It's All about Business After All

In my work, I often feel like a dog chasing my own tail, or a hamster running in that ferris wheel - always go in a circle, facing the same old walls, and never learn any lessons. It's like having deja vu - been there, done that, but nothing's changed.

Working in the development sector has always been my passion, and that's the reason why I've been in this business for thirteen years now. I have the opportunity to work with different people and various institutions, from the grassroots level up to the bilateral donor. So, I can now say that I have good knowledge on what happens in the grassroots level - issues and challenges they face, opportunities that can be utilised, and all the not so innocent things they are capable of. Not that they are totally manipulative or completely helpless and innocent, but as everywhere, every story has two sides, and I've had the privilege to see them both. I also had a taste of working in a UN agency and got a confirmation this global institution is just a toothless, gigantic bureaucracy, but..., whether we like it or not, for better or worse, the world still needs it to avoid domination of few developed countries who think that they have any rights to act as the global police or security.

And now, working with a bilateral donor, who is blunt enough to put its national interest as focus of its development assistance. It's uncommon and quite shocking, but at least they put it upfront and not pretend to fight for world peace. It's another experience, dealing with bureaucracy. There are rules and tools, compliance issues, and critical importance of having things documented, not for the purpose of keeping and maintaining records and good documentation, but more to cover your own back. This is the first and the key lesson I've learned. Another key issue is value for money - meaning you should get the best value of goods and services procured. The best value isn't necessarily the cheapest, but there are also other considerations to make. This principle is related to accountability to the tax payer, and we're all required to be accountable.

That's fine, I can do that and live with that. But over years, the principles and values I've (and some of my colleagues have) embraced with all my heart and my soul, are not equally understood and shared by others. National interest means put the country economic growth and interest of the business upfront. As this principle becomes extremely important, it overlooks the developmental component, which should also be in the forefront of the development assistance. Why should we hire someone, who happens to be the spouse or close relative of someone but doesn't have the required skills and expertise, whose monthly fee equals to a modest house in the outskirt of Jakarta, than hire someone unknown but with solid knowledge and expertise, and more importantly, speak the language and understand the operating environment we're working in?? What happen with the procurement guideline that we have to comply with whenever we're going to procure goods and services? Who's doing the KKN practice here?

The amusement, exasperation and frustration do not stop there. When I read a research paper, an article or a book that doesn't look directly related to the work I do, some people will ask why I'm doing that and what for. When I take the extra miles to understand the technical issues so as to enable me giving meaningful feedback to my adviser, some people will say, do not micro-manage and focus to the higher and more strategic issues. We are required to comply with all rules and tools, and should be able to report on the outcomes of what we've been implementing. On the other hand, I'm not allowed to say I don't know, even when I really don't know what happen with the works that are just dumped into my desk because no one bother to provide a brief to me. I have to assist and mentor my team member, but no one seems to have time to listen to my question, not to mention help me going through the issues.

And what happen when an adviser doesn't perform? Nothing, because there is no performance assessment carried out. We have a bunch of advisers to do the thinking for us with exorbitant fees, but at the end, we still get mediocre products and sometimes even bad products so we have to clean up the mess and rectify the problems. What happen with a project that has been going on for years but without significant achievements? Nothing, the project gets extended because it's critically important for that particular region so it needs to be given more time. Development takes time and this is a flexible approach, so we also need to be flexible with the timing and of course, the outcomes.

When no significant achievements can be seen, we say it's a continuing work that requires time and process. When a new and 'hip' activity is on board, complete with all the buzz words, the old ones are considered outdated and an 'island of excellence'. When an activity was created after a high level political talk between head of states, at a later stage it was reviewed and was given an unsatisfactory rating due to non-compliance to sets of rules and guidelines. When we give low rating to consultants' or contractor's performance, someone higher than us will revise the rating to an acceptable rating. When we are critical to our own activities, someone up there will tone down the self-evaluation to make it look less problematic but "still open for improvement". Oh my!

The list can go on and on and on. At the end, it feels like fighting a losing battle and we just have to stop fighting at some point if we don't want to lose energy and sanity. We just have to remember that this is other people's money, and we've done whatever we have and are asked to do. So when you feel like going in circle, just remember, it's not your money. After all, it's all about business, just like any other business. So, forget about the poverty alleviation mambo jambo and do whatever you're told to do. Just make sure you have everything in record, just in case the audit comes one day and put you on the spotlight.