By Wafi A. Rashid
Over the past few days, whenever colleagues of mine were appointed as programme managers for events organised by COSA, the Secretariat of Communication, I noticed the uneasy looks written all over their faces as they struggled to make everything go according to plan.
There was a lot of bickering and argument being thrown around and this is what the public does not see. What goes on behind the scenes, behind the fun, laughter and success of programmes are actually a lot of hard work and sacrifices.
As cliché as it may sound, a few of the programme managers had opened up about their experiences working with people who are hard to work with.
Programme manager of Communication Week 2017, Yang Azlin, had this to say: “There were a lot of problems leading up to this event but I still had a lot of fun working with undergraduates and postgraduate students.”
“Dealing with outsiders and vendors who didn’t comply with the rules and regulations first agreed upon had caused a lot of trouble for us and the committee because some of the menu that they had involved safety of students.” The frustration in her voice was evident.
Asked about dealing with certain committee members, the young manager exclaimed, “This event had 35 committee members but I had a lot of problem with their commitment. I cannot really complain because they are students and I don’t have the right to complain because they are also participants of this event and have a lot on their plates.”
Meanwhile, Communication Annual Bowling Tournament’s programme manager, Firdaus Roslan said: “It was fun and at the same time very challenging because of all the obstacles that I had to face.”
When it came to working under pressure and getting a lot of stick from the committee, Firdaus had this to say, “I took that as a challenge and this is not something particularly new to me, I can also see this as a means to improve myself.”
“All I can do right now is to just take it positively from the negative feedback,” the final year student added.
“As people who hold responsibilities, there will always be obstacles and challenges that might bring us down and ultimately defeat us, but it’s not about how bad we really fall but rather how we come back from it.” ***