What they taught was simply an expression of who they were...

As Dormgrandpop readers know, I am an avid listener to the American Public Radio broadcast, ‘Speaking of Faith’ (http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/) podcasts This is especially true in Singapore, since a don’t have a radio and have pretty much forgone television viewing. The following is a note I wrote this morning to the program’s producers.

My contact with Speaking of Faith is through podcasts, almost always the ‘unedited cuts.’ I value the expansion of mind and soul they evoke, during a very intense period of research in Singapore requiring focus and discipline. Your podcasts are companions as I carry out the routine tasks of life - cooking, dishwashing, folding laundry and housecleaning early in the morning and late in the evening, after returning from work.

Because I listen to so many, I have become conscious of a qualitative difference that seemed worth sharing. It began as I noted the cuts I returned to for a first, second and even third listening: Jean Vanier, Katy Payne, Matheu Richard Jaqueline Novogratz, Kate Braestrup and my all-time favorite, the late Joe Carter. My reactions to two of your most recent interviews - with Michael McCollogh and Robert Wright were very different. They seemed like smart, self-confident guys, like many of my academic colleagues, (probably me as well) who thought they knew all - or most - of the answers, which members of the listening audience probably did not.

Reflection lead to greater insight into what I was experiencing. Those interviewees whom I listed first were sharing ideas based on life experiences. Their ideas and lives were, essentially one and the same. With McCollogh and Wright, there was no obvious connection between what they thought and how they lived. Matheu Ricard captured my point beautifully in describing differences between the intellectuals who gathered at his father’s home in France and the Buddhist monks with whom he studied in India. Many of the former group were brilliant but were neither very nice, nor very happy men and women. His Buddhist teachers however, were the same human beings twenty-four hours each day with whomever they encountered. What they taught was simply an expression of who they were.

There may be a lesson in this for those of us in the teaching profession.

Here are the names of the interviewees and the titles of their podcasts mentioned above.

Michael McCullogh - Getting Revenge and Forgiveness,

Robert Wright, The Evolution of God

Katy Payne, Whale Songs and Elephant Loves

Jaqueline Novogratz, A Different Kind of Capitalism - The Reinvention of Aid

Jean Vanier, The Wisdom of Tenderness

Mattheu Ricard, The Happiest Man in the World

Kate Braestrup, Presence in the Wild

The Surprising 'Mission Statement' of Singapore's Economic Development Board

Here is a note I wrote earlier today to colleagues in an international network concerned with sustainability and sustainable development.

As some know, I have been living and working in Singapore since the beginning of January. I see Singapore as interesting case study because, it precipitously faced problems of limits when it was forced to leave the Malaysian Federation and become independent in 1965. There can be no doubt that did rise to the challenges that limits, finite water and land, especially posed.

I do appreciate that many have reservations about Singapore as a model. I am still very much in a learning mode but am forming some preliminary thoughts in a paper I am preparing to submit for presentation at the upcoming System Dynamics Society meeting in Seoul.

In the course of my research I began investigating Singapore’s Economic Development Board, one of the key institutional architects of the country’s development successes. I found the Board’s mission statement, reproduced below, to be most interesting because of how closely the ‘core values’ resembled those of the instructional technologies/faculty development organization I helped build at American University. That they listed ‘care’ as the first core value I found particularly striking. Of course Enron and AIG have somewhat similar statements (I once checked the AIG web site shortly after its collapse), but Singaporeans take these things seriously, in my observation. Incidentally, if anyone is interested in short, tightly written book that views the Singapore experience favorably, I recommend one by my Lee Kuan Yew School colleague, Henri Ghesquiere entitled Singapore’s Success (Thompson Learning Asia 2007).

The EDB mission statement follows:

Best

Dormgrandpop

The Economic Development Board (EDB) is the lead government agency that plans and executes economic strategies that enhance Singapore’s position as a global hub for business, investment and talent.

Our vision

Create a compelling global hub for business, investment and talent.

Our mission

Create sustainable GDP growth for Singapore with good job and business opportunities for its people.

Our core values

Shared by one and all at EDB, these core values shape and guide the organisation in whatever it undertakes.

Care

We care for each other, respect people as individuals, listen to understand, and seek to enrich the lives of those we work with.

Integrity

We never compromise on integrity. To be honest, sincere and reliable is the way to earn trust and build long-term relationships.

Team

We work together, inspire each other and celebrate success.

Imagination

We need imagination, innovation and initiative to create a better future.

Courage

We dare to always do what is right, stand by our convictions, confront our shortcomings, be different when necessary, and lead.

Excellence

We strive to be the best that we can be, using our talents and abilities to reach out and fulfill our potential.

Nation

We serve Singapore and our people, believing that what stirs the human spirit is to be able to go beyond the self to serve a higher cause and a greater purpose.