SMC Reflection by Wenzhen Wu

SMCHiking Reflection by WenZhen Sun

When I was first introduced to SMC Youth Hiking Tour, I was fascinated by its refreshing model which allows youths to network personally with distinguished individuals in different fields. In an age where most people are bombarded by dialogue sessions or digital seminars, I was interested to experience this new format for myself and hence joined the hike on 25th June as a representative from Business China Youth Chapter.

Indeed, it was a very enriching hiking session that taught me many quintessential lessons about growth and success. People who are gathered together in this hike come from various backgrounds and have a wealth of experience to share with the youths that are all eager to learn. I am glad to share some of the learning points that I gathered through this hike.

Empathy in the Workplace

I started my hike with Victor, who is the Chief Executive of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce. We discussed what should be the fundamental value of a successful organisation, and we both agreed that it is empathy. Although the education system emphases tremendously on efficiency and competition, it is empathy and people-centricity that matters. Victor believes that being empathetic does not rule out obtaining high profit, contrary to popular beliefs, as the happiness that is derived from such a healthy environment will bounce off the employees and onto the customers, hence making the growth more sustainable in the long run. The leadership of the organisation has the power to influence its culture and is hence the starting point of nurturing a positive work culture. With the hiatus caused by the pandemic, it was also an opportunity for many organisations to go back to the basics and review their workplace policies, such as more flexible work-life arrangements and taking care of the mental health of employees. I could see sweat streaming down his face as the hike continues, but Victor’s voice did not waver as he describes the workplace that he envisions.

Grow your Global Quotient

I also had a pleasant time chatting with David, the initiator and organiser of the hiking program. David shared an interesting concept termed “global quotient”, which he defined as going beyond just knowing the information but having the analytical ability to process it and value add. Indeed, in the world of the internet, information is within our fingertips and it is how we can make use of it that can contribute to society. One of the important ways to grow our global quotient is through zero-distance interaction with mentors that can bring us beyond our comfort zone, which was the impetus to the birth of this hiking program. David envisioned filling up the missing link in the ecosystem of nurturing Singapore’s talents by combing domain wisdom and legacy wisdom, providing a platform for youths to learn and grow their global quotients. David also shared other methods of self-improvement that he used in educating his children, such as learning about the history and culture of other regions through museums or actively interacting with people from other countries. “Don’t underestimate the value of such wisdom, there is always more to be explored”, advised David.

The Chinese Philosophy of Career

The highlight of the hike was the sharing by the speaker of the session Mickey, who is the CEO of Tmall/Taobao for Southeast Asia and Hongkong/Macau and Director of Alibaba Group. Mickey first shared the importance of riding on the wave instead of against it (顺势 VS 逆势) to achieve more with less. For example, it is not a good idea to expand and develop the supply chain under the current global landscape, but we can focus on other areas like customer experience that organisations tend to overlook. Another major focus of Mickey’s sharing is on the Chinese philosophy of 道 and 术. 术 is defined as knowledge and skills while 道 refers to mental capacity and ideology. The current education system emphasises the knowledge portion, but our youths often lack training in terms of resilience and mental capacity. Mickey’s advice to our youths is to focus have the basic knowledge (术）first to get started, but spend more time and effort to develop our capacity (道）as that is what gets us far. This can be done by indulging yourself in different experiences be it an MNC or a start-up, to be not afraid of exploring different industries and being able to withstand hardships and failure. By equipping yourself with the relevant skills and mental capacity, you will be ready to seize opportunities coming your way.

In totem, there are similarities between the topics shared by the different mentors, who all called for a global perspective in our youths. This experience was a fruitful one and I was able to broaden my horizons by listening to the experiences of those before me, and I am more motivated than ever to grow my global quotient and contribute to the world around me.