Being Top and Topless

"Next month, I will be in top what position ah?" I asked my senior vice president, Lionel. Sometimes, I like to relax and speak in Singlish.

"Topless" came the witty reply from Lionel. It is amazing how he has the gift of the gab. His wit and humour often lightens up the stress that agents could sometimes face. Although he has only studied up to Sec. 4 level, his spoken command of the English Language is admirable. He shows great leadership and is one of Dr. Wee's right hand man.

"Wow!" I told my manager. "The month of December has garnered many sales. At $50,100 commission, I am not even in the top ten position." I had just seen the photos of the top ten producers on the wall of our Dennis Wee Group office.

It was only at the divisional meeting that I realised that something was amiss. I checked with Aveline, my manager, as to how the top three positions in our division only garnered commisions of about $28,000/- for the month of December. It was only then that I realised as I had not filled in the sales transaction form, the deal was not computerised. I had closed the subsale on the same day and received payment on the same day as well. Hence, I thought we were to only fill in the amount received form. Since everything had been computerised and the positions of top producers finalised, there was nothing the company could do.

Sigh! In retrospect, our senior vice president was right! I was supposed to be in the top ten but at the end because of my own administrative error, I really became topless! What an unusual and funny incident!! Like Lu Hsun's Ah Q, I want to laugh and say, "C'est la vie!!!"

Gan Chau