Beheading the Knight

My room was dark. Nearly pitch dark. Didn’t need much lights. I like to think alone in the darkness. Clearly, I could see, were 3 documents on top of the table. One was a documentary article about the cats. It was a ‘parting souvenir’ that the seniors gave me. According to them, it was tradition to pass that article around to people who would be leaving.

I finished reading that article in a minute. Slouching back into my armrest, I flung the article back onto the table and chuckled to myself. So that’s why they gave me that article, I said to myself.

The cat is known for its silent kills, quiet moves and its non existing sense of loyalty. It befriends creatures that are of purpose, meaning or use to itself. The cat has no loyalty to any master, but to the person who feeds it and keeps it happy. It does not recognize to place or person, and is famed for irritating its next of species – the dogs.

Much has happened. Even more will be happening in the days to come. In this region of Santo Ae, things happen. Quietly. Swiftly. Without warning or notice. People here are cunning, like foxes, like leopards lying low, waiting for a careless prey to come by and pounce on it.

I was that prey.

The second document, was a letter. A formal resignation letter to my superiors. I had it sealed with a wax seal my friend made for me while we were still in Knights Kin together, the place where I was formerly trained in. Famed for having the best education academy in the country, I was deployed from Knights Kin to help develop the education system in Santo Ae. On the platform, he stuffed the seal into my pocket.

“Let this seal, my friend, be a seal of our commitment to the education of this country. Regardless of which state, regardless of who we work with, we serve the King.” And off he went, and up I went on the train.

The problem about an autonomous state is obvious. Different states do things differently. While some states are prepared to learn from other states about what is best, not all are prepared to progress. As an educationist, I once asked my lecturer, how is it that education, in certain states, are a priority for development.

“Don’t talk about education, son,” the wise lecturer said. “Even the healthcare and homeland security were never given attention.”

Then what was important in Santo Ae?

“Finance and military.”

Tears rolled down my eyes even as I walked along the streets of Santo Ae on my first day of posting. The streets of SA were decorated with beautiful and gold plated ornaments, a refined architectural taste, beautifully paved streets and luxury cars running along it. People clad in LV and Gucci, aristocrats sipping coffee under the banners of Coffee Bean. Yet I stopped an adolescent and asked for directions, and he stared at me blankly.

“Di-rek-sion?” he stammered. Shaking his head, he walked past me. Thinking that he could’ve been a foreigner, I stopped another teenager. And another girl in her youths. Probably a couple more teens who were dressed in the latest trend.

I was left to draw my own conclusion. They can’t even speak properly.

What has happened to the education?

“It’s virtually inexistence,” the district education officer briefed me while picking me up from where I last cried. “People here know something’s missing, but they’re not prepared to change. The funding came, but no one was prepared to use it. They say that the materials we bought were not suitable for our young children. They protested that we’re making them more secular, but they forget that they themselves are growing up in a secular region.”

“After all,” he quipped, “SA is the leading region for high-end boutiques. I’m sure you noticed that.”

For almost 2 decades, the education system was left in shambles and shackles. Teachers were not properly trained, the system was dysfunctional, schools were in a deplorable state. When I came in 2 years ago, I was working closely with the district officer. Together we planned a revamp right from grass root level, made teachers work on a contract basis – which states a minimum number of hours that they must undergo training before they can teach – and upgraded schools to better equip them.

It was 2 tiring years. 2 years of reviewing every single teacher and every single school. 2 years of intensive training given. There were times I felt that I was being underpaid for the amount of energy and time I spent into training those teachers, but I never complained. 2 reasons why.

Firstly, because education was something I could do. It was The Career for me, it brought meaning to my life, it made my world colourful, it was something I was good in doing. Education was everything to me. I grew up appreciating the importance of education, and I grew up knowing that I would one day end up as an educationist.

Secondly – and more importantly – I was serving the King. It was an honour in the country – whichever region you live in – to be called to serve the King. On His Majesty’s service, a title that any citizen of the country would want to earn. The best part was this: the title HMS is never earned or worked for, it is given on the grace of the King. And I was graciously given this duty to serve Him.

It was an uphill battle to make a failed system work again. The daunting task, ironically, was not against the system, rather against the people that puppet-mimed the system. What people in SA never knew, was that the reason why education was a flop was because of politicians that control the system.

“There is only one reason why they refuse to allow the education system to work,” the District Officer revealed to me one day. “It’s so that the people won’t learn to think, or get smarter than them to put them out of their office.”

I was probably naïve back then. I said to myself, I’ll just do my part, no politics, no foul play, no dirty games. Just do my job, and go back to Knight’s, send the King a full report of what I’ve been doing, and keep the folks in SA happy. That’s it. Full stop. And for a while, things seem to be going along that line. Some phone calls from disgruntled politicians were all but else to keep me from my job. For that while, things were getting better. The students were now more responsive to the new education system, they were learning how to read and write, teachers were getting more confident, and were happy teaching.

The real celebration came on New Year’s Eve. The national regional rankings were released by the Federal Attorney. It was the annual placing of the region in the education sector whereby each region were evaluated based on the results produced by students in a unity test conducted by the Federal Attorney. Champagnes were chilled and popped. It was a celebration, a real party. Santo Ae made it to the top 5 best regions for education! Best part, we were right behind Knight’s Kin in positioning. It called for a celebration. Cheers and shouts ringed through the district’s office. That night we sang and partied into the night.

I called my friend in Knight’s to break the good news. He was elated.

“Just be careful.” He cautioned as he hung up the phone. I frowned while staring into the soon empty screen of my phone. Be careful? Over what?

Perhaps he saw what I failed to see. Insights that came with experience and years of working in the education sector.

Day after New Year, I got a call from the District officer’s secretary. “Meet me at the bridge outside your office.”

My friend in Knight’s was right. Something went wrong. Awfully wrong.

She revealed to me that the day before – barely 12 hours after the results were announced – Santo Ae’s Cabinet met to discuss certain issues. One of it, was certainly about education. They have decided unanimously upon the next cause of action for the education sector.

A total revamp in the sector. Replacement of the district officer, advisors, and teachers. All present sources utilized in the education sector will be transferred to the Home Affair council.

“The Home Affair council?” I shrieked. “That’s another council that’s virtually inexistence! What have they been doing?” I stopped, and yelled a more important question. “And who’s to take over the education sector? The new D.O?”

A politician, she said.

I was angry, I was disappointed, I was delusioned. Realizing that all our efforts and expertise and time spent to developing this sector was officially a waste. Not only would the new politician not know how to keep the education sector running, he’d again cripple the system. The whole model we built on how this system should function, will backfire and collapse, in a matter of time.

And what did the D.O do?

Nothing.

He wasn’t a politician, he wasn’t a power player. He, like me, was merely a pawn in the bigger game of chess that the politicians played.

I packed my belongings that very day. Both the D.O and his secretary advised me against staying to try salvage what’s left. “It’s not worth it,” those words still ring in my head. It never will be. As I was packing my stuff, the letter of appointment from the King’s office fell from a file. It sat lying on the floor, and I just stared at it for a while. So much for working for the King, proud to be part of the King’s ministry, and this is how it’s supposed to end?

How am I supposed to account to the King?

The third document was a single piece of paper. Blank, except for the few words typed and printed out neatly in the very middle of the paper.

In this matter, then, none of you should do wrong to other Brothers or take advantage of them. We have told you this before, and we strongly warned you that the Lord will punish those who do that.

1 Thessalonians 4:6

That very words came from a senior officer who has seen more than I did, went through more than I did, felt more than I did. Taking heed of the words of this wise man, I boarded the very next train back to Knight’s. At the back of my mind, the clouds of delusion slowly faded away. All that was left in vision, was a region with everything needed to make it strong and powerful, had it not be for the politicians who live in that very state of denial, assuming that things are working out well while they’re not, and sabotaging every single department just for their sake of survival.

The King will know about this. Somehow, someway, it’s only but a matter of time. Tilting my head back on the seat rest, I only prayed that that day would be soon.