I’m going to talk a little bit about my friend, his time in Shell.

I have a mixed feeling standing in front of you here tonight. On the one hand, I am sad to see my friend go but I am glad he has gotten a very good deal as he leaves us. When I was informed of his position , it is clear that he has treated Abu Dhabi as an extension of the SEA Cluster. An example of cooperations across clusters !

Let me say that after you leave Shell, a number of things happen to you. Trust me, I know what happened after leaving Shell. Actually, another person here also knows what happened after leaving Shell. But that’s a subject for a different dinner.
First of all, you will get less emails from me, and that the first ten emails every morning won’t be from me. It’s dissappointing, really. For me, not for you. Are you sure ?

Secondly, the requests for help from others get less as well. No more plea for help on fixing a printer, or that. Though I am not sure if you’re going to be really dissappointed with that.

Despite the emails and requests, it has not been fun all the time in Shell. You will recall that he has recently been ill, along with others . I bought all of them books to read. Two days later, he resigned. I hope the books won’t have the same impact on them.

Colleagues have a tendency to become friends. There’s an inescapable bond that binds together all who have worked in S&D Indonesia. Though we hail from different backgrounds , we are singularly unique.
His qualities will serve him well in accomplishing the goals awaiting for him in the deserts of Arabia. Of course there will be challenges there. But he knows a little thing or two about them. As a planning manager and later as a C&N team lead, he brought wisdom and determination to bear on the issues that he addressed. He is a leader who motivated other people to go beyond what they thought were their own limits to join him in accomplishing great goals.

Everytime he got knocked down, he got right back up. And therein lies the greatest lesson offered for all of us in S&D. Never give up, never give in, keep on fighting.

So , tonight we thank you for your friendship and your contributions to Shell and S&D specifically. We wish you farewell, congratulations on your next role and all the best.