I am the Unbeatable!

This week crawled too slowly... I am tired.

The day started with CL meeting all the four of us: ShL, L, G and myself. We were due to receive our annual letter which tells us how much is our performance bonus, whether there is promotion and if there is increment. I am not expecting much, since everything will just be pro-rated (I am just half year old when they closed the accounts).

CL started by saying he will be holding back the VIP letter. Reason: HR left out the Deans when they opened the window period for nominee to be promoted last year!
Tell me it is a funny joke please!

How can HR make such a silly mistake? So you had conveniently left out the entire four schools of academic staff and admin support when you are in the midst of the promotion excercise? Come on, the University is not that big. With no schools, you think you can be sitting there and you have a work to do?

Anyway, HR is re-doing the promotion exercise for the schools and that is why we would not be able to see the letters yet. He talked to us in private and well, guess what? He told me he had intended to recommend me for a 2-grade jump upwards (simple English - promote two levels up) and had given me a A for my appraisal! Wa! Best news in three years of working life. However, the management felt that a 2-grade jump is too much and I had to settle for a single jump only, which means I will be Senior Executive instead of Manager. I was also one of the few who had the appraisal grade marked downwards cos there are only 8 people who got A and I am not in the top 8 list.

Of course the heart ached for a while. But, to get this far and with this kind of achievement and the support from my boss, I think it is more than enough. I am not greedy. I can slogged for you as long as I know why I am working so hard for. "... I believed you will agree with me that ShL and Pau Ling are head and shoulders above the admin managers..." This sentence is more than enough to melt the heart. Anyway, I told CL what I felt and I am blessed that he understood me and showed the willingness to support me.

As expected, Betty did not turn up at 9am today. Instead she called me at 9.40am and innocently asked me if I had read the email and if I could explain the whole situation to her. What the fuck! Don't act innocent in front of me. You wrongly accused me of not doing my share of work and did not even apologise at all. And you still expect me to treat it as if it is no big deal. For the first time here, I flared up. I could have been louder if she was there in person in front of me.

Determined to put that behind me, I went to Merrill Lynch with CL and Prof Chay. The meeting was so-so but the lunch was fun. Of course, it is because Ms Tan was there to lighten the atmosphere again. I made both of them play a word-search puzzle and compete with each other. Haha. Obviously the Dean had to win the game right? Hohohoho... It was an enjoyable lunch.

How I wish this week can be over soon... Not sure if there will be any confrontation or email battle again tomorrow. Saturday is our School's Orientation Day and I was sabotaged by my Dean to put up games for the students to play in the LT. I was initially looking forward to it. It will be my first time to handle close to 400 people and it will definitely be very fun. For the first time, I can show to other people that I am not just a tiny little girl, I am someone who is very capable... I challenged the system and the way others are doing things because I bother to use my energy to make the difference.

To my young blog-supporters: Thank you for your concern, Ms Tan won't fall so easily. Pardon me for using the F*** two times - this is the most appropriate situation to use that word so beautifully without myself feeling guilty of using it.