East vs. West

Good insights from the conference:
- Every partnership, from business to politics to marriage, must have a soul.  Soul can be defined as what the partners mean to each other and how is what they mean to each other today different from that of the past.  Each partner understands that they have a stake in their partner's future and common future they are creating together. (Peter Gontha, Indonesia Investment Coordination Board)

- The type of education done is just as important as the quantity of education done.(Michael Buchanan, GS)

- With cable TV now, people just tune in their favorite channels. In other words, they only hear what they want to hear.  They hear their own ecochamber, which reinforces their own prejudices.  (Khairy Jamaluddin)

- Choosing what's right and what's popular is a difficult leadership test, especially for politicians.

On the debate between whether ASEAN should learn from the East or from the West in order to be competitive? (Note: The debate was the highlight of the conference. Everyone in the forum participated)
Why East? 
- The West is about reductionism. Everything is rationalized till the simplest form possible. For e.g. Terrorism to airport security and Islam. The whole is missing.

- The West is about being the top runner of the race. That's why it's about creating more and more expensive products few people can afford, as long as it keeps the runner at the top. 

- Family values will drive the East forward and are more sustainable than being the top race runner.  5 things with family: 1. make peace,  2. don't shame your family and others (responsibilities), 3. learn, 4. Fengshui (environment), and 5. most essentially, Care for each other.  More sustainable, more holistic, more human.

- Innovation already exists in the East. Go to China for their high-speed railroad, which was requested by California to have one for themselves. Engineers in Silicon Valley are from Indian and Chinese origins.  We have to be more self-confident.

- The West creates an environment for creativity.  But the motivation is for the self.  The East's motivation is for the family, is out of necessity, not boredom which leads to wasteful innovation (look at healthcare or college costs in the U.S.) 

Why West?
- Aside from the usual argument of how the best companies, the best economies, the best universities are from the West, other valid arguments are: The Scandinavian economies have built a quite strong social and economic model. The EU is what ASEAN should analyze now. The West has made a fair number of mistakes, which is even why we should learn from them.

For me, the question is closer to my heart and to my other friends: where do we go: East or West? From what I have observed, the West is great at thinking and innovating, skills that should be trained early on in ones' lives. It's about the pursuit of freedom and passions. Nonetheless, should we agree that the next 20 years is in Asia (I can't predict the next continent after that), the real test is how to get things done in the East. Even with the best machines or the best practices or procedures, things can't be done if we don't know how to relate to others or if we don't know how to rally Asians under common visions.  And for that, learning from Asian cultures with successful cases will shed more insightful lessons, lessons that have not been documented in our (heavily Western-influenced) research papers.  The East is about commitment and inner peace. It's easy to find passions and with this global world, for some of us, easy to pursue freedom.  With that abundance of choices, how do we decide what to get committed to and to feel content?  With the constantly chaotic changes all over the world, how do we find peace in order to have enough stamina for this beautiful life?  We still have much to learn from our Asian fellows.

Most importantly, how do we achieve peace, retain family values, and still develop forward - what have the Chinese and Koreans done in the past 20-30 years and how have they done it?  To fully reap the best lessons from these countries' experiences, one must look beyond economic policies. It's also about their fiscal policy, their redistribution programs, education, and ultimately, their leadership preparation, structure, and dynamics. 

Buddha has said: You can't be too rich, since you will be too occupied with wealth to be enlightened. You can't be too poor, since you will struggle with survival and not be enlightened. Hence, moderation is key.

The conference ended with one woman entrepreneur telling me it's important to take your work seriously, but not yourself seriously.  Agree.