JCC E-Magazine December 2017

Featured Article of the Month

By Ms Peh Yan Ting, from SMRT Corporation Ltd

I was fortunate to be selected as one of the 14 delegates to join Singapore 2nd Batch of JENESYS 2017 Inbound Programme that focused on the theme of Railway Industry. Although this was not my first time visiting Japan, this was my first exchange in Japan. Needless to say, the experience and insights I gained from JENESYS 2017 was absolutely new and amazing.

What made the programme even more meaningful and valuable to all of us were the rare opportunities to visit highly restricted places such as Shin-Yokohama railway construction office and Sendai General Rolling Stock Centre of Shinkansen. These are places where tourists or even locals may not have the chance to visit. So I was very excited and looked forward to discover the other side of Japan where I have not seen before when I was in Japan!

The itinerary of JENESYS 2017 was well thought out and planned which included many railway related places, sharings and activities to make the programme relevant and meaningful to us (railway workers). Other than that, we were also brought to cultural sites and historical landmarks to understand more about the deep rooted Japanese Culture.

Group photo of all delegates at Sendai General Rolling Stock Centre.

It was an eye opening experience to visit Sendai General Rolling Stock Centre of Shinkansen where we toured around the maintenance pit to take a peek into the works done behind-the-scene by various train departments. What caught my eyes was the interesting and new PR corner at the Centre that is opened to the public. This is definitely something refreshing and fun that Singapore can learn from and explore into opening up part of the restricted zone in the depot to educate public more on railway works. I saw many ‘kawaii’ Japanese kids having a great time playing at the PR corner!

Another highlight of the trip was the observation of the Shin-Yokohama construction site. Initially, all the delegates thought that we were only visiting the construction office to hear and understand more from the team on how they execute their projects. It was only until bags of personal protective equipment and safety shoes were distributed to us and we realised that we were heading down to the tunnel for an on-site observation. It was definitely a pleasant surprise as this would mark my first time entering an underground tunnel and the experience was a “scary” yet remarkable one.

SMRT delegates at Shin-Yokohama Construction Site.

Most importantly, what made Japan most memorable was the people whom I met. Be it a Business Director from a multinational corporation, volunteer at a museum to the cleaners on the street, all of them exhibited a strong spirit of pride, passion and professionalism in every jobs they do. I believe this is what made Japan so charming and attractive!

To cap off the trip, JENESYS 2017 ended with a dinner where all delegates cheered and bid goodbye to our dedicated coordinators who ensured that everything went smoothly. We promise to be back in Japan again for another amazing trip.

About the Author

Ms Peh Yan Ting joined the JENESYS 2017 programme from 9 – 17 October 2017. She is currently working at SMRT Corporation in the Corporate Communications Department, as a Senior Executive, New Media.

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