AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following article has been deliberately watered down to avoid insensitivity, derogatory remarks and other repercussions. Any references made are unintentional and any resemblance to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This, in no way, fully represents the author's stand as certain statements had been omitted.
I have been working in The Corporation for the past 671 days, and I have seen a lot to know that it’s not a place you want to be in for long. But now that I have been discharged from service, I need to share what I’ve learnt about this shady organization. It’s time the people know.
One year and ten months ago, we gave up our identity to The Corporation. We donned dull coloured uniforms coupled with standard issues, and were told to pledge our lives to a higher purpose. Then, we were just 18-year old able-bodied males, fresh out of college and looking forward to a much needed break in life. But how ruthlessly were we plucked off from the streets, our heads shaven, and our lives dictated. Such is the reality, the doings of The Corporation, robbing adolescents of their youth and freedom at their prime.
FIGHT OR FLIGHT?
The concept of forced conscription is necessary to ensure that there is a steady infusion of new blood into the system while the old are eradicated and given an honourable discharge. Ironically, it’s also its own failing. It’s an open secret that many are disgruntled by The Corporation’s sudden intrusion into their lives, taking away what they hold dearest and tossing them into the fray. Although those inducted have pledged under the Oath of Allegiance to uphold the virtue and integrity of The Corporation, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the exact men who had sworn their lives to protect the sovereignty forsaking the place in crisis for brighter prospects abroad.
Are these whom we call quitters? A conservative would tell you that a man deserting his allegiance in troubled times ought to be shot because the society holds no place for deserters. We don’t need a band of cowards who flee at the first sign of trouble. But times have changed and the societal trend is evolving. We’re progressing towards a more liberal culture. It’s no longer about owing someone a living but a question of the worth and sacrifices spent safeguarding the purported notion of freedom.
PAPER TIGERS
In recent years, the effectiveness of our system had come under fire due to the impending threats from the opposition. How prepared are we for a real threat like this? The intricacies of a real-life situation cannot be replicated in simulation trainings that we carry out during practice. On the ground, a split-second decision often determines the difference between success and failure. But frankly speaking, textbook approaches will only make us a laughingstock for our rivals. A war is not won on strategies. We may be the best at formulating battle plans but when putting them into practice, they neither inspire nor invigorate.
Capable leadership is sorely lacking in The Corporation which puts it in peril of a collapse. But the higher-ups would never allow it to happen for the ramifications would have been too great for a fragile society like ours. Hence, every employee is made to sign a legally binding contract that keeps them on roll call for a minimum time period. Interested parties may choose to extend their term of service at their own discretion. Nonetheless, many of us are bond-breakers. We can’t keep our feet on the ground for long. After the initial service phase, the majority leave for brighter prospects. Some would continue with tertiary studies, some would transit back into the workforce, but there’s always a handful whom choose to leave this place altogether.
A GLASS CEILING
Why? It all comes back down to the obligations of the signed contract. Even though you have physically left The Corporation, there’s no escaping from its stronghold unless you invalidate the contract by relocating. This is because you’re liable to be recalled for duties under contract. And until this agreement expires, you’ll never know when these disruptions will occur. Though short, such interruptions are never welcomed and may just come at the worst possible times. No one likes it. Efficiency is compromised, productivity falls and soon enough, you end up on the losing end. So, who’s culpable?
Many high-fliers literally took to the skies for solutions. They leave, not because they have no pride or devotion to their work, but they feel that they can actually go on in life to accomplish greater things without the interferences. The road ahead would be bumpy as The Corporation erects an invisible glass ceiling that forestalls you from realizing your potential and there is no way of breaking this barricade until your contract runs out. To think that we live in a free world, and yet we’re subjected to such hegemony. The irony!
BREEDING A CLIMATE OF FEAR
There is only a thin fine line dividing tyrannical and regimental. What The Corporation has done is to take an eraser and remove that line. We may live in a meritocratic society but the organization is definitely not a microcosm of it. Once you’ve been roped in, you are silenced. You’re just another lab-rat placed on payroll until you prove yourself. And even then, as you climb up the ladder, you’re become just another puppet manipulated by the strings of your puppeteer. The ironhandedness ensures there is no recognition to your name, no voice to your words, no worth to your sacrifices. You have no freedom of will as every of your little movement is dictated.
No, I’m not embellishing the facts here. But we’re so close to becoming an autocratic establishment that all this is beginning to sound like a dystopia This is speaking from personal experience, having been slowly induced into believing the needs for harsh regulations. “It’s all for your own benefit.” A common justification for the stringency that we have been brainwashed with. Truth be told, there is no such need to put us on a tight rein. If we truly live in a democracy, let our voices be heard instead of letting them drown out. But no, we have been deprived of the most fundamental human rights, the freedom of expression.
BROWNNOSING
Every leader should possess 3Is. Good leaders seek to inspire, innovate and invigorate. Bad ones are simply incompetent, indecisive and insolent. And The Corporation has its own fair share of leaders. But in present day, bad sheeps are just too prevalent. They’re tasked to lead, but yet their apparent ability to do so is severely lacking, if they have any at all. The underlying cause is undeniably sycophancy – a glaring imperfection in the system that unfortunately leads to the abuse of loopholes and backdoors. Your ability to put on charades and unscrupulously disparage others will put you ahead of others. It’s appalling that despite the plentiful of fail-safes that are in place, we have still manage to land ourselves into such a sorry state.
Respect has to be earned. A higher authority doesn’t automatically qualify for superior treatment. A truly disciplined leader sets himself as a role model for his subordinates to follow. And to do this, he not only has to exemplify the qualities he wish to see in his fellow men, but also to recognize his shortcomings and make up for them. Ideally, he should also be ready to explore alternatives and be receptive to new ideas. Every situation should be judged with an unprejudiced eye. A motivational leader will already have won half the battle if he eggs his people on when their morale is low. But such leaders are regrettably not a dime a dozen these days.
PARADIGM SHIFT CALLS FOR REFORM
The corporate system itself needs a serious overhaul. It is outdated, even as it is gradually evolving itself to fit into the 21st century. Needless to say, such idiosyncrasy should be stamped out and it should start with the cornerstone of The Corporation. The underlying values and guiding principles are obsolete and needs to be injected with a dose of litheness. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.” Fortunately, the modern-day man is a creative and brilliant thinker; and he knows that unlike yesterday, out-of-the-box solutions are required to solve conventional questions today. He can no longer be bounded by the rigidity of traditional protocols.
In chemistry, stability is defined by the entropy of the system. Likewise, a society or organization. The common men need to know what is being done to improve their circumstances but most of the time, they are put into unnecessary states of anarchy as they are inundated by misinformation. The rationale is hardly explained as they are convinced that the people are too ignorant and illiterate to comprehend the perplexity of the situation. But such ethos are archaic, no longer relevant to today’s society because we are put through schools, educated and therefore, able to cognize the raison d’être behind every action.
CHARACTER-BUILDING
However, there are also redeeming points of the system that should be extol. For one, The Corporation promotes a strong sense of camaraderie found nowhere else. Living together under the same roof with individuals coming from the most different of backgrounds is not an act that many will undertake with their own free will. Yet, due to the nature of job, we are coerced into communal living. Conflicts and misunderstandings are inevitable because of the diversity in self and cultural beliefs, but it is through the resolving of these differences that contributes towards character-building. It not only helps to improve interpersonal skills but also foster cross-cultural understanding, the underpinning of our multifaceted society.
Tough times don’t last but tough people do. Hardships impel more mature thinking and stronger character development through the test of trials and tribulations. They demand for the right mentality and attitude that helps to nurture the self-belief and confidence in one’s ability. They also train you to be both self-reliant and cooperative because there are times that call for individualism and teamwork. But most notably, The Corporation provides the stimulus and conditions to instill patience, persistence and resiliency, qualities that will assist us in tiding over the rough patches in life.
It is widely acknowledged that enrolment is a coming of age, a preface to the working world. It is a mirror to the brutality of the society-at-large and a reality test bed to prepare one for multifariousness of the world. Learning in a sheltered environment is always better because you know that you will have the chance to acquire the competence in handling different types of social situation, but yet there is some form of safety net to fall back on in case you don’t succeed. In some sense, The Corporation is like a greenhouse where nurturing takes place before transplantation into the real world occurs.
TIME MANAGEMENT
For all its worth, the system is lambasted every so often for wasting away the precious time of our young men, but it must be agreed upon that there is only a certain amount of truth to these words. It is a widespread fallacy that accountability does not lie in the hands of each individual but with the organization. This faux pas needs to be urgently corrected. Although there are fixed schedules and restricted movements, it is how you maximize the use of your time that leads to a higher productivity. Time management is essential and should be inculcated from young because it is a lifelong skill.
In spite of this, critics continute to blatantly denunciate this as the principal failure of the system. It should be recognized that time prioritization is the supplement to this deficiency and The Corporation its provider. It is the individual responsibility to identify and rectify his own inefficiency and the establishment teaches you how to do it. How ever a great teacher is, he is nothing without students who are willing to learn. Similarly, if the people are reluctant to do so, there is little anyone could do to salvage the situation. Thomas Jefferson encapsulates this notion squarely in 1787, “Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much can be done if we are always doing.”
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
For a large majority of employees, The Corporation is a home away from home. Self-sufficiency is an imperative value that is impressed upon. It emphasizes on ensuring that each person is equipped with the critical skills to manage his own daily needs. To be separated from your friends and family, and whisked away into a foreign environment full of strangers, it actually takes a lot of mettle to achieve this kind of social independence.
Being away from home also puts you in a position where you will learn to appreciate and value your family members and what they do for you. The foundation for a stable society is having strong family values which are cultivated through the primary understanding that family time should be cherished. Interacting with them on a regular basis is the first step towards establishing a sound and lasting relationship. But in order to do so, we should not to take them for granted. Hence, a spell with the organization can indeed serve to highlight the significance of spending time with them.
FROG OUTSIDE THE WELL
Typically, we read the papers to learn more about global affairs but this is insufficient for us to really see the big picture. The first-hand exposure to these foreign cultures and sensitivities, however, can aid in eradicating this parochialism. Rather than letting you become consumed in your own world, you’re liable to be sent overseas to undergo training and gain expertise. This inadvertently opens up windows of infinite opportunities to interact with the locals on the ground and broaden global outlooks. Knowing and experiencing what’s happening around the world is paramount to the development of a progressive, globally-engaged and forward-thinking culture.
We do not want to be branded an insular state, only concerned with the events occurring in our country but oblivious to the happenings in other parts of the world. We are blessed to be born with peripheral vision and we should make use of this advantage to enable us to attain an in-depth understanding of the mechanics that make this planet tick. By obstinately repudiating to use this God-given ability, we are displaying a deplorable complete lack of global awareness and condescending ourselves to being Third World citizens, an antithesis to globalization.
HEALTHY LIVING
How many of us can say that we have the self-discipline to stick to a strict regime of exercise and dieting? Not many. Since the beginning of time, we’re constantly finding excuses to relieve ourselves of the responsibilities of maintaining a decent level of fitness. They could be legitimate reasons or the most ludicrous of justifications, but regardlessly, there is no compelling basis for procrastination. Like Chinese philosopher Laozi actualize in his wise words, “Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”
The Corporation introduces a regime of strenuous exercises and food moderation to incorporate a culture of healthy lifestyle. Besides focusing on holistic all-rounded training methods, food intake regulation to promote healthy eating habits and abolish binge dieting also plays an integral role. And in a bid to ensure that every employee gets certain hours of workout each week, mandatory morning calisthenics are enforced. Without such stringent measures, there would be little impetus to sustain a reasonable fitness level. Hence, the healthy lifestyle programme becomes the driving force behind achieving basic self-discipline.
TO ABOLISH OR NOT TO ABOLISH?
The peeve that bugs many people is the enactment of involuntary enrolment. But without this implementation, there would not be a full-time operational sizable workforce, much less a functional establishment. It would be penny wise and pound foolish to employ professionals whom The Corporation fully understands that it cannot depend on to safeguard its sovereignty. Working in its best interest, the people sourced would be its most viable employment pool after factoring in the cost-benefit analysis.
We cannot shut down The Corporation for the plain fact that we face very real and imminent threats on the horizon. As part of the organization, we are tasked with the responsibilities of deterring would-be rivals and fending off competition from the market. Yes, we may not hold our stance for long, but the presence of an oppressive force would put off any thoughts of a through and through walkover. Could we entrust this responsibility to monetarily-motivated individuals who could turn their backs on us anytime? I know I wouldn’t.
Depending on corporate relations is akin to putting oneself in front of a firing squad. Though labelled as a very effective negotiation tool, it is in reality a smiling front exchanging bluffs on how large the knife one is wielding behind one’s back. When the smiling ceases, out comes the knife. So rather than waiting for relations managers to partake in such laughable farce, why not brandish the knifes ourselves and fight for what’s rightfully ours? It is only with proactive actions that we can stake a claim in the roadmap to independence and democracy.
PROTECTION OF FOREIGN INTEREST
There was a time when the pioneers of The Corporation slogged their guts out for their family and loved ones. They were certainly the pillars of the establishment. However, over the years, the same cannot be said. There has been an influx of foreign talents into the organization to seek employment that have caused a tip in the balance as there is a steadily-increasing proportion of non-nationals filling up job vacancies. Many are resentful that besides ensuring that the raison d’état is safeguarded, they have to work with these foreigners as colleagues, considered more superior and whom are entitled to the same privileges as the founding members of The Corporation. For them, this screamed bloody murder.
The Corporation also employs a subtle form of political indoctrination through mental conditioning. By impressing upon pride and honour, its employees are proselytized into believing that their sacrifices empower the betterment of the organization’s welfare. But on the outside world, others are fast gaining an unequal footing in their career and life which leaves us to wonder why we have become the martyrs of economic development; sacrificial sheep herded into the furnace to power the engines of growth?
ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME EXPERIENCE
An opportunity never comes knocking twice. Nothing comes quite close to The Corporation in offering a life-changing experience. Ex-employees would concur that the experience is rewarding and the journey, teeming with life’s lessons. The extraordinary comradeship that was forged would last an eternity and the teachings and memories, you would carry with you even long after you have left the organization.
Men will only learn how to appreciate things when they lose them. How true. There are a lot of things in life that we take for granted and freedom is one of them. It’s the experience of being incarcerated that will make you realize that nothing in this world is an entitlement. Nobody owes us a living, and in order to earn our rights, we have to work for it – the most elementary being free will. A crude but effective means nonetheless.
WHERE I STAND
Undeniably, I have to say that I had a very positive experience in The Corporation despite of the shenanigans. It enabled me to better comprehend the exploitative nature of a suppressive establishment. But it also moulded my character. I emerged as a hardy and spirited man. I learnt to lead my life with a sanguine outlook which left me buoyant about future endeavours. I also made very good friends in my stint, some with analogous convictions, and I know they’ll be enduring ones.
Nevertheless, much like the learning institutions, I have my doubts and reservations over the modus operandi of such an organization. It’s imprudent not to link it to the political agenda of the organization. Frankly speaking, we are by no means passengers of a locomotive driven by The Corporation, denied of the most rudimentary rights of boarding and alighting from this train. Why should we be allowed to get onboard in the first place if we can’t even convince ourselves to subscribe to their duplicitous beliefs?
I staunchly believe that there can be substitutes to the whole experience without the pretence. Given the choice, I wouldn’t want my children to undergo this interlude to their lives because I am confident that without the accompanying disruptions, they can better use the squandered time to go on and accomplish bigger things in life. I certainly do not want them to grow up in a subservient environment with a political climate built on trepidation and become docile slaves of constitutional despotism.
Call me a wanted man, a non-conformist, an anti-establishment, for campaigning against The Corporation and its oppression. But I want the public to know that at the end of the day, the truth is not always there for the taking. Sometimes, we have look a little deeper and uncover it for ourselves.