"All of us joined the organization under the assumption that what we do saves lives. When we are prevented from doing that work, it is more than professional frustration or fear that our own performance will be judged negatively in a 'results based' system. We are concerned for the lives of people whom we affect, whether it is a staff member who is a single mother trying to make rent, or a small business dependent on a contract, or a person living with AIDS in Africa." - The Staff Association
Let's take the above quote and put it into perspective, shall we?
Apparently over here "saving lives" entails spending 'flexi' morning working hours doing power yoga, or changing out of gym gear before 5 p.m. after a sweaty workout at the office fitness centre. I'm sure the people in Africa with AIDS are thanking people over here for keeping themselves so fit because, well, at least somebody's healthy somewhere in the world.
Oh yeah, everyone here is really "concerned for the lives of people whom they affect", especially when they talk about it over multiple coffee breaks throughout the day (say, after a productive session of yoga). And, god forbid, we let those "small businesses dependent on a contract" suffer from not being able to supply the nice folks here with designer joe! Last time I checked, the stuff they sell here isn't even remotely fairtrade. The plus side of that of course is that I can afford to drink it. I feel good helping out those "small businesses". I'm sure they get lots out of this deal!
And I'm almost sure beyond a doubt that the "fear of being judged in the 'results based' system" they implement over here isn't the main motivating factor for productivity. Because if it were, there would *actually* be work done.
Excuse me, I think I need to wipe the puke off the keyboard after reading that load of self-righteous hypocrisy. It really stinks.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Recommendations on how to kill yourself...
Painkillers,
And paint thinner,
Should be taken,
In place of dinner.
Hung by a noose,
Jumping off roofs,
In my opinion,
Take moments of truth.
Bullet through brain,
Get run over by train,
An artist's means,
To claim to fame.
Slitting your wrist,
Sleeping with fish,
I'm quite sure,
There's more on the list!
And paint thinner,
Should be taken,
In place of dinner.
Hung by a noose,
Jumping off roofs,
In my opinion,
Take moments of truth.
Bullet through brain,
Get run over by train,
An artist's means,
To claim to fame.
Slitting your wrist,
Sleeping with fish,
I'm quite sure,
There's more on the list!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
I'm broke but I'm happy, I'm poor but I'm kind, I'm short but I'm healthy...yeah!
Geneva is a nice, picturesque little city. The only thing is that it is fucking expensive. It doesn't help that I've been going out with my fellow interns who all seem better able to afford things than I can. I mean they're great people, friendly, some of them quite down-to-earth even. But I realize if I go out as often as they do, to the places where they go, I'm going to be broke sooner or later.
The sobering reality that your pockets are pretty shallow around these parts make you think. Think about the people and organization I'm working for. Think about others from lesser socio-economic backgrounds who might want to come.
The truth is, if you can't afford the air ticket, the cramped yet pricey rented room, the spoilt-for-choice yet fairly expensive groceries for you day to day subsistence or your occassional excursions to the nearby bar for a session of networking (because face it, it's all about connections, connections, connections!), this place isn't for you. I barely even feel welcome.
A recent report by the organization claimed that a person's state of health was not only directly related to their level of income, but also due to other social, political and economic circumstances. Apparently this report took two years to come to said conclusion. Most people who are living those circumstances can probably tell what the problem is in an instant when they're lying on their beds shivering from a tropical disease for which they have no money to buy medicine for, or suffering from violent diarrhea and vomiting profusely because they don't have access to clean water and had to drink from the river where their neighbor pooped in upstream.
I know it sounds cliched, but this isn't exactly rocket science.
So the point about the organization is that the people who need to come here can never afford to. And often, the people who can come often don't need to. In the end, and I had the same impression even before I got here, it seems more like an exclusive, upper-class country club than a place that's supposed to help the poor with their health problems. I don't mean everyone inside is an arrogant, superficially self-righteous snob (some are genuinely committed to the cause) but I just can't help but feel it's all a big scam.
The sobering reality that your pockets are pretty shallow around these parts make you think. Think about the people and organization I'm working for. Think about others from lesser socio-economic backgrounds who might want to come.
The truth is, if you can't afford the air ticket, the cramped yet pricey rented room, the spoilt-for-choice yet fairly expensive groceries for you day to day subsistence or your occassional excursions to the nearby bar for a session of networking (because face it, it's all about connections, connections, connections!), this place isn't for you. I barely even feel welcome.
A recent report by the organization claimed that a person's state of health was not only directly related to their level of income, but also due to other social, political and economic circumstances. Apparently this report took two years to come to said conclusion. Most people who are living those circumstances can probably tell what the problem is in an instant when they're lying on their beds shivering from a tropical disease for which they have no money to buy medicine for, or suffering from violent diarrhea and vomiting profusely because they don't have access to clean water and had to drink from the river where their neighbor pooped in upstream.
I know it sounds cliched, but this isn't exactly rocket science.
So the point about the organization is that the people who need to come here can never afford to. And often, the people who can come often don't need to. In the end, and I had the same impression even before I got here, it seems more like an exclusive, upper-class country club than a place that's supposed to help the poor with their health problems. I don't mean everyone inside is an arrogant, superficially self-righteous snob (some are genuinely committed to the cause) but I just can't help but feel it's all a big scam.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Why?
I'm absolutely pissed at this point, but I just had to say that it's ironic that my motherland Chinese brethren treat me more as one of their own than the rest of my Malaysian brethren. Lin Dan may have beaten Lee Chong Wei, but I can't feel any animosity against the Chinese. I just can't. God damnit.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Wearing your emotions...
Love unrequitted,
Is like an ill-fitting T-shirt.
You know you can't wear it,
But you don't want to throw it away.
Is like an ill-fitting T-shirt.
You know you can't wear it,
But you don't want to throw it away.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Travelling...
I guess the reason why I like travelling is for that feeling where you don't know what to expect or what's going to happen next.
That's why I generally try to avoid the more popular destinations because everyone's been there, they've written about it and for some reason seem obliged to devulge every single little detail about a particular place. Just so anyone else who plans to go there will know exactly which bus, tram or train to take in, say [insert famous destination], before they've even gotten on the one back home to head off to the airport.
I find that it somehow dampens the charm and mystery that a place would otherwise provide were it not known by so many people. A bit paradoxical on my part perhaps.
It's for this same reason why I would like to stay longer in the truly great cities of the world - London, Paris, Vienna, just to name a few I've been to in Europe. Because if you stay only for a while, you can only see the things you're meant to see. Not the things you could see if you left your Fodor's or Lonely Planet behind and just walked around.
It's the most mundane things that people do in those cities - their daily commute, lunch at the neighbourhood diner, that give you a sense about what the city is all about. A city's soul is its people and without it there's nothing much except fabricated megaliths of monuments that don't really mean too much on its own.
I would love to go to Athens to see the Acropolis, but I would love more to see the people who built the city that surronds it.
That's why I generally try to avoid the more popular destinations because everyone's been there, they've written about it and for some reason seem obliged to devulge every single little detail about a particular place. Just so anyone else who plans to go there will know exactly which bus, tram or train to take in, say [insert famous destination], before they've even gotten on the one back home to head off to the airport.
I find that it somehow dampens the charm and mystery that a place would otherwise provide were it not known by so many people. A bit paradoxical on my part perhaps.
It's for this same reason why I would like to stay longer in the truly great cities of the world - London, Paris, Vienna, just to name a few I've been to in Europe. Because if you stay only for a while, you can only see the things you're meant to see. Not the things you could see if you left your Fodor's or Lonely Planet behind and just walked around.
It's the most mundane things that people do in those cities - their daily commute, lunch at the neighbourhood diner, that give you a sense about what the city is all about. A city's soul is its people and without it there's nothing much except fabricated megaliths of monuments that don't really mean too much on its own.
I would love to go to Athens to see the Acropolis, but I would love more to see the people who built the city that surronds it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)