JPNS, 10 May 2021
Level 7, Sabah State Education Department
Planning and District Education Management Sector

Rain had been falling since dawn.

Junaidah, the Assistant Director, wrapped both hands around a mug of hot chocolate while scrolling through the morning reports on her tablet.

A notification interrupted her.

SISPAA

She tapped it.

Her eyebrows lifted.

Title: PPDKB Payroll Problem

Several teachers across Kota Belud have not received their salary adjustments...

Junaidah frowned.

"...What?"

She refreshed the dashboard.

10 complaints.

All from Kota Belud.

She leaned back.

"Really, Krishna?" she muttered with a sigh.

"Why do you always attract the bigger problems?"

Without delay, she walked into Director Roshin's office.

"We have a recurring payroll complaint involving PPDKB."

Roshin skimmed the report.

"Prepare a circular."

"Yes, sir."

Minutes later, an official notice was issued to every District Education Office in Sabah.

Junaidah then opened the WhatsApp group for all DEOs.

She attached the circular.

Please take note and submit the required information by tomorrow.

She pressed Send.

Outside, the rain continued to fall.

Somewhere in Kota Belud...

Krishna's phone vibrated.

PPDKB was no match for the cold weather either.

Krishna had sneezed several times despite turning off the air conditioner.

"Can't help it," he muttered, rubbing his nose. "Sinus."

Rozman, who was having breakfast with him in the pantry, smirked.

"Probably a bad omen."

Krishna looked up.

"Or someone is talking about you."

Right on cue—

Ping!

Krishna's phone lit up.

Google Meet
Sector Heads Meeting & MySTEP Application Decisions
9:00 a.m.

A second notification followed.

PPD Sabah DEOs (WhatsApp)

Junaidah: Please refer to the attached JPNS circular. Kindly take the necessary action by tomorrow.

Krishna frowned.

"...Tomorrow?"

Meanwhile, Rozman, the meeting moderator, forwarded the Google Meet link to Izhan.

"You're my co-host today."

"Got it," Izhan replied.

Krishna opened the circular.

His expression hardened as he read.

All 66 schools under PPDKB, including the district office itself, were affected by outdated payroll records.

He quietly lowered his phone onto the table.

Rozman didn't need to ask.

One look at Krishna's face was enough.

He slid his untouched cup of coffee across the table.

"Take mine."

Krishna looked up.

"...That obvious?"

Rozman smiled.

"Twenty years of working together."

"I know that face."

Krishna let out a quiet sigh before taking a sip.

"Looks like this sector meeting just became much more interesting."

The clock struck 9:00 a.m.

Krishna had already logged into the Google Meet.

Rozman, serving as the meeting emcee, made the final preparations while Izhan handled the technical side as co-host.

One by one, the sector representatives joined the meeting, including Casdee and Iskandar.

As Deputy DEO, Iskandar served as the minute-taker despite the meeting being held online.

Casdee, meanwhile, was only there for the MySTEP recruitment agenda. She had been appointed as one of the interviewers and would leave once her session was over.

Then another participant joined.

Wanzar.

Chief Clerk, also known as the Head of Management Sector.

He greeted everyone as usual, unaware of the JPNS circular that had landed on Krishna's desk just minutes earlier.

Within the hour...

...his sector would become the centre of the meeting.

Krishna began the meeting with a brief roundtable update from each sector.

Once everyone had finished, he moved to the main agenda.

"This morning, JPNS sent us an interesting report."

The Planning Sector already knew what was coming.

Inside Rozman's office, Rozman, Izhan, and Iskandar quietly exchanged glances as they attended the meeting from their respective laptops.

Krishna shared his screen.

An Excel spreadsheet from JPNS filled everyone's monitor.

"Our payroll records are outdated."

He paused.

"And it has affected all 66 schools under PPDKB..."

"...including this office."

A brief silence followed.

Off-screen, Iskandar let out a sigh.

"That explains it."

He muted himself for a moment before adding,

"I've been wondering why my salary was still using my old grade..."

"...even after becoming a DG14.”

Several participants nodded.

Apparently...

He wasn't the only one.

Krishna scrolled through the district database.

"Let's use one school as an example."

He selected SMK Putra.

A list of teachers appeared.

His cursor stopped on one name.

Megat Zainal.

"His personal information is correct."

Krishna pointed at the screen.

"Name. IC number. School. Grade."

He clicked another column.

"But this..."

"...isn't."

The payroll field still displayed Megat's previous salary record.

Krishna turned to the Management Sector.

"Wanzar."

"Can you explain why the payroll record wasn't updated after his salary movement?"

Wanzar nervously switched on his microphone.

"Sir... payroll records can only be updated by the user through HRMIS—"

Krishna frowned.

"Then why are so many records still outdated?"

Before Wanzar could answer, Casdee spoke from the other side of the block.

She had already opened HRMIS on another monitor.

"That's odd..."

She clicked through her own profile.

"I can't edit mine either."

The meeting fell silent.

Wanzar blinked.

"...You can't?"

Casdee shook her head.

"The payroll section is locked."

Krishna leaned closer to his screen.

"Then how did you remind the school administrators?"

"And the PPDKB staff?"

Wanzar remained muted for a few seconds.

The silence itself was an answer.

Krishna sighed.

"You do realise this created a domino effect, right?"

Meanwhile, Izhan turned to Rozman.

"Actually... how does payroll updating usually work?"

Rozman answered calmly.

"We don't directly change it ourselves."

"Usually, we receive an official letter from the ministry."

"Then it goes to the school administrator and the Finance Unit for processing."

Iskandar nodded.

"Even though administrative assistants are often overlooked, they are the ones handling the key documentation that affects our salaries."

He looked at his old payroll record.

"No wonder our grades were never updated."

Rozman glanced at Wanzar's name on the meeting screen.

"So the issue wasn't only the system..."

"...Wanzar didn't send the reminder."

Krishna looked directly at the screen.

"We have 66 schools under our district."

"From SK to SMK..."

"A total of 286 teachers are affected."

He paused.

"And the pressure is..."

"JPNS expects this to be resolved by tomorrow."

The meeting became silent.

Krishna leaned closer.

"You are the person responsible for this sector."

"As a leader..."

"What is your solution?"

Wanzar froze.

He wasn't being asked for an excuse.

He was being asked for a plan.

Krishna had entered interrogation mode.

Meanwhile, Izhan sat quietly beside Rozman.

Usually, she could move between sectors and offer her observations freely.

But this time...

she was stuck.

The responsibility was clear.

This belonged to the Management Sector.

And Wanzar had to answer.

Rozman noticed her expression.

"Not every problem needs you to solve it, Izhan."

She looked at him.

"Sometimes your role is to understand how others solve theirs."

Izhan nodded.

Still, she couldn't help watching closely.

Outside the meeting room, rain continued to fall over Kota Belud.

Izhan looked at Rozman.

"Do you think he can solve it?"

Rozman watched the frozen Google Meet screen.

"He has to."

A pause.

"Because tomorrow isn't waiting for anyone."

The Meeting Continued