My farewell e-mail...

3 years ago, nearly to the day, I sent an e-mail out to everyone, letting you all know that I was leaving Hong Kong, and that before finally arriving in Japan to take up my post with Procter & Gamble, I would be on the great adventure of going overland from St Petersburg to Hong Kong via the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian Railway.  

Well.  This is just a note to let you know that after two years, two months, two weeks (too long..?) with the United Nations Security Council, I have resigned my Commission and will be returning to the world of private industry.  I will leave the UN on 29 September, and will return to Procter & Gamble, starting 1 November.   (Somewhere during my time at Procter & Gamble, I must have done something good, cause they came looking for me...)   This time I will be based in Singapore.  In between leaving the UN and starting with P&G, there will be a few hectic weeks of travelling to Copenhagen, Berlin, Paris and some yet to be decided destination/s. Seville is a possibility - they filmed part of Episode II there!!!!

I do not have my address in Singapore yet.  One of the things that I will have to do in Singapore as soon as I recover from my jet lag is to start hunting for my new apartment.  If you do need to get in touch with me, this e-mail address is probably the best way to get in touch with me as I check my e-mail regularly.

Being part of the UN has been the most interesting of experiences.  There was the shock/horror of the UN bureaucracy (ever waited 5 months to actually sign your employment contract?) or the inflexibility of bureaucrats:

"Where is your boarding pass?  You cannot get your settling-in allowance without the boarding pass." 
"But the UN booked the flight, the UN paid for the flight -"
"How do we know you took the flight!"
"I'm sitting here, aren't I?"  

Still.  I have met with a great bunch of colleagues  from all around the world, made a few friends, and have had the chance to appear before a number Panels of Commissioners - who are, in effect, the judges who determine the claims filed before the Commission.  It was fascinating to see the work of international bodies at close hand.  Suddenly, news of what was happening in far flung places like Bosnia and East Timor took on far greater meaning.

It is often said that familiarity breeds contempt.  To a little extent, it is one of the reasons why I am leaving.  While contempt is too strong a word, dislike is probably correct.  Dislike of the meaningless games that are played, the mindless people who would never survive in the cut-throat world of commerce and industry, and most of all, what I consider to be the waste of time and effort.  However, as my friends from the diplomatic corp have pointed out, diplomacy is about patience.  It is about never objecting when abstaining would suffice, and never insisting when you can persuade.  Or as the last resort, buy off.  So things do  take their time.

And when I sit back and think about the many individual migrant workers who lost everything in their rush to escape the war, and but for the Commission, would have had no redress whatsoever, perhaps it does do something worthwhile after all.   I look around the UN, and look at the work of the UN High Commission for Refugees, and their struggle to get funding for the less popular projects; or at the UN Trade and Development Commission and its attempts to redress the balance between the developed and less developed countries; or at the UN High Commission for Human Rights and its attempts to spread the belief in the sanctity of basic human life...  in all of these, perhaps, the UN isn't so bad after all.  So perhaps, for me it isn't the case of familiarity breeding contempt.  Perhaps its more like the unfortunate person who has wandered into the kitchens of a great restaurant, and is suddenly made aware why it is received wisdom that one must never examine too closely the kitchens if one wishes fully to enjoy the food of a great restaurant!

Did I enjoy my time here?  In a word, YES!  The great people I have gotten to know make up for all the upsets and stresses of the job.  Being here has enabled me to see more of Europe in these 2 years than I ever did in my 9 years in the UK.  (Having 6 weeks annual leave helps!  What am I  giving up??)  And I do get to take away with me a little of the world of patience and diplomacy.

Anyway.  I'll write again when I get my new address. 

It's now back to the mad rush of packing, and dinners and lunches, and paperwork.  Ahhh...the joys of moving. 

Bye for now.

Darren

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Never confuse having a career with having a life 
                            ~Eddie Bauer 
I may be wrong, I sometimes am, but I never doubt! 
                            ~Darren Koh 
Homepage:  http://www.kohfamily.net
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Amended on: 16, June 2001