Winning Entry:
Peter Chutatape, Ministry of Education:
Back in the day at MOE HQ, my ministry's Permanent Secretary visited my branch for a walkaround. I was engrossed in analysing some data on my screen, and failed to notice the entourage that escorted her. She peeked over my shoulder and asked what I was busy doing. I replied politely, and wondered why a rather sizeable crowd took interest in my reply. I then asked in my most polite tone “I'm Pete, and you are...?”
The room went deathly silent, and she chuckled by responding with her name. After she was ushered into the lift, the rest of my office gave me a standing ovation, with phrases like “Pete's Pizzeria sells humble pie” and “career suicide” being bandied around. It was an amazing experience in blissful ignorance, and a masterclass in humility. I promised myself to study the Organisation Chart more assiduously after that.
Thank you for sharing your entry, Peter. You win $100 worth of Cityluxe vouchers to get yourself some stationery – all the better to study your Organisation Chart with.
Other Winning Entries:
Simon Yee Zhi Xiang, Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority
During a meeting, I forgot the name of a stakeholder representative whom I had to speak to. Her nameplate was too far to read from where I was seated.
So I stood up and pretended to be taking photos of the meeting for comms work (I’m a corporate communications officer). However, I was actually using my phone camera to zoom into her nameplate and read her name!
After that, we tweaked the table nameplate template to display names in a larger and bolder font for future meetings.
Diana Yao, Ministry of Education (New Town Primary School)
I accidentally synced my personal calendar with the school's calendar, and my entire personal schedule was exposed! Good thing it wasn't too personal. I only found out when my colleague jokingly teased me: "Can I join you for yoga today?"