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Bon Journal

A generous beginning

Nearly three months after accepting the dream job, she began working on the trading floor. Her colleagues were all young, beautiful, and well-educated. Their diverse accents gave clues to where they came from: different parts of the British isles, the US, and the European continent.

There were only 200 people at that time. And every Monday, everyone was invited to attend the weekly briefing.

Although she didn't understand the complex derivatives, the regulatory terms, and other jargon, she was sure that by the time she got back from the US she would know enough to do her job. She shrugged off the feelings of intimidation, that is, of working with such brilliant people and in such complexity. She was very lucky to be here, she told herself.

Unfortunately, her work visa got delayed because the US government ran out of money to pay its staff. [How could this be, she thought.]

When she finally got the clearance, she was told to fly to Singapore to get her work visa. Since no one knew how long she would have to stay in Singapore to get her visa or whether they had a Singapore office there, she asked her friends in Singapore where she should stay. The trading floor assistant then purchased a business-class open ticket from London to Singapore, San Francisco, Houston and booked her into the new Intercontinental at Bugis Street for a week. She packed her belongings and sent them by a courier to the US.

The company was as generous and bound for even greater success as she had expected.

It was the beginning of a new journey.

5 December 2001 Wednesday

part one
Dream job come true

part two
A generous beginning

part three
Witness to departures

part four
Make the deal, restructure later

part five
Mark your salary to the market

part six
First mover advantage

part seven
Believe in the dream

part eight
Intelligence over wisdom

part nine
Into the lioness' den

part ten
Options translated

part eleven
Forward learning curve

part twelve
Land of the big egos

part thirteen
Click with the clique

part fourteen
Endron