When my resignation had been confirmed and the news was spread within the company, a lot of colleagues asked me out for farewell lunch or dinner. Unfortunately, i was swamped with unfinished work and overseas travels and hence had to miss quite a few invitations, especially those from the colleagues whom i wasn't really close with.
Besides the usual farewell meals, i also got a few farewell gifts.
Before i show what those gifts are, let's make this clear first - i do appreciate the thought. Seriously, i do. After all, it is ALWAYS the thought that counts. No one is ever obliged to give anyone anything no matter what occasion or circumstance it is, or how you are related to the person. So whenever someone gives us something, we should always appreciate the thought, as it means that you are of some importance to that person or you are in the thought of that person; otherwise, he/she would not have gone through the troubles to get you the gift.
Having said that, appreciating the though is one thing, liking the gift is another. We do not always like the presents other people give us, nor do we always find those gifts useful. Look around your house and tell me how many gifts you have that are merely lying somewhere doing nothing and collecting dust, but you still keep those stuff because those are gifts from someone and you know that it is not right to throw them away.
Ok, i guess it is obvious that i did not particularly like the farewell gifts. It is easy to be misunderstood because people in general would just interpret not liking something as not being appreciative. But then, i am often being misunderstood anyway; sometimes i can only do this much to clear things up and for those who still do not understand, i can only say, "whatever".
Now i would better leave this digression to another post and go back to the farewell gifts.
First one was from our department and given to me by my ex-boss (who made it like an award ceremony of some sort) during the farewell dinner at KL.
I do not know what you call this (a trophy?) but a few of our colleagues said it was really odd that i was given a gift with a clock on it because it is a taboo in Chinese culture to give clock as a gift (which means to bid farewell to a person who passed away). I am not a particularly superstitious person and i do not mind it much, but i do find it rather strange that my ex-boss, who is from a country (HK) that is more superstitious than ours, actually did not find it inappropriate.
When presenting the gift to me, he told me that the globe signifies their wishes for me to continue see the world in future, and the clock is for me to tell time when i place this momento on my desk at my new workplace in NZ (as if i would bring it along!). And the plate was engraved with their appreciation of my contribution over all these years.
Another gift i received was from the regional management - an expensive-looking key chain.
I might have some use of this gift, but anyone who knows me in person should know that i do not like red colour and i do not use anything in red colour.
Lastly is the gift from my 6 team members - a photo album and an iPad camera connector.
The camera connector is the most useful gift for me. As for the photo album, they have printed a few pictures of the memorable moments we had together over the years. Even though i do not have the habit of printing out my digital photos and place them in photo albums, this is a meaningful gift nonetheless.
I also asked them to write something at the back of the photo album as parting words, just like what we used to do when we were back in school days (not sure how many of you remember those corny verses we used to write for each other - "头可破，血可流，学业不可不追求"... *shudder*).
Well, i guess it is obvious that i will only be bringing one of these gifts with me to NZ and the rest will be left behind in JB.
Labels: work
