PUTTING THE REINS ON GUS

I woke up this morning and read this, and this. I'm not suprised, but still appalled, and very intrigued. The scale of society's gullibility has reached a sort of epitome, it seems.

I remember reading not too long ago about a couple being cheated in a sale and purchase deal involving a Mercedes Benz. Apparently the deal between the couple and the man selling the car was done at a roadside along the Kota Tinggi road. The consideration was RM19k for the car, which was a 2nd-hand model but relatively new. In the end, the couple never saw the car nor the man and their RM19k ever again. They lodged a police report only to be given an appropos lecture by the top brass in the district balai about having some common sense.

I call it gullibility, some people call it greed. Maybe the greed leads to gullibility.

I can understand if people who are not good enough to pass even their SPM try to buy a degree or even an MBA in order to increase their chances of getting a better job. OK, maybe they're just desperate to survive. (Now I'm beginning to wonder whether all the dunces I've met in the top dog seats of some companies were actually patrons of these "mills". Tee hee). But what happens when they can't do the job of a real MBA holder? And what happens when they get caught?

But prominent figures? What the...??? If you can't even be true to yourself, how can you be trusted to act as the representative of the vox populi? Those who said they were genuinely conned into this, there are only two things. Either they didn't bother to do their due diligence or they're lying. Both of which are just so hopeless. I mean, anyone can become a victim of confidence tricksters but on this scale? Doesn't it take just a call to JPA or the consulate of the insitution's country of origin to check it's legitimacy? Or is everyone in such a hurry to be first in the paper chase that all caution (and common sense) is thrown to the wind?

If the bijak pandai can become fodder, what more the bodoh kayu?

IMHO we all should just be thankful for what we have, it's the only sure way to avoid becoming someone else's dinner. If it sounds too good to be true, it most often is. A little bit of homework can save a lot of embarassment, difficulty and financial loss. Look at all gift horses in the mouth. If it smells bad, refuse it.

HR practitioners need to be vigilant when hiring key personnel who embellish their CVs with fantastic qualifications from equally grand-sounding institutions. Design your job application forms to contain a background check waiver clause that enables you to legally probe both employment and academic references. Be a little bit wiser and it may save you from making a big fool out of yourself for hiring a "mill" candidate.