After graduating from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Engineering Campus, Nibong Tebal, Penang, in 2003, I started working at a steel manufacturing factory in Seberang Perai.
The factory produced various steel products, including 4' × 8' mild steel sheets, metal decking, flat bars, expanded metal and special-sized plates.
Within just three months, I experienced two workplace accidents. One injured my finger, while the other involved my neck. The wound on my neck required nine stitches, leaving a scar that remains with me to this day.
Following these two incidents, I was asked to leave the job. Fortunately, I had managed to save some money from my few months of employment, which was enough to cover the expenses for my graduation ceremony in August that year.
After the ceremony, my mother, who had missed having her son around after so many years of living away from home, asked me to return to our hometown and look for employment opportunities there.
I eventually returned to Kampung Tebing Tinggi, Pengkalan Chepa, just a ten-minute drive from Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Kota Bharu.
I had left home at the age of sixteen to further my studies at MRSM Kuala Terengganu. From there, I continued to matriculation before pursuing my first degree at university. After so many years of studying and living away from home, I was finally back where I started.
There was plenty to keep me occupied. I began doing various small projects around the house. As usual, whenever a light needed repairing, a pipe was leaking, or a table or chair needed fixing, I would be the one called upon to do the job. My mother and relatives knew that I could handle such things.
Around that time, my elder brother had recently married. His father-in-law was a fresh chicken businessman. This eventually gave us an idea: perhaps my mother could stop working as a trader at Pasar Siti Khadijah in Kota Bharu.
Every day, she had to travel from home to the town market to sell various products, including salted eggs made from the ducks raised by my father.
We decided to build a small roadside stall beside our house so that she could start selling fresh chicken from home.
It was a modest structure, built using whatever timber we could find around the house. Even the roofing was made from available recycled materials. Nothing fancy, just a simple little stall built with whatever resources we had.
While I spent my mornings helping the carpenter construct the stall, my afternoons and evenings were dedicated to searching for employment.
I submitted applications to various companies and made it a habit to buy newspapers, especially The Star, every Saturday. I particularly looked forward to the third Saturday of each month, hoping to find suitable job advertisements in the recruitment section.
Eventually, the stall was completed, and my mother started her new business.
As for me, I also managed to find some temporary work. A new housing development was being constructed directly opposite our house, with dozens of terrace houses and semi-detached units under construction.
I joined one of the construction workers as a general labourer, earning a daily wage. Interestingly, he was the same carpenter who had helped build my mother's chicken stall.
I cannot remember exactly how long I worked there, but I still remember the experience fondly. For someone who had just graduated with an engineering degree, earning a daily wage as a construction labourer was certainly a different experience.
Nevertheless, it provided me with some pocket money while I continued searching for a proper job. It also taught me that there was no shame in doing honest work while waiting for better opportunities.
A little while later, I received an offer to work as a Sales Engineer with a company in Panji, Kelantan.
During the interview, I met the CEO, a businessman involved in several different ventures. He was planning to establish a new business specialising in boiler servicing for ships.
At that time, there were discussions about the development of the shipping and maritime industry around Bachok and Tok Bali. Seeing a potential business opportunity, he wanted to establish a company that could provide the necessary boiler maintenance and servicing for vessels operating in the area.
That was when I first heard the word boiler again after my university days.
The last time I had encountered the subject was during my Thermodynamics lectures, where boilers were discussed as part of the engineering curriculum.
Little did I know that this familiar engineering term would eventually become such a significant part of my professional journey.
And that was how my story with boilers began.
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