Holes

It's the first of December and the Ox is back at work. As per the usual, the good ol' office has seen fit to add some more weird-ass rules into its already long list of insane ones. One that really rankles me is the new "Vice Chancellor has to approve every overseas trip taken by a staff member, personal or otherwise" rule. Now someone please tell me what purpose that serves. Then it's the usual "we want you to go overseas for your PhD as soon as possible" token gesture while at the same time they add more rules/regulations/conditions that make sneaking out of a Russian gulag seem easier.

Hooray for the bureaucracy.

Come to think of it, hooray for the wonderfully flexible education system that pretends to seed knowledge when it's actually just a rote driven exercise in futility. Oh, and the final cheer goes to the non-ambitants (my own word, describing people with no ambition AND sense) who seem to be put on higher and higher positions every year. On this cloudy Monday morning, I am completely and utterly disgusted. I procrastinate (I admit) and sometimes slack off, but there's just no excuse for enforced (and rewarded) incompetency.

Whatever sense the British thought their bureaucracy would bring into our system, they definitely took it back with 'em. Maybe it's not their fault. Maybe we're just too used to our "daun keladi" skins that anything that remotely resembles intelligent conduct just slides off. Or perhaps (God forbid), it's all MY fault, for wanting to study abroad, for wanting to do something with myself, for always wanting wanting wanting. I can see it now:

"You're still young, no need to rush things."
"Why the hurry? You'll get there anyway."

No. I may not be destined for greatness (despite what I want to believe), but I know I can make something out of my life and hopefully, make a difference in others' as well. There's a whole wide world out there just waiting for me to see, hear and breathe. And God willing, maybe I'll even have company on the ride. Even if everything turns to dust and I fail miserably, I'll know I gave it my best, and hopefully those non-ambitants will be smarter than to stand in the way of an Ox.