Time in Winnipeg
journal
profile
tagboard
affiliates
archives
Thursday, November 6
3 november - the royal canadian mint's centennial 1:18 AMThe Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) is one of the world's most well-renowned. Apart from producing all of Canada's circulation coins, it also designs/manufactures collector coins, customized medals and tokens, high-end watches and jewellery, and even circulation coins for some 60 other countries around the world. (In fact, Singapore's 1¢ and 10¢ coins used to be minted here too!)
RCM's Winnipeg plant is the pride of the city, and in fact one of its best-known tourist destinations too. The mint marked its 100th anniversary on Monday, and a function was organized specially for its investors and employees to acknowledge their contributions and celebrate the facility's successes to date. Employees were encouraged to bring their families along, and since Judy's dad holds a rather prominent position at RCM, Js and I were fortunate to be "adopted" by him to be part of this unique and significant event.
It was all impressive, really. The mint has always been at the forefront of currency innovation - the most recent/significant among these being the world's first coloured circulation coin, the 2004 Remembrance Day quarter which featured a red poppy on its reverse. And for my pioneer visit, just listening to the VIPs' keynote addresses and speeches - even I as a tourist was touched by and proud of the mint's achievements. It was heartwarming too, to know how much the organization values its human capital. And really, Winnipeggers - actually Canadians in general - certainly take utmost pride in the RCM.
Highlight of the day - we had a go at striking our own coins! (Ok la, it was a mere push of a button really, but hey, I struck and manufactured the coin k! Haha.) We each had the opportunity to make a shiny 2008 nickel (5¢) - it's REAL money and can be used, not just a bogus momento! But yep, we also struck "fake" souvenir coins with the event name and date imprinted, just for keepsake purposes. :)
Left: Here's where I struck my own coin!
Right: This gold bar's really heavy, it even has a warning to say attempting to lift the load may involve risk of injury..! See the gold rays reflecting off my face too! Haha.
A super cool machine - it measures your weight in whatever "dimensions" you want - gold, platinum, and even different coin denominations (hence weight = no. of coins * value of each coin) - I'm worth so much more money than Js! (Of course it's both a good and bad thing la, if you know what I mean. HAHA.)
Having a feel of the different coin materials - aluminium, wood, gold, platinum.
Hmm.. I think their gold-coin chocs are much tastier than the Chinatown ones for CNY lor, haha. Cake's really good too!
Investors and employees based overseas flew into Winnipeg from all over the world just to celebrate this momentous occasion. Oh and the buffet spread was good too, heh.
For me, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have visited the premises and witnessed the coin-making process from scratch (metal) to end-product. No, it's not just because I've flown here from halfway across the globe, but that under normal conditions, even local non-employees are never allowed access into the facility's high-security areas. Yet on this very special day, the site was open to members of the public, exempt from the usual scrutiny and security checks! So we took an informative guided tour (by Judy and her dad) around the entire facility; I must say it felt very much like an applied BP lesson, where things like process layout, cycle time, number of defects in a million etc. popped up, haha. Oh, and given the "harsh and adverse" work conditions (extreme heat, and sometimes dangerous due to highly-flammable materials), I even applied HR com and ben theories to estimate employees' salaries leh. Haha.. it's something noteworthy too, cos I did meet a few of Judy's dad's friends, who were able HR-industry professionals and activists who'd initiated many movements for appropriate workers' compensation over the years..! A really eventful and unique evening indeed :)
-$$$-
Profile
Reach me!
Wini’s pfingo number: 31501405
Call me at only local (Singapore) phone charges when I’m online!
Mail me!
Winifred Lim
Arthur V Mauro Residence, Box 436B
120 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, MB R3T 6B3
Canada
About me
You are an enthusiastic innovator, always seeing new possibilities and new ways of doing things. You have a lot of imagination and initiative for starting projects, and a lot of impulsive energy for carrying them out. You are stimulated by difficulties and are most ingenious in solving them. You can get so interested in your newest project that you have time for little else. Your energy comes from a succession of new enthusiasms and your world is full of possible projects. Your enthusiasm gets other people interested too.
Your feeling preference shows in a concern for people. You are skillful in handling people and often have remarkable insight into the possibilities and development of others. You are extremely perceptive about the attitudes of others, aiming to understand rather than judge people. You are much drawn to counseling and can be inspired and inspiring teacher, particularly where you have freedom to innovate. With talent, you can succeed in almost any field that captures your interest.
A difficulty for you is that you hate uninspired routine and find it remarkably hard to apply yourself to sometimes necessary detail unconnected with any major interest. Worse yet, you may get bored with your own projects as soon as the major problems have been solved or the initial challenge has been met. You may need to learn to follow through and finish what you have begun, but are happiest and most effective in jobs that permit one project after another, with somebody else taking over as soon as the situation is well in hand.
Hearsay? Say here.