In right out left

The money made at the Little Penang Street Market on Sunday is fully utilized to pay for my two childrens'elated school fees covering three years amounting to the tune of One thousand four handred RM. I was short of one payment as i did not have enough to cover Rm240 for my daughter's 2008 school fees. Boring!! These are the most tedious aspects of life that one dont normally talk about much less write about for others to read! But... hey, life's a bitch someone in his or her infinite wisdom once said and then you die! What makes great things in life is the most tedious things that one can overcome and turn around into great things despite its tediousness. Sit and watch the grass grow the Zen master once said, effortlessness, inactive action, detatched involvement, to pluck the lotus without wetting the fingers.However, no matter how or where or when we look it, life and its trivials are merely grist for the mill and the mill keeps on grinding with or without the grist. We can choose to play along with the game and excell despite all the pressures and tedium or we can buckle underneath and be buried by the dead weight that we have accumulated throughout our lives. So called problems that we face day to day ius not going to poof! and disappear no matter what we may think or do, they are like weeds that ever grows as soon as we remove existing ones. Karmas! The Buddhas said, ancient and twisted karmas! Born through body, speach and mind!

I was almost given the run around again by the lady that was handling my case and i felt it coming the moment she decided to ask if the paper works ahd been checked by the 'other' office and this after she had collected my money and made out the receit. I told her I made doubly sure what i needed to do through the school pricipal's office and they had found out from the Education department that i am to make my payment at her office and that all my files were already with her office. Then it all started to unravel like another horror show as she started insisting that they had no files on my case and that I needed to drive all the way back to the'other office' and get everything checked an so forth. Afteer almost getting me all riled up she finally got someone on the phone from the 'other' office who okeyed for the payment to be made. One phone call!! Damn them! and Damn their upgraded computerized system that is supposed to make life simpler for the common folks! What is most aggravating was the fact that while handling my case she was also busy figuring out the off days for her fellow office workers.
I cannot imagine what it must be like for those who lack the means and knowhow in dealing in these matters, the paper works alone would kill an average man on the street and now i have to go back to the Education office in Bukit jambul and start another long process of filing for the renewal of my children's Foreign Student Visas which would ultimately be dealt with by the Immigration department. This is the part and parcel of being a part of the Global Community, for having chosen to live life in these days and age of a borderless society! Live and learn, from the faults and mistakes of people like me and my family it is hopefully realized that there aught to be a more humane and compassionate ways of dealing with registering and filing of paperworks that would not leave a bad taste at the end of the trail. From my experience and personal dealings with most of the government personells I learn that most are happy to help but really does not know how and when things gets a little tight or confusing it is best to drop a bomb or two on subject and make the one who needs the help do the run around to find the solution. How thankful it makes you feel finding one soul working in a Government Agency who cared and solve your problems to the best of his or her ability simply by doing his or her job as paid to do so. Woe unto you when you come up against an ego that had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed that same morning or whose application for a short vacation had not been approved!!
Its a mindset most people would agree when it comes to being served by the System's bureaucracy and does not really reflect the whole. The Malaysian Government Agencies are mostly run by Malays with a cultural and aptitude and attitude of their own. Knowing how to deal with these care givers is an art especially if and when one is at a disadvantage like not being able to afford a payment or short of a pertinent piece of paper. Malays do not like to be talked down to and are very sensitive when it comes to value judgements but they are flexible if and when the situation demands as they have a greater sense of tolerance than most other races. How you talk to an officer and how youplead your cases makes alot of difference in whether you can get a decent help or fail miserably and have to bear the paper chase. State your case as clearly and honestly as you can and chances are you will find a sympathetic ear and get your case solve with little confusion or even aggravation. Government officers are human who has to deal with humans everyday of their working life and thus they have become accustomed to dealing with all kinds of individuals and circumstances. I am just another case, a number in the filing system that they have to deal with and they help to solve my issues to the best of their abilities.