Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is such a dense classic that I could only thumb through. It is a seminal work, relevant even to today, delving on virtue, ethics, and the concept of Eudaimonia or flourishing - the highest good a human being could strive for a well-lived life.
And I do see its parallels with Confucianism.
Wanting to switch gears, I chose to dive into “Living the Asian Century: An Undiplomatic Memoir”, latest book by former Singaporean diplomat Kishore Mahbubani. He is also the Former President of the United Nations Security Council.
The book didn’t disappoint. Kishore is such an eloquent writer. So drawn to his stories, I finished reading his book late into the night.
His book brought back memories of my time working and living in Singapore, Jakarta, Timor-Leste, Washington DC, New York, and Kathmandu.
My first real job started in San Francisco as I fumbled my way into UC Berkeley.
But the seeds of my interest in global work truly started during my time working with the International Relations Office at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
That was also my first time learning about Kishore Mahbubani, the first founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS. It’s only later, as I got on to the international development track, that I started to follow more of his work from time to time.
Prior to his diplomat career, he started off with a solid background in philosophy (undergraduate and masters and was later conferred an Honorary PhD)!
I most admire his guts.
It was inspiring to read Kishore’s journey from very humble beginnings to becoming such an influential figure (in diplomacy, politics, and academia) as he transformed from an idealist to a shrewd idealist-realist.
More than 10 years ago, I was such a naive idealist*. At that time, I was working as a consultant with a UN organization. I saw firsthand the imbalance in power dynamics between international and local staff. Many were aware of the issue but chose to keep mum.
*I still am that naive idealist as I realized running around the highly political UNFCCC climate circuit last year.
Together with the local staff, I spoke up against a former supervisor, an international staff, to the HR. Ultimately, it costs me and eventually the local staff our contracts.
Morally, I was relieved that I did the right thing. But did it translate to any practical good for my friend? A local staff who would later have difficulties securing as reputable and well-paid role in an international organization?
What’s more, the international staff continued to be promoted and is now in a senior role. Our morally-driven act, sadly, did not make any dent.
It did, however, make some impressions as others came forward to console us. And the local staff and I continue to remain in contact even though we no longer talk about that painful episode.
There are numerous stories such as these in the world of international aid and development where power matters and continues to rule.
To shine and rise up the ladder, one needs to be savvy to the rules of the game - open and hidden rules conceived by human beings not any smarter than us.
Sadly, when facing ethical dilemmas, most choose to close one eye (or ear). Understandably so as one’s job to feed the family and to secure stable career prospects in the long run continues to remain a priority.
The question is, can we still go to bed, keeping mum, with not a pull of our heartstrings?
Quotes I find insightful
From Kishore Mahbubani’s latest memoir
“Great powers will always put their interests ahead of principle in dealing with small states”
“It’s clear that while I lived with material deprivation, I was absorbing cultural richness”
“Directly or indirectly, we Asians imbibed the belief that Western societies were superior to Asian ones and became more and more distanced from our own cultures… They live in multicultural, multiracial Singapore, feeling more comfortable using English as a first language, as I do”
“Using the principle of universalisability, when the US government advocated that the Singaporean government shouldn’t carry out torture, it was advocating the universal principle that no government should carry out torture… You can well imagine the shock that many of us, especially in the developing world, felt when the US government became the first developed government to carry out torture on the Muslim detainees in Guantanamo”
“Sometimes in life, the mind and material considerations can win over the battle. In other cases, the heart and the tug of emotions are more effective”
“Never in my wildest dreams as a child did I believe that I would one day own a bungalow in land-scarce Singapore. But the richest road I travelled was always in the field of ideas”
"System, ideology, and apparat have deprived us—rulers as well as the ruled—of our conscience, of our common sense and natural speech, and thereby, of our actual humanity. States grow ever more machine-like; people are transformed into statistical choruses of voters, producers, consumers, patients, tourists, or soldiers. In politics, good and evil, categories of the natural world and therefore obsolete remnants of the past, lose all absolute meaning; the sole method of politics is quantifiable success."
This quote is from Václav Havel's essay "Politics and Conscience." I think you will like it.
Being moral-conscious in an environment that relegates responsibility and meaning to the private and secondary can be frustrating, but preserving our inner laws can be all that matters.
Delighted to find another reader of Kishore Mahbunani. I align with his realistic look on politics. To quote Mahbunani, "Geopolitics is a cruel business."
Idealism is nice but it won't save you from being bombed. Realpolitik does. It is definitely not convenient for our ideals, but it is what it is.
Need to get my hands on his latest book. I have read all his books 😆