How my luck have swung 180 degrees in less than 24 hours. Yesterday night I find out that all 350 places for the Worlds Debate end of this year has been filled up. Which means my effort thus far has been of naught. Yeah, sure it's not as much as some dedicated debater put in, but I too have taken efforts both personal and physical to prepare for it. Sigh. I just feel so frustrated now. No thanks to UKM's inefficient bureaucracy. Anugerah Kualiti Perdana Menteri 2007, my foot. The Jabatan Hal-Ehwal Pelajar wanting to get ISO certification,to hell with it. Imagine the lady in charge of it twiddling her thumbs away when we've submitted out proposal for months. I can just imagine the multitude of exuses she comes up with every time Jerry goes to the office to bug them - "Alamak, tertinggal lah surat ini masa nak hantar ke pejabat TNC (Timbalan Naib Canselor." "Oh, yang ini urgent ke. Nantilah kak bagi kat XXX. " "Tengah proses lagi, tunggulah." Truly, I can symphathise with him. I really really do not want to just put this behind us. We should at make our grouses known, and the department or at least that individual holding up the bureaucracy should be held accountable. I mean, yeah in the future we'll still need to be in their good books to get their cooperation. But is it fair to have one or few individuals have so much power that the rest of students have to cower in fear all the time? What's to prevent something similar like this from happening again in the future?

Anyway, I also went out yesterday and caught Hairspray. An excellent move - amazing songs, great choregraphy, good direction, and wholly natural and likable characters. Everyone in the move seems to be always so perky and politically-correct yet saucy and witty. It's a wholly feel-good movie where a complex and difficult issue such as racism back in the 1960's was tackled in a light vein with flair and style. Great job all around to the producing crew and actors. Go catch it if you haven't, you'll totally enjoy it.