Eating Blind Salary

Star Q

i.  Kerabu Ayam / Chicken Salad

ii.  Revamping Innovations

iii.  Not My Mom's Macaroni

Today is the last day of school for this year and many are ecstatic about spending their month-long school holiday.  Many would have made plans to go overseas as their holiday destinations and just as many holidaymakers have also chosen local destinations.

For those working as clerks and lab assistants in schools, the situation is quite similar.  Since there will be no students and teachers to tend to during the school holidays, they too will consider themselves to be on vacation.

The clerks in the school offices will have a field day enjoying themselves, going to work to empty schools.  Daily plans of having potluck sessions, gossiping and surfing the internet whenever they like are all scheduled to fill the void during the thirty days holiday.  

I am not jumping to conclusion here but I am actually writing based on what I have seen, and I am sure the situation is not about to change anytime soon.  It is also the norm for these civil servants to come to work late, especially after Friday prayers when they do not need to clock in.  So, if they are required to report back for work at 2.45 p.m., most will come back at 3.00 p.m. or slightly later.

Some will go to the extent of holding cooking sessions in their offices especially when the boss is not around; cooking which would include frying different kinds of foodstuffs.  Some will start surfing the internet as soon their arrive for 'work' responding to comments to their status uploaded in a variety of social networks.

Those are the few examples that I have seen with my own eyes; whatever else that occur behind closed doors is beyond me.  

I have always felt that since these clerks have nothing to do during the long year-end school holiday, they should be forced to apply for their annual leave during this time of the year.  They  should take it on a rotation basis where only one staff should be in the office at any one time because even if there is work to be done during the holiday, it may not take more than one person to do it.

In times when people holding other occupations seem to be inundated with work, it is atrocious to see that some people go to work and have simply nothing to do, which brings to mind the Malay proverb Makan Gaji Buta (eating blind salary!)

Note : Only if the shoes fit.