I realised that I really need to record my experiences working here better.
I came here because I wanted to gain working experience before going to grad school.
I don’t learn from my experiences unless I reflect on and record them.
Therefore, I need to reflect and record more to achieve what I set out to do…
But sometimes, I just get home so tired that writing a 5 minutes, nay, 2 minutes entry seems too much.
My first published paper in a peer-reviewed undergraduate journal: the Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Development Studies, also known as Undercurrent (Fall/Winter 2010, Volume 7, issue 3, p. 36-43)
From Colonialism To Modernism To Postcolonialism: The Case of Urban Agriculture In Lusaka, Zambia
By Tiffany Tong
I recently came across a certain document that made me red in the face and nostalgic: my letter of intent when I applied to the Global Resource Systems program, my bachelors of science at UBC.
Red in the face because of all the big words and cheesy cliches I managed to stuff into this 500 word letter. Nostalgic because I recently had the honour of being student speaker at my graduation convocation, and I had to craft a very similar speech. For your amusement and enjoyment, I’m going to post both of these writings/speech. Also as a reminder for myself 5 years down the road.
Global Resource Systems letter of intent
(Please keep in mind that I was 19 years old when I wrote this letter. I’m being very brave even posting this online!)
Dear Selection Committee,
My name is Tiffany Tong and I am currently a Science One student. I am passionate about and devoted to contributing to the betterment of the world. I envision a global village that is truly peaceful, where not only is there peace between countries, but also peace within every beating heart. To achieve my goals, I believe we need to maintain a delicate balance amongst humans, animals, and the environment. Hence, we need to embrace true sustainability in every part of our lives. The Global Resource System program, with its emphasis on global citizenship, interdisciplinary learning, and sustainability, provides an excellent environment for me to learn the tools and skills to reach the starting path of my dreams.
I intend to specialize in urban planning for developing countries, especially the fastest growing economy in the world-China. I chose urban planning because it has a direct impact on the lives of the majority of the world population – city dwellers – and will be an essential foundation of rapid development. It is my firm belief that current cities are inflexible and segregating its inhabitants from the natural environment. Accordingly, I wish to learn how to plan and implement flexible cities which integrate all the elements of the local ecosystems, local culture, and the newest environmentally-friendly science and engineering technologies available.
My proudest achievements in extracurricular activities include co-founding and leading the Roots & Shoots club at my high school. We promoted harmony among all animals, humans, and the environment through organizing various projects such as the 30 Hour Famine, beach and highway clean ups, and animal adoption awareness. Also, I started the Aquatic Conservation Team in conjunction with the Vancouver Aquarium to raise awareness on storm drain pollution.
Recently, I initiated the Dollar Project, which is in the process of becoming an AMS club, with the goal to encourage every student and staff at UBC to donate a dollar per year to various charities. With 47,000 community members, our collective power and potential to invoke change is enormous.
Internationally, I was honoured to be the only Canadian panellist for the Japan Return Program, which organized a month long Japanese Summit that invited youth from all over the world in 2005 to gather and discuss issues under the theme “Love, Earth and Peace.” Discussions were held at various places, including EXPO 2005 in Aichi, Japan, and with Mr. Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo. From these experiences, I have learnt greatly about the world, the problems it is facing, and a global perspective into possible solutions. And most importantly, they have motivated me into devoting my life to help make a difference in the world.
I am confident that I will be an asset to the Global Resource System program, for I plan to acquire knowledge to fill my head and compassion to fill my heart. Please contact me if you would like any further information.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Tiffany Tong
My speech as student speaker at the Faculty of Land and Food Systems graduation convocation May 31st 2010:
(and a million hugs to my amazing friends who helped me edit this)
Thank you President Toope.
Good morning fellow graduates, honoured guests, and wonderful professors and staff.
It is a great honour for me to be standing here today.
But I hope you wouldn’t think of me as a representative of my fellow colleagues. How can one person represent such a diverse and interesting group of people?
When I first stumbled into this faculty in my second year, I thought it was a really strange place. We have farmers, economists, activists, nutritionists, laboratory scientists, community builders – as well as people like me who really don’t know if we could ever find a label – all in one place.
And you know what? Gradually, I’ve discovered that surprisingly, we all get along well. Marvellously well.
Now, my faculty is the place where I feel most at home. Half of me wishes that I could always smell Agora, or sit in the orchard garden, or visit the UBC Farm whenever I like. It’s amazing to see how well all of us – all so different from each other – can work together. And how three simple words, as cliché as they may be, connect us all: land, food, and community.
If I have to distil what I’ve learnt at UBC into a single fact, it would be the fact that we are all so interconnected in this world that we can’t afford to think in small categories. We can’t afford to think as I did when I first entered this faculty. And we definitely can’t afford to work alone.
This is why I’m so proud to be a graduate from this faculty and this university, both putting so much emphasis on collaboration between disciplines.
But I want to suggest that theories are not enough. After having the chance to receive a world-class education at UBC, we are now entrusted with the responsibility to shape this world with our actions. Not just words, but actions. We have been privileged with opportunity. Now, with graduation upon us, it is our time to act for those less privileged.
How should we do that? I really don’t have a concrete answer. (if anyone does, please call me ;) But let me share one of my favourite quotes from David Orr’s “What is Education for?”:
“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more “successful” people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every shape and form. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane.”
Let us begin this journey today, on this traditional Musqueam territory devoted to learning, by giving a gift, together as the grad class of 2010, to the University of British Columbia.
These are all worthy causes, but I hope we don’t stop here. Let us all join in the adventure towards making this world more habitable and more humane.
Finally, a heartfelt thank you to all who have helped us reach this extremely important moment in our life.
Once again, congratulations on graduating!!
Book Review:
Lawn People: How Grasses, Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us Who We Are
Tiffany Tong
December 10, 2008
The author, Paul Robbins, starts the book off with a strange observation about himself when he moved into a new home with a lawn: “I was becoming a … ‘lawn person.’” (Robbins 2007, xii) The rising population of a lawn person, someone whose life is influenced or dictated by the lawn, is arguably a very American middle class phenomenon (Thompson 2008). This book seeks to unravel the complex relationships behind humans, lawns, and the larger political economy to seek an answer to this persuasive trend. In this book, Robbins tries to apply “political ecology to the fresh topic of the suburban middle classes (Ginn 2007).”
A New Turn for Corporate Social Responsibility
Tiffany Tong
March 5th, 2008
Introduction
The nature of corporations is to maximize the bottom line regardless of social and environmental consequences, because in an extremely competitive global market, failure to do so will result in forced exit from the market. Therefore, traditionally, the enforcement of rules has been viewed as the only way to protect society and the environment; voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been viewed as mere lip service that produces no results. However, in this paper, I will explore a new turn in the development of CSR, with a particular focus on a United Nations initiative named the Global Compact. I will argue that to effectively engage corporations to produce positive results, norm setting initiatives are necessary in addition to rule enforcement. Corporate Social Responsibility will not work unless we have both binding international agreements to enforce punishment of negative actions by corporations and positive incentives for innovation.
Tiffany Tong
October 16th, 2008
Film Review
Blue Gold: World Water Wars
Water is essential to life. There is no argument; water is a defining characteristic when we look for signs of life. Blue Gold: World Water Wars is directed by Sam Bozzo and based on the book “Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water.” The documentary sets off with the memoir of an explorer who survived seven days in the desert without water. He was literally “running dry of blood.” We are reminded that water issues affect all directly, whether rich or poor. Thus, the documentary argues, water is a human right; privatization will always harm the interests of the public. Corporate control of the essence of life is absurd.
Tiffany Tong
April 7th, 2008
Evil or Necessary Evil?
“Make a case for which “side” of the debate the film’s creators explicitly or implicitly adopt. Does the film succeed in offering enlightenment on some of the key issues involved in the debate? Why or why not?”
In “The Corporation,” it is argued that corporations are inherently evil because they are legally a person, yet they have no moral conscience for its actions. I argue that corporations should retain the best of its characteristics and change the other less desirable ones because while corporations can provide services with a level of efficiency and innovation that no other social institutions can match, they still remain a social institution.
Tiffany Tong
March 19th, 2008
Which Country Made the Better Choice?
China and India, the two Asian powerhouses where 37% of the world population lives, have become the miracles of economic development of the modern world (Current World Population (ranked), 2007). China and India have sustained GDP growth, unmatched by any other country in the history of human kind, of 9.4% and 7% average respectively for over a decade (Dahlman, 2007). The proportion of Indians living in extreme poverty (on $1 a day or less) has fallen from 40% to 25% in a decade, while in China, between 1981 and 2001, the proportion fell from 53% to just 8% (Sharma, 2006). The countries have followed “diametrically opposed development paths (Sharma, 2006)”: one is now the IT-enabled service center of the world and the other is the factory of the world (Dahlman, 2007). In this paper, I will compare the strategies and performances of the economic reforms of China and India and ultimately argue that due to their diverging economical strategies, it is very difficult to conclude which country is superior in terms of economic development; both have major advantages and flaws that will need to be addressed before true sustainable development can be attained.
Who is Really Responsible for Those Who Are Unfortunate?
Tiffany Tong
February 11th, 2007
In this essay, I will argue that a mandatory, single-tier healthcare system in a well-off country is morally incorrect because citizens should have the right to purchase alternative healthcare services if desired. Although I believe that every citizen should have a positive right to adequate healthcare relative to the prosperity of their country (Daniels, 2003), I also accept that citizens should have the freedom to spend money earned on any legitimate service they desire (T. Engelhardt, 2003).
Is Worldwide Collapse Inevitable?
By Tiffany Tong
Current globalization and international trade practices, which are frequently unsustainable, will only prolong a worldwide collapse, as defined by Joseph Tainter, not prevent one. According to Tainter, a collapsed society is one that “displays a rapid, significant loss of an established level of sociopolitical complexity[1].” Sociopolitical complexity is the differences in power structures and levels of ruling class. The indicators of a loss of sociopolitical complexity are a decrease in social stratification, economic specialization, centralized control, overall coordination of society, trading and redistribution of resources, and cultural activities such as art, buildings, and literature1.