Made in Japan, Outsourced Globally

Last night, I was talking to Lewis, one of the Sun interns (whom I secretly thought was a daunting character, judging from his height of being 2.5 times as me - but turned out to be a nice and interesting guy).

The conversation started in innocent and casual chit-chat of "what do you do?" "how do you know each other (pointing at my friend Gordon)?" As we warmed up with casual banter, he asked me the question that stumps most people in return:

"What did you study in school?"
"Developmental Economics (it's actually Development Studies, but I say this to avoid the confusing and annoying explanation that it's not human psychological development)."
"...uh, right... and what do you do?"
"Well, I'll be working for a company that does consumer packaging for pharmaceuticals, tobacco, cosmetics, software products, etc."

Once I briefly explain what Development Studies is (study of Third World economies, societies, and politics - globalization, geography, theories, yaddi-yaddi-yadda), he exclaims,
"So, you are trying to help the Third World, yet you've sold your soul to a tobacco company!"

Not exactly. But for the sake of party talk, the conversation sinks deeper into the moral dilemma of altruistic background versus being absorbed as a cog in the wheel of corporate capitalism. It pains me to explain my broad thinking on this subject matter, especially at a venue of lighter atmosphere, so I let the bantering go on. But here's the real deal (and Lewis, if you happen to read this, well, you'll know that I am not as shallow as you think -haha):

Development Studies in itself is a dead study. I say this, not out of disrespect to the scholars, but because it is a study of history and theories. 'Development' connotes that something is premature and must be 'developed' from point A to point B. I had trouble swallowing this concept at first, because this also meant that society at large (rich, First World countries with military prowess) was determining who was 'developed' and who 'wasn't developed.'

In this day and age, if one is working to 'help Third World countries,' you are imagined as 'one who picks dirt in the villages as some NGO worker, providing basic needs.' That would be a very narrow definition of 'helping.'

First of all, I believe the attitude of 'helping' should:
- Have self-sustainability as the end goal
- Increase connectivity between societies to share resources (ideas, natural resources, industrial goods, ability to trade)
- Be viewed as benefitial to not only the local community, but to the global community at large
I believe the difference between a push-and-shove aid/support and one that actually has the above three intentions makes a huge difference in the end result.

Secondly, the scope of development should be identified, and then focused:
Basic needs, health care, civil engineering, education, agriculture, local community development, environmental issues, dissolving conflicts, employment. These are all areas that can be improved in different parts of the world today. Of all these areas, employment stands out as one of the most significant and challenging to me - an area that I personally would like to work on.

Unemployment leads to social frustration and criminal activities, of small and large. Rape and sexual activities increase as ways of spending time and releasing the frustration (it's not a far-fetched theory). Unemployment leads to domestic violence and could send a child begging in the streets - or - even selling the child away to make ends meet for the family.

Employment, on the other hand, can bring more stability to family life and motivate the members of society to create a better environment (a safer neighborhood, good schools nearby for the children, infrastructure that brings benefits to the community, etc). The ability to generate income on one's own unshackles an individual from dependence.

The fact that I will be spending my next few years gaining business skills is still part of a grander scheme of things in my contribution to society. I actually view myself as a conduit of skills and knowledge - the more I learn how to do something, I will be able to transfer those skills and knowledge to locations that could use them. The future is still an open book - I could be building an NGO, joining an already existing international institution, building a company, working within a large company to leverage influence, etc. Who knows? Ultimately, I want to head in the direction of job creation in parts of the world that will benefit from such development. An idealist with some hard skills - now that's scary stuff!!! :)

I'm still doing my information gathering though (right, Drake?)

Development studies and working in the corporate world are not completely polar things. At least Mr. Gates and I don't think so. Lastly, Lewis mentioned that he studies Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence at Uni, and intends to be in I-banking when he starts working. He joked that he wouldn't really use his B.S. background in the world of I-banking - I believe he was bluffing as much as I about the usefulness of what we learn academically.