Darren N T Koh LLB(Hons), Barrister, ACA, ATII
Apt
22; Rue de la Faucille 14; Ch-1201 Geneva; Switzerland.
Tel/fax: +41 (22) 733 8431. E-mail:
dazzakoh@yahoo.com
Well, it’s
that time of the year again – time to get out the address book, and start
sending out Christmas/New Year greetings. Once
again, despite all the good intentions of getting things done will in advance, I
am scrambling to get all my cards done in between Christmas lunches/dinners etc.
while trying to take over a new role at the UN, and trying to get ready
for Christmas/New Year millennium travels.
Well.
One and a half years in Geneva, and counting.
What is life as UN fonctionnaire (fancy word for civil servant)
like? Well, every day I encounter
what can only be described as the meaningless madness of bureaucracy.
One of my erstwhile colleagues had to remind me not to underestimate the
ability of a fonctionnaire to generate spurious projects in exchange for
CHF100,000 a year. But then,
perhaps this is how diplomacy works: the continual grind of fonctionnaires
exercising meaningless functions, but like the dripping of water on stone,
somehow over time, managing to
carve and reshape mountains. Oh, if
any of you thought your office politics was bad, wait till you work here when
office politics takes on an international dimension:
power blocs and power plays that mirror developments on the world stage!
And yes, there are those much vaunted things like lunches, dinners and
cocktail receptions. I have
attended receptions where in between all the small talk about life in Geneva,
countries sound out countries about policies, principles and plans;
people are positioned for various jobs or posts, deals are done as each
country nominates candidates. In
short – these aren’t just receptions, these are where the real negotiations
begin!
It
is, in a word, fascinating.
Although
I haven’t done as much as I should have, I did manage to get in some
travelling in this past year: Lyon,
Milan, Paris, Prague, Amsterdam, and of course, London – (but as far as I am
concerned, that doesn’t really count as travelling anywhere special.
Too much my local patch). Within
Switzerland, I have managed to go up to visit Zermatt, gone mountain hiking in
Murren in the Interlaken, visited Fribourg, a city that sits in the linguistic
divide between French speaking and German speaking Switzerland, and Basel –
which is in German speaking Switzerland. Time
to really think about doing more travelling – after all, that was one of the
reasons for coming over to Geneva, somewhere in the heart of Europe.
Yes, I will miss the 6 weeks annual leave when I leave the UN…
Well.
It is now time to start looking out to see what’s other jobs/ventures
etc are waiting for me out there in the great wide world.
Never really expected the UN to be where I will park myself for any great
length of time: for the stress
level, it pays well, but I don’t think life as an international fonctionnaire
is something for me. Also, the
lifetime of the Commission I work with is limited, and with the possibility of
sanctions against Iraq being lifted, there is a greater chance the Commission
may be winding up a little earlier. So. Who knows, by next year, I might be writing from somewhere
else….
However,
wherever you may be during this holiday season, and during this coming
Millennium celebrations, my wishes for a great holiday season, and a happy new
year!
Back to Where I used to work...
