Disillusionment with governance

Has to be one of the worst days since employment here...

Since reading that email, i still find it inexplicable and incredibly flabbergasted the way parent company's system works, and to say i'm downright disappointed is an extreme understatement. Fuming mad to say the least.

The specific query on my event proposal from the parent company is that how much the sponsor had given in order to warrant M's grace, and even after providing the figures (rather suspiciously), they even had the cheek to cynically remark if we are actually serious that the event is worth M's appearance!!! I was like... what the fuck?!! U mean if there isn't "enough" money in there, regardless of what the contribution and donation stands for, it won't be worth their while to sweat and feed mosquitoes on a saturday morning?!! Our governance runs on the value of the dollar sign?! Then for what kind of future are we working for? M's graces are for hire to the highest bidder? No money no talk? That the new generation are to be born and bred on a diet of materialistic survival mindset where the only true value of virtues is the colour of money? Then what the fuck are we really striving for ourselves and our country? That we pay taxes so we can have smiley people with unfeeling bottomlines taking care of our well-being and good life, breeding apathy, ignorance, arrogance and selfishness?

This reminds me of the old story (probably forgotten by those blind to other else) of the old woman and the temple. The temple followers had wanted to construct a newer and better temple in honour of their deity overseeing their good fortunes and blessed days, and went out in solicitation of donations. And old lady went up to them to contribute the remaining of her worldly possessions (with enough to presumably get by herself) - 4 copper coins. The followers gave a laugh at the paltry sum and how financially insignificant the 4 coins will be to the creation of a grandiose proud repose for their deity, and threw them into the ditch nearby. The lady, disappointed and shamed, went away.

When the temple was near completion, things start to go wrong. Stone walls begin to crack and erect solid timbers became strained and bent. Eventually the temple collapsed before even receiving its first pilgrims. Several more attempts were made to rebuild but all came to naught. The worried followers start to question the events and eventually found out that the wrath of their deity was incurred because they had not respected the old lady's contributions, given how she had accorded more value to the building of the temple than of her own material needs, and instead judged her significance on the dollar sign rather than the true meaning of her giving.

Needless to say, the temple was finally built with the 4 original coins, and the lady vindicated. Now i don't say that the sponsor is likened to the old lady, but that the parent company, as with the followers even with the best of intentions, failed to look beyond the monetary value of the contributions, much less the effort that goes into organising the whole event.

The personal efforts towards the event is immaterial. However, this revelation really made me think hard and deep about the sort of values the parent company espouses and potrays in contradiction. The donation may be a sort of publicity promotion, but it underlies the values their organisation seeks to potray themselves, and to believe in as their company culture, as a socially responsible corporate citizen. I find it especially hard to swallow that these "other" values are lost on those of powers. I can take disappointment and failure for not being able to have M's grace for good reasons, but not the apparent fact that disregarding the meaning of the initiatives, the cash simply outweighs all other factors. Says so much about what values underlie "good" governance - perfectly understandable in a corporate business sense but totally unforgivable in a company that was built by the people for the people, now seemingly taking on the tact of "show me the money and i'll give you your dues".

Ultimately, the people will lay their life for their country because of nationalistic pride and familial values, but not for a company that runs the nation based on the dollar sign everyone contributes and on the limited goodwill of the people.