A recent conversation I had with Reiko made me very pissed off.
[although my short temper was also due in part to the horribly crowded NATAS fair that I trounged through in search of tickets to Athens, but that's another story...]
We were discussing our superior again, and some issue ongoing at work. [to prevent any of the people in that workplace finding this blog, no details, sorry.]
She described to me some of the things that that superior had done at work, and frankly, I was aghast. Aghast at some of the things that person had said, aghast at some of the things that person had done. I asked why hadn't anyone ever stepped forward to actually tell the superior of some of the problems going on at ground level.
"You think anyone dares? Last time, someone tried to tell her and then... [description of downfall of said person]."
"And then there was... [another description of the sad fate of another fallen soul]"
"And then..."
"Last time..."
Aiyah you get the idea lah.........
The most head-shaking part about the whole thing though, was not the fate befallen on these people, but rather the willingness of all the other sheep in the office who were simply willing to accept their lot and let it be that.
It seems that this person has created such an aura of holy terror around her, as described by said colleague, that now no one dares to touch her with a ten foot trident.
And everyone else is either willing to accept it, or leave.
An attitude I find 'typically Singaporean'.
In such a situation where things are not to our benefit, we either:
Accept it, stay in the same situation, and grumble endlessly about our hard lot in life, or
Leave the place for assumably greener grass elsewhere.
Not many people, it seems, are willing to take the calculated risk of actually doing something to improve their current situation in life.
Like this place: It is a fact that a lot of people are unhappy about the decisions made in this place. It is also a fact that people still accept the unhappy decisions, and then grumble about it to their colleagues, in a half-resigned manner, as if, "What can I do about it?"
Not many actually start thinking about what they can actually do about it.
And then things get to a stage where it becomes utterly unbearable, and then you lash out and fight, only to get knocked down.
I get irritated by this kind of attitude. Because when things don't go your way, and you don't do anything about it, your only recourse is to complain to your colleagues. Who can't do anything for you anyway, so what's the point? Other than letting off steam, that is......
*hai* The whole idea of the civil service is starting to get me down. I keep thinking that I need to start other options just in case I decide to quit, but the workload just piles on, leaving me either no time to do this, or too tired to do this.
I need a good kickstart......