Following the rules.

In Malaysian government, nothing happens without a Call Letter.

If I want to run a workshop I have to get such a letter sent to myself.

And then have it translated from Malay so I know what I should be doing, at what time, and where.

At first I thought, ok, this is like Qatar. As long as the paperwork follows at some point in time, I'll just go ahead and do what I have [verbal] permission to do.

Nup.

Puan Jaya: Simone, you don't move without a Call Letter. What happens if you write that presentation then turn up and they've cancelled the event!

Puan Jaya: I flew to Sabah once and when I got there they said sorry, we changed our minds!

Puan Jaya: Do not move without a Call Letter. Make them fax it to you. Tell them you're not going to do anything without a Call Letter.

Yes Puan Jaya expresses herself forcefully [Malaysians call this 'brutal honesty'], but as her advice is invariably good, I comply.

The faxed Call Letter duly arrives. The time has changed. The date has changed. The hotel has changed. The city in which the event is to be held has changed. [Now you see why I listen to Puan Jaya.]

The director has manually corrected my title [which hasn't changed] and signed the letter directly below the salutation which reads: Saya yang menurut perintah: I am one who follows the rules.

Simone making up the rules as she goes along to the great amusement of everyone else. [I call this 'teaching.']

I ask you, how could I end up in a country which requires its public servants to use this closing salutation on each and every letter?

How is it that I report to a director I would never accuse of following the rules because to do so would be a form of abuse as I understand it?

How is it that I report to a director who would probably take such abuse as a compliment since he's Malaysian?

Puan Azizah & Puan Jaya: Brutally, honestly furthering my understanding of the Malaysian workplace.

I have more or less got used to the politics at work. [Malaysians call this 'backstabbing.' I call it 'a bloodbath.']

I have more or less got used to Call Letters, Clocking In and Out with 1950s punch cards and Permission-to-Leave-the-Campus forms in duplicate. [Malaysians call this 'accountabilty.' I call it 'a pain in the arse.']

But I will never EVER get used to this salutation.

I am one who tries hard to comply with but generally fails abysmally to follow the rules. Life is much more interesting without them!

Simone