I nearly became a Taxi Driver

Friday, 2nd March 2007

In another blog entry, I mentioned about how I discovered it is Satan who is the one who takes away, but it is God who gives.

This truth was reinforced to me in the following testimony to His glory...

As recent as 4 years ago, my life was in chaos.

Sock Pin and I had met each other as university classmates and got married in 1992 after courting for 3 years. We decided to wait a couple of years before having children. In mid-1995, after more than a year of trying without success, we went to consult a specialist, who informed us that we had to "get the timing right". After one particular visit in Jul 1995, we were told to "try over the next few days", and lo and behold, Sock Pin conceived and Rachel was born on 17 Mar 1996.

The first time around, we were not so particular, so we prayed for a child. The second time around, we became more bold so we prayed specifically for a boy. In Dec 1996, Sock Pin conceived again. I remember telling my dad about it, and he said "Huh? So soon!" Mark was born on 18 Sep 1997, and we were overjoyed. Sock Pin's labour was more than 10 hours for Rachel and she had to stay one more day because of mild jaundice. On the other hand, Mark only took 2 hours to be delivered, and he was discharged the very next day. Everything seemed so perfect...

Satan Attacked My Family

... until one month later in Oct 1997. We observed that Mark had difficulty breathing, so we brought him to see the paediatrician. He was warded for observation, and the blood tests revealed that he had a pair of small kidneys which function was deteriorating. As his kidneys could not clear waste matter timely enough, acids were building up in his blood system (what the doctors termed as “acidosis”), and the physical symptoms we observed of him breathing heavily was his body’s way of taking in more oxygen to reduce the acidosis. Mark had to take more than 10 different types of medication to supplement his kidney function. His kidneys finally stopped functioning in Sep 2000, and he went for an operation to start dialysis on 18 Sep 2000, his third birthday.

Needless to say, I was very angry with God. We had prayed for a son, and this was how He answered us? By giving us one with a kidney defect? I started withdrawing from God and from church, and became a mere pew-warmer. Word had gotten around the church about my son's condition, and I was under the impression that everyone was gossiping about us behind our backs. I started focusing more energy into my career. In Mar 2000, I rejoined PricewaterhouseCoopers (I was in audit from 1991 to 1994, and returned to do accounting and payroll outsourcing). My then-boss put me in charge of a major million-dollar project involving the migration of CLOB shares from Singapore to Malaysia. That gave me lots of visibility in the office. In Nov 2002, I was put in charge of another major million-dollar project involving the sale of PricewaterhouseCoopers' consulting arm to IBM. He even allowed me to handpick my project team members.

Satan Attacked My Marriage

Work soon became a form of escapism from my family responsibilities. I stayed back late to work on weekdays, and went back to the office on weekends. I was neglecting my wife and kids. This started to take a toll on my marriage, to the extent that we started quarrelling frequently over the most trivial of matters. We even mentioned the word "divorce" several times. Things got so bad that my parents asked us to see Rev Wee Boon Hup and his wife for counseling some time in Dec 2002/Jan 2003.

It was then that we signed up for a 14-week course called "Married for Life", developed by a US couple who themselves were on the brink of divorce when God intervened. This course teaches the biblical foundation of what a marriage should be, and topics include one-flesh, the marriage covenant, the power of praying together, spiritual warfare, intimacy, etc.

It was during this course that we realized that spiritual warfare is real for the Christian, and that it was Satan who is the thief who comes to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). I discovered that it was not God who inflicted my son with his kidney condition, but the evil one. Satan first attacked my family, and then my marriage. And he was not giving up -- he now wanted my career...

Satan Attacked My Career

The project I was put in charge of started to go awry. On one occasion in Apr 2003, my then-boss called me up on the phone when I was driving to the client's place in Ngee Ann City and scolded me over for a good 20 minutes. Sometime in Aug 2003, he told me that I had to see him every day first thing in the morning to give him a status update of the project. I began to dread going to work each day. He would shout at me in his office on a regular basis to the extent that *not* getting scolded would be the exception rather than the norm. His secretary (the one we invited to the outreach event) took me aside one day and told me that for my sanity's sake, I should start look elsewhere for a job. I told her that I had been doing so ever since Sep 2003, and had sent out more than 300 applications, but without success. Things became so desperate that I even considered applying for a license to become a taxi driver.

God Restored My Marriage, Family and Career

Looking back, I am thankful that the “Married for Life” marriage-enrichment course taught Sock Pin and I the importance of a husband and wife praying together in agreement. We committed my career in prayer to the Lord. We joined 3L2 in Jul 2004, after completing the marriage-enrichment course and a related course on parenting called "Parents for Life". Sometime in Oct 2004, I got a phone call from a recruitment agency asking me to go for an interview at Infineon Technologies. I was interviewed by a Christian lady (who is now my boss). Although I was not considered suitable for the post that was available, she offered me another job which involved documenting processes. This was on a 1-year contract basis, and at a reduced salary. After discussing with Sock Pin, we took a step of faith in accepting the job, and I left PwC to start work in Infineon in Jan 2005.

Every morning on the way to work, we would pray in agreement in “calling for things that are not as though they are” (Rom 4:17) for my career, and for the healing for our son. On 8 Mar 2005, my boss called me into her room. She informed me that the Head of Shared Accounting had just tendered her resignation, and asked whether I was interested in the position! I could not believe my ears! It was like I was living in a dream. I told her that I would be honoured, and the paperwork was submitted to head office for approval. On 15 Apr 2005, I became a permanent employee of Infineon Technologies, and God also restored the paycut that I suffered.
Since then, God has continued to bless us. He taught us the principle of sowing and reaping, and how tithing to Him opens up the floodgates of heaven! In Oct 2006, I received a very good pay increment, and on 22 Dec 2006 (the day of 3L2’s 12-hour extravaganza) received the biggest bonus I have ever had in my entire career! This is not because I am a fantastic employee, but because He is a gracious and loving God! Why do I say that? Read on.

As managers, we are given a list of objectives to meet each year (what is termed as MBO or Management By Objectives), which translates into the quantum of variable bonuses we will receive. One of the components in my MBO is known as SUAD or Summary of Unadjusted Audit Differences. The auditors keep a list of SUADs, which are potential audit adjustments. At the end of the audit, they will assess whether these adjustments are material enough to be passed. Depending on the magnitude of these potential adjustments, our variable bonus would be affected accordingly.

For this year, there was a potential debit adjustment of xxxK Euros, and another potential credit adjustment of xxxK Euro, meaning that on a net basis it was only xxK Euros! As a result, we got the maximum amount of bonus for that MBO component! That alone made up 30% of my bonus.

Another MBO component is training hours. Sometime in Aug 2006, my boss had asked me if she could take over a training session from me because she did not meet her minimum hours. As I had already clocked up enough training hours to get an average rating for that component, I agreed. God must have been pleased with this because when it came the time to account for the total training hours, I discovered that HR had credited me with another 16 hours of training (as a result of my performing some Sarbanes-Oxley related work). As a result, I got the *maximum* amount of bonus for that MBO component too (which made up 10% of my bonus)

So looking back over the past 4 years, the Lord has really been so awesome! He has been faithful and true, and did not allow the evil one to destroy that which is He considers precious to Him. He has restored my family, my marriage and my career!

Praise be to God! Glory be to His name!

Shalom
Malcolm