NKF: Susidies Revisited

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I couldn’t help but recall this old dinosaur (see box below) when I read this:

[NKF] failed to pass on the rebates it got on its bulk purchase of medicine (e.g. one drug costs $25. It gave patients a $13 discount and charged them $12. But NKF paid only $8.20 for the drug. It pocketed a 46% profit.

From the ST Aug 6, 2004

HDB pricing keeps new flats affordable to most Singaporeans

I REFER to the letters, ‘What goes into pricing of HDB flats’ (ST, July 23) by Mr Hiong Kum Meng and ‘Subsidy should be based on flat’s building cost’ (ST, July 27) by Mr Mohamed Rafiq Hamjah.

Mr Hiong concluded that the increase in HDB resale prices has outstripped wage growth, based on a comparison of changes in the Resale Price Index with changes in average nominal wages between 1993 and 2003.

We would like to explain that resale flats are transacted in the open market on a willing buyer-willing seller basis. The prices are not set by HDB. Prices can fluctuate, depending on factors such as the economic outlook, employment situation and sentiments in the property market.

What is important is that HDB prices its new flats so that the majority of Singaporeans can afford one. From 1993 to 2003, the prices of new four-room flats increased by 2.6 per cent per annum, below the annual increase of 5.3 per cent in average wages cited by Mr Hiong. New-flat prices did not rise as steeply as resale-flat prices, because HDB prices new flats below their equivalent market price, that is, at a subsidy.

Mr Mohamed asked why HDB’s subsidy for new flats is related to the market price and not the building cost of a flat. Today, first-time HDB flat buyers can buy either resale or new flats. Those who opt to buy resale flats from the open market can take up a housing grant of $30,000 or $40,000, which allows them to enjoy a discount off the market price of the flat.

Those who opt to buy new flats from HDB also enjoy a discount off the equivalent market price of the flat.

The difference between what the buyer pays HDB for his flat and what it is actually worth in the market is a direct and real subsidy provided by HDB to the buyer.

Like the housing grant for resale flats, the provision of such a market-related subsidy in the case of new flats has enabled HDB to keep its flats affordable for the majority of Singaporeans.

DESMOND WONG
Deputy Director (Marketing & Planning)
for Director (Estate Administration & Property)
Housing & Development Board

Please take note of how the nouns subsidy and discount are laid out in the above letter.

Here’s some English lessons:

  • subsidy
    noun
    Inflected Form(s): plural -dies
    a grant or gift of money: as a : a sum of money formerly granted by the British Parliament to the crown and raised by special taxation b : money granted by one state to another c : a grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public.
  • discount
    noun
    1 : a reduction made from the gross amount or value of something: as a (1) : a reduction made from a regular or list price (2) : a proportionate deduction from a debt account usually made for cash or prompt payment b : a deduction made for interest in advancing money upon or purchasing a bill or note not due
    2 : the act or practice of discounting
    3 : a deduction taken or allowance made

What is the point I am trying to make here?

It is my considered opinion that a subsidy is an amount of real money given out at one’s own expense, while a discount is simply a figure struck off from the real amount without any real money exchanging hands.

In other words, the HDB is really just giving a discount to first-time flat buyers, while in reality, the direct and real subsidy is actually given by the buyer to the seller when the first-time buyer resell his flat after a certain amount of years.

Still don’t get the what the babble is all about?

Ok. Let me give an example. Say, the flat prices for a resale 5-room HDB is $300K at some ulu location. You pay the HDB $200K for a new one at the same ulu-location as a first-time buyer. The HDB claims that it has given you, $100K in ‘real and direct subsidies’. Now, say when you sell your flat 5 years later – you have to stay in it for five years if you are a first time owner – and the price evaluated is $280K now because you are so fortunate to be selling during a slump. You made a profit of $80K but what has happened to the $20K which the HDB claims to be your ‘real and direct subsidies’.

Better still, your flat’s price has gone up to $400K. Does that mean that the HDB has actually give your $200K in ‘real and direct subsidies’?

Well? You get the idea.

So, I must say, there is really no issue with the NKF having claimed to have saved patients more than $3.5 million by offering them lower drug prices and subsidies while actually made close to $1 million each year, in 2003 & 2004, in gross profit from the sale of such drugs.

Really, if the HDB calls such as subsidies and it appeared to me that they have been consistent in their public letters to call it as such, then the NKF is right to do the same, isn’t it?

NKF: Reloaded

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Inflated bonuses. Exaggerated costs. Seeming cronyism. All these, in above the golden tap, the pricey toilet bowl, glass panelled showers, flying first class, and golden peanuts.

What else is new?

The old NKF never cease to amaze us all. Perhaps no story is more more astonishing than this, other than finding that your wife is sleeping with your brother and all your friends, or that she is a bisexual having an affair with your own sister and all her girlfriends. Or perhaps, finding that your kid is actually not yours.

And are we all not surprised that there’s really more shit to be told in this mess? What they were surprised about is what took them so long.

The startling facts:

  • Only 10% of whatever was collected from donations went to patients. Yep, you donate $1, patients get 10 cents only;
  • Actually supporting 1745 patients but claimed to be 2000;
  • Actually helping 3388 patients but claimed to be 5000 – 6000;
  • Actually subsidised 145, but claimed to have helped 2900 – 3600 children with it’s Children Medical Funds;
  • Using figure which included all primary school pupils who had health screenings done at their schools by NKF and claimed that the Children’s Medical Fund supported 45000 suffering children;
  • Pegged the cost of haemodialysis at $2,600 per patient per month, but by KPMG calculations, it was $1,502;
  • Claimed its patient subsidy averages $1,475 a month when the actual subsidy: $377 a month;
  • Claimed to have saved patients more than $3.5 million by offering them lower drug prices and subsidies but actually made close to $1 million each year, in 2003 & 2004, in gross profit from the sale of such drugs;
  • Actually raised $16.9 million but claimed to have raise $17.2 million in last year’s charity show;
  • Spent $5.7 million instead of $4.9 million to produce last year’s charity show;
  • Actually raised $12,906,096 but claimed to have raise $12,947,033 for the Children’s Medical Fund through the charity shows;
  • Spent $5 million instead of $3.9 million to produce the charity shows;
  • Actually only $242,440 but claimed it raised $252,440 during its Good Samaritan’s Day in August last year;
  • Claimed that it spent $75,699 on the project but the auditors found that it spent ‘in excess’ of $75,699; and
  • Failed to pass on the rebates it got on its bulk purchase of medicine (e.g. one drug costs $25. It gave patients a $13 discount and charged them $12. But NKF paid only $8.20 for the drug. It pocketed a 46% profit.

That last one is really ultimate but it reminds me of a particular million dollar fcukwit’s lecturing Workers’ Party MP Mr Low Thia Kiang about ‘Economics 101’ when Low was asking about how HDB give subsidies and yet made profits. The old NKF is such a good student.

The gory details:

  • Salary increments (Notable cases: One doubles a fundraiser’s pay in less than a year and another to more than 6 times the original pay in 5 years.);
  • Special bonuses that were ‘event specific’ and also to those who got married ;
  • Ex gratia exit payments up to 10 months of salary were paid were paid to staff when they quit;
  • 3.3 million paid out to a subsequently defunct and non-existent company (owned by Durai’s personal friend and subsequently went defunct) for a software which it fails to deliver;
  • Overpayment of a total of $455,000 to two different companies (first one owned by the same friend, with Matilda Chua as a SVP in it, and the second which Durai himself is a Director) to run a telemarketing centre that failed to meet its targets;
  • Paid $611,000 for the grand prize of a three-bedroom apartment at Monterey Park condominium in the West Coast;
  • Charged that cost to the 2003 Charity Show accounts instead of the 2004 one;
  • $114,980 Bonuses and CPF payments given to some staff as a reward for their work on the 2004 Charity Show, were not accounted as an expense;
  • Income of $285,714 from insurance company Aviva was put down as a donation; and
  • A $70,000 to Las Vegas for him and five members of the events marketing team, including a former board member and a senior volunteer with nothing to show.

Damn! I wanna go Las Vegas too. I wanna sign up. Just too bad the old NKF is gone.

The golden ‘peanut’:

  • Charged $1.2 million a year (90% of the running cost of its CEO’s office) as part of treatment cost;
  • A monthly average credit card bill of of $32,952 last year;
  • 19 trips on first class tickets costing $322,000;
  • Turned down a 8-month bonus for 5 months, and then end up getting extra $66,000 in backpay and extra bonus;
  • Getting extra leave backdated 7 years which was cashed in for $73,000;
  • Getting $187,000 in ‘overtime’ pay between September 1997 – October 2003;
  • Three insurance policies: two personal accident policies and one surgical and hospitalisation policy.

Wah piang eh! This ‘peanut’ or ‘coconut’?!

And one of my friend’s comment was: ‘Durai’s ‘good heart’ – i.e. conscience – let dog eat already’. [Translation: 杜莱的良心给狗吃了。]

是的，各位市民。他的良心已经不存在啦。[Translation: Yes, fellow citizens. His conscience is non-existent.]

And I should also add, when considering the super good treatment of Matilda Chua: 他还拿已经没有的良心来做‘好事’呢。 [Translation: He even use that already non-existent good heart to do good deeds.]

(For reference: Matilda Chua got six-month bonus of $75,000 and an ex-gratia payment of another $75,000 when she resigned. She also received an encashment of unused leave that came to $79,195. She has also received 14 months bonus previously.)

The KPMG reports seems to indicate that the checks and balances failed just like Barings. Nobody seems to have had oversight over CEO T.T. Durai and his ‘coterie of long-serving assistants’.

Not the board, not the auditors and not even the gover-min regulators.

I wondered if this would have made even Nick Leeson proud!

日本右翼漫画 [Japanese Right-Wing Manga]

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以下的插图是取自日本垃圾漫画‘嫌韩流’
The following is extracted from a piece of Japanese manga crap called ‘Hating the Korean Wave’.

[上图 – 右白］　成为日本人的朝鲜人得到了很大的好处。
[Top Pic – Right Caption] And the Koreans who became Japanese received great benefits.
[上图 – 左白］　在自己的能力下无法现代化的朝鲜人，以日本的财力与科技和日本人的血与汗达到了目的。
[Top Pic – Left Caption] For they could achieve modernization, which was impossible by their own efforts, with Japanese funds and technology, by sweat and blood of the Japanese.
[下图 – 白]　说是日本建立了今天的韩国并不夸张！！
[Bottom Pic Caption] It’s not an exaggeration to say that Japan built the Korea of today!!
Click to Enlarge


Click to Enlarge
[对白 – 由右至左］
“远东研究协会认为日韩基本条约是个正当的条约吗？”
“正当的条约？”
“你是询问我们个人主观的意见吗？”


卑鄙的日本右翼份子正在利用漫画来掩饰其侵略邻近亚洲国家的罪行，并且还将其美化和正当化。这本叫 ‘嫌韩流’ 的漫画将今日韩国的经济崛起归功于日本将朝鲜殖民化。书中甚至还发出了 ‘朝鲜文化没有什么值得骄傲的’ 言论。这种片面的说法完全掩盖了日本非法占领朝鲜半岛时对朝鲜民族的迫害，让人们误以为日本 ‘解放’ 了朝鲜半岛，把朝鲜人 ‘从黑暗和落后中带向光明和进步’。

与此同时，另外一本丑化中国的漫画也在发行，并且和 ‘嫌韩流’ 一样在日本畅销。这本漫画里头不但把中华民族描写成一个腐败而且好自相残杀的民族。书里的一个女性人物甚至说了这一句话：‘就以中国今日的原则，思想，文学，艺术，科学和机关来说。它们没有一样是有吸引人的。’

这些漫画以贬低其它民族来提倡日本人的优越性，并怂恿其读者与中国和朝鲜人对抗。

曾经被日本蹂躏的亚洲国家如果还认为这只是中国和朝鲜人的事，那日本人将会更加明目张胆的挑衅，而且更变本加厉的改写和扭曲历史。如果我们只顾经济利益而继续做缩头乌龟, 那么日本人将继续蔑视和看不起我们了。

日本人已经把 ‘自卫队’ 改名为 ‘自卫军’ 了。我们还不觉醒的话，不久的将来日本人就会改写 ‘自卫’ 的意义了。我们要等什么时候才来和中国和朝鲜同仇敌忾？

The despicable right winged Japanese are curently using their manga to conceal their crimes of invading neighbouring Asian countries, while glorifying and justifying such action. The manga ‘Hating the Korean Wave’ portray the economic rise of Korea today to Japan’s colonisation of the Korean Peninsula. In the manga, there’s even the comment that ‘there is nothing at all in Korean culture to be proud of’. Such views hide the fact of Japanese persecution of the Korean people during its illegal occupation, and give people the false impression that Japan has ‘liberated’ the Korean Peninsula, and led the Koreans from ‘an age of darkness and backwardness into the light and modernisation’‘.

At the same time, another manga smearing China is also in circulation, and along with ‘Hating the Korean Wave’ are best sellers in Japan. The manga depicted the Chinese as a depraved and cannabalistic people. One of the female characters in the comic even made this comment, ‘Take the China of today – its principles, thought, literature, art, science, institutions. There’s nothing attractive.’

Such manga disparages other races to promote the superiority of the Japanese people, and instigate its readers into confrontation with the Chinese and Korean people.

If those countries which has been devastated by Japan continue to turn a blind eye and consider this a Chinese and Korean matter, then the Japanese will be even more embolden in their provocation, and will intensify their attempts at rewriting and distorting history. If we continue to be concern with our economic benefits and stick our head in the ground, then the Japanese will continue to despise and look down on us.

The Japanese have alreaady reworded the Japanese name of ‘Self Defense Force’. If we still do not awaken, it won’t be long before the Japanese redefine the meaning of the word ‘self defense’. When will we stand together with China and Korea in this matter?

Appraisal Session – An ‘after action’ Report

Session Start: 1103hrs, 2005.1216
Session End: Approximately 1135hrs, 2005.1216

Some names and terms are changed and edited to keep this as anonymous as possible. Companies generally do not like their staff blogging about their work and dissing their own bosses.

Botak started off asking me to read the comments on the Appraisal. Here’s how he graded me with regards to the objectives set last year.

  • Policies, Standards, Guidelines, Compliance, Security and Audit
    be compliant & follow processes : 2

  • DRC – Windows Installation Server, Windows Un-attended Install
    participation : 2

  • Network – Remote Access, Blackberry
    responsive support : 3

  • Audit/Video – Phone system, Video conference
    responsive support : 3

  • Windows – W2K/XP Un-attended Install, Server Data Backup, MDS (Reuters, Bloomberg, EBS)
    participation : 3

  • Helpdesk – IT Helpdesk Support daily tasks, Application access
    responsive support : 2

Note: 1 being very good, 2 being on track. Therefore, anything more than 2 is not good enough.

Overall: Lower end of peers at *company name deleted* (i.e. I not as good as the other guys.)

I am already fed up when I read how I was graded. I never imagined I would be even madder when I hear the reasons behind some of them.

Anyway, the Botak kicked off the session with the comment that I am capable of delivering the service but that I never package it nicely. (e.g. pull a long face, body language that indicates unhappiness etc. And of course, my temper.) I have no objection regarding these things since he didn’t said that I failed to deliver the service. Had he done so, I would have given him a piece of my mind there and then.

Personally speaking, I don’t really give much of a damn anyway. Whether people liked me or not is pretty irrelevant, and the fact is most people won’t remember you for the good things you do, but they will only remember the times you faltered gave me no incentive to put on a smiling face at all.

The people who worked with me know I have never given much consideration about the cosmetic aspects. You certainly won’t find that “Yes sir? How can I help you sir? I think I have to reboot your PC sir. And yes sir, there is no solution other than reboot sir. Yes, kill me sir. I am here to take all this, sir.” from me. Sadly, such ‘good packaging’ is what people calls good service. It doesn’t matter that in the example I cited above, the ‘good service’ person hasn’t really given a solution or provided any real service. * sigh *

And Botak continued saying that I should take up more in the unattended rollouts since ‘Dr. T’ is one man and too many things to do. (Tell us something we don’t already know already?) Frankly, among ourselves we have always informed one another to help out when necessary. I wonder if Botak knows at all we do make internal arrangements to settle these things? I really can’t be bothered to tell him the details and I do hope ‘Dr. T’ to do his part in f@#$ing the Botak should this be brought when his turn comes.

After this, everything started going down hill. Here are some of the things:

  1. Not ‘taking ownership’ of Remote Access

    I was really puzzled about this. First of all, account creation and token assignment is done by London. While the Botak submits the requests using an online form, he has never shown us how that is done. And once that is done, all we need to do is ensure that the information of when the token will expire, who the token is being assigned to, is updated in an Excel spreadsheet, before we pass the token to the user with the respective instructions.

    So I asked the Botak what ‘ownership’ is he talking about here and he cited the example of me not replying to his two silly mails about how many tokens are expiring and how many needs to be purchased.

    I find that really silly and I replied, “That data is on the file.”

    Botak insisted that this is an example of me ‘not taking ownership’

    I was really mad and I reiterated, “The information is on the file. Why am I asked to go and look at the information and tabulate them for you when you can look at them yourself?”

    He said, “You don’t understand ownership.”

    I retorted, “What ownership? I am told to update the file. Did I not update the file? If you need info, the info is IN THE FILE.”

    He then asked me, “Why is the file there?”

    I replied, “It was you who told me to update it.”

    He then say, “What is the point of it being there then if you don’t ‘take ownership’?”

    I said “I have no use of this file. You told me and ‘Dr. L’ to update it.”

    He said “If you have no use of it then how to know when token expire and how many to buy? We would have no idea. We would be blind.”

    In my head I was wondering who is the ‘we’ he’s referring to. And I said, “I ain’t the one who is buying these things. You are the one asking about the quantity to buy.”

    He then repeated this, “You still don’t understand what is ownership.”

    My reply? – “Duh!”

    I suppose, in his mind, ‘taking ownership’ of something is simply as easily as right clicking on a file, select ‘Properties’, click on the ‘Security’ tab, then the ‘Take ownership’ tab, and then add my NT account to it and click on ‘Apply’.

    Anyway, it remains a puzzle what this ‘take ownership’ crap is all about. If ‘taking ownership’ simply means we should take all the shit jobs he didn’t like to do, he can jolly well dream on. No one is going to do redundant tasks.

  2. Task Monitoring

    This was the next thing he mentioned. He said that if I read his last mail on this matter I would know that the big boss wanted to see statistics on the tasks we have performed. He also said something about this being global directive.

    Well? Who among us will know if it isn’t global directives anyway?

    He said I should look into updating the tasks completed into that silly webpage from start of next year in which I replied, “Actually, YOU should look into why we have stopped updating into the webpage.”

    He asked me for the reason and I told him that this stupid thing generates too many emails and he said he knows because he is in the mail group which receives them. Then he goes on to say that all we need to do is just update it and close the tasks quickly. “Just update then quickly close the case.”

    Obviously, he is asking me to stick my head in the ground and ignore the problem! Gee, I wonder if he’s even listening to what I am saying at all!! And so I repeated my view that this doesn’t mean that problem has gone away.

    And at this point he threw me the question, “So what do you want? Go back to using the Excel file? Is that what you wanted?”

    Bah! What a wonderful display of lea-duhship and management qualities! Just which school of management did this guy graduated from anyway? Either way, I ain’t the one who wants these cosmetic shits to ‘zo ho kwa’, you know?

    I kept silent as these goes on in my head and after a uneasy moment of silence he repeated his question in which I told him, “Speak with ‘Dr Y’ and get his opinion on this matter first before we proceed.”

  3. Blackberry Enterprise Server

    After this, he moved on to the topic of ‘taking ownership of Blackberry Enterprise Server’ so to free ‘Dr L’.

    “I want you to be more involved,” he said. “I don’t want ‘Dr L’ to be a bottleneck with all these Blackberry related tasks stuck with him”.

    He then asked me what I will need and I said all I need is access to the offsite International BES since some of the accounts are there.

    He said he will removed the access originally given to ‘Dr T’ give it to me instead.

    Well, I suppose ‘Dr L’ should ask the Botak if he also meant I should take over also the vendor relation part – e.g. getting replacements for lost sets, upgrading, applying for new users et. al.

    I’ll sort this out with ‘Dr L’ when I come back from leave.

  4. Data Backup

    I am sincerely hoping that we can wrap up this session soon at this point, but then at this point he saw the part on Data Backup in the objectives set for this year and said he wants to speak to ‘Dr L’ about this.

    I told him that I do not wish to touch this, and I had arranged with ‘Dr L’ to get myself briefed with solving some of the simple and common issues of systems which our back office is using.

    He objected sayign that he doesn’t want me to do those and said those are more server related. * Duh? Data backup not server related? See me no up think I cannot handle? *

    Again, I clash again with him here in which I said, “You said ‘Dr L’ is doing too much helpdesk stuff. Why is it that when I offered to help him, you now object to it?”

    He then went on to say that he would prefer these to be under the purview of applications support or management and I said, “Look, calling a vendor to resolve a connection issue or looking at whether a fault is related to downed service causing the error isn’t so much an application support issue. All I need to know is who to call and escalate so ‘Dr L’ can be freed of these.” (Basically, if it is a matter of restarting a service, that’s about the same as us restarting the spooling service on an NT print server. Furthermore, there are operators which monitors these back office systems. Why the heck do we need ‘Application Management or Support’ as another level of escalation over such simple matters? Someone ought to send this Botak for recourse in management.)

    And since he’s on the topic of this application management crap, I told him, “I think it is pointless to have this overlooked by application support. Also, have you seen the mails from the ‘Mussel’ before? Mails in which he just push all the things back to desktop support? I mean what’s the point of having these guys when I escalated to them and then they push back to me?”

    He asked me, “What mail?” and I am surprised that he hasn’t read those mails sent to our general helpdesk mailbox and went on to remind him.

    He said he didn’t read them because he receives many mails (Well, but he’s got time forwarding to us redundant junk!) and asked me what is so wrong with those mails?

    “Is it that you don’t have the skills to do what they asked? Tell me more about it and I’ll see the matter needs to be escalated to the Appleman and our department head.”

    I thought: ‘What’s the damned point? Read the damned mails and you’ll know what I meant. And department head sides with the Appleman so why waste time at all?’
    So I replied, “Just forget about it. Nevermind.”

At this point of time, I am really wishing to be out of the room soon. I decided that if I continue to raise more issues, it will only prolong the agony. Whatever further information I provide to him is a waste of saliva and effort. So, I basically answered “NO.” and gave non-committal replies to his other questions.

Basically, this session is merely just a formality. A formality to confirmed what I have always decided a long time ago – Botak is irrelevant.

‘Good’ Managers

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This is one the mails that was sent to the general mailbox of a MNC’s Desktop and Server Support.

Don’t bother where it came from and just read on.


>———-

>> From: Incompetent Boss

>> Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 5:43:40 PM

>> To: Desktop & Infrastructure Support

>> Subject: Sound cards on PCs

>> Auto forwarded by a Rule

>>

>>

Admin A,

The sound on Moron’s PC does not seem to work. Please take a look.

He also requested for all PCs to have this configured. This is needed to play sound recorded presentation.

Thanks.

Cast:

  • Incompetent Boss – Head of the MNC’s Desktop and Server Support section. Rank: Vice President.
  • Moron – Head of the MNC’s Application Support. Rank: Vice President.
  • Admin A – One of the two admins of the NT Server Support sub-section. Rank: Associate
  • Admin B – The other admin of the NT Server Support sub-seecto. Rank: Analyst.
  • Admic C – The admin of Unix and Linux Server Support sub-section. Rank:Analyst.
  • Support D & E – The desktop support guys dealing with the general whines of the rest of the staff in the MNC. Rank: 1x Analyst, 1x officer.

* names are remove to protect the reputation of the people involved, and of course, the rice bowl of the person who forwarded this dumb mail to me for a good laugh.

Just what is so wrong with this email?

First of all, this email is specifically sent to Admin A but for some odd reasons understood only by the Incompetent Boss, was sent to the entire team. Perhaps he wants whoever available to look at the problem, but then if that’s the case, why address it to just Admin A alone? Obviously he lacks the common sense and the blasted email etiquette and just send to Admin A!

Next, there is no relevant information given at all. The mail is about as informative as the emails Ah Kow the mailing boy sent to request for IT support. Had it been an email saying that all the basic troubleshooting was done, and a request for suggestions on how to get it resolved, it wouldn’t be so bad.

Looking at this email caused me to wonder if is it common place that lots of IT staff everywhere are actually headed by managers that are not IT savvy! It not just give the general impression that both of these vice-presidents don’t even have the basic troubleshooting skills, it also gives the impression that they are either plain incompetent, or they felt that such tasks are far beneath them. Whatever the case is, the admins and the support guys of this MNC are a really sorry bunch when even their own IT people needs to be spoonfed. I mean, if the things are spoilt and they needed the support guys to replace it or call in the warranty, that’s fine. But to actually have these guys do the basic troubleshooting stuff for their own IT department? Come on, show us some team spirit and leadership qualities, man!

So how was it ultimately resolved?

As Admin A was away offsite to deal with some more pressing matters along with Support D to help him out, Support E decided that this was really low priority. So Admin B was dragged into Moron’s room to look at the issue in the morning, 2 days later. And it really didn’t take Admin B very long to figure out what was wrong. Moron has plugged the headphones of a video equipment into the headphone/speaker jack!! No wonder there was no sound coming from the PC speaker even when the volume was set to maximum! And guess what? Support D told Admin A that this is probably what is the problem when he read the mail offsite, and Support E told Admin B the day before at lunch that if Moron has any brains at all, he would put out everything until only the keyboard, mouse and monitor is connected to the PC, and try again!

Wanna hazard a guess whic genius who plugged the headphones in? Who else but Moron himself?!

The entire team doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Either way, the matter was resolved and of course, such stupidity and (lack of) good management gets an honourable mention.

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