Fan

Irene, my secretary, was sick and stayed in the private ward. I visited her briefly on the weekend, and the two of us ended up having some casual talk that we hardly ever had in the past.

"I've got to get back work soon. There're piles of them !" She sighed.

"Don't be too stressed. What's there urgent ?"

"Lots of them. For example, the exhaust fan of the male toilet." My secretary hesitated.

"Now you come to this. I always puzzle why our toilet does not have an exhaust fan. One would never faint in our toilet because the air is full of the aroma of smelling salt !" I smiled.

"I know, KL asked me to go in once and experience - it's really an experience !"

"Then why does it take over 25 years to arrange for a fan ?" I pressed on.

"Oh, we applied for one long time ago, but, after some months of paper work, the reply was negative."

"Why ?"

"They said that an exhaust fan would affect the external appearance of the hospital, and, should there be a typhoon or anything that damage the fan, the responsibility of repairing it (by university or the hospital) was undefined ..."

"In order to facilitate the arrangement, should we invite a grant donor or external examiner to stay there for a while ?"

My secretary said nothing; she merely returned a humble smile.

PS. On a second thought, it may be more effective to ask a few of our delinquent medical students to stay there - their complaint is always taken more seriously than ours.