You know that saying, “You’ve been with the company so long, you’re starting to become part of the furniture”? I’ve heard it many times, and every single time, I don’t know whether to laugh or roll my eyes.
Is this saying universal, or just one of those Malaysian-style jokes we make over coffee to sound funny and slightly cynical? Either way, here I am, 11 years in the same company.
Eleven. Not from The Stranger Things.
I used to think people who stayed that long were either crazy loyal or just comfortable. Before this, the longest I’d ever stayed in one place was five years. When I first joined, I even told myself I’d give it five years max. Just enough time to learn, contribute, and then move on. Well, fast forward to today… and clearly, life has other plans.
To be fair, my 11 years don’t really feel like 11 years. Some days it feels like five, other days it feels like twenty (depending on the days). Even though my portfolio hasn’t changed much, my scope has. I’ve moved around, worked with different teams, supported different parts of the business. Every shift brought new lessons, new headaches, new stories to tell. So maybe I didn’t stay still after all; maybe I just stayed in motion within the same walls.
But what does it really mean, this whole “becoming part of the furniture” thing? Some say it means you’ve become too comfortable, stagnant even. That you’ve lost ambition, that no one else would hire you, or that you’ve become invisible. That staying too long means you’ve stopped growing. And I used to believe that too, a little. I’d look at people who stayed in one place for too long and wonder if they were stuck, or worse, scared to move.
But now, I see things differently. Maybe staying doesn’t always mean settling. Maybe it’s a sign of finding something worth holding on to.
People love to say, “Oh, that person’s been here forever. Tak laku dah.” But what if it’s not about being unwanted? What if they’re actually too valuable to replace? What if experience and consistency have simply lost their glamour in a world obsessed with change?
Because if being loyal, dependable, and deeply rooted in what you do is a flaw, then we might need to redefine what ambition really means.
After slightly over a decade here, I still have days when I ask myself: should I move on?
Should I chase that elusive “greener pasture”? Or maybe the greener part isn’t somewhere else. Maybe it’s right under my feet, growing quietly where I’ve been watering it all this time. How do you even know when it’s time to go? When does loyalty turn into fear, and when does comfort become clarity? I don’t have the answers. Some days I think, “Okay, I’ve done my part. Time for something new.” And then there are days I feel like, “Wait, maybe my story here isn’t finished yet.”
If being here for 11 years means I’ve become part of the furniture, then I’d like to think I’m the kind that’s aged well… a little scratched, sure, but still solid, still useful, still matching the space. I’ve seen people come and go, ideas rise and fade, systems crash and restart, but I’m still here, still learning, still showing up. Maybe being part of the furniture isn’t such a bad thing after all.
Maybe it just means you’ve become part of the story; part of what makes the place feel like home.
And if I do decide to move on one day, I’d like to think I’ll leave behind a few marks, the kind that say,
“Yeah, she was here. And she mattered.”
#SuchIsLife
Written by A.
Balancing duty in public service and care at home, she writes from the heart of both worlds.