i did my bachelor degree in arts, then MBA (different faculty), worked in the lion city for 2 years before deciding to come back to pursue phd.
as i'm not really keen with dba, i chose to go ahead with phd (back to my bachelor degree's faculty).

i knew my ex-supervisor (X) since degree years (ex because i finally had the courage to ask for a divorce with her). she was not my first choice. i approached my ideal supervisors but unfortunately they were retiring in few months time. apparently the school had been restructuring over the years, the old professors are leaving and the new batch of senior lecturers are taking over their roles. X is the head of the school when i decided to go under her supervision (the worst decision ever!)

feb 2014, i enrolled in my first semester. X told me not to rush for the proposal yet and just concentrate with the compulsory classes for the first semester. okay. on and off i tried to make appointment with her, but her PA always says her schedule is full, too busy.
june 2014, end of my first semester - zero progress. i felt guilty. i did a 7 pages proposal and submitted to her, she put it at the corner of the table & said will give me feedback later. 3 weeks passed, no respond. i went to her room and it was lucky that she was in (usually she is not around due to her position as the head). with shyness i asked bout my proposal, fearing it might sound ridiculous. she was abit puzzled, unsure what i was talking about and she suddenly remembered and pointed to the corner of the table, telling me " oh, you tengok la, 3weeks ago i put it there, 3weeks after it is still there. i was so busy i dah lupa about that. hahaha!" (in my head: that's not funny.)
i began to question myself about my choice. perhaps she is really busy, perhaps i should be more independent.

sept 2014, semester 2 started. i was abit nervous about my progress and i kept making appointment with X. i am not sure about other people but X has a habit of not replying to messages. it was shown that she had read the messages (double blue ticks, thanks to the technology), but i am not sure why its so hard for her to reply even with a simple letter 'K'. out of 10 appointments made, she cancelled 9. and the 10th time was cancelled due to her personal affair. it was like so freaking hard to see her.

dec 2014, i think i'm falling into depression, and that's when i decided to change supervisor. i waited at her office early in the morning, she was in a meeting. when i saw her, she started to give opinions about my proposal (THAT 7 pages proposal since July), but from the way she converse, you know very well that she did not read it. she was telling me something so common, so generalize that it's not even specific to my proposal. sentences such as;

"your objectives are not clear, the research statement is not proper, methodology could be better, i don't see the main research point/gap, etc etc"

at that moment, i knew my purpose of the day was never been so right. i broke the news to her, i wanted to change my field of study and supervisor. she was taken aback and reluctant to let me go initially, as she was saying she can keep supervising me even if i change my study field. but i insisted to change sv as well. and then the real nightmare begins..

X told me to get an acceptance from my prospective Sv first before she could release me. i approached a few people but once they knew i am under X, nobody dares to take me in. they do not want anything to do with X, the head of the school (internal office politics). then i found A, he was willing to accept me. i texted X for an appointment to sign the release letter, as usual no reply. i went to her office, her PA was telling me she was out for a workshop & will be on-leave for 2weeks starting the next day. however, her car was still in the school, she went to the workshop by official cars. i sent a few whatsapp messages (just to see her for 2 minutes to get her signature, and i will be waiting at the school) but still no reply. there were two blue ticks. fearing she might be run out of data or wifi, i sent text messages, but no reply too. as i wanted to settle the release form asap (it might take a while at the deanery to process), i can't miss her that day. i tried to call her but nobody answer. last resort, i waited at her car. i waited for almost 3 hours til i saw her coming down from the official school car, i rushed towards and handed her the release form. can u imagine, she never even look at me and rushed to start her engine. i had to knock on her window for her to realize my existent there! she took the form, saw A's name on it and say 'NO, A can't take Phd student, he is still new.' she shoved the form back to me and drove away. don't you think that's a little rude? i am a human being as well, i do not deserve to be treated in such way! she left me speechless. the next day (she was supposed to be on-leave), she came back to office and 'lectured' A about it. i felt really sorry for A. he was just trying to help. then i found B to accept me, he has 3 Phd students on hand, but the same thing happened again, X rejected B to take me. reason being, B has 'too many' students under him. what about herself? she has 6 Phd and 8 Master students for God's sake! i think i must had been her enemy in my past life.

i was lost, seriously. and i was thinking to terminate my phd, all sorts of negativity began to circle in my head.
depression, sickness, hopeless, demotivated. why me?

from my peers, i found out that X took me in previously because she needs to achieve her KPI in order to maintain her position.
a few Phd students under her supervision went missing, no news and of coz never graduated.
she had personal problems, which effected her performance in the school.
apparently the faculty dean dislike her.
and things that i do not wish to elaborate further.

finally C came to my rescue, she took me in and on Feb 2015, X officially signed the release form. i was swayed far from my main interest (my initial field), to C's field which i had limit knowledge on. well, i couldn't care much now, i just wanted to get my thesis done and get out from here.
so, that's what i meant by human factor. i was just unlucky to have met X.
the selection of supervisor is very significant, you may be living in heaven, or in hell.