Two

After a moment of silence, L asked, “My friend, what do you make out of it?”

“Em… I know E as well as F, your CEO, from the morning paper. I must say F is usually efficient and has a distinct distaste for bureaucracy. The idea of setting up two parallel committees doesn’t seem to be his personality.”

“Very true. From the very simple neuronal reflex to the complex operation of a government, the sequence of event should always be information collection, integration, and execution – all to be done in a single system. If we have our eyes to see what’s going on and our legs to walk, the latter would never know where to go before the former bring the necessary information to the brain. In this case, however, why should the Policy Design Committee be doing when the Review Committee is still collecting information?”

“Maybe the Design Committee is not yet working?” I asked.

"In that case what's the point of having two committees? Doesn't it make more sense to have the same group of people - whatever the name of this committee - to review the existing policy and then design a new one?" L said.

"Let's come clear. What are you implying?" I was getting more puzzled, "Do you mean F is nuts?"

"Of course not. Everything has a reason..."

Committees

While thinking about the sound of silence, I met my friend L again.

“Hullo. Long time no see.” I suddenly realized he had in his hands a voluminous file and a small note book, “Oh, I could see that you are hurrying to a meeting. What a surprise!”

“Alas, I have to prove myself worth the salt,” my friend looked slightly embarrassed, “. And, as to the project that I am being involved, I suppose you know well enough the behaviour of extraterrestrials. Let me show you the letter that drew me into this muddle.”

He showed me a piece of re-use paper – obviously my friend printed it out by his own computer from an email:

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Dear L,

I would like to invite you to join the Policy Review Committee. I know some of your colleagues are already in the Policy Design Committee but it is vital, per our CEO’s view too, that the two committees overlap and work in tandem.

(I omit here another 2000 words or so, all about the work to be done.)

Due to major time constraints, we probably need to start working very soon.

Sincerely, et cetera, E (Chairman of the Policy Review Committee)

************************
I put down the paper and looked at my friend. I must have appeared very puzzled – for my friend was smiling curiously.

沉默

今天發生了一件事情，當時我曾經想力陳己見，最後選擇了沉默。我認為沉默是必要的。

事情的始末在此無關宏旨。不外是大夥兒圍坐桌旁，主事者以諮詢為名，着各人發表意見。余在此廿年，大小會議不知凡幾，過程卻也萬變不離其中。一腔熱誠者侃侃而談。其法上者旁徵博引，大有隆中獻策，不回天地不入偏舟之慨；次者止於論事，能見眼前蠅頭利弊，卻難辨遠大方向；再次者偏論人，渲染道聽塗說，以嚼舌根為樂；更有其下者挾持私慮，或見機行事，或混水摸魚，純為一己私利。余置身其中，須臾即頭暈轉向，口乾舌燥，耳鳴盗汗，不能自已。欲陳己見，是不能也。

然，廟堂之上，儕朋之間，口舌便給，指點江山，余亦不為。何也？會議論事，主持者多有腹稿。圍爐諮詢，不外圖個意思，以示開明；席間所言，能改上意者稀矣。更甚者，偶有在位者能操馬拉松討論，各人暢所欲言，不合上意者便逐一駁倒。此時會議，便成競猜主席肚內迴虫的遊戲。力陳己見，於事何益？

或曰，此種沉默，可稱適切，卻非必要。然自古成大事者，鮮有逞一時之快。昔紂踞商室，比干剖心陳情，不過添一寃魂；無箕子披髮佯狂，百世之後，何有三星韓流？曹阿瞞為漢相，彌衡、孔融直言竊國，下場可知。而劉豫州者，倘非困淺水時潛而勿用，嘻笑煮酒而論天下，日後如何借荆入蜀，得延漢祚？吾等縱一介布衣，既非朝廷棟樑，社稷所繫，更無意窺竊神器，逐鹿中原；然，家國天下，其理無異；政令得行，必須潛移默化，幕後游說，交近而孤遠。雄辯滔滔，口若懸河，徒逞能而不能服衆，更遑論暴虎憑河，死而無悔，吾當不與。沉默，因聽琴者牛， 言非其時，非不言也。書空咄咄，因明夷待訪，行非其地，非無所為也。此所謂：大勇若怯也。

Announcement

(An announcement from the Department of Transport of an imaginary city.)

To whom it may concern,

In order to achieve the important goal of eliminating all traffic accident, the Department of Transport decides to ban driving practice in the street by students of the School of Motoring. Although there is no evidence to show that driving students are an important cause of traffic accident, the Department sees the potential risk of allowing students to practice driving in the street. Feedback from some senior teachers of the School of Motoring also confirms that the new generation driving students may not be mature enough to handle the stress in the street in real-life. In response to the need of cultivating safe drivers, the government has decided to allocate extra resource to the above-mentioned driving experts for setting up a new Driving Skill Simulation Centre so that future students could learn driving in a stress-free environment.

Let’s work together and jump on any trivial incident. As to road safety, we should not be forgiving and no minor accident is acceptable.

XXX
Minister of Transportation
18 April 2034

Transparent

Another little story that flashed through.

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The emperor asks his courtiers to make for him the most extravagant new suit.

After some time, the minister of external affair submitted one. To the surprise of the emperor, the submission was an empty box.

He summoned this imaginative officer and demanded an explanation.

“Your majesty,” the minister bowed, “This is the most trendy and honest garment on earth. It is known as transparency.”

Alas, the king was convinced. He put on the new suit and went to the parade, hallucinating all ridicules as praises.

PS. I actually told this story some time ago. See http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2009/04/blog-post.html

Fire

While I was watching the musical, another story came through my mind.

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There is a fire in the forest. All animals gather together and discuss the way to escape.

The monkey says, “I am the most intelligent animal. Let me tell you all where to go.”

The giraffe says, “Em... I am the tallest animal and can see the farthest. Let me lead your way.”

The eagle says, “No. I can fly and has the best eyesight. I know the best where to go.”

An ant says, “Oh, we are all members of the forest and should have the right to contribute my opinion. Let’s be democratic and vote.”

And, after another round of discussion, the lion roared, “Guys. Listen. I am the king of the forest. I shall decide where to go – just follow the king!”

I shall leave it to your imagination where those animals went.

Competition

The story goes like this: The hare, the tortoise, and a dozen of other animals plan to have a contest for fun. To begin with, they cannot come to the agreement what game to play; while the duck and the frog object to the idea of a simple racing because they cannot run fast, the hare and the deer are strongly against the idea of swimming gala as neither of them know how to float on water.

After a lengthy discussion, the wise old cow suggests a cross-country racing that encompasses both running and swimming. Moreover, each participating animal can bring their own equipment to help them finish with the competition – as long as they are not hindering the others.

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I shall not elaborate on who wins the race and how and why. This is a perfect illustration of what a fair competition is. No, it is unrealistic to ask for everyone being the same or starting at the same line. In fact, it is close to impossible to have a system that allows every participant to have a similar probability of winning. All we could – and all we have to – guarantee is everyone has some chance to win, and setting plot against the others is not allowed.