Project Manager
Wiima Logistics (Asia Pacific) PTE LTD
First off Antti, would you tell us a bit about yourself, your current job and career leading up until your current status residing in Singapore?
I just turned thirty-eight, I am a happy husband and proud father of our daughter and I am currently living and working in Singapore. I have been working in Logistics my whole career, but my working life abroad and work in shipping started in 2007 when I was bag-packing with my friend in Southeast Asia. On our way back to Europe we impulsively decided to spend a few days in Hong Kong and I just fell in love with the place.
At that very moment I decided I want to to live and work here (although, despite having visited HKG many times since then, I have still never lived there ), after arriving back in Finland I started searching and looking at options for how to get there and I was lucky enough to land a shipping trainee job from well-known project freight forwarder in Shanghai. From there, let’s jump to today where I sit and work as a project manager for Finnish company Wiima Logistics (www.wiima.com)
For those who would like to learn more about what we do, please don’t hesitate to contact me, my contact details are below.
You have travelled the world, I know. Where would you say that you have had the best holiday experience ever?
Although there have been many great places and I could tell many stories to answer this question, my home has been Asia for such long time now that I consider going back to Scandinavia to be the holiday, which I truly enjoy. I pack my car and drive to my summer house with my family, where we can spend the quality time, relax and enjoy all the varieties of food.
What are you looking for particularly when going on a holiday?
When it comes to holidays, I always look forward to getting a bit of everything; relaxing by the pool or at the beach, a bit of city life too, but the most important thing for me is the food. I am a bit of a foodie and I always like to discover new tastes where ever I go. Also, I like to try to live and be like the locals and avoid the most touristy areas, something that is starting to become difficult these days.
Tell us about your worst travel or holiday experience ever?
This isn’t really my worst experience ever, but at least it is one of the most memorable for me. I was travelling by train from Urumqi to Alashankou. The train was so fully packed and was one of those old green trains that some of you might have seen in China. The trip lasted approximately ten hours and the whole time, no matter what I did the whole carriage was following my every move. At all times someone was trying to give me a cigarette, because that time I was still smoking. With me being a polite sort, I didn’t decline any of those. So, I’m sure you can imagine the feeling, sitting there on my luggage for ten hours and chain-smoking all the time, without any common language with the other people on the train. So, it was probably the worst experience for my lungs but not for me, I would do it again but this time without the cigarettes.
Many people nowadays need a holiday after the holiday to recover. In other words, they have trouble relaxing. Is that a problem for you, finding a way to relax during your holiday?
In the past, before having a family, I was probably more exhausted after my holidays than before, but now I travel with my family to places we all look forward to seeing. We do things that we all enjoy and it’s great to spend the time with people you love. For me, that’s relaxing. I think if you combine all those three things (the right place, the right things to do and travelling with the right people) anyone should be able to relax, at least for a few days.
What is next for you on the holiday front? Where you intend to go and why?
Not sure when my next holiday will be, but I have always been very keen to see New Zealand. I haven’t had the chance to visit there yet, even though I have been living in Sydney for some time, which from my perspective is almost there. Why NZ you ask? It’s probably the variety of landscapes in the country with its mountains, beaches and beautiful roads by the coast. I would probably rent a car and drive the pacific coast highway from Auckland to Napier.
Since you are in shipping and many of our readers are shipping and logistics people who might like to get more information from you, would you mind sharing with us your contact details?
Indeed, it’s always nice to hear from new and old contacts.
M: +65 8247 7586