How Do We Identify Ourselves? (Part 4)

Thursday, 1st October 2026

PART 4: FROM EXTERNAL TO INTERNAL

In my previous post, I blogged about the period of time when I worked under a great boss.

Now let me move on to the time when I had the most wonderful of colleagues.

(6) Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (Jan 2005 to Feb 2008)

On 2 January 2005, I joined a German semiconductor company called Infineon Technologies on a one-year contract.  My salary was actually paid not by Infineon but via Recruit Express, a recruitment and placement agency.

My primary role as a Manager was to assist my boss with the documentation of processes, which was part of SOX-compliance requirements.  (Back then, Infineon was listed on NYSE and thus subjected to SOX audit).

I was to go around the office to interview various Finance colleagues on how they carried out their day-to-day work (fixed assets, accounts payable, general ledger, period-end closing, etc), document the work via flow charts and supporting narrations, identify and highlight what the key controls at each stage were, put everything together in a draft Word document, and then send the draft over to my boss for her review and refinements.

After several iterations, the finalised version would then be sent to the centralised SOX team to be "published" in PDF format, to be in time for KPMG, the external auditors, to look at and test as part of their SOX audit.

The above was thus supposed to be a one-off "project" and that was how my boss managed to get the approval of her boss, the CFO, for a 1-year contract headcount.  The email address given to me was malcolm.loh.external@infineon.com.  That "external" suffix was what IT used to distinguish internal employee headcount from those that were hired on a contractual basis.

But God, of course, had higher and greater plans for me.  The Head of Shared Accounting Services resigned some time in March 2005 after less than 6 months in the role.  The one before her had also resigned within a year of joining.  My boss had to find a replacement and it would take considerable time to recruit from outside the organisation.

I was called into the CFO's office and the vacancy was offered to me.  I recall the CFO telling me that it was a "hot seat" and to take some time to consider, afraid that I too would quit soon after.

Well, I did not need any form of hesitation.  My answer was an immediate "yes, thank you so very much!"  Not only was this a permanent position, it was a promotion, from Manager to Senior Manager.  The paycut I had taken when I left Tricor was not just restored, but much more -- there was even an increment to boot.  It was truly a miracle that only God could perform! Hallelujah!

And so on 15 April 2005, I moved from being an external of the organisation to an internal of it.  My email address was shortened to just malcolm.loh@infineon.com :-)

It was a win for Infineon too.  Their 1-year contractual arrangement with Recruit Express was shortened to just 3½ months, they found a stable replacement to sit in that "hot seat" for a good 3 years, paid the same amount to me as they did my predecessor, but with the additional bonus of me continuing with the SOX documentation I was initially hired to do.

I came across my Infineon name card while doing the recent decluttering, and I cannot but remember with gratitude how God orchestrated everything behind the scenes.

Truth be told, my wife and I had been praying in agreement together in the car on the way to work (something that we still do till this very day), calling for things that were not as though they were, that I had a good-paying, stable, permanent job and it came to pass in just 3 months.

It was also in Infineon that I was first introduced to the grace gospel by a colleague, Victor Poh, who attends New Creation Church, and would leave Ps Prince's CD sermons in the common pantry for anyone to borrow.   A shout-out to you, Victor!  Continue to be a vessel for His glory!

You can read more about that testimony here:

My Journey of Grace Through Faith

Ok, back to the point about having the best colleagues.  I had initially joined as a standalone staff and had to interact with colleagues from asset accounting, accounts payable, general ledger, etc.  After I took on the permanent job as Head of Shared Accounting Services, many of these "colleagues" became my "staff", but I treated them more like peers, and requested them to treat me likewise.

Our office was located in Kallang, parking was free for staff, so a good number of us drove to work.  I had upgraded from a Mitsubishi Lancer to a 7-seater Mitsubishi Grandis, so we would all go out to lunch together to nearby McPherson or Toa Payoh.  One time, we even travelled all the way to Changi Airport! Those were good times indeed :-)

The previous post was about a great boss.  This one is about wonderful colleagues. The next one will be about reliable and dependable staff, so stay tuned!