Short Social Fiction: Adventures of Tupi 5

(Day 15)

After the drinking and party the night before, the group met up for breakfast again and left for the village. Everyone looked tired and the bus ride to the village was quiet. Some of the volunteers had to run classes for the students and Tupi went to the water tank. The contractors were already fitting the pipes and within the hour, the water tank was starting to be filled up.

Tupi helped with the installation of the filters and was impressed that the filters seemed relatively well made. As they put up the filters and run the pipes through, there was a cracking sound and the cement base of the water tank started to crack.

"Is this normal?" Tupi asked.

"Don't worry, we will put another layer..." One of the construction worker said.

"Isn't this the foundation?" Tupi asked.

"This is just top... its ok..." The man said.

The construction workers connected the pipes to the filters and the filters were active. The first bit of water was allowed to flow out and Tupi could already see the clear water and was very excited that he contributed to this.

The construction workers then added another layer of cement to cover the cracks. Tupi was a little concerned that they were covering up the proof of an unstable base but from years of corporate training, speaking up was something he suppressed to stay in corporate Singapore. 

==================================================================

After allowing the water to run through the pipes for 15 minutes, the guide came by and looked at the project and chatted with the workers. Tupi sat under the tree and enjoyed the breeze. Soon it was lunch time and everyone given a glass of filtered water. Tupi felt accomplished as the water was clear and free from smells. 

The bell rang and the school had the recess and all the kids came out and ran to meet everyone at the water filter. The kids queued up to drink and they seemed very satisfied with the water and the ecstacy on their faces when they drank the water was indeed priceless. This moment made the whole trip worth it. 

Tupi took out his camera and took some photos of the new filter and the children in the school. Michael came by and took a photo of a kid bring Tupi a cup of water. The task was over -- mission complete. 

Over the next few hours, the group visited the popular tourist spots and they had a nice seafood dinner. When Tupi returned to his bed late night, he was tired but happy. He felt he has accomplished something and this experience will stay with him forever.

Short Social Fiction: Adventures of Tupi 4

(Day 14)

Tupi got up the next morning feeling rather tired. Perhaps his enthusiasm has waned a little, Michael went and got his shower first while Tupi laid in bed feeling a little restless and unmotivated. His throat was dry and he needed to pee.

After Michael was done, Tupi went into the shower and cleaned himself. The water was hot for a while but it became cold again as the hot water tank ran out of hot water. It was uncomfortable but somehow Tupi did not care enough and continued his shower.

At breakfast, Tupi was rather quiet. Tupi did not attempt to make any small talk or get to know anyone. There was a large spread at the breakfast buffet -- there was a western part with potatoes, toast and eggs, and a Muslim side with coconut rice, fried fish, Otar, Ikan Billis (Fried Anchovies) and sambal sauce.

============================================================

Tupi had Nasi Lemak for breakfast. The rice was perfectly made, with a strong fragrant of Pandan leaves and coconut milk, the sambal sauce was perfect, great texture and consistency, giving it the right kick. The right breakfast really did brighten the mood for Tupi. With a cup of bandung (Rose Syrup + Carnation Milk Drink ) Tupi felt ready to face his challenges for the day.

At 8:30am, the group leader gathered everyone as the chartered bus arrived brought them to the village. Along the road, there were power lines and electricity. The roads were relatively bumpy with potholes and there was no sidewalks. On the side of the road, some children were chasing chickens around and there were some bulls on the farms.

Tupi arrived at a primary school. It was about 9am, so all the kids were in class. The group was given a tour of the school, and it was not much different from Tupi's old school. This school has running water and electricity. As Tupi walked by the classes, the kids in neat school uniforms looked at him as he walked by. The school still uses the old projection monitor and transparencies. Tupi smiled as he remembered using that to do a presentation when he was in school.

"This school has over 400 kids." The guide said as they arrive at the central quadrangle in the school. "Most of them come from this village but some do take a bus from the surrounding villages to attend. We keep the class size to under 40 kids and we have very good teachers here."

"My class has 44 students when I was in school in Singapore" Tupi muttered. "They have better quality education here..."

"Your task today is to help put together this water tower. The water pump will pump water up and it will be filtered by these filters when you turn on the taps here." The guide said. "I don't need all of you here, some who want to so English lessons with the kids can join the story secession over there."

Tupi was ready for the water tower. As he went to the toilet, he saw the flushing water with a light tint. "They have water, but it is not clean..." Tupi said and there was suddenly a black out. Tupi went back to the ground and there were some people trying to start the generators at the back of the school. "Are blackouts common?" Tupi asked and one of the men cranking the generator nodded.

Tupi spent the day in the hot sun helping to erect the water tower. the foundation was already built by construction workers and several people were needed to help with the pulley system to put it up. As the tank was getting installed on top of the tower, the guide returned to explain how the water filter works.

"The water is pumped up to the main tanks. The main tank has a chlorine mixer to kill bacteria, and the water is then coming through the filters which have sand and rocks to filter out particles and eventually comes out these pipes." The guide explains while everyone nodded.

Tupi looked at the finished water filter system. The tank on top was very big and the filter tank was much smaller. The cement base looks like just a thin layer of cement and there was already a slight depression when the water tank was installed, even before the water was in the tank.

"Is this structure stable?" Tupi asked the guide.

"Not complete yet. We need to put another layer and finish up before we put water." The guide said and Tupi nodded.

The group washed up. There was several clean towels, clean water and refreshments for everyone. "Have you built something like this before?" Tupi asked another volunteer beside him.

"Yup, been to a few trips... very meaningful." The man said.

"So this is pretty much it?" Tupi asked. "The tower is up... I mean they finish off something else, but our part is done?"

"Yup, great job guys..." The man said.

Tupi expected a lot more. The whole activity was underwhelming. There were contractors building for the most part and all he did was to erect the structure.

The school was surrounded by a lush rain forest. The sunlight filtering through the leaves make interesting patterns on the ground and the cool breeze blowing on Tupi's face is very relaxing. Tupi's whiskers twitched as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment. He felt calm, relaxed and away from all the previous job stress he had, then again, he is currently unemployed.

Just sitting under the tree was an experience Tupi had not felt for a long time, and he appreciated the much needed break. Then a familiar scent fills the air. It comes from the houses nearby and the sweet scent of coconut milk reminds him of the Nasi Lemak he ate for breakfast.


================================================================

Nasi Lemak takes a long time to prepare. It may look like a simple dish, but to make good Nasi Lemak, it should be made with good ingredients, giving it good texture, color, flavor and quality.

The difference between a good Nasi Lemak and an exceptionally marvelous Nasi Lemak lies in the use of pandan leaves. It gives the whole dish a fragrant flavor which many restaurants can't even have nowadays.

The other main ingredient of nasi lemak is dried anchovies, also known as ikan bilis. These little salted fish are used in the sambal. As sambal is of the essence when making Nasi Lemak, a weak sambal or one that is too thick can easily spoil the dish.


Nasi Lemak (4 servings)

Ingredients for Coconut Rice:

2 cups coconut milk (in 2 separate cups)
2 cups water
2 Pandan leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1 (1/2 inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups long grain rice, rinsed and drained

Instructions:
1. Wash and drain rice.
2. Place rice, sugar, salt into rice cooker.
3. Add 1 cup of coconut milk and 2 cups of water and turn on the rice cooker.
4. Add the Pandan leaves and fresh ginger
5. When mixture is about to boil, add the remaining cup of coconut milk and stir.



Ingredients for Sambal Ikan Billis

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 shallots, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons chili paste
1 tablespoon of belacan (prawn paste)
1 (4 ounce) package white anchovies (Ikan Billis), washed salt to taste
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 cup tamarind juice
1 cup raw peanuts

Instructions:

1. Blend shallots and garlic.
2. Fry anchovies in the oil in low heat until they turn golden brown. Strain and set aside.
3. Add some oil in wok and fry the belacan in low heat until it releases flavor.
4. Add chili paste and sliced onion to fry -- stir well.
5. Add in the fried anchovies and stir.
6. Add  tamarind juice
7. Season with salt and sugar.
8. Fry up the raw peanuts, coat them in oil and fry them till they are golden brown.
9. You can add then to the sambal ikan billis or served them separate on the side.


Other Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 cucumber
4 Ikan Kuning (Nasi Lemak Fish)

Instructions:

1. Fry up with eggs sunny side up.
2. Deep fry the fish until it is golden brown and crispy.
2. Slice up the cucumber


Plate the rice, put the sambal ikan billis on the side and add the fried egg and fried fish along with cucumber.

It is also common to add a fried chicken, fried hot dogs and fried luncheon meat on the side.

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Short Social Fiction: Adventures of Tupi 3

(Day 13)

This is the day. Tupi dragged his brown suitcase early morning to the airport. This was the first time in a long time he was excited to go on a flight. Checking in at the airport went smoothly, there was not a long queue and the staff at the counter was polite. Taking in a deep breadth, Tupi felt that this was going to be a good adventure.

It was a short flight and Tupi collected his luggage around 8am in the morning and he felt like he had the whole day ahead of him. The NGO seemed pretty well organized, there was a driver waiting for the group and they were led to a nice comfortable bus that brings them to a hostel. As they were driving, there were parts of Bali that looked like slums, and others that looked like nice resorts. This was the first time Tupi was in Bali and the roads were very different from Singapore.

The bus arrived, everyone checked in and were given rooms. The accommodations were much better than what Tupi expected and Michael was sharing a room with him. "Wow, this is nice, you can see the beach from here...There's air-conditioning, wifi, memory foam pillows..." Tupi said. "We have our own refrigerator in the room too..."

Tupi looked at the itinerary and it showed that there was a dinner and the day was otherwise free. After a change of clothes, Tupi wanted to leave and as he saw Michael taking a nap, Tupi left the room to explore the surroundings. After a few minutes of walking away from the beach, Tupi felt uncomfortable as more beggars can be seen. Tupi returned to the beach area where there seemed to be more tourists around. As Tupi entered a cafe, he sat down at a table and overheard some conversations around him.

"I do 3 hours of English class a day and I get to stay for free, food included." A young lady said. "I can work on my online business and earn more this way."

"I volunteer with this village and teach English as well." A young man said. "I'm just here for 4 weeks and my stay is free as well."

Tupi could not help it but overheard some conversations and it seems that there were many people volunteering. "Foreigners are helping Indonesia. That's nice." Tupi muttered and continued to drink his coffee and relax. Tupi decided to talk to a guy sitting alone.

"Hi, how long have you been on this Island?" Tupi asked.

"I live here." The man said. "I am born in Bali."

Tupi was shocked as this man just looked like everyone else -- he could speak English, he does not look poor and he had a big iPhone. "You don't look local..." Tupi said. "I just got here and want to learn more about this Island."

"The population here is actually quite diverse. Income gap is pretty bad too. We have some people living in poverty and some are ultra rich, but we do have an upper middle class. " The man said. "Is there a way a local should look?" Tupi was embarrassed as his question made him sound like an ignorant tourist -- which he is.

"Hey, don't worry about it, no offence taken, please sit." The man said. "Are you visiting Bali?"

"Yes, I'm with a group coming to help the village." Tupi said proudly.

"Really? Helping the village?" The man said. "How long are you staying?"

"I'll be here for 10 days..." Tupi said and took out his itinerary, "lets see... I'll also build a water filter to provide the kids at a school with clean water and make the whole village healthier."

"Wow, 10 days huh, must be great that you can have such great impact with the kids by staying in Bali for 10 days." The man said. "I'm sure clean water will help much when that village does not even have sewage system."

"I'm here to help." Tupi said adamantly. "You should appreciate it"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night..." The man said. "I guess every little bit helps when things are so screwed up. So many people just come and go, nothing changed, but maybe the hotel owners and restaurant owners got richer."

Before Tupi could give a reply, the man walked out of the cafe, leaving Tupi with a sense of doubt.

Tupi walked back to the hostel. It was owned by the same people running the organization that brought them in. The whole place seemed well maintained and new compared to the surroundings. Perhaps there was some truth to what that man said, but Tupi felt that doing something was better than nothing.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the hostel, the group gathered in the evening and went out for dinner. On the luxury bus, Tupi looked out and saw several houses along the way with people sitting outside but no lights in the house as there was no power grid and lines to the houses.

It was a nearby seafood restaurant where they had crabs, steam fish, fried prawns and other nice dishes. The food was rather good and Tupi enjoyed the food very much.

"So what is the schedule like tomorrow?" Tupi asked.

"We have breakfast then go to the morning bazzar, follow that, we visit Tirta Gangga -- a formal royal palace, then we go to the village... and in the evening, we go up a mountain to look at the sunset." Michael said. "The views are all very beautiful, remember to bring your camera."

Tupi was confused. It seemed more like a holiday than helping the village, but since its his first time in Bali, Tupi wanted to visit some sites as well, and it seemed to be all planned out.

The group returned to the hostel where they met other expats from Europe visiting and everyone started to drink. There was several bottle of fine scotch and lots of beer. "Bali Hai Hefeweizenbier" Tupi muttered as he looked at the beer menu. "My god, they have local beers..." And Tupi ordered one and join the drinking secession.

Beer was relatively inexpensive and Tupi had 3 pints before he felt light headed and decided that it was time for him to go to bed. Perhaps, drinking can help him sleep too. Tupi went to his room, cleaned up and as expected, when he closed his eyes, he had no problems sleeping.

Refugees: The situation which should concern us all.

Who are refugees?

A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

There are also refugees who have left their homes as the environment became hostile due to natural or man made disasters. They are also known as Internally Displaced People (IDP)

========================================================

The UN estimates that more than 1 billion people globally are refugees due to conflict, environmental degradation, and lack of economic opportunity.

Factors as varied as conflict in Syria, civil strife in Burundi and El Salvador, rising sea levels in Louisiana, and droughts in India all have contributed to this total. Six million people have been displaced in the last twenty-four months alone. The EU has allocated $6 billion this year in charitable aid to meet the basic needs of displaced people both within, and outside of, its borders. The US spends an additional $5-10 billion per year resettling refugees and asylum seekers, providing temporary assistance, medical care, housing, and more.

Change is constant. The sea level is rising, weather patterns are changing and the most vulnerable people who are already living in poverty are affected most. On top of that, conflicts seem to be increasing, and economic discrimination leaves victim with no opportunities.

This situation is not just going to go away. In fact, it will only get worse. The current system is not working and our apathy may create a situation when we realize that we need to act but the problem will become so bad that we ourselves get affected.

========================================================

I've engaged with survivors from the various disasters I've been to and I've met the Syrian refugees in Europe. One common theme that I've experience is the "Curse of Exclusion" -- the skilled human capacities of these survivors are wasted. This is not about giving or donating. This is not about aid or resettlement. 

When are constantly talk about disruption, people spend their ideas and funds to create the next billion dollar company. Others will speculate their savings on stocks or even cryptocurrencies. However, I feel strongly that the crisis of wasted human capacities is costing the world more than what we can afford.

========================================================

The Refugee Opportunity

We should lift the curse and look at refugees in a different light. Many of these people are survivors. They have survived despite all odds and can contribute their skills and abilities to humanity. 

Here are some facts:

Refugees are a diverse group. (They have different skills, experiences and cultures)

Refugees are escaping a variety of hardships. 

1. Conflict is the largest cause of displacement 
2. Environmental degradation is an emerging threat for 50 million people. 
3. Economic discrimination leaves victims with no opportunities 

Becoming a refugee cripples dignity and prosperity. (Most of them lost all their physical belongings to escape their fate, but their capacities remain)

If we can utilize human capacities and maximize their potential, there are great opportunities to be found, but the current system is failing us, there is not enough resettlement options, "refugees" become a political point where many unethical politicians leverage on it to create a climate of fear -- and fear sells. Lastly, aid and nonprofits are not able to generate enough revenue to create sustainable economic activities for all the refugees.

========================================================

I have met up with various change makers, connectors and philanthropists in New York City this week to discuss the current situation and with updates from various folks from the UN, the picture painted for the future seems pretty bleak.

I've spoken to several Syrian friends and many of them had family or friends in these camps who had suicidal thoughts. Syrians are proud people, and culturally, they work for everything they own and are not used to receiving aid. Being in the camp with no economic activities is making many professionals who were middle class very depressed. Being labeled "Refugees" does not help either.

Perhaps it is time for us to work on solutions or to change the "refugee" labels. Many Syrian refugees actually have a lot to contribute if given the chance. There is a great opportunity to use these spare human capacities if we could be creative, and not doing so is a crisis of imagination.

If you would like to work on some solutions that would benefit refugees or support in any way, please contact me.

-- Robin Low

Short Social Fiction: Adventures of Tupi 2

(Day 7)

The first week has passed. The theme of the week is change. Change was not easy for Tupi, and like many people, there were sleepless nights, anxiety and some depression. Tupi never had that much free time, and doing nothing was killing him. His schedules were always packed and his routine fixed. Tupi rarely took much leave or gone on a holiday, as he enjoyed having certainty.

Tupi with his new laptop has applied for many jobs which he thinks he has the right skill sets. By the end of the week, Tupi has exhausted all the contacts he had and applied for all the jobs he could find. Tupi decided to attend all the networking events he could find online. He reached out to friends, ex-colleagues and alumni, and after scheduling some meetings with friends he did not meet up for years.

Tupi ended up packing his schedule by going to help some friends move, baby showers and his friend's children's graduation. Tupi felt a lot better when he helped others and started to look to tasks to volunteer. Then it seemed like an opportunity has came -- Michael, Tupi's classmate from high school is going to Indonesia to work on a charity water project in a village.

Tupi took in a deep breath. It felt out of character. Then he nodded to himself and clenched his fist and pumped it like he was tugging on an invisible chain. "This feels right." Tupi muttered and took out his phone. "Here it goes."

Tupi could feel his heart beat faster. Suddenly he felt excited like he was going to do something good. He felt nervous and anxiety again. "What if I get rejected? Should I be looking for a job instead of spending money?" There was a lot of self doubt, but before Tupi put away his phone, he took in another deep breadth Tupi made himself dialed Michael.

Ring, Ring...

"Hello Michael." Tupi said as the phone got connected.

"Hi..." the voice responded.

"Its me... Tupi, from St. Andrews Secondary School?" Tupi said.

"Oh.. hey! What's up buddy?" the voice responded with an upbeat pitch.

"Saw from your Facebook post that you are going to Indonesia to help a village. Seems like a very noble and interesting thing to do." Tupi said. "How can I join?"

"Oh, I volunteer with a Church group, and they are working with an NGO here which is going there." Michael said. "I think there is a fee to join, and that is excluding your own airfares to get there."

"Can you send me more information?" Tupi requested eagerly. "I've not done this before, and I am free this weekend and have no plans anyways."

"Sure! Let me send you the information." Michael said. "What is your email address, perhaps I can send you the forms and links to register...."

Tupi got all the information from Michael and chatted a while. It seemed that many things have changed, and Michael is now a father of 2 kids. Tupi received the email and immediately registered and booked his tickets for the weekend trip. It felt spontaneous. It felt great. It is not go time!

The brown suitcase was taken out from storage. It had a layer of dust and Tupi used a damp rag and wiped it off. Many thoughts were going through his mind as his heartbeat increased, his breadth was shallow as he started to pack for the trip. Everything was well organized and he had no problems searching for what he needed. "Hello camera...." Tupi muttered and found his trusty old camera. It was a film camera - Canon EOS 1, and photography one of his hobbies he had before he got offered his first job.

Opening his refrigerator, Tupi found a few rolls of film. "They are still around..." he muttered and checked on the condition of the film. "Still looks good." Then continued to check on the batteries and other equipment he wanted to bring on the trip. This was an unfamiliar feeling, something he has not felt in a long time. Tupi was not sure if it was discomfort or otherwise, but the trip was going to happen and there was no turning back.

Short Social Fiction: Adventures of Tupi 1

Tupi

Tupi -- An International Capybara just read about Social Entrepreneurship. Recently retrenched from his boring job, Tupi thought he needed a change for the better. He loves to challenge himself and apply his creativity to create solutions, but have always been afraid to step outside his comfort zone. He had the same routine everyday for the past 15 years -- wake up, wash up, go to work - drive back from work, answer emails, watch TV, clean house and go to bed. On the weekends, he would do laundry, work on his model car, go to supermarket, and sometimes watch a movie with friends.

His routine got predictable. 2 eggs, toast and coffee for breakfast, milkshake and protein bar for lunch and some form of rice or pasta dish for dinner. His commute never changed. 7:30am subway train to work, 7pm rush hour jam to get home. His experiences were so consistent that even his expenses was almost identical every month.

(Day 1 out of work)

Tupi woke up as usual, cleaned up and before leaving the house, he had a sudden realization that there was no work to go to. He sat on his dining table and looked around. The house was neat and nothing needed replacement or repairs. The garbage was thrown, laundry done and all the errands were completed over the weekend. He took a deep breadth and sighed. "What should I do today?" he muttered. He looked at the clock - 7:15am, and thought, "Maybe I should take a short nap?"

Lying in bed, Tupi was restless. He wanted to do something and could not figured out what. Looking at his clock - 7:18am, but it felt like an hour. Tupi could not rest and decided to go out, but sitting at his table, he could not decide on what to do. Looking at his mail, an envelop dropped out. Tupi opened it and saw a thank you note from an organization where he donated some money to in Indonesia. Looking at the photo of the card, the villagers seemed to live in a very nice and green environment.Tupi smiled and decided to start his computer to perhaps look for a new job.

Looking at his notebook, it was stored properly in the drawer of his desk. It could not be powered on, but the power cables were neatly stored in the same drawer. Tupi turned on the power and started the notebook. Tupi went to get a cup of water and when he was back, the computer was still loading. The machine was old, when Tupi had his job, he never needed to use his personal laptop. "Perhaps I should get a new machine." Tupi's face lit up, finally, there was a task which needed to be done.

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Excerpt: Good Intentions Are Not Enough - By Robin Low

Good Intentions Are Not Enough

Why We Fail at Helping

By Robin Low

Drawing experience and failures from working in post disaster areas and developing communities, and observing the inefficiencies of large organizations, Robin finds the reasons for these failures and suggests ways to get to sustainable impact.

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Helping is complicated and easy to mess up. That much is obvious now at the end of this book. But this does not mean it is ok to not try. Doing nothing at all is not a good option.

The problem with helping is that for the most part, it involves people being too assured of their ways to learn to do things differently and instead, just following status quo. There needs to be a better understanding of the problem, and purer motivations, with less religious ideology and more economics . But much condescension from colonizing countries towards the formerly colonized and sometimes, a racist mindset, may make people think otherwise.

I have often been in a position where I question myself: how am I going to change other people when I don’t exactly understand what is going on myself? What people tell you is usually not their immediate problem, because the problem is too complicated for someone external to understand immediately. They tell you what you want to hear and so they can get what they expect to get.

Change is difficult. Most people are difficult to change, and they sometimes do, but slowly and only slightly. They are not always grateful – some are resentful instead. Being too emotionally involved clouds judgement. On days when one is confronted with a devastating problem that cannot be fixed, the misery and helplessness rub off, perhaps making one feel angry and blaming systems and society for what one cannot fix.

Being angry does not solve the problem. Resilience is important and one needs to be tough, but not detached. Optimism, coupled with creativity and innovation may be a way to continuously look for solutions when encountering a dead end. Complaining does not help; only when the solution is found is the problem solved.

-- Robin Low

Many people mean well and want to contribute solutions to local and global needs. People often want to act for the sake of "doing something". Often, this means poorly thought-out ideas that are often unsustainable, or have little measurable social impact. Are these efforts actually helping? Are they solving problems or creating new ones? What pitfalls should a concerned giver watch for?

Rich People are Not the Solution

I’ve known many rich people who do not consider themselves rich. These people I know live in properties that cost in excess of US$25 million, run foundations or own businesses, and continue to generate a lot of income. Through my interactions with them, I have realized that most of them still have a lot of anxieties – anxieties relating to financial security.

Often, when I approach these people who run foundations, I’ve candidly asked them why they don’t do more for society personally, and I get the same answer all the time: “You know, the costs of education and necessities are getting more day by day, my businesses may be doing well now, but who knows what is going to happen tomorrow?” Sometimes, I do get puzzled as the small projects that I wish to be funded are under $10,000, and their response of financial insecurity in their Rolls Royce prompted me to follow up with another question: “So how much do you need to have in order to be financially secure?” The quick answer is often “$1 billion in the bank.”

Many people talk about doing social good, creating social impact, and many of them have the means to do it. Some who run foundations will get their foundation to be involved, but foundations usually do not spend time on small-scale prototypes, and many rich people do not seem to be financially secure enough to part with some money.

I’ve met public servants earning more than US$1 million dollars a year, refusing to support an educational project for local youths and who pointed me to government grants which either take too long to apply for, or simply are not the right match.

If you are in the business of fund-raising, you often get this common reply: “I’ll donate more next time when I have more money.” Boston College did a study on the Fears of the Super Rich, and found that even people with an average net worth of US$78 million are dissatisfied with their sizable fortunes .

So if you think that you will donate only when you are rich, the question you should ask yourself is, how much money do you need before you can consider yourself rich?

Social Enterprises – Really that Social?

When Social Entrepreneurship came along as a new and shiny concept , many people jumped on board. Many entrepreneurs like the idea of creating business that does good at the same time. Fundamentally, the very concept of a social enterprise is flawed. Companies pay taxes, and the taxes go to schools and roads. So, does that make all companies social enterprises? What's more, when examining these concepts in practice, flaws are even further exposed. At the bottom of the social pyramid, the needs of the more similar people's needs are similar. 

Poorer communities need basics like food, shelter and clean water. If you can sell to meet the needs of one community, you can also sell to others. As such, many enterprises that sell to one poor community will try to scale-up and sell to others. However, when a startup scales, it runs into problems. It can lose its ability to be nimble. It can become bureaucratic, and communication with the ground level can suffer. Social projects that scale too quickly often fail. When scaled too quickly, many social enterprises which may have seen success in the small scale may even lose their social impact and cause social harm.

Microfinance is a good social idea that allows poor people to have basic financial services. Recipients of microfinance could start a small business and are less likely to pull their kids out of school due to economic reasons.

However, many people take the simple idea of giving loans to the poor and twist it to make it very profitable. Payday lenders are getting popular in many poorer parts of the country and each year, about 12 million Americans incur long-term debt by taking out a short-term loan that is intended to cover borrowers' expenses until they receive their next paycheck. This causes many people to slip out of the middle class. Some of the lower income borrowers may pay up to 400% per annum in interest rates, causing up to 40% of them to default and push them closer to poverty .

Many people want to do good. Some want to help one person at a time, and others want to change the world. Helping one person at a time creates intimacy, but some fear that the blunder may get personal, and even when it succeeds, it does not change anything in the big picture. Trying to change the world may be ambitious, cleaner and more abstract. But success is distant and unlikely, so people who attempt this often taste a noble failure.

I’ve met many people and learnt from many mentors, some even younger than me, trying to do good. Learning from their experience, models and failures, I realize that many people may not know the best way of doing good. Some do it because of their religions; others may like the feeling of helping someone. Everyone has their reasons. As I look at the result of their project, I realize that many people doing the same thing and getting the same results may come up with different conclusion of success or failure. Nevertheless, what matters most is the real impact of the effort. Is it moving in the right direction?

I have worked on many projects in the past 15 years. It is interesting to me that my perspective has changed in these years, and some projects which I’ve considered a success in the past, are failures to me now. My failures taught me a lot, and even if I cannot convince you about what you should do, let me at least share what not to do.

Why We Fail at Helping

Charities and non-profits have been around for many years and charities seem to get bigger with record donations received almost every year. Yet, the problem of poverty seems to be getting worse.

There are many attempts at making charities more efficient after complains about how the bulk of money donated to the non-profits is going towards administrative costs and not to the beneficiaries. Some people think that applying for-profit business management techniques and using business matrices to measure efficiency is a good idea, but sometimes, it does cause other issues.

Traveling Overseas to Help? Whom are you Helping?

“Voluntourism” is getting popular, but there are many ways to smell foul. All over the internet, you can find articles about how ineffective short-term voluntourism trips to developing nations are, but many people still engage in them.

I have been guilty of volunteering for some NGOs to organize some of these trips, and after visiting the location and looking at the actual activities the volunteers will do, I was appalled.

Yes, I’m talking about the short trips where professionals or students visit Nairobi to build orphanages, and up with a short trip to Rift Valley taking photos with the wildlife to prove it. There are too many examples where people visit Haiti to build schools, or visit communities in the rural communities in Latin America to teach English for a few days, and end up visiting exotic sites.

Even in local communities, people with the best intentions may visit orphanages or mentally challenged children, but after bonding with a child, their leaving may sometimes cause more harm to the child’s psychological growth. And when you bring such good intentions overseas, some organizations do exploit the people or communities they pretend to help and ending up doing more harm than good.

The idea of service learning is good, doing meaningful community service with instructions and reflection can enrich the learning experience. However, many people are ill-prepared and lack the necessary tools to be effective. Yet they would like to believe that their presence (not their money) would make a lifelong difference in a child’s life.

A common response after doing a voluntourism trip is: “I was heartbroken to see how life is there. It really makes me realize just how good we have it. My life will never be the same.” Many popular voluntourism trips cost a lot of money and are essentially self-fulfillment trips. It is about “you” and your experience, and giving you a different perspective. Let us not call it humanitarian work when the only person that benefits from it is “you”. 

As reported in Al Jazeera America, “As admirably altruistic as it sounds, the problem with voluntourism is its singular focus on the volunteer’s quest for experience, as opposed to the recipient community’s actual needs.” Calling a Spade – a Spade

Tourism does help the local economy, and the locals in that community do benefit in some form or other. After a disaster, visiting the disaster country, using local services, and buying local products do help the local economy. Go because the country is interesting, but do not call it altruism.

The Curse of Exclusion

There is much evidence that has shown that depression overcomes many survivors in the shelters when they have lost everything and have everything done for them. Helplessness sets in when they feel that even simple tasks such as cooking are being done for them. There are a lot of benefits to empowering survivors to participate in the relief and recovery, yet in most cases, they are being excluded.

The rebuilding process and planning is rarely done with any inputs from people living in the shelters, even though it is their homes and town that are being rebuilt.

While I do believe that NGOs are doing a good job providing shelter and food after a disaster, I feel that in many cases, volunteers can come from the shelters and these survivors can be engaged and consulted in the recovery of their own towns.

The curse of exclusion does not only apply to post-disaster recovery. In fact, this happens in many other cases when we fail to engage while we are trying to help a community.

The Power of Crowds

Communities have the ability to solve their problems.

–             They understand the problems they face better than anyone else.

–             They are not stupid and can solve many problems.

–             They don’t need pity, donations or continuous aid.

–             They must be allowed to try new ideas to get out of their bad situation and allowed to fail and learn from the experience.

Billions go into fighting poverty and yet more people fall into poverty everyday. NGOs have provided food, medicine and shelter for people, but require more and more funding as it does not address the problem. Giving food to people today does not reduce their need for food tomorrow.

Social Enterprise and social business ideas have a lot of potential, but I’ve encountered many great businesses which seem to be doing well and expanding fast but which cease to exist within two years of expansion.

Never Help; Engage, Enable, Empower & Connect

Social intervention is a lot more complex than what people make it out to be. Over occasions such as Christmas, I see many people participate in giving. They donate money, warm clothes and many other things they do not need, and feel good about it.

I have asked a few of them when they donate about their stance on social welfare, minimum wage and redistribution of income. Consistent to my research, many of these people like giving, but do not like the idea of empowering others. They believe in the bootstrap theory where the poor should work harder and pull themselves out of poverty, and those who remain poor simply do not work hard enough.

Many people do not think it is a problem that there are people working full time, yet unable to support themselves and their families, because the wages are too low. They do not see the widening income gap causing more inequality. They think poor people are lazy and are not taking accountability for their actions.

After a few long discussions, my conclusion is that many people do not want to share power. They prefer to have all the power and give a little at a time under their total control. People feel they will lose power if they share it with others.

As far as the helping goes, much of the giving is for oneself to feel good, some give it out of pity, and others give to feel positive about themselves. As far as they are concerned, the impact of the giving is not important. They also do not care who it benefits and how it benefits the beneficiaries.

Giving has been going on for decades and few beneficiaries are now in a better position even after receiving aid for many years. This is because the current system of giving does not solve the root cause and people are content to continue to give.

This system is however not very sustainable. When the economy is bad, the giving stops while more people are in need of aid. The people requiring aid continue to require aid and it often form an endless cycle.

NGOs who want to continue their existence will continue to ask for donations and maintain status quo. They will show pitiful photos of human suffering to “guilt trip” people into giving. And over the years, the situation of those who suffer does not improve, it just remains the same.





Book is available at
http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/10294