"Follow the System"
Just the other day i attempted to use the public toilet at Clarke Quay MRT station. Yet before i could step in, the Malay toilet attendant stopped me with a gibberish exhort. I couldn't really make out what she was saying as it was in some kind of broken english (not Singlish). Only when i was near enough for her to shove the mop in my face could i barely make out the three words "Follow the System".
In her exasperation she had to point furiously at the sign bearing the toilet cleaning times before i could collect myself from the rude shock and nod in reluctant understanding. I wasn't really mad at her for prohibiting my use of the toilet though i was in high tide indeed.
What really shocked me were the words she used, "Follow the system", used almost like an almighty command that was supposed to set me walking away in obeisance just like any other Singaporean. The choice of words she used despite her seemingly poor command of English is amazing. She could just as simply have said "Toilet cleaning" , "Out of order" or plain uttered "Cleaning" and any Singaporean would have got the message.
But No. She said those three words "Follow the system" that still rings loud and clear in my mind everytime i recall that bizzare incident. Ok it may seem really weird why i'm bringing up such a trivial issue that i should have just dismissed like my friend who was my co-witness did.
It's just that those three words seem to resonate very much in Singaporean and modern society, where we face a non-organic, mechanical and supposedly impartial, dispassionate System in many aspects of our daily life and we are expected to adhere to the rules and instructions administered by the System for our day-to-day dealings.
Even in the aforementioned case, although there was technically a very much living and agitated female toilet attendant shouting the instruction to me, i see her more as a tool of the System. The system uses her to keep out people like me who are ignorant of the stringent cleaning times(Who memorises them man?), who have stepped over the line and are attempting to upset the System due owing to my private agenda that is insignificant as compared to upholding the sanctity of the System's cleaning timings.
Well in fact, i was following the System. Perhaps she was not, for she didn't display the mandatory 'Cleaning in progress' sign in bright yellow, which if i had seen i would get the message and skip that toilet immediately. No issue. But no. She stood at the door with a mop and perhaps thus upset the usual System of recognising whether a public toilet could be used.
Moving on from this trivial issue, which i see as a reflection of a larger general mentality that the State adopts when it deals with individuals who attempt direct contact with the State. Ever tried to consult your MP for a personal issue? Well first you got to find out and be sure who is the MP directly in charge of your district is. Then you have to email (You'd be surprised how some organisations respond to email faster and are more receptive to them than phone calls) the administrative personnel to ask for available dates. Finally you may be given a slot based on the urgency of your issue, the nature of which must be revealed and screened by the administrative personnel. You might start wondering if you're actually consulting your MP at all, almost able to imagine his briefers whispering notes to him while he flips your docket right before seeing you after a long wait. How's that for increasing attempts to bridge the divide between the masses and those who rule over them and are supposed to hear and voice their popular concerns?
Yes it may seem only reasonable that a system is developed so that our overworked part-time MPs are not burdened by citizens with unjustifiable petty concerns or simply inundated by too many consultations at once. But to develop a system so entrenched in systemic efficiency that it ironically succeeds in expanding the divide between the citizen with concern and the powers-that-be, i guess this beckons a re-thought.
Here's a more extreme example of Follow The System. Quite a while back i found my library card missing and reported it to the good librarian immediately. Since i had lost it on the same day of reporting, i thought i was safe even if someone had borrowed it. Yet the good librarian was sorry to inform me that a Malay title was borrowed using my card just minutes before i had reported the missing card. Although i tried my very best at verbally explaining how i had lost it only a few minutes ago and that i had no reason to cheat good NLB of a cheap Malay title that i didnt understand, the good librarian said he had to go "law by law, book by book". I noted the nice pun but i was still furious. The good librarian dispensed me saying that i stood a better chance writing a formal letter to the head of the Branch rather than him as he was just a part-time frontdesk employee who held no influence.
A formal letter i wrote indeed to the Branch Head, which i also forwarded to the relevant NLB manager who was technically the Branch Head's superior. ANd i think this neat little trick did the trick and got me off the hook, given my understanding of the hierarchical relationship in governmental bodies. The fact that i couldn't settle the issue straight away at the Branch customer service desk was just amazing. What's more outrageous was that i had to type out a powerfully-worded letter of 'appeal' to a manager who would probably have been briefed even before the letter lands on his desk, in order to maintain organisational integrity and a common stand on issues. Well the greater point is how this was quite an extreme example of people following the System purely for the mechanical sake of following the Sytem. The very fact that the craziness and frustration such behaviour creates for end-users evades the administrators who perpetuate is just hard to comprehend. It's probably the kind of issues that hit you so hard you feel the need to just go and lie down to catch your breath.
And these are just 2 seemingly ordinary experiences from me. I'm sure somewhere along the line you have experienced this Follow the System mentality in-the-face. Sometimes i guess it is the ignorance or acceptance of such ridiculous attitudes that helps to perpetuate their constant existence. Sometimes we can reasonably accept it as a characteristic of a modern state and economy where the government and adherent organs of state are expected to posesss business-like efficiency. Yet when this seemingly impartial attitude is applied wholesale to all of society, some conflicts may arise and it is up to us to be more conscious of them to avoid being entrapped in systemic jargon that may inadvertently ensnare the unwitting citizen who crosses the line.
In her exasperation she had to point furiously at the sign bearing the toilet cleaning times before i could collect myself from the rude shock and nod in reluctant understanding. I wasn't really mad at her for prohibiting my use of the toilet though i was in high tide indeed.
What really shocked me were the words she used, "Follow the system", used almost like an almighty command that was supposed to set me walking away in obeisance just like any other Singaporean. The choice of words she used despite her seemingly poor command of English is amazing. She could just as simply have said "Toilet cleaning" , "Out of order" or plain uttered "Cleaning" and any Singaporean would have got the message.
But No. She said those three words "Follow the system" that still rings loud and clear in my mind everytime i recall that bizzare incident. Ok it may seem really weird why i'm bringing up such a trivial issue that i should have just dismissed like my friend who was my co-witness did.
It's just that those three words seem to resonate very much in Singaporean and modern society, where we face a non-organic, mechanical and supposedly impartial, dispassionate System in many aspects of our daily life and we are expected to adhere to the rules and instructions administered by the System for our day-to-day dealings.
Even in the aforementioned case, although there was technically a very much living and agitated female toilet attendant shouting the instruction to me, i see her more as a tool of the System. The system uses her to keep out people like me who are ignorant of the stringent cleaning times(Who memorises them man?), who have stepped over the line and are attempting to upset the System due owing to my private agenda that is insignificant as compared to upholding the sanctity of the System's cleaning timings.
Well in fact, i was following the System. Perhaps she was not, for she didn't display the mandatory 'Cleaning in progress' sign in bright yellow, which if i had seen i would get the message and skip that toilet immediately. No issue. But no. She stood at the door with a mop and perhaps thus upset the usual System of recognising whether a public toilet could be used.
Moving on from this trivial issue, which i see as a reflection of a larger general mentality that the State adopts when it deals with individuals who attempt direct contact with the State. Ever tried to consult your MP for a personal issue? Well first you got to find out and be sure who is the MP directly in charge of your district is. Then you have to email (You'd be surprised how some organisations respond to email faster and are more receptive to them than phone calls) the administrative personnel to ask for available dates. Finally you may be given a slot based on the urgency of your issue, the nature of which must be revealed and screened by the administrative personnel. You might start wondering if you're actually consulting your MP at all, almost able to imagine his briefers whispering notes to him while he flips your docket right before seeing you after a long wait. How's that for increasing attempts to bridge the divide between the masses and those who rule over them and are supposed to hear and voice their popular concerns?
Yes it may seem only reasonable that a system is developed so that our overworked part-time MPs are not burdened by citizens with unjustifiable petty concerns or simply inundated by too many consultations at once. But to develop a system so entrenched in systemic efficiency that it ironically succeeds in expanding the divide between the citizen with concern and the powers-that-be, i guess this beckons a re-thought.
Here's a more extreme example of Follow The System. Quite a while back i found my library card missing and reported it to the good librarian immediately. Since i had lost it on the same day of reporting, i thought i was safe even if someone had borrowed it. Yet the good librarian was sorry to inform me that a Malay title was borrowed using my card just minutes before i had reported the missing card. Although i tried my very best at verbally explaining how i had lost it only a few minutes ago and that i had no reason to cheat good NLB of a cheap Malay title that i didnt understand, the good librarian said he had to go "law by law, book by book". I noted the nice pun but i was still furious. The good librarian dispensed me saying that i stood a better chance writing a formal letter to the head of the Branch rather than him as he was just a part-time frontdesk employee who held no influence.
A formal letter i wrote indeed to the Branch Head, which i also forwarded to the relevant NLB manager who was technically the Branch Head's superior. ANd i think this neat little trick did the trick and got me off the hook, given my understanding of the hierarchical relationship in governmental bodies. The fact that i couldn't settle the issue straight away at the Branch customer service desk was just amazing. What's more outrageous was that i had to type out a powerfully-worded letter of 'appeal' to a manager who would probably have been briefed even before the letter lands on his desk, in order to maintain organisational integrity and a common stand on issues. Well the greater point is how this was quite an extreme example of people following the System purely for the mechanical sake of following the Sytem. The very fact that the craziness and frustration such behaviour creates for end-users evades the administrators who perpetuate is just hard to comprehend. It's probably the kind of issues that hit you so hard you feel the need to just go and lie down to catch your breath.
And these are just 2 seemingly ordinary experiences from me. I'm sure somewhere along the line you have experienced this Follow the System mentality in-the-face. Sometimes i guess it is the ignorance or acceptance of such ridiculous attitudes that helps to perpetuate their constant existence. Sometimes we can reasonably accept it as a characteristic of a modern state and economy where the government and adherent organs of state are expected to posesss business-like efficiency. Yet when this seemingly impartial attitude is applied wholesale to all of society, some conflicts may arise and it is up to us to be more conscious of them to avoid being entrapped in systemic jargon that may inadvertently ensnare the unwitting citizen who crosses the line.
posted by Firefox at 10:30 AM
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