Don't be stupid

My last post was angry in nature. Yes, it was angry. But I shall not apologize to anyone for it. Stupidity pisses me off, because that stupidity affects other people. I have always been a firm believer of ultimate judgement by our Maker. As such, I have no problems at all with what some people perceive as "wrong". I mean, if a person does something wrong, then that is between him or herself and Allah. To me, mere mortals have no business trying to police everyone else, just like no one nation should try to be the "superpolice" of the whole world. So, whatever the hell that you choose to do, it's your business. Yes, it's your business, PROVIDED whatever you do does not adversely affect other living things. By that, I mean you can do whatever you want, as long as other people or animals or plants are not harmed, threatened, hurt, damaged, killed or anything else which is undesirable. As such, if you want to jump off a building or cross the path of a speeding train or try to down a gallon of weedkiller, go ahead. As long as there are no grieving wives or husbands or children or parents or friends that you leave in your wake. You can go ahead and have promiscuous sex with a gazillion women, as long as you don't hurt their feelings. You can go ahead and steal a billion bucks from a bank, as long as nobody has to suffer elevated theft insurance premiums after that. And yes, you can walk around in Alamanda during office hours, proudly portraying your ID tags or nametags, AS LONG AS THE PUBLIC DOES NOT THINK LOWLY OF CIVIL SERVANTS FOR YOUR ACTIONS.

So, you see, you can do whatever stupid things you want. But don't drag others down with your stupidity.

Please, change

A week or so ago, I received an email containing a scanned letter of complaint addressed to the Chief Secretary of the Government. The complainant was angry to see that there were quite a few civil servants in Alamanda during office hours, especially between the hours of 1200 and 1500.

I have to agree with the writer. As it is, I am on study leave, so I have a lot of free time in my hand. As such, I usually have my lunch at Alamanda almost every day, if I am in Putrajaya. Sadly, visions of Government officers and staff loitering around Alamanda during office hours is rampant, to say the least. They'll be walking around or sitting at McD or KFC or Pizza Hut or God knows where else, happily yakking away with their Government ID tags proudly flashed on their bodies.

Besides Alamanda, civil servants also frequent the numerous mamak restaurants, Taman Warisan, food courts and so on. Why do I say so? Because besides Alamanda, I also frequent these other places, usually for breakfast. There, you'll see numerous Government vehicles parked outside, and even more Government staff sitting and eating and having a merry time, oblivious to the eyes of the public.

Some of you might think I think of myself as so high and mighty, complaining about others while I am on study leave, "wasting" the Government's money. To you, I say: too bad. Getting a scholarship for study leave is not as easy as you might think. I worked my ass off to get this scholarship. I give it my best most of my time, so that at the end of each year, I get an assessment mark of at least 80%. Those of you who know me personally would agree that I'm not the bodek type. Far from it, you'll know that I have fought with almost all of my bosses before, but they still give me good assessments. Fortunately for me, my bosses so far have been professional in their dealings. Although I fought with them, they know that I do a good job and my arguments have ALWAYS been for what I think is right. So yes, right now I am enjoying myself. Why shouldn't I be? After all, it is the semester break and I don't have any assignments due anymore. So what if I spend my time in mamak restaurants, Taman Warisan, food courts or Alamanda? I'm on leave, remember?!

I have always been a stickler for rules and regulations. If I arrive at the office late, I better have a damn good explanation for my tardiness. I don't go out of the office without permission. Even if I have to go to the bank or such, I make sure I fill up the relevant forms, get permission from my supervisors, and make sure I come back to the office within the 2-hour time limit. Yes, for those of you who are not aware of this, there IS such a form. You can go out of the office up to a maximum of two hours to settle pressing matters, but if you expect it to last for more than two hours, you're advised to take leave for the day instead. I live by those rules. And I expect everyone else to do the same. If everybody adheres to laws, rules and regulations, there would be so much less pain and injustice in this world.

I'm being side-tracked here. What I wanted to talk about is about how the public perceives the civil servants. I mean, you can't blame the public if they bad-mouth civil servants. Not with this portrayal of stupidity on the civil servants' part. I mean, even if you absolutely, positively, alarmingly HAVE to go to Alamanda during office hours, can't you at least take out your ID tags and name tags and leave them in your purse or handbags or pants pockets? Do you absolutely, positively, alarmingly HAVE to proudly portray them while you make a fool of yourselves and tarnish your fellow law-abiding civil servants' image at the same time? Come on lah, don't be stupid. Better yet, why don't you just stay in your office and work like what you're supposed to do.

Okay, I might not be fair if I put a blanket judgement to ALL of you walking around in Alamanda or wherever. I can forgive those of you who come from outside Putrajaya for meetings or events here. Most probably, either you arrived early and are just killing time before your meeting/event, or you've finished your meeting/event and are stopping by to have lunch or tea or whatever before heading back to your department. Those of you, especially driving into Alamanda with crests proclaiming Lembaga Kemajuan Perikanan Terengganu, Politeknik Ungku Omar, Lembaga Kemajuan Pelancongan Johor or such on their vehicles, it's obvious that you're here on business and just visiting Alamanda for a while. I can also forgive those of you who go to Alamanda to buy supplies for your office. Maybe your department is organising something and you have run out of decorative stationary or there's an ad hoc visit from some foreign dignitaries and you need to get some special food that your caterers are not able to supply on short notice. I don't even mind those of you who already got permission from your supervisors to go out using the form that I mentioned. After all, Alamanda does have a bank and post office in them, and you might have an urgent need to go to AM Islamic Banking, Alamanda Branch or the post office there. But what irks me most if I see cars with Kementerian Perdagangan dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna or Kementerian Tenaga, Air dan Komunikasi or Ibu Pejabat Kementerian Kesihatan cars parked in Alamanda or outside mamak restaurants during office hours. To me, that is melampau.

People, wake up and change! Takkan la nak tunggu sampai KSN suruh buat spot-check kat Alamanda baru nak berenti kot? Pakai la otak sikit, bukannya budak kecik nak diingatkan berkali-kali. Bila public kutuk, nak marah balik. Bila PM tegur, nak jauh hati. Bila boss marah, nak melenting. Bila buat salah sendiri, langsung tak ingat. Bodoh!

There's nothing diplomatic about this entry? Again I say: too bad...