Resigned!

My new employer produced the offer letter in record time, and they changed some standard clauses as a sign of their sincerity. I was happy with the package, and I signed it. A week later, I tendered my resignation after talking to the head of my department. 

HOD: For everyone on the team, I have an idea on what would make them leave. For you, it would be due to task overloading, and perhaps also due to the CEO. 

Thanked him for understanding my motivation to leave. In the afternoon my COO called me.

COO: You want to leave? Seriously? Two months notice period not enough la. Can you delay one year? Or maybe you sign some retainer. 

Don't be crazy. Not interested. Best of all, there was no counteroffer like I predicted. Less one thing to reject. My handover dragged for one month because my COO thinks that my new employer would delay my onboarding. Wishful thinking. Anyway, he still 'insisted' that I help them out with some outstanding customer engagements that had been dragging since the start of the year. Shocking really. Some weeks down the road, I received a call from my CEO in Singapore.

CEO: If you don't like the work, I'd rather you stay in the group to do something else than resign. Or take a break. Tell me. If you like to stay under a rock, let me know. It's about choosing the lesser of two evils. Leverage on your 18 years in the group. Better be in a place where people know you. There are many other things to do. 

I wasn't convinced with all the 'potential' that he was trying to sell to me. Heard it all five years before. Still the same. I chased HR to proceed with the red tape, and management finally accepted the fact that I was leaving.