Not all government advice is worth following

Failing in style is not always a bad thing

'If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly.' - G. K. Chesterton

In July 2009, I wrote a post about Heroic Failures, where I shared a story from a book written by Stephen Pile. That particular book was bought when I was a student in the 1980s. After a lapse of more than 20 years, Mr Pile has produced another compilation of similar stories.

This latest book is titled 'The Not Terribly Good Book of Heroic Failures'. It is a collection of stories from all over the world about people who not only did not succeed in what they wanted to do but managed to do (or not do it, depending on your point of view) in some style. While it is hilarious to read of other people's bungling attempts, there are some inspiring stories too. Just goes to show that sometimes, if you're going to make a mistake, make it a big one, embarrassment aside.

I'll share two snippets from the book.
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1. The Worst Moment for a Crime

Choosing the right moment is vitally important in any crime. Mr David Goodall of Barnsley, for example, set off in January 1979 to do a little bit of shoplifting. Once inside the Barnsley branch of British Home Stores, he had hardly stolen his first item when he was simultaneously seized by eight pairs of hands. The shop was holding a convention of store detectives at the time.

2. The Least Successful Equal-Pay Advertisement

In 1976, the European Economic Community pointed out to the Irish government that it had not yet implemented the agreed sex-equality legislation. The Dublin government immediately advertised for an equal-pay enforcement officer. The advertisement offered different salary scales for men and women.
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On 30 March 2020, the Women's Development Department, an agency under the Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga Dan Masyarakat (a ministry I won't attempt to translate into English) published four (4) public advisory posters on their Facebook page. Each poster carried different tips on ways to improve family relationship during the Movement Control Order restriction. The posters immediately came under heavy fire from various sections of the community for being sexist and disrespectful to the role of women in the household. This prompted the head of the department to issue a formal apology and the posters were withdrawn the very next day. Even the apology was criticized for having a condescending tone.

In light of what happened, I felt that Mr Pile's book is somewhat relevant. I would like to suggest to the person/team from KPWKM who produced those posters to try get hold of this book (or any of the other Heroic Failure books) so that you may be relieved to know that you are not alone in making blunders. Your posters (although now retracted) are being quoted by many media channels over the world.

But what is past, is past. Take some time to chill and re-group. Come back with a better and knockout campaign to redeem yourself. Malaysia Boleh!

Poster No.1 : Work from home... but dress-up too