AT THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP

By: DOMINIC GERARD JOSEPH

'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' Do you agree or disagree? There is a set of English proverbs that are worded similarly:

* Idle hands are the devil's workshop.

* Idle hands are the devil's tools.

* Idle brains are the devil's workhouses.

* An idle brain is the devil's workshop.

* If the devil finds a man idle, he'll set him at work.

* The devil finds work (or mischief) for idle hands to do.

Let's check-out some of the lyrics from the song, ' The Importance Of Being Idle ' by the group 'OASIS' :

My girlfriend told me to get a life,

She said, "Boy, you're lazy."

It ain't no place to be killing time

I guess I'm just lazy.

I can't get a life if my heart's not in it, hey, hey.

Could 'OASIS' be referring to the following groups? :

1. 'Mat Rempit,' hey, hey?

2. The unenthusiastic cop, hey, hey?

3. The bored customer service staff, hey, hey?

4. The uninspiring school principal, hey, hey?

I suppose the list goes on and on. I would like to dedicate the following humour taken from 'Khushwant Singh's' joke book, to the men and women who clock-in at 8.00 am and remain idle for most of the day and then clock-out at 5.00 pm sharp:

A government servant went to a doctor. "Doctor, I am suffering from stress and exhaustion. Please advise me."

The doctor examined him carefully before replying. "What you need is complete rest. You should return to the office as soon as you can."

However, over the last two decades or so, a new group has emerged. I would like to name them, 'Enterprising Idle Minds' (EIM) . True thoroughbreds graduated with top honours from the devil's workshop. They are able to cunningly camouflage their idleness with high level social activities, which I believe has been reclassified as work.

Following are some examples of such activities:

Field Trips (Lawatan Sambil Belajar)

Family Day (Hari Keluarga)

Briefings (Taklimat)

Meetings (Mesyuarat)

Minister's Visit (Lawatan Menteri), etc.

The danger is, after sometime professional 'time-wasters' or 'time-killers' may begin to believe that whatever he or she is doing could be justified as real work. The actual Key Result Areas(KRA's) are neglected or postponed and inevitably performance and productivity are compromised. I suppose this is another way to look at the problems related to performance and productivity that lately has besieged our country. I believe we need to revisit the 'Look East' policy that was promoted aggressively in the early 80's.