He Says, She Says

I made a mistake about disregarding what my colleague had said one fine day. I should have explained to him how I wanted things done, but somehow I did not. It was an oversight on my part.

I'm writing about this now, just so that I will be able to read back one day and remember an important lesson learnt.

***

I have always organised the school level CNY celebration. The first year, I was approached by Boss. And somehow after that, it seemed like an annual task for me.

This year, sadly, there was a lot of politicking about organising the event. A senior Chinese teacher came to me very early on to hint that she was NOT going to organise so I could not depend on her. It seemed like people were pushing responsibility back and forth. So I asked Boss and Vice Boss about it, and we agreed to have an ultra simplified event this year.

After that, I called the Chinese teachers for a short meeting, in which we agreed to pay RM10.00 each. We did so every year and we usually used the money to pay for the lion dance, and to buy mandarin oranges for the staff, and chocolates for the students. The collection of money was never enough and so every year, if we applied for it, PTA would help us out with RM500.00.

So then at the meeting, just when everyone agreed to RM10.00, this brash young teacher announced. "Okay, okay. Just give this money to the Chinese Society for the Chap Goh Mei celebration on Saturday night. Bring your whole family along." None of the other Chinese colleagues said anything. I suppose they were indifferent about how their money was spent.

"Where am I going to to get the money for the lion dance?" I asked.

"You go get it from the PTA," he replied. "There's money there."

I did not reply, but the more I thought about it, the more it felt wrong. I had collected the money for the school level CNY, but here he was directing me to give it to him for a different event altogether. Without even discussing it with me first! How could he??

By right, if he had needed funding for his activity, he should have applied from the PTA directly instead of asking me to apply for it, just so he could benefit from the amount of money I collected for my event. I felt so MANIPULATED.

So, because I did not agree with it, I dismissed that suggestion totally and in the midst of my hectic schedule, I had totally forgotten about it. The two events were over, and my poor colleague had been waiting and waiting for me to hand over money to him. To the point that he started giving me the cold shoulder.

Today, he came and asked about it, and so I explained to him my decision and suggested him to apply for funding from PTA when necessary. He looked like he could accept it.