohda and Sony Inazawa. These visits were very educational as I was introduced to highly technological products like the professional syudio, high definition theatre, multi-purpose teleconference room, and the entire range of Sony's products since the time of establishment. I also visited places like Kyoto, Hakone, Inuyama Castle, Meiji-Mura, Akihabara and many other places around Tokyo. Everywhere I went, I tried various types of Japanese cuisine like sukiyaki, okonomiyaki, sushi, sashimi etc.

Although the stay in Japan was not all smooth sailing because of the occasional problem of communication (which is overcome by using sign language and writing), the trip was definitely worthwhile. Beside the technical and practical knowledge gained, I was able to experience working alone in Japan, experience working in a Japanese company, know more about their management style and also get to see for myself the much heard about workaholic Japanese. I learned to adapt to an entirely different culture, social life, language, way of thinking and even the climate. With our government's effort to encourage regionalization, there will be an increase in demand for people to work overseas. This attachment serves as a very good experience for me.

I would like to thank Sony for giving me such a valuable opportunity and also thank all the people, especially all my supervisors in Sony and NTU tutor, A/P Loh Ngiap Hiang, who have in one way or another made SPIA'96 a rewarding and memorable one. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.