COME THROUGH

Chapter: 7

Minji attended a meeting called by the health commission before the interview for the selection of medical officers. It was a meeting called in short notice and as Minji had prior commitments, she notified the chairman that she had to attend the meeting a little later than the others. Yet she got disapproving looks from the health minister and the commission chairman and others when she entered the meeting room.

The chairman of the commission briefed her on what was being discussed while she took up the files presented to her and flipped through the names of the 150 candidates that were to be interviewed. She stopped when she found a name, Dr. Hanni Pham. She was then given another list of candidates with Prime minister, Heath minister, mayor, chairman written in brackets alongside different names. She understood what was it just by looking at it. Turned out it was a meeting called to announce the selected candidates before the actual interview was being held. She had heard instances about corruption but now she was witnessing it for the first time and she knew that it wasn't going to be the last time.

Despite being patronized by everyone present in the meeting, she succeeded in advocating for selection of 50% of the candidates based on pure merit basis. Her family name was used against her signalling that they don't buy that she entered the bureaucracy based on her own merits. Minji could have used her family name to threaten the minister but she wouldn't. She chose to be her pure independent self and that did it, 45% selection on pure merits. Not anyone in the meeting room will admit it but Minji has earned their respect.

After the meeting, an assistant professor in Seoul National University hospital ran after her to introduce himself and appreciated her for bringing remarkable changes in a short amount of time and offered his support in the free medical camps that she's organising all over the country. He was a man in his fifties and Minji have recognised the genuineness in his willingness to do what is right, so they exchanged numbers and promised to help and support each other in later endeavours in the medical line.

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Mr Pham called his daughter in the evening because there was an interview for his daughter the very next day.

"I asked Sammy to go to the interview venue with you but he said you didn't need to go with him." Mr Pham said a little disappointment can be heard in his voice.

"I told him he didn't need to go with me. Dad, I'm not longer a kid. I can go to the interview myself." Hanni convinced her father.

"Alright, alright. Do you keep your documents ready?" He asked.

"They're just inside the cupboard. I'll get them out tomorrow." Hanni replied.

"Don't be negligent, han. Get them out and keep them ready on your table." Mr Pham said as caring and careful as ever.

"Okay. I'll get them out now." Hanni the obedient daughter pleased her father.

As soon as they ended the call, Hanni opened her cupboard and got two file holders, one which contained her original documents and the other, the Xerox copies. She take the required documents for tomorrow and set them inside the file cover that she'd be carrying to the interview.

Hyein was looking at what Hanni was doing while sitting across her bed.
"Are you documents ready, Pham?" She asked.

"Yes. There's not much to carry anyway." Hanni replied.

"These are only Xerox copy?" Hyein asked holding up a file that Hanni left untouched.

"Wait, Pham! You had really short hair here in your certificate." Hyein laughed a little as she looked at Hanni's passport photo on her middle school certificate.

"Yes, I had short hair then. It was back in middle school." Hanni replied smiling.

"Let me see your highschool certificate." Hyein said, hands already searching through the papers for it.