of course, everybody in the team is so engrossed shaking hands and patting each other's shoulders that they forgot the big gaping ME that can be found in it. on a side note, team also forms MEAT, which can be interpreted in a carnal sense (eg. team of people + 'meat' = orgy) or perhaps something more contradictory to the nature of team work (eg. You're dead MEAT, people!).

regardless, the hospital i work at is an awfully big place with quite a fair number of staff, both administrative and health-care related. and what better way to reach out to the massive number of clueless staff and patients than mass publicity. everywhere i go in the hospital, it's choke full of self-praise. and you know what they say about self praise, being no praise at all and in fact, an international disgrace. turn to the left, and you see a gigantic wall of charitable works. to the right, an even bigger number of hospital staff who have received numerous awards for good service rendered. up ahead? a large display case with the hospital's rich history for all to see. looking closely at the prints, those posters don't look cheap at all.

all that said, i very much dislike 'oh-so-subtle' corporate messages. most of the time, both the staff and public are confused as to who the people up there are trying to reach out to. is this some form of self-praise regarding team work? is this meant to represent the values of the organization? is the organization trying to make the staff more united? omg! you mean the staff of this organization that's taking care of my (insert random loved one) are not united? either way, nobody seems to get the intent of the message.

and it doesn't help that the hospital has taken it upon themselves this time, to launch a pretty massive campaign for this 'team work' thingamajig. every single lift in the hospital has a 'team work' poster stuck in it and on last count, i think there are about 50 plus lifts in the building. throw in several large banners that scream 'HEY! WE WORK TOGETHER AS A UNITED FAMILY, PEOPLE!', one realizes that it's a lot of publicity money being spent. i can't help but convert publicity money into staff welfare funds and guess what? we can actually afford to air-condition-ize quite a few wards if we cut back on all that self-praise junk. very poignant in humid li'll Singapore.

still, it's undeniable that the ME takes up half the space available in TEAM. i daresay that the metaphor of the ME simply speaks for itself. there will always be a ME person in a team, one that dominates as the leader calling the shots. and you know me lah, the anti-leadership person. or as i always re-butt, leader-shit. i've never been a great fan of leaders or even teams for that matter. the libran in me is just too exhausted to consider everyone's feelings and opinions. it's made even worse when your team members are an incompetent lot and you have to pick up the slack for them.

but i digress. in case you're wondering, you may think that i have anti-conglomerate sentiments with regards to the hospital i'm employed with now. but let me clarify, i love the hospital like a through and through employee. i mean, i have been with them for like what... 4-5 years coming? from my student days all the way till now. and believe me, i have seen the walls change from plain, stoic walls to colorful murals screaming the hospital's charitable deeds. i just feel that some things are just better left unsaid. like the guy who arrives in church early to lay out the chairs for you every sunday? or perhaps the volunteer at the old folk's home making a difference in the lift of your grandmother? the point is, good deeds tend to stand out better if you don't boast about them. i just wished that the hospital share my sentiments on this issue.

and out of point though. TEAM can also be rearranged to form MATE. which is no fun actually, unless you do it in a TEAM of 2.... or preferably more people.

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