...red tape's on the menu.

after dealing with all the "internal" stuff related to night cycling, then there's the "external".

i was told to liase with the traffic police to get a permit for night cycling.

so i emailed the traffic police and the first reply was to refer me to another, who then referred me to a third person.

as if that wasn't complicated enough, after i sent the details to Stanley(the 3rd officer), a fourth emailed me and told me :

Dear Mr Lim,

There is a need for you to apply for a permit. If you are starting atyour school then you have to apply at Ang Mo Kio Police Division.

So after PE today, I went to amk South police station at amk central.

as I entered, there were 6 ppl inside. -_-"

but one might not realise the benefits of having the sense of urgency after 3 more walked in just 10s after i did -

heng i walked fast. and so i thought to myself.

there were all sorts of reports.

er, theft cases, snatch theft, a ns guy who lost his camp pass, etc.

i was getting real bored and started looking around...

"...police...service pledge"

To receive a 999 call within 10 seconds

To...emergency in 15mins...non-emergency in 30mins...

...

...

To...serve...at the service counter within 15mins.

Right...I've been waiting for more than half an hour already.

Then, a grp of policemen entered with 2 teenagers(younger than me) with earrings - yea, ah bengs.

and one girl and a small boy too.

apparently i heard the word "fight"...blablabla and they were brought into an interrogation room.

o.o"

seeing that me and another guy have been waiting for very long, the officer at the counter approached us to see if there was a 'quick fix' to our enquires.

and so i told him my case, and he asked

"we dun issue this type of permits here...did you contact Stanley?"

"Ya...eh but i was told to come here to get permit leh"

"wait ah, I give him a call"

wow...they actually know each other. cool!

"Stanley, AMK south ah. Hey how come got ppl come here get permit? I thot is get from traffic officer de."

"Night cycling..."

"Yaya, SRJC..."

then the officer hands me his hp :

"yea he wants to tok to you"

"zheng wen issit...? no wonder so familiar...you from srjc outdoor activities club de right?"

"ya"

"hey regarding the permit ah...actually by emailing me is enough le...i already help you apply..."

"issit? i thot someone from tp email me say i need go police station get permit..."

"huh? i thot im the only compliance officer liasing with you? how come got another?"

and this is where the red tape comes in. -_-

waste my time sia!

yea indeed in my email another compliance officer told me to apply for permit...but its not Stanley...

as if things weren't complicated enough(again), i received an msg from Mr Alan Tan that the 4 teachers in charge of ODAC will be having a meeting for the camp soon...

and he told me one of them isn't comfortable with night cycling...

As you could have guessed, it would be Mr Joe Lim..

if someone suddenly told me that it's cancelled,(although I shud be one of the first to know) I could easily fake a smile and say

"nvm...i gained experience from organising...haz"

save the sad story; it won't happen. >.<