Yawning Bread recently commented on Temasek’s damage control efforts following its takeover of Shin Corporation which led to a military coup in Thailand. Temasek apparently attempted to hire Tongnoi, a person claiming to be a personal secretary to the Crown Prince and being influential with the Royal Family. Tongnoi declined and shortly afterwards, the Crown Prince claimed that Tongnoi is a liar with only a minor position in his office. Yawning Bread suggests that Temasek did not do due diligence on the person it was hiring.

I mentioned previously that I had the opportunity to dine with Joseph Manson, a Baker Hostetler partner, who is a friend of recently deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Joseph mentioned that the Crown Prince was close friends with Thaksin Shinawatra. This made me view the Tongnoi situation differently from Yawning Bread.

It is possible that Tongnoi is indeed influential with the Crown Prince. Temasek would know that The Crown Prince is more approving of its operations and could be trying to establish some support within the Royal Family to salvage the value of Shin Corporation. Tongnoi could have been greedy and capitalized on his relationship with the Crown Prince by joining the company. Since this news got to the press, it severely embarrassed the Royal Family and would discredit the Crown Prince. Thus, the Crown Prince had to disavow any relationship with Tongnoi.

Just a possibility here as I do not believe that Temasek is *that* incompetent.

On 25 Oct, I finally took time off my projects in Philadelphia to visit Washington D.C. I was there to attend a lecture at the World Bank on Financial Stability by Stijin Classens (senior financial advisor World Bank) and Subir Lall (Deputy Chief IMF Economics Research Department). I was also there to drop by the office of my former employer, Centennial Group.

I enjoyed the lecture and after hearing them present the latest issues on global financial stability, I am considering doing a research paper on that topic and capital markets development in China as my Huntsman thesis.

World Bank-IMF Lecture on Financial Stability

Classens spoke on the International Financial System and how it should be structured. He started off by describing financial integration using three measures: (1) measurement of international capital flows, (2) interest rate parity across countries and (3) gross foreign asset positions. However, he points out that capital flow in the past was spread out equally among developing and developed countries but have in recent decades shifted to a net flow to developed countries. Classens added that globalization, technology and deregulation have contribute to the sharp increase in flows after World War 2.

Classens argue that the financial crises that occurred in the past two decades and their intense cross-border contagion effect indicate the need for an international financial system. This system is shaped by developed countries and favors in particular the financial sector in these countries. This lopsided approach has led to lack of support for tools such as a Sovereign Debt Reduction Mechanism (SDRM) which could head off crises. Asian countries have also taken to accumulating large reserves to “insure” themselves. This is a less than optimal use of savings.

Subir Lall talked about how banking in Anglo-Saxon countries and elsewhere differed as the former had a more “arms-length” banking system while the latter had a more relationship-based system. The former is defined by the lack of personal contact and private information on lenders. Lall argued that countries with an “arms-length” system have greater access to capital. However, a relationship system is less volatile as personal ties induces bankers to continue lending to a company during downturns.

Visit to Centennial

At Centennial, I met Harinder Kohli and Claudio Loser. Harinder spearheaded the World Bank’s thinking on private participation in infrastructure and financial sector reform in the 1990s as senior advisor to the World Bank and Managing Director for infrastructure. Claudio, until November 2002, was Director of the Western Hemisphere Department in the International Monetary Fund.

I also met Harpaul Kohli who is an analyst at Centennial Group. He is an amazingly friendly person who immediately jumped on the chance to show me the immense economic database which he designed for the firm. I really appreciate his passion for his work and his enthusiasm. I also feel that he is a role model for what I wished to achieve out of college: a broad-based education that allows me to see things from different perspectives and pick up new skills along the way. Harpaul studied literature, philosophy and math at Harvard. After graduation, he joined the Wesley Clark campaign for President and picked up programming on the campaign trail. It really enjoyed meeting him and hanging out in the D.C. office.

(SG, Singapore) Making Sense of Data: at different levels of abstraction, they are all shirts or clothes

In presenting the work of the Sayre School-Based Community Health Center (SBCHC) to potential partners and funding agencies, we need strong data to back our case. It is one thing to say that West Philadelphia’s health system is falling apart. It is another to show that for every infant that dies at birth nationwide, three times that number die in West Philadelphia.

I have to thank my work experience under Manu Bhaskaran at Centennial Group and as Chief Knowledge Manager in my army division in helping me build my case on data. My work analyzing problems at those two organizations allowed me to zoom in on the exact data needed, the time period which I should look at, and how I should triangulate around lack of key data by finding appropriate proxies. Working with Jeremy is a blessing too, as he brings with him a wealth of work experience. His inputs on the data we need and how we should present it have been valuable.

In building the case for the community bridging role of the SBCHC, we need to find proxies of social capital and how this capital has changed over the years. Social capital is essential for economic prosperity. Voter turnout could be a possible proxy for the social capital in West Philadelphia, and if this number is low or declining, we will need to further emphasize the role of the SBCHC in building this capital.

I met with the Sayre students today. It is a humbling experience trying to interact with someone who grew up in such a vastly different environment and who subscribes to a different set of norms. The student whom I am supposed to guide in the college application process is Jarrod McLaughlin (I call him the professor as he wanted to put PhD behind his name). Like all the other kids at Sayre, he is African American and grew up in the impoverished West Philadelphia community. He is outgoing and runs his own rap crew, plays basketball and dreams of someday being a sport manager.

Working with Jarrod was a challenge initially. He spoke slang and came from a culture vastly different from that at Penn. I had to continually work to engage his attention, as my different background might have prevented him from connecting directly with me. Having lived in Korea, Taiwan, China and Singapore in different phases of my life, I should have brought pictures to allow him to visualize my background and help him understand me.

Key to successfully working with these kids is to establish a personal connection at the start. This is something that was difficult to do in today’s formal setting where we asked them questions in the class room. It was too direct and methodical. A more fun setting, such as a field trip, would help us befriend them easily and allow us to “question” their interests and motivations more subtly by integrating them into small talk on such a trip.

I believe that Jarrod does not have close relationships with his family. He mentioned that his sister went to college but did not elaborate. When questioned, he said he did not know which college she attended. Jarrod will need a supportive environment beyond his family and I think that the CCP or Sayre could possibly establish a program something in this area.

(Sayre, West Philadelphia) What I hope to change in time by applying my creativity, people skills, leadership and dedication

I finally managed to get my Sayre project started. I am really excited about this project as I will be working with Sayre high school in impoverished West Philadelphia to set up the first sustainable community-based health center in America. This will be achieved through creatively integrating the health objectives of the center with the educational and research goals of both Penn and the high school. The health center will also act as the social glue rebuilding community spirit in West Philly by bringing people to the school. This project has grants worth over a million dollars and will be exciting and challenging for me to work on it. Most importantly, I hope to create a template which can be applied to the problems of urban health elsewhere.

Working on a real world problem has both its joys and frustration. In order to get the project started, I had to push through a complicated bureaucracy with differing interests from different constituencies. I contacted the person nominally in charge of the project, who referred me to another person who in turn referred me to yet another person. After several meetings, I managed to persuade several decision makers to allow me to carry out the project. Implementation risks remain as some of the health center staff might not share the same objectives in pushing the edge in health center design and integration with the community, as this would involve a radical rethink of their role in the health center.

In addition to the people I will work with at Sayre High, the Penn Center for Community Partnership and the Penn Medical School in implementing the project, I also managed to recruit a friend, Jeremy, from the Wharton School to help out. He is a really enthusiastic and smart person with great ideas. I enjoy working with him on my mgmt 100 project to create a tour template at a historic cemetery and look forward to working with him on this project.

In a way, I see this as a continuation of the project which I created and presented at the World Bank Annual Meet on Development. That project stressed social entrepreneurship in creating new solutions and new perspectives on problems to achieve breakthrough results, which is what I hoped to accomplish on this activity.

This evening, I went to the Ritz Carlton and met finance legend Joseph Perella, former vice-Chairman of Morgan Stanley and current founder of Perella Weinberg Partners. There were 7 of us in the conference room along with 5 representatives from his firm. Joseph had just raised $1.1 billion for his new investment advisory firm. I expected to meet someone whose achievements would have made him arrogant and distant from the people below him. Instead, I was surprised to find someone genuinely nice, respectful and passionate about what he was doing. He invited us to sit in a circle and had an open discussion on his career, the changing nature of investment banking and how we should never trust Wall Street people who claim they can predict the future. Most importantly, I admire Joseph’s emphasis on relationships.

Joseph’s goal is to create an investment bank that cares more about its relationships with clients than growing its business. He harkens back to the time when investment bankers were consigliere to corporate leaders rather than salesmen playing both sides of the table for and against their clients. He believes that the conflict of interests caused by investment banks having private equity practices as well as advisory services have resulted in mistrust of investment bankers. This should not be the case. Joseph wants to leave a legacy since PWP is likely to be the last firm he leads before he heads into retirement.

Joseph also emphasized the role of serendipity in life. He said that Wall Street cannot predict the future. He added that when he founded Wassterstein, Perella & Co, he never knew that they would be trading junk bonds. However, the scandals that rocked Salomon resulted in them hiring a junk bond team that brought in $30 million a year. Joseph also never knew that he would enter business school or become an investment banker. He was an accountant for his early career and when he was in the airforce, he met two Harvard Business School students, which made him consider business school and resulted in a career in finance.

PWP intends to set up a third office in Dubai. It has no further expansion plans and does not intend to grow to a behemoth size. I admire Joseph for his vision and his emphasis on building relationships. I hope that regardless of the field I enter, I will be able to put the same emphasis as he had on building long-term partnerships and in treating everyone with equal respect.

Interesting Tidbits: Joseph interned at the World Bank before deciding that he could only work for an organization with a bottomline. He termed the problem of the World Bank as one of “counting pigs in Latin America”, a reference to the difficulty of indirect performance metrics.

(Bangkok, Thailand) The calm of daily routine is broken

I mentioned previously that I had the chance to talk to Joseph Manson, distinguished partner at Baker Hostetler. As a personal friend of Thaksin as well as an expert on international law, he is well placed to comment on the Thailand political situation*.

What will happen to Temasek’s Assets?

Although the Thai government would gain popularity from sacking Temasek’s assets in Thailand, it is likely to face opprobrium from the international business community. Joseph believes Temasek will receive many amicus briefs (filings to support Temasek’s case from concerned third parties) and even support from the American Chamber of Commerce. Businessmen will see this as an unjustified appropriation of private property.

Joseph thinks Thaksin’s best move now would be to file a suit in the International Court at The Hague. Thaksin has considerable support from foreign parties as he is believed to be the democratically elected leader of the country. Thaksin is also able to use this as a bargaining chip with Thailand, and part of a bargain deal could be the protection of Temasek’s assets in the country.

Personally, I believe that some compromise will be reached as Singapore will lobby hard to prevent this fiasco from damaging the reputation of Temasek - which is already suffering from low returns. The Thai government also knows that it is not in their best economic interests to confiscate Temasek’s property, but will drive a hard bargain as it knows that the deck is stacked in its favor.

What will happen to Thaksin?

Joseph believes that this will not be the last we see of Thaksin. Thaksin is good friends with the crown prince and the Thai King is currently eighty over years old (if I recall correctly) while Thaksin is fifty over. There is a possibility of Thaksin returning sometime in the future.

*Note: following comments are based on my memory of what was said, and might not be an accurate representation of actual statements

*Thanks to jpatokal for pointing out spelling errors.

(Miao Li, Taiwan) Work is ultimately about dealing with people.

I had dinner with Baker Hostetler Partner Joseph L. Manson III and Janice Bellace, director of the Huntsman program. Joseph is an international lawyer who is deeply involved in Asia, and often represents US interests in the region. He was speaking at the Huntsman program office on Thailand’s recent military coup. He is also a personal friend of billionaire Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra. Joseph introduced Thaksin to several prominent government officials before Thaksin’s first election in 2002 and thus contributed in some way to Thaksin’s electoral victory.

Joseph is an amazing person and I am glad that I had the opportunity to discuss Asian political issues with him. His dedication to his legal work is also inspiring. Most importantly, I learnt a lot about having the personal touch through his story about how he got his first job during a major depression. He was organizing a speakers’ circuit in Seattle and found out that one of his speakers had an old friend living in Seattle. He also found out that the speaker loved Scotch. Thus, he arranged a gathering between the speaker and his friend and bought a bottle of Scotch for them. Two weeks later, the speaker mentioned Joseph’s name to a partner at another law firm and Joseph was hired.

The lesson I took away was that regardless of how professional or formal we pretend to be, whether it is interviewing or pitching, we are ultimately human beings who desire the human touch. This is why I wish to work in a client-oriented function, as I believe in connecting with people on that familial level. While we have to maintain professionalism, I believe that Joseph’s example shows that we can also go all the way to connect with our clients and keep them happy.

(Muang Boran, Thailand) Actually thinking in college leads you down holes and doors you rather you never opened. But it can be rewarding too.

I was squatting on the tin roof of the College Hall, in the night, with members of the Philosophy society. I was clutching a beer bottle and there was a slight breeze. I had a view of Center City and the lights emanating form the glass windows of sky scrappers lit up the sky like tiny stars. I was also a little nervous as the thought of falling over the ledge we sat on ran through my head. College Hall never looked so tall from the bottom. But it certainly was tall from this vantage point. We had just concluded a discussion on ancient philosophy and what it meant to live a “good life”. Our speaker was now telling us how Sanskrit had the most studied and structured grammatical system in the past. It is certainly amazing how much I can learn from people studying completely different fields as I am.

This experience was also a good reminder for me. Sometimes, I get too caught up in accomplishing so many things. It is only in hindsight when I learnt that my most enriching experiences came from meeting such people who are passionate about fields totally different from mine. I never would have known so much about the Stoics or Epicureanism or Sanskrit if I had not gone for tonight’s session and I am glad to be shaping my college experience differently from what the rest of the students. Instead of thinking about what society wants me to do, I should focus on what learning experiences I wish to take away from college.

(Singapore, Singapore) Grey skies ahead. No thesis no entry.

I was planning to do research on industrial policy under the mentorship of Howard Pack. However, my proposal has been rejected with the strict rejoinder that my proposed thesis was ‘a bunch of buzzwords strung together”. Ouch!

I guess I deserved it. I was trying to do too much too quickly and sent off the thesis before it was even clear in my mind. Although I knew my general area of interest, I did not narrow my thesis proposal down to the specific angle which I wished to examine. I was also trying too hard to come up with the truly novel approach and ended up falling short of it. I should instead have taken my history professor’s advice: not every paper has to be a Nobel-prize hopeful.

It is demoralizing to receive such a sharp rejoinder when embarking on my first major research project. But in a way it is good too, as it causes me to rethink my thesis and realize that I have a lot of work to do to improve it.