Checkup

I finally received my letter of employment for my next job: Laboratory Assistant!

I'm so going to enjoy this job! Can you imagine... dealing with centrifuges and autoclaves, DNA-fingerprinting and cell mass extraction, colorimeters and gel-electrophoresis, spectronometers and cuvettes... gosh...

But the pay is rather low. Sigh.

Anyway, as they say, better the fulfillment and happiness than the money and unhappiness haha.

The only problem now is that I don't have EPF or SOCSO accounts. My new employer has requested for the account numbers but I was unable to give them to her, so I called up my former Cafe Manager to ask for it. To my surprise, I found out that I didn't have both the accounts! My previous employer should have opened the accounts for me because under the law, any company hiring workers is required to create an account for their employees within seven days of employment. I took this from the EPF website online:

Seksyen 43(2)
Kesalahan: Mana-mana majikan yang gagal membayar caruman kepada Lembaga KWSP caruman bagi pihak mana-mana pekerja pada atau sebelum 15 haribulan bulan berkenaan adalah melakukan kesalahan dan jika sabit kesalahannya boleh dipenjarakan tidak melebihi tiga tahun atau denda tidak melebihi RM10,000 atau kedua-duanya sekali

Seksyen 48(3)
Kesalahan: Mana-mana majikan yang memotong caruman pekerja daripada upah pekerja dan gagal membayar jumlah wang yang dipotong itu atau mana-mana bahagiannya kepada Lembaga Kumpulan Wang adalah melakukan kesalahan dan jika sabit kesalahannya boleh dipenjarakan tidak melebihi enam tahun atau denda tidak melebihi RM20,000 atau kedua-duanya.

So, the company will be liable for prosecution. I have to bring this up with the HQ tomorrow and fight this case. They have deducted money from my salary for EPF and SOCSO contributions but I do not have an EPF account, hence, they are liable for both these penalties.

If they have deducted money from my salary but I didn't have an account, means the cash is still floating within the company. They should have opened the account for me and given me my account book but until today, even two weeks after I ceased employment with my previous employer, I have yet to receive any of these documents.

Can you believe what my former Cafe Manager told me? She said that I should go to the EPF and SOCSO offices and open the account myself. And when I have the account numbers, submit them to her so that she can forward it to the HQ and the monies be deposited accordingly. Who does she think I am?? An office boy running around to do errands??

I may be young but I'm not that silly. I will get them to open it for me. It’s their responsibility.

Tomorrow, the HQ of my previous company will be facing the full wrath of Jer. I will get to the bottom of this and make sure whoever's responsible for this matter pays for it.

Back to today. My employer requires me to undergo a full medical checkup before I am "officially" employed. Of course, it is more of a protocol than a safety measure.

The medical checkup was fully paid for and I only needed to submit a letter given to me by the HR department. First, the nurse told me to stand on a weighing machine to record my weight and after that my height. I discovered that I am only 175.5cm! Gosh! And of course, I weigh 65kg.

Now I have to update all my profiles and tell everyone that my previous measurement of 180cm was incorrect. Haih. I thought so much that I was tall.. but now...

Imagine, I have to change my passport also! It states that I am 182cm! Gosh. What happened to the measurement then!

Then she proceeded to check my eyes with the most obscure way imaginable. The nurse asked me to stand across a room full of patients waiting to see the doctor, and read aloud a few small letters on the wall opposite. I was so embarrassed! Gosh. I felt like a primary school kid being forced to do math in front of the class!

But the next part was the most humiliating. Again, in front of ALL the people in the waiting area, she handed me this little obscure container with a yellow cap and told me in a very loud voice that I was to pee inside this container and fill it up until just above a mark on the container for my urine sample. Imagine all the stares I got from the other patients as I quietly and obediently made my way to the toilet holding the container in my hands....

I was wondering whether I could come up with a urine sample, citing the fact that I hadn't drank much water earlier today... but I gave it a push and eventually I got what I wanted...

Walking out of the toilet was equally embarrassing... I think I was blushing as I made my way across the ward and placed the container onto a desk. Of course, there's nothing to be ashamed of a urine sample, but then again, after being "told" in the way that the nurse had instructed me... I felt well... embarrassed.

Then I went to get a chest X ray. Gosh. Must have killed many innocent cells. I think I'll die of cancer one day. I’ve had to take so many X-rays ever since I had my first motorcycle accident two years back.

The doctor then questioned me about my family's medical history and the other usual questions such as whether I was allergic to any type of drug and my eating/drinking habits. The full body examination turned out to be just a top-body examination. All the doctor did was just place the stethoscope on my chest and back, asking me to breathe, as well as pressing areas of my tummy and asking if I felt painful.

I've never had a medical examination before, this being my first. All I can say is that it was truly a funny (and embarrassing) experience. The part where I was supposed to strip down to nothing didn't happen heheh

Other than that, life's pretty good. I managed to get the offer letters and the undergraduate package to University of Melbourne today, from IDP. Was so dazzled reading it that now I really hope that I get to go to Australia. Then again, I'm trying my best not to hinge all my hopes on Mahathir so as to protect myself from getting depressed should the offer not come through.

Anyway, tomorrow's a new day. Wonder what interesting things I will learn tomorrow :)