PAki rEpOSt LaNg sA mga cAlL CeNtEr AgEnTs nA MAgSeAseAman..........
For more info , come and visit my blog memoirsofafilipinosailor.blogspot.com
Right !! since I don't have enough much time to write and I'm pretty much busy getting all the equipment I needed by now. I would just like to inform (and share) to the general public what three simple important rules that a sailor would be dealing at. Hope this will be important and that 8 to 9 months of contract can be hell if you don't remember this simple rules.
Some rules here are not socially acceptable but here onboard it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Nevertheless I will not be responsible if your going to use these pointers on land and received a lot of complains from neighbors about it.
1. Never trust a fellow Filipino sailor especially folks that have an ethnic origin in the "down south" if you know what I mean. Sure you might be comfortable trusting your own countrymen but chances are you don't have any idea on what horror are they capable of, and from my experience do not tell any personal sensitive information about yourself which included previous jobs you had before being a sailor, girl friends or even your family back ground to some extent - Believe me they can and will use it against you. Never tell (and share) any useful equipment that you have like medicines , food , etc that might help you in the long run. Racism and distrust is a badword on land , but here in the ship , IT'S A SOCIAL NORM. If its impossible to follow this said rule , try opting to tell half truths or lie for protection and defense. If you really want to go to the "extra mile" - be sinister , manipulative, cunning , intimidation , coercive etc use all the dirty tactics you can throw at. If you can't get your way, then learn to force your opinion down their throat (with a 10 inch BOSUN knife if necessary). Words are nice, but you don't have a whole lot of time, and it might be easier to be the bad guy occasionally to get what you want . A little badness every now and then wont hurt you too much.
2. Bring all the equipment necessary needed on your work, preferably any equipment that is used similar to a land based construction job. To give you a general idea , bring some pliers', screw driver's , pencil, measuring tape, card box cutters, pen lights, an extra hard hat (with earmuffs) , extra coverall, etc all the equipment you'd need during the course of your 8 to 9 month long stay. To simply put it and give you a better view about the situation , just think all the equipment you'd need to bring when your going to be stuck on an island, think of that scenario and you'd have the clearest idea what I'm telling
Here are the different types of equipment you should bring.
Bladed Weapons (things that hurt people)
Containers (things that hold other things to hurt people)
Clothes and gear (Things that help people not get hurt)
Medicines (things that you take)
Tools (Things that do other stuff)
3. Always Maintain Secrecy and Security. Sure being Transparent and sincere is nice , but remember chances are this isn't a land based job and mostly Filipino's (or even other people) are not that sincere and honest as what you may have earlier thought. Keep in mind that you're here on the ship to work and not on a vacation leave - were not here for world peace either, and it doesn't matter on how you do your job as long as it gets done. As much as possible try to isolate yourself from the rest and do some surveillance on the people around on how they behave and tick, keep your cabins lock always , password protect your computer etc, any thing (or any information ) that might be potentially used against you. To be prudent its best that they don't have anything against you but you a lot to use against them, In case (or at some point) diplomacy and stealth fails, use the information you have against them, throw everything but the cabin sink. Do character assassinations and character demolition jobs by spreading this information via gossips, as an added effect also on personal protection bring bladed objects with you and never go outside your cabin without any bladed weapon with you, You can forget wearing underwear but never ever forget a blade under your shorts
To combat depression from prolonged isolation please bring any multi-media equipement with you , Computers , tablets, Mp3 players , cellphone , speaker etc . even a pen and a notebook to (a diary) will be neccessary in the long run.
