Pre-trip Projections by Isaac Chong

A similar question was posed to us on the last day of the 2015 USP Freshmen Orientation Camp, which, if I remember correctly, asked “What does being a USP scholar mean to you?” Many of the responses revolved around the notions ‘intelligence’ and ‘privilege’, which is great, as the programme both celebrates and enhances our critical thinking skills. There were an interesting few who went with the notion ‘giving back’, and I think that’s exactly right – what I, as a USP scholar, should be doing now and in the future, with the skills and training I will be getting. In a sense then, I would see ‘giving back’ as a higher end of sorts, if we take ‘privilege’ as both a means and an end – and I think, I hope, this neatly encapsulates the USP mission statement. And it looks like, this trip will fulfill that, and more.

Let’s begin with what the trip purports to attain. For an NBS student like myself, this is probably the only opportunity we have in NTU to conduct on-the-ground, primary, qualitative research, from start to finish. This is not to belittle the strong quantitative training that comes from an NBS education – but, we can’t really ignore the human factor when we try to resolve today’s problems, and it’s a shame we don’t get too much of that in NBS. We note, for example, that recent advances in economics – notably, in behavioural economics – came about thanks to Daniel Kahneman, a psychologist well-trained in human motivation, not statistics. It appears that most, if not all, of the low-lying fruit had been plucked, and so we look beyond statistics for guidance. Also, lest we forget, the infamous Black-Scholes equation, which caused the boom that led to the 2008 global financial crisis, was conceived through number-crunching. What’s more important, though, is that while the equation was right, it was the humans – human unpredictability and greed – that caused the crisis. It would certainly be folly to disregard the human factor even in quantitative research.

Hopefully, through the trip, we can understand, just a bit more, how humans function. How so? Our project deals with the economic sustainability of ethical elephant tourism practices in Thailand – which sounds like a handful but can be broken down easily into the balancing act between ethics and economics. How does ethics, especially with regard to animals, come into play in economic development in the eyes of the locals? Can they afford this luxury? Should it be considered a luxury? How can we alter this balance? Navigating this precarious act may also allow us to understand, just a bit more – certainly beyond that which may be offered in a classroom – what is currently happening in China, Africa etc., where the pace of economic development appears to be tempered by environmental/ethical concerns. This would of course, be relevant for NBS students in both the workplace (when directing marketing efforts) and research – and that’s where I see us possibly achieving the ‘multi-disciplinary experiential learning’ and ‘nurturing the health and well-being of [those around us]’ stated in the USP mission statement.

So far, I haven’t really dealt with the ‘intercultural exchange’ portion of the trip. Two things come to mind: one, conversing with students from Chiangmai University, and two, conversing with Buddhist monks during the monk chat sessions. On one level it’ll certainly be great to learn more about another culture and see how they approach different issues – for example, in the ethics of elephant tourism practices, given Buddhist philosophy and the reverence for both elephants, and authority. This would constitute the much-needed exposure to different worldviews and the ‘rich diversity of human experience’, exactly what we need to solve problems on a global level. What’s really interesting, and I would like to point out, though, is the clash between global cultural homogenization and the drive for distinction – the need to separate us from them. Which cultural aspects are placed into which pocket? We can’t assume exposure equals acceptance – McDonald’s for example isn’t welcome in every country. Given Thailand’s conservatism, we might see quite a few of these clashes over there. It would be fascinating to study this phenomena, and the results should influence any study into the feasibility of say, introducing a certain product in the market. How can marketers best balance the needs for global brand awareness and local cultural identity?

What do I hope to achieve from this trip? I’ve spoken at length about gaining cultural awareness,  multi-disciplinary learning, and applying lessons learnt to ‘give back’ to the community – hopefully in a sustainable and impactful manner. Along with these, I also hope to get to know my batchmates a little better, and hone my interpersonal and communication skills both with them, and the Thais – it’ll be an interesting experience doing all that in a foreign land. Finally, it would be great if we could, at the same time, successfully advocate for the new, ethical form of elephant tourism, thus turning research into something a little more concrete, if you will. Thus we move just a little bit closer towards the aim of ‘giving back’, which I think is a really nice touch.