Growing up has never been so much fun as it’s been with Alien Logistics, from the celebrations in the first year with the Alien family & friends; to the time when Aliens descended upon Osaka in a bid to locate what the locals called the “fire in the sky” in our second year!

The past year has seen us amass a wealth of new knowledge about the industry, new trustworthy partners in more countries around the world, and a new sense of belonging to this world we live in. Some of the fondest moments include meeting travellers who collect memories and build friendships across the world, working together with multiple customer offices to plan and set up a robotic factory process, and walking a customer through their foray into warehousing and reverse logistics. 


Oh yes, and the participation in Asia’s first ever Viper Challenge event!

One thing which had always been on Gavin’s mind was how to give back to the community which supported us – while there were a lot of worthy causes out there, we wanted to be able to support a cause which was sustainable and aligned with our core business, vision and values. A friend of mine was involved in a project to bring light and a brighter future to Orang Asli (aboriginal) children in places where electricity was not available, and needed some help with the logistics of bringing the bulbs in, storing them and then distributing the bulbs to the volunteers. 

The “Project Light a Home” team’s heart was set on helping the children and womenfolk gain a better life through education and forms of income supplementation. At night, in the traditional aboriginal houses which are off the grid, the children are unable to do their homework due to the lack of lighting. For those houses which run on generators, it costs them USD 3 a day to run the generator for 6 hours. When these households earn between USD 6-10 a day, running the generator so that their children can do their homework would seem to take up too much of the living cost for something which the parents may not seem too keen on, preferring their children to live off the land, than get an education in the hope of bettering their livelihood. So, the downward spiral of no homework done and the inability to study for exams, leading to poor results and then the dropping out of school begins. With the donated Nokero solar light bulbs, the Orang Asli then have free light which enables not just the children to study, but the womenfolk to make handicraft which is sold through the Gerai OA and their household income improves while the children have the hope of a brighter future with a fair chance at education.

So, what does the new year bring for us, in terms of giving back to the community? For sure, it would be something which would be in line with our core business, and with a greater impact on the society than just a single meal or just one day of fun. All ideas on “Logistics with a heart” are welcome!

Watching action movies has always been a good way to inspire me to get started on that workout I had always been meaning to get started on “tomorrow” – the slew of beautiful bodies & sweaty abs pretty much make me
think I can do more than my 12 push ups and 10 sit ups. In a week.


However, after getting into logistics, movies have taken on a whole new wonderment to them. I don’t see trucks on screen anymore; they are now 40 foot trailers. Big ships have become either cruise ships or freighters. Even
the plots seem to mirror what the Alien team goes through!


Recently, I watched the “Expendables 2” with Stallone and his team taking on a seemingly easy paycheque issued by Bruce Willis’ character Mr Church, but what ensues along the way seems like what freight forwarders go through as part of life, albeit without the bullet & body count.


1.   Repeat, one-off customer from the past. Check.


2.   Seemingly easy paycheque. Check.


3.   Unforeseen circumstances & missing vital information, leading to unexpected threats. Check.


4.   Massive yelling and coordination work required to save the day. Check.


5.   Hard earned drinks at the end of the day. Check & double check.


And how does the Expendables team get in, do the job, get out; rinse & repeat? I bet they do more than just 12 push ups and 10 sit ups. In a week.

Time to start getting fit!