Anchored

I’m a sailor—I work on a ship.
I have a 20 day shift on board at the start of every month—I stay, sleep, eat, and work there. After the 20 days, I’ll have 10 days off on land.

How is it like working on a ship?
It’s a dream job for me and I’m really passionate about it. I’ve been doing this for three years now. It’s quite fun and tiring at the same time but you learn a lot on board. You gain a lot of experience and learn to solve problems. Sometimes it’s a bit boring and there’re a lot of sacrifices you have to make, like not being able to see your loved ones, but after a long while, it’s really worth it for the money.

Scariest encounter I’ve experienced on board:
A ferry that I was on crashed. It was actually in the middle of the sea in between Batam and Singapore. The crew that was on board was in shock. I gave them a 15 minute time frame to react. When nothing was working out and water was coming in, I stepped in as I couldn’t wait anymore and gave instructions. But when we opened the life rafts, they burst—things that wouldn’t go wrong on a normal day went wrong. The local fishermen nearby came and helped in the end and we managed to evacuate everyone. We were lucky.

What do you do in your free time?
I fish or lift weights in the gym. In fact, I make my own weights by welding unused metal on the ship. On land, I’d be working. I have a part time job at Wave House Sentosa where I teach people how to surf. I love extreme sports. I’m an adrenaline junkie so I’d like to try BASE jumping from a building, a canyon, or wing-suit flying.

Favourite comfort foods:
I’ll always prefer home-cooked food. When I’m away, I miss my mother’s laksa the most.