Speak (Or Write) No Evil

It's been a while since my last posting, and this is not a good sign for a newbie like me. Well, I was actually midway into a new posting but decided to ditch it. The entry, which was not to be, was inspired by a news article I read about French President Nicolas Sarkozy's administration.

After considering that the topic could veer into unchartered, dangerous waters, I thought the better of it. From the outset, AideSpeak is not meant to be a SoPo blog, and as far as possible, I will avoid the topic. Which brings me to the subject of the day: The Aides' Great Restraint.

Working for a top politician, we aides have to be super-cautious with what we say. Every single word, will one way or another, be linked to the boss. Receiving an SMS which reads: "My god, did u read what OKC said in da papers?!!!! how can?" usually does not warrant a reply. Or the safest response could be: "Noted, tq."

Going beyond that, and one will be treading on a political minefield. Whatever personal opinions on the subject is best left unshared. Words from those directly linked to the boss (like yours truly) has an uncanny way of getting around.

The last thing you want is the grapevine abuzz with talk like: "Did you hear what the Minister's aide said about so-and-so?" Worse, if such words reach the boss' ears.

And then, there is also the legals aspects. Being a civil servant, I am bound by the General Orders and the Official Secrets Act. I have to be mindful that the moment I blurted out something which I should not, it could well land me in jail.

Hence, the lesser I speak on work-related matters, the less likelihood that I will say the wrong things.

In a sense, it's quite frustrating, especially being an ex-journalist where I thought of nothing when shooting my mouth off on current issues.Now, I have to exercise a great deal of restraint.

It's not easy looking for "neutral" words when conversations stray into contentious topics. "Really?", "interesting..." and "I'll inform the boss" are my more common ones.

Sometimes, I have to put up an expressionless face when deep down, I wanted to rip the person's guts out simply because I so totally disagree with him or her.

It gets easier if it's text messages. You have more time to choose your words and the communication is devoid of any visual giveaways like body language and facial expressions.

The same rule applies even to family members. One of them just asked me if so-and-so will be made a Minister. My reply to him was the same as I would to others: "I don't know". First of all, I genuinely do not know. Although I could make an educated guess, I was not quite prepared to share those views as yet.

Ok, I guess enough has been said on this topic. Better stop before I blurt out something I should not...