“You should have gotten yourself a girlfriend first before you come here.” That, dear readers, was what my colleague told me. Not wanting to sound too regretful, I calmly replied, “Aiya, you think so easy meh?” You may wonder why my colleague told me that. In my company, everyone has to go to sites pretty often within a year. For my department in particular, luckily (or unluckily - depends on how you look at it!), we don’t have to be on the move so often. But the thing is, we can be stuck in a foreign land long enough for us to have a brief fling. Whoops I can’t believe I said that. It was only a figure of speech, okay?

Some of us have to work our asses off at sites. Sometimes, I heard, we may even need to work 7 days a week! Like most projects in every company, time is a luxury. And I was warned that our time away can stretch for as long as 6 months, sometimes even longer. All these traveling, therefore, will leave us engineers with little time for anything else - say, dating. My friend said something like “Act quickly… or else, be prepared to be a 40-year old bachelor.” Guys, if this doesn’t sound worrisome to you, you probably have about 70% of Brad Pitt’s looks. Unless of course, you’ve already secured yourself a soulmate - like what my colleague (the one who warned me all these things) did.

Engineers and Relationships | Narrowband.orgLast week, I had the opportunity to attend his wedding reception. I tried not to think about all his warnings and enjoyed myself that night. And I did. My table had 7 ladies, and I was among the 3 guys (vastly) outnumbered. I really admired this colleague (the groom) of mine. At 26, he’s begun to settle down - something that many men can only do after hitting 30 years old. He married his high school beau and had hundreds of friends and relatives invited to the dinner. Heck, even a new colleague who has only known him for about 3 months was also invited! I was elated when he handed me the invitation card - no not because I could finally give an angpow for the first time in my life, but because I actually felt a sense of belonging in the company.

Ok so back to what I was saying - my table. Seven absolutely cool ladies sat with me, and I almost cried when they knew my name even without me introducing myself. There was so much noise at our table, and everyone drank like the vineyard was just next door. We emptied two bottles of red wine in less than two hours. It was *that* good. The lovely ladies - mostly my colleagues from other departments - had some of the best senses of humour I’ve ever seen. I was actually very thankful for not being arranged to sit with my bosses. Nevermind the fact that our table was directly behind some humongous pillar - so huge that it perfectly blocked our view of the stage - because we didn’t miss anything anyway as there were two huge projector screens at both sides of the hall. I cannot imagine the sort of topics of conversation that went on over at my bosses’ table ;p

Engineers and Relationships | Narrowband.orgBy the way, speaking of the projector screens, I must commend the photo slideshow that the wedding photographers made. It was heart-warmingly beautiful! Among the places they went to was the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) somewhere in Kepong. That location provided some very breathtaking backgrounds for the photoshoot. We asked for the name of the wedding photographer, and for a moment - having forgotten the likelihood that I was going to stay single for a long, long time - I told myself that I *must* go to the same photographer when my time comes. Until today, I can still recall the slideshow presentation with the matching background songs.

Another remarkable thing about the event that night was the newlyweds’ eloquence. They both gave their own speeches and, having heard hundreds of speeches in as many Toastmasters events, I must say that they spoke very well! Mind you, they prepared their speeches in both Mandarin and English - for the benefit of everyone present. The Mandarin version was more moving, because they expressed their gratitude and appreciation towards their parents for all the love and sacrifice they’ve given them. They also thanked each other’s parents for consenting to their union. The English version was directed more at friends and colleagues. After the speeches, the groom also displayed his vocal prowess by singing a song to his wife.

Engineers and Relationships | Narrowband.orgSo…! How did I feel that night? Hot. The wine made me look like a walking tomato. But I didn’t get drunk - I hardly do. The ladies from my table loved to drink - and I turned out to be their loyal drinking companion even though I appeared quiet most of the time. After the dinner, there were even talks of going to a nearby club for a party. But that didn’t realize as it was too crazy an idea. I went home thinking about the wedding, my colleagues, my job and my life. Is my job really gonna doom me to be single til I’m 40? Looking at the female population here in my company, I think there’s still hope. But I’ve only one gripe…: that night at the wedding alone, I was the youngest at the table. So you can roughly guess the average age (relative to mine) back in the office……

Have a fantastic week ahead, everyone!