Today when I went to work, I saw the same sight that has been greeting me since sometime last week - a whole bunch (about 14?) of empty reserved lots. And everytime I see these I will be irritated, because, as a selfish driver, I do want lots that are nearer to the building in which I work. So, being Singaporean, I griped about it to my colleague, and being a new blogger, promised him that I would write about it :P
Of course, as my colleague rightly pointed out, my employer has the perfect right to reserve lots for VIPs that are visiting. But because I am irritated by this practice, I have to find another angle from which to criticise this kind of action.
But before doing that, I want to emphasise that I have nothing (on topic) against these VIPs [I do have some gripes that are unrelated to this incident]. In fact, I doubt that they would mind parking in normal visitor lots. My gripe is completely against my employer's actions.
First, the lots that are being reserved are staff lots. There is plenty of parking space in the visitor's carpark (of course, when the staff lots are being reserved, the visitor lots get used up alot quicker, by staff cars). So why don't the VIPs, being visitors, park in the visitor's lots? Well, I would think that it is because the visitor carpark is significantly further from the main building than the staff carpark.
Now, if the VIPs have problems walking, I wouldn't mind if they parked near the main building, but the point is these are people from the SAF. And they are supposed to be fit - in fact, they probably are alot fitter than me. Being fitter, I would expect that walking from the visitor's carpark to the main building probably induces much less discomfort than most people. Maybe this argument doesn't apply to ministers, but.. I don't think the ministers that visit have much problems walking either. And even if there were people who had difficulty walking, the number of cars carrying them would be much less than 14.
Perhaps it is a form of common courtesy that my employer affords to guests that are here on business. This argument doesn't quite make it because on the same day, I saw a WO, and a LTA or CPT parking in the visitor lots. Clearly, the reserved lots were not for them, even though they were here on business. The main "party" who was going to be there today was the CAF. So the lots were probably for his entourage.
Being extremely uncreative, the only other reason I can think of is... well, maybe the reserved lots are for the rich and/or powerful (R&P). Certainly, CAF and ministers fall into that category. This kind of reason is deeply unsatisfying (in part because as humans, we also have a partial desire to be R&P, I guess, and this kind of behaviour just points us to our un-R&P-ness, yah?). Well, this aside, assume that this _is_ the reason...
Suppose a middle manager rudely tells his subordinates to clear out of the way for his boss's visit, and then treats his boss nicely. A phrase we use to describe this is "suck up" (SU). What are the probable reasons for SU-ing? Well, to gain some advantage, I guess? Transfer that pattern of thought to the case of my employer. What advantage does it stand to gain?
What is the impact of these actions on the psyche of us employees? Well, for one, a vibe I get is "hey, if you're R&P, you'll get to enjoy all these as well!". Another is "well, because you're just a normal staff, you'll just have to live with these inconveniences. Aiyah.. anyway, only walk abit mah don't complain too much. Be glad that you even have a parking lot up here", and "staff should treat customer better (physically)! If you have meetings with them, make sure they are comfortable - oh, you can order refreshments for them too... but for internal meetings... oh we should be more thrifty and not spend on refreshments" [NOTE: I state here that the official policy is that refreshments are allowed based on the length of the meeting and not the particular persons attending].
Well, having said all that stuff about being disgusted with my employer for SU-ing, do I practice this? Well, yes. I definitely tend to treat (and have better thoughts of) my colleagues, friends, etc better than, say, a construction worker. Is this right? Well, no, at least, I don't think so... James 2:1-9 essentially speaks against that.
Hmm... wonder how I should end of... this rambling has taken up more time than I expected... well.. till next time...
