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_posts/2015-01-16-2014-and-then-2015.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: 2014, and then, 2015.
+description: Recapping 2014 and moving onto 2015.
+category: articles
+tags: [carousell, singapore, software, engineering, life, family, work]
+image:
+  feature: teamphoto.jpg
+---
+
+2014, and then, 2015.
+
+It seems like my blog has been left in the dust after my previous post in May,
+so now seemed like a good time to update it and recap how 2014 was for me in
+terms of work and life.
+
+## Work
+
+The biggest change in my life for 2014 was probably the fact that I have
+started working full-time as a Software Engineer at Carousell (I have been
+working with the team since 2013, but only on a part-time basis). All the
+horror stories you have heard about software engineering came true - scaling
+woes, bugs ahoy, late night server maintenance and many more. Yet all these
+pain were counteracted when working with the amazing team at Carousell.
+
+![Company Photo](https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/t31.0-8/1890504_10154864703655151_4890744198562458929_o.jpg)
+
+Carousell feels is like a melting pot of people from different backgrounds.
+People might even mistake us as a School Orientation Group when we go out for
+company outings! And it is incredible because you normally would not get a
+chance to work with people like the following:
+
+- A Lead Community Manager who is a lawyer by training
+- Software Engineers trained in Business and Real Estate (?!)
+
+And this is why I feel that startups are different from working in a big
+corporation: people, however different from you, are all working together
+towards a common goal. The team has definitely grown bigger now, and now I
+cannot imagine how the company would be without everyone in the team. It is
+funny  because just one year ago, there were only five full time staff
+(including the three co-founders)!
+
+I always feel that software engineering should not be about blindly following a
+set of gathered specifications / requirements but rather a means to solve a
+problem as a team effort, and working at Carousell certainly gave me a chance
+to do just that. Problems are identified and we tackle them iteratively,
+sometimes taking a step back (or two) before we finally arrive at a solution
+that we think can solve the problem. This may involve talking to users,
+understanding user woes from our community and support team. All these
+interactions help remind me that problems cannot be solved by technical
+solutions alone.
+
+![Engineering team](http://photos-e.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xfa1/t51.2885-15/10852787_309100565951228_748514379_n.jpg)
+
+Our community and support team work vigilantly to keep our users happy, and we
+on the engineering side do the same. There are many more we can do as engineers
+to keep our users happy (server uptime, application response time, etc.) and
+2015 will be our playground to do even better.
+
+Here is a list of everyone that I have worked with up until today in Carousell
+(in alphabetical order). Every one of them have taught me many important things
+as part of the Carousell family: Ariel, Ayu, Bryan, Carinn, Camille, Chuan
+Yeong, Efrata, Felicia, Felix, Hui Yi, Jamie, Jenell, Jessica, JiaJun, Jing
+Zhi, Joyce Chen, Joyce Lim, Jurvis, Leslie, Lucas, Marcus, Michelle, Monette,
+Olivia, Quek, Reshma, Rum Raisin, Shawn, Sherry, Tara, Yuhsuan.
+
+Not forgetting my amazing ex-interns: Debra and U San! Thanks for the amazing
+Teacher’s Day present too.
+
+Sometimes I complain that the team is getting noisier in office (some members
+in particular get it more from me). But I have never said it was a bad thing :)
+
+## Family
+
+I am very blessed to have a supportive wife, who has to deal with a husband
+working on weekends when we were facing scaling challenges. Thanks for
+accompanying me for the past 10 years of our lives, and I hope you wouldn’t
+mind my forgetfulness!
+
+![Wife](https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10402393_10154703641095151_2406746139345890039_n.jpg?oh=0f755c55e70f629acf0d073f54d018ce&oe=5564404B&__gda__=1429711646_eed6e3fa34f7a24c2ada1e644556e1f2)
+
+I feed you as many bowls of noodles you need as long as you keep smiling.