02 May 2006

Pervasiveness of fear

I'm sure we've all yakked to death about LKY's live TV chat with the 10 post-65ers. I recall one key point tossed about was on fear... Yes, I'm talking about the Ken vs LKY tussle.... that we shouldn't have anything to fear about with the govt.

So if that's the case, here's a little small but very telling incident that I encountered today. I'm one of the few pathetic govt slaves kena arrowed to do election duty... you know, escort old aunties to the voting booth, direct traffic inside voting stations etc. So the boss of the voting station hauled us all up to do an on-site briefing as well as a walk-the-ground. The boss mentioned on many occasions that we had to ensure that everything runs smoothly during Polling Day.... that we had to get the school gates opened, that we had to ensure the toilets are unlocked etc. Why this obsession? Because he says that if we don't ensure these little things for voters' comfort, the voters might choose to vote for "the other party". And when that happens, the "higher-ups" will not be happy and "come after us".

Let's discount the fact that elections are supposed to be neutral, that we as election officials are neutral and yadda yadda. Even after putting all that aside, the fact that the boss can come up with such a convoluted and misleading logic just goes to show how pervasive this fear of the incumbent govt is.

And you know something, as I was composing this, I was wondering if I even should be posting it up here, especially with all the furor about Sedition Act, Elections Act and whatever other imaginable Act that the govt can use against blogging. But heck, I decided to click on the "Publish Post" button and here I am in Blogosphere, my virgin entry.

1 Comments:

At 9:26 am, Blogger kwayteowman said...

Welcome to the blogosphere. Dun have to be so scared scared.

As FDR says, "Only thing we have to fear is fear itself".

What you have highlighted is an example of laupok middle management in the Civil Service -- then again, from what the KTM has heard, middle management in the private sector is equally laupok.

The problem with a lot of the middle managers in the Civil Service is that they dunno how to think. If the KTM had to explain to you why you have to make sure everything run swee swee, the KTM will tell you that it's because we need to do our jobs with pride.

But then hor, you and your colleagues will probably laugh at the KTM. :-) So, perhaps there is some sense in this madness. :-P

 

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