Page 52 - Fireflyz#16

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50 | FireFlyz
Impromptu
B
efore
the 1970s, both
Malaysia Airlines and
Singapore Airlines were
one company called
Malaysia Singapore
Airlines (MSA). Right
after completing her
Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (Malaysian High
School certificate), Shirley accepted a job
offer with MSA as a flight stewardess.
After the company split in 1972, she
joined Malaysia Airlines (MAS), and after
10 years of flying as a leading stewardess,
she quit flying and took on the role of a
ground hostess instead. She worked her
way up the ladder with a mix of hard
work, smart choices and experience and
eventually found herself becoming a Duty
Manager in 2007, effectively giving her 37
years of experience up to 2008.
As an Acting Station Manager at
Subang Airport, Shirley literally interacts
daily with people of different walks of life.
Aside from liaising with heads of depart-
ments, subordinate staff duty managers
and various ground operations officers,
Shirley’s role is further enhanced by her
interaction with vendors and suppliers,
not to mention passengers and service
staff of other airlines and retail outlets.
As a StationManager, the responsibility
falls heavily on Shirley’s shoulders to en-
sure that every single aspect of regulatory
requirements are met and complied with
... even things like the adequacy of staffing
where she ensures that the station has
sufficient manpower to handle operations.
The organisation chart you see in
the Subang office? Yes! that’s Shirley’s
responsibility, and it’s not just on the wall
for show, as it is a requirement for audits
and inspections.
Aside from overseeing major aspects
of day-to-day operations, Shirley is also
responsible for ensuring that staff have
adequate training in order to perform their
duties and responsibilities, such as ensur-
ing that all necessary staff have attended
the basic First Aid Awareness course.
Of course, all that 40-odd years of
experience is not for naught, as Shirley
has been trained for this very demanding,
multi-tasking position. Her stint as a duty
manager prepared her for bigger and
Station Manager and
Grandmother Extraordinaire
FireflyActingStationManagerShirleyTeohLianSim isaveteranof theairline industry. In
this issue, she tells our correspondent
Jamilah Lim
about her experience in the industry
and a little of everything else.