my view of the ministry of education and it's staffs...

During these fortnight, I've been so busy handling my study leave application...the red tape and bureaucratic system did help to makes trivial things become big and things that could be settled within short period of time become long and torturous process....not to point the blame on anyone...but something went really wrong somewhere...so the supposedly smooth system, ended up collapsing....and I was left clueless....so as the officers that i had to deal with...luckily me and my friend were the proactive type...instead of sitting on our ass and expect things magically turn to side with us...we took an effort to climb more stairs...asked around...from Jalan Hang Jebat to Jalan Duta to Putrajaya to Cyberjaya...we knew that our time is running out...so we must move faster and decided quickly...and today, I manage to hand in my form directly to Bahagian Tajaan....i feel relief for a while..after the raya...i probably start to worry again whether my request for study leave will be approved or not.
The mood of these government institute that i stepped on can be described as Hari Raya enthusiast...the staff although still committed to their work, still manage to disappear or going somewhere for whatever purposes...i kinda feel jealous with them...comparing to us the execution party who has to work at the front line such as teachers, doctors, nurses and polices....  the administration party seems to have an enjoyable and comfortable work life..work in the air-conditioned atmosphere, don't even have to deal with inconsiderate people claiming they have the right as a citizen. Even the tukang sapu...can go shopping at carrefour during the work hour....I said to my friend, we are the professionals...but why do we get treated like the second class party in the equation....If we somehow develop their habit, it will be a matter of time that one of us will be facing a huge lawsuit...
I sort of think that there is a double standard in the system we already had. In school, even if the teacher doesn't have a math major, they can't refuse to teach math if the administration order them to teach math. But, when it comes to the administration...whenever asked about something that's not specifically assigned to them, they simply shrug and said..."I don't know...it's not in my job requirement.." and nobody put the blame on them for not knowing...and they said " this thing is not stated in my 'file meja' ". Imagine if these are the teacher's replies when asked something non related to teaching. I can assure, the teacher will get the free lecture about how he should know it all and should care. I wonder if the administration even bother to take a look at the teacher's 'file meja'. I bet they will be surprised at how many miscellaneous and random items the 'file meja' contained.
But, not all the fruits are rotten, there are a few officers whom are quite helpful and guiding us until we manage to complete all the items needed. The favor they are doing towards us are always going to be remembered..However, this experience teach me things about how the ministry of education works...

1. Although you try hard to be professional, in the end of the day you have to realize that you are dealing with the human, and the human you are dealing with can either help you or make your life a living hell. So, the best option is to be nice to them. Don't act superior just because you are. When asking favor from anyone, even though that favor is actually their job. Just be nice and humble enough. Use the polite word and when you feel like pushing them, choose the words that make them turn sympathetic towards us instead of whining or giving order...these people need to feel important...so treat them like they are important...smile always work....and apologizes for causing them extra work help to sooth their ego....
2. Ask around, don't rely on one resource, if you are not satisfy with the answer given to you, go higher and even higher until you get a clarity of what you should do and the action you should have taken. Although the PPD, JPN and MOE are supposedly related to each other, but I can assure not only the system is red taped, the flow of information is affected as well. Take time knowing the right people, to cut short the red tape...so that later, you can expedite things even faster than using the common channel. It's like going to the shopping mall in the peak hour, those who knows the secret passageway to avoid the traffic of people going back and forth will arrive at the destination earlier than who choose to walk with the crowd and whine why the shopping mall is so crowded...when they do nothing to find the easier way to get around....
3. Don't take things lightly, even the trivial matters can be a speed bump that delay the whole process...always be prepared and make sure you always have the original documents and the copies in hand for whatever purposes...When working, I was taught that it is important to keep 'file meja' and 'fail pendua' for all my work and responsibility. This habit though a bit pricey, actually help me organize things better...and I put less reliance on the administration....
4. Whatever you do, do it the proper way...some of my friends are being a bit impatient when dealing with the administration, so they choose to walk away and defy the system. They maybe somehow forgotten that they have signed the "Surat Aku Janji" back in the first year they start teaching....if we somehow disobey what we already taken an oath for...we should consider ourselves as corrupted ourselves...just because the system is oppressing us, doesn't mean we just have to walk away. Sometimes we find it oppressing because we don't know. And we ask the wrong person. And we already create a bad schemata in our brain that the system sucks....but once in a while, we have to reflect ourselves in the mirror...if we chose to run away...or defy the system...who's the real culprit then...