racial conversations
had to make some phone calls today requesting information and help. it's been strange.
first, i rang the ministry of foreign affairs, and a malay woman picked up. sounded bored, and quickly pushed me to the immigration.
the number she gave me didn't work. so i checked the immigration department website and got a different number. rang and rang and rang and rang and rang and rang and rang......
no one picked up.
realised it was 12.30, i.e. lunch time. decided to try again at 2pm.
finally someone picked up the call and it was a malay man, informing me what i needed to know, and referred me back to the ministry of foreign affairs.
when i got through, another malay woman picked up the call, put me on hold, transferred me to someone else, who was a malay man, who gave me - hesitantly - the information i needed.
---
then i had to ring maxis customer service to set up something. and after going through several automated key ins, my phone call was immediately picked up by an indian guy speeding off a script.
asked me for my name, number, phone make etc. gave me some instructions, which i followed, and it didn't work. oh, and i was warned by the polite recorded message 'lady' that my conversation is recorded.
so i rang back again, went through the automated key-ins one more time, and got immediately put through to the customer service centre, and was answered by an indian woman.
explained my problem, she read through the same script at the same speed and i had to stop her to plead for her to listen - that obviously i know all this and went through all the steps and it didn't work, and can i please let you know what happened? she chuckled, and let me speak, and repeated the script.
alamak.
so i decided to just try again. and waited. but nothing happened. had to ring again for the third time. same thing. except this time, maxis didn't creepily remember the stuff i keyed in and i had to reselect language of choice etc.
lo and behold! it's another indian guy! this dude sounded like he was at least listening, told me contradicting information to the previous woman, and gave me an alternative method to achieve my goals.
and my phone is currently hanging. fuck.
----
in conclusion, if i were a hermit who operated purely through mediated communication paraphernalia, i would think that:
1) government agencies is a game where all enemies and friends are malays
2) the main aim of the game is to go through various mazes and misdirections to get to the key-keepers who can help me
3) time is not of the essence, and can bend both space and functions
4) i am an unnamed heroine with no superpowers that can assist me
whereas:
1) privately-owned telcos is a game where every key-keeper is an indian robot, even if they don't appear to be so
2) the main aim of the game is to cleverly extract what you need without giving up all of your soul
3) time is of the essence and the time bar is constantly shouting at you to stop playing
4) you still have to go through mazes and misdirections, but the technology paradigm creates a fantasy of efficiency
----
i think i am playing too many video games. and it's scary how much telephone life mimics racist stereotypes.
first, i rang the ministry of foreign affairs, and a malay woman picked up. sounded bored, and quickly pushed me to the immigration.
the number she gave me didn't work. so i checked the immigration department website and got a different number. rang and rang and rang and rang and rang and rang and rang......
no one picked up.
realised it was 12.30, i.e. lunch time. decided to try again at 2pm.
finally someone picked up the call and it was a malay man, informing me what i needed to know, and referred me back to the ministry of foreign affairs.
when i got through, another malay woman picked up the call, put me on hold, transferred me to someone else, who was a malay man, who gave me - hesitantly - the information i needed.
---
then i had to ring maxis customer service to set up something. and after going through several automated key ins, my phone call was immediately picked up by an indian guy speeding off a script.
asked me for my name, number, phone make etc. gave me some instructions, which i followed, and it didn't work. oh, and i was warned by the polite recorded message 'lady' that my conversation is recorded.
so i rang back again, went through the automated key-ins one more time, and got immediately put through to the customer service centre, and was answered by an indian woman.
explained my problem, she read through the same script at the same speed and i had to stop her to plead for her to listen - that obviously i know all this and went through all the steps and it didn't work, and can i please let you know what happened? she chuckled, and let me speak, and repeated the script.
alamak.
so i decided to just try again. and waited. but nothing happened. had to ring again for the third time. same thing. except this time, maxis didn't creepily remember the stuff i keyed in and i had to reselect language of choice etc.
lo and behold! it's another indian guy! this dude sounded like he was at least listening, told me contradicting information to the previous woman, and gave me an alternative method to achieve my goals.
and my phone is currently hanging. fuck.
----
in conclusion, if i were a hermit who operated purely through mediated communication paraphernalia, i would think that:
1) government agencies is a game where all enemies and friends are malays
2) the main aim of the game is to go through various mazes and misdirections to get to the key-keepers who can help me
3) time is not of the essence, and can bend both space and functions
4) i am an unnamed heroine with no superpowers that can assist me
whereas:
1) privately-owned telcos is a game where every key-keeper is an indian robot, even if they don't appear to be so
2) the main aim of the game is to cleverly extract what you need without giving up all of your soul
3) time is of the essence and the time bar is constantly shouting at you to stop playing
4) you still have to go through mazes and misdirections, but the technology paradigm creates a fantasy of efficiency
----
i think i am playing too many video games. and it's scary how much telephone life mimics racist stereotypes.