Where’s Alex?

Heard from KeyMed today, they invited me to a 2nd interview on January 5th. It is another step and the furthest I gotten since in my time here. I’d like to summarise it all because I’m grateful to God for his blessings and protection, but I’ll leave it till tomorrow. I want to visit my friend at the police station after the Immigration Office raid on Sunday. Hope all goes well.

It was almost 8 o’clock. I was waiting for ‘Top Gear’, a weekly automobile review show, to come on BBC2 but was replaced by the coverage of the Snooker UK Championship Finals where 18-year-old Ding JunHui of P.R. China beat veteran 48-year-old Steve Davis (in his 100th finals). A couple walked in the shop, ordering a Shredded Chicken Chow Mein, Egg Fried Rice, Mandarin Chicken and a bottle of Coke for take-away. After giving them the change for £11.40 (I think), they sat down reading old newspaper while the ‘cling’ and ‘clang’ sounds of the woks resounded over the ‘bbrrrrrr’ of the exhaust fan. 

Then 2 men and a woman walked in. Announcing that they had a warrant to search the premises, "Let us through [the counter]." It wasn’t until I read the badge on the jacket of one of the officers when I realised that some of us might be in trouble. "We have a search warrant, let us through."

I took 3 steps, popped in to the kitchen and said "Mr. Law, Immigration [Office] is here."

One of the officers let himself through. Mr. Law asked how he can help them, why we were targeted and not the other Chinese restaurants like Golden Palace or Four Seasons, or even the kebab shop opposite of us. Our Malaysian driver and Mrs. Law caused a little stir near the back door as more officers came in from the back. They were not allowed to deliver a large £43.10 order.

A clear sight of a pair handcuffs made me start praying for nothing bad to happen.

They ordered us to turn of the gas stoves, probably for fear that it might be used against them. Noticing our cooperative manner, they asked the startled, waiting couple if they’ve paid for their meal. "Finish up their order first." After closing the paper lids over the food in aluminum foil containers, "Excuse me, your meal?” And off they went. Officer flipped out our "Sorry, We’re Closed" sign and stuffed his foot to the door.

We were asked to sit on benches meant for our customers, some of us might have never sat on them before. Questioning began, "Are you legally allowed to stay in the UK? Paperwork or documents?" One of our cooks, a Chinese national who couldn’t speak a word of English, did not have any documentation. Told the boss in Mandarin with a heavy slang, that it got washed away. Mr. Law turned to the questioning officer and said "I don’t know how to explain to you." People from China usually enter the UK as asylum seekers. He then had his index finger print scanned, name and date of birth verified. A phone call confirmed he was okay. Don’t know how, but Chinese nationals are generally let off easier so the boss says.

The warrant, as I read later, was meant to look for the Malaysian driver suspected of being an illegal immigrant. He was applying for British Overseas Chinese (B.O.C., eligible for parents born in Penang or Malacca before 1963) Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR or permanent residence) status and although his passport was with the Home Office, he had letters from his lawyer to prove it. Another Malaysian cook was not so lucky.

He is one of the many Malaysians who join tours to the UK or Europe, abandon the group once they reach British soil, get a job in local Chinese businesses, and illegally stay on past the stipulated 6 months without visa. Some get through, some don’t. I had just heard from another that he came by ferry to Dover (south-east England) from Calais, France. Another 3 in the group were denied entry.

An officer went upstairs with him. Later, he came back down with his little trolley luggage and belongings in a shoe box. Mobile phone and wallet went into an evidence bag.

My turn to be questioned, I was the last. "Do you speak English?" Hmm…
Came out alright, had my passport and visa with me.

We were allowed to go back to business. "No orders on hand," the boss said. Officers flipped back the ‘Come In, We’re Open’ sign, wished us Merry Christmas and left. The boss ranted !@#$%&* in Cantonese. The delivery order had just left with Mrs. Law. I was still shaking, not sure whether it was from the immigration officers’ visit or the 4 to 5 Celsius temperatures outside. But I was so caught up with going back to normal that I forgot one thing.

All of us were cleared except for Ah Meng.

I’m kicking myself for not wishing him well before he left. I had just realised he was much more than just a ‘colleague’ at work. Having never even fried an egg before, he was the one who would cook my portion of ‘Nasi Goreng’ or ‘Mee Sup’ whenever it was ‘every chef for himself’. I try to treat them to Sainsbury’s Strawberry Trifle whenever I feel like returning a favour. Our age gap was the smallest compared to the others. He enjoyed watching movies at the Bluewater Shopping Centre, was probably going to watch either ‘King Kong’ or ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ tomorrow on his day off. Earlier today, I was just explaining to him a newspaper headline of why Malaysia banned The Epoch Times from circulation back home. He was the Fried Rice and Chow Mein guy in the kitchen, and had just prepared what is now his last Egg Fried Rice for the couple.

I’m kicking myself for not wishing him well before he left. All I can offer now is a prayer that he is in good hands. Not sure if there will be more questioning for him, but he might spend the night in prison and face deportation in the coming days. Missed my chance to share the Good News, forgot about my chance to explain what Christmas really means. This was the favour that I needed to return to a friend. Don’t feel like passing this responsibility to someone else.

"Tell the world that Jesus lives. Tell the world that He died for them. Tell the world that He lives again." - Look To You album from Hillsong United.

Just came back from another interview, this time with Expo Technologies for the Product Development Engineer role. Well, didn’t think I did too badly. Managed to answer most questions, although I needed hints for some of them. Working conditions are not as comfortable as those in KeyMed but the greater challenges that this position offers is enough to pull me to it. Hope to hear from them before Christmas. Until then, we’ll know by the end of this week if I’m on top of KeyMed’s shortlist for the Quality Engineer position.

Praise God, awesome is the Lord most high!

Click…

I got this far with KeyMed. Will know more by the end of next week. To read how I came to this point, click here.

Unfortunately, Filtronic has decided not to proceed with my application for Production Mechanical Engineer. I suppose God planned this for the best.

Well, the interview with KeyMed went well. Managed to sell a lot of my skills and experience to the 2 interviewers. Looks like a great place to work but the work itself might not be all that satisfying. Didn’t see a lot of young people so it has given me the impression that it’s a place where people grow old gracefully. Even the role that I suppose to take up, it’s from someone who is about to retire in about 6 months time. I’m the first from a second batch of shortlisted candidates after their first shortlist didn’t accept their offer. Will only know at the end of next week if I’d still be the only one in the shortlist. 

Also had a telephone interview this morning with Expo, the client of a recruitment firm I visited Monday. There was a lot of technical ‘grilling’ from the interviewer, asking about my ideas for their problems. Missed a few targets, but was also close enough to some of the others. This is a far more challenging role, so I hope I’m ready for it. He will interview me again next Tuesday (13/12) with another senior manager/director. Will see how it goes.

Still haven’t heard news from the first interview with Filtronic, but I’m moving along and keeping it at the back of my head. Just checked with the recruitment agency. It seems they haven’t heard anything too. Maybe Filtronic is trying to catch a ‘bigger fish’ and if they can find one, they might have to settle for this ’small fry’. He he…

I know what I’ll continue to do if all three offers don’t come, just keep looking. But what if all three offers are on the table? As my brother would write: Hmm…

I think I’m about to be scheduled for another interview, possibly on November 12th. I’m suppose to visit the recruitment agency in Central London on Monday to know more about the position and the company. This recruiter in optimistic because the operations manager of the hiring company (don’t know the company name yet) speaks Mandarin and has no problems with my working holiday visa as there could be some work for me to do back in Malaysia. Will let you know more on Wednesday after coming back from the KeyMed interview on Tuesday.

3 interviews in 4 weeks. Busy, busy, busy…
Praise God!