My parents raised me wrong
The older I get in this day and age, I have the inescapable sinking feeling that my parents raised me wrong. They raised me to earn an honest living. Yet, every day I see how the corrupt, the dishonest, the cheats end up with power, prestige and sick amounts of money. They are lauded in spite of their utter moral bankruptcy and callousness. There is no sense of personal shame or guilt anymore. They raised …
Sit near the staff | From the Atelier
From The Atelier Gerald Chong was commissioned for this piece after he saw my call out for artists for my essays. He is starting out as a freelance artist and is available for commissions. We went for a cartoon look that captured the absurdity of an office where the employees were unsupervised and did as they pleased in the office. I’m supposed to be in the picture.
‘Sit near the staff.’
My mother insisted on this before I began my pupilage at my father’s firm in 1998. She did not approve of the firm’s arrangement where the bosses, lawyers and pupils sat upstairs near the library whereas the staff – comprised of the receptionist, clerks and dispatch – sat downstairs. “Sit near the staff. There is no one supervising them downstairs. Because of that they do as they like downstairs. Whenever I call the office no …