I'm sure everyone knows this isn't a new issue. About a month ago, Google servers somehow managed to get hacked by sources from China - eventually proven to be hackers with relations to the government - and the email accounts of various human rights activists were compromised. In retaliation, Google hacked the hackers back (thus finding out the identity of the Chinese hackers) and threatened to pull out of the country, before thinking about the dollar signs and instead threatened to stop censoring Google search results in China.
Well, since that whole fiasco, things have gone quiet until now. According to this article on Engadget, the big G is just about ready to lift the censorship, and surprise, surprise the Chinese government ain't happy bout it. But of course, in an issue such as this, we get the free speech zealots coming out of the woodwork trumpeting this decision by Google - Free speech for all! Censorship is bad! Screw the Chinese government and their totalitarian ways!
But do people actually realise that what Google is doing may be wrong?
Let's look at the facts here. I think by now there's no denying that the Chinese government got in touch with some people to hack into email accounts. Google's hack-back proves it and I make no excuses for the government here. It's a scummy act, and one that should not be condoned.
Google's initial reaction was to pull out of China. Right minded people called bullshit. No way Google was going to pull out of a country with the most Internet users in the world. It was just too large a market to not be a part of, and with Google basically being the Internet it would quite simply be a stupid move.
Now this censorship thing. Let me preface this by saying I lived in China for a while last year. And I admit I am no expert on the manner, but this is how I see it. Censoring information about factual historical events is wrong, censoring words like 'revolution', 'falun dafa' and 'democracy' is wrong. This is general information which should be available to anyone, regardless of where they live and how they access it.
But this is the policy of the government. Now, I am not saying that governments are always right nor that people should bow down to their government's every demand (*cough*Singapore*cough*), but who is Google to come in and tell the Chinese government how to run their country? The Chinese government allowed Google to operate there in the first place, and now they want to hold an entire country to ransom?
Make no mistake about it, the reason Google went into China and agreed to all the censorship laws in the first place was money. As much as they trumpet "Don't be evil", Google is a corporation - a publically listed one at that - and their goal is to make money. So for them to come now and suddenly tout themselves as guardians of the Chinese right to free speech; for them to disguise themselves as corporate advocates instead of a profit-hungry organisation is hypocritical and an insult to the intelligence of those who see right through it.
Let's go back to the start. Why did Google make such a big deal out of some of their gmail accounts being hacked that they threatened to pull out of the country? Again, I am not advocating what had been done, but I can't help feeling that this was merely a smokescreen to cover up the REAL issue here - Google's servers got hacked.
Yes, the servers at the world's premier tech company got hacked and they had to save face by diverting our attention elsewhere. Where else better than the emotional and controversial subject of Chinese governmental policy?
All I'm trying to say is that Google have no right to fly in the face of the Chinese government like that. The Chinese people will eventually start to fight for their right to free speech, and it is not Google's business to interfere. People forget that slavery was still around in America only 50 years ago. China is a country which has only very recently opened its economy up to the world. They are going through their own Industrial Revolution right now, having gone from being a nobody to one of the most influential countries on the world stage. As China matures there will be more calls internally for better human rights policies - it is simply the natural progression of a country.
No one can change the policies of the Chinese government except the Chinese people themselves. Google are not the ones who are going to come and instigate a revolution. They should not use this a cover up their own fallacies. It is despicable. It would certainly be a shame if Google were to be kicked out of the country by the government but I can't say I would blame them. Google should get back to who they really are - a tech company. Leave the politics to the politicians.
Reading a recent blog post from an old classmate on passion and work really struck a chord with me. Basically, her story is she's from a pretty well-to-do family but she's still very humble and not snoot at all. She managed to get in to LSE and after that reached a crossroads where she got an amazing opportunity to do a postgraduate degree at some really prestigious university or go back and work for her dad in his business. She chose the latter.
So that's the backstory. She wrote the post talking about how lucky she is to be in a job that she is passionate about, in an industry that she is passionate about. Well, I find it hard to believe that she can be as passionate about the construction industry as she is about the Chanel Fall/Winter line, but I guess an interest seed was planted in her from a really young age and so she is where she is now.
Obviously, this got me thinking about my own situation. Currently unemployed (but looking!), my initial impression coming straight out of uni was that I was going to kill myself at an investment bank. Why? Well, it just seemed the natural progression from a Finance degree, and the pinnacle of the financial industry is investment banking. So that was my aim, investment banking.
But a year on I have to say I'm probably glad that I didn't get into that. I know I have no right to say this - I still have no job and am still going to apply for them this recruitment period, and if I get an offer (unlikely) I would accept - but it's just an industry I don't have a passion for.
I think it's pretty undisputed that the people at the very top of their industry are passionate about what they do. Jamie Dimon probably gets a hard-on from a 1 basis point rise in hedge fund returns. Vincent Tan probably rips his clothes off and gyrates vigorously to "You Sexy Thing" everytime a Cosway store opens up. (At this rate he's going to break a hip). Tiger Woods probably blows a load everytime the ball goes into the hole. Yup, I'm just gonna gloss over that one.
The thing is, these guys have a passion for what they do. Do what you love and you never have to work a day in your life. That's the old saying and how true it is. I recently attended an information session by JPMorgan and was just struck at the questions people were asking during the networking period. What's JPMorgan's policy towards risk management? How has the landscape changed since the GFC? What would you say are the core values of your firm? And they were genuinely interested in the answers to these questions GENUINELY INTERESTED. And the guy at IB wasn't giving simple one or two line answer either. Noooo, he was taking at least 7 minutes to answer a question. 7 minutes of constant talking. About risk management policies.
I think it was then that it really struck me that investment banking is not for me. It really is a 24/7 job, and I can't imagine surrounding myself with forex rates and securitised loan figures and debt market capitalisation numbers all the time.
So what am I passionate about? Hmm - Manchester United, hating on the iPhone, FIFA, the fried sotong at Nirwana, managing my love/hate relationship with Korean culture (hate) and their women (love) - not things I can envision building a conglomerate out of. But what I am looking for in a job I know much better too - good work/life balance, opportunity to pursue personal goals, the opportunity to work on different things, mobility (!). I don't see myself chained to a desk. I see myself out and about, meeting people and doing a varied range of work in different countries. That's the sort of work I can see myself enjoying and therefore, working my hardest at.
This time round, maybe I've found the industry. Management consulting. It's very interesting. And very very appealing. And it makes me excited about working. In the big players there. Much much more so than at a big investment bank. But it's as hard to get into as one of those big boys on Wall Street. So hopefully fingers crossed I get a chance. I'm just hoping to get interviews. One step at a time.
So that's the backstory. She wrote the post talking about how lucky she is to be in a job that she is passionate about, in an industry that she is passionate about. Well, I find it hard to believe that she can be as passionate about the construction industry as she is about the Chanel Fall/Winter line, but I guess an interest seed was planted in her from a really young age and so she is where she is now.
Obviously, this got me thinking about my own situation. Currently unemployed (but looking!), my initial impression coming straight out of uni was that I was going to kill myself at an investment bank. Why? Well, it just seemed the natural progression from a Finance degree, and the pinnacle of the financial industry is investment banking. So that was my aim, investment banking.
But a year on I have to say I'm probably glad that I didn't get into that. I know I have no right to say this - I still have no job and am still going to apply for them this recruitment period, and if I get an offer (unlikely) I would accept - but it's just an industry I don't have a passion for.
I think it's pretty undisputed that the people at the very top of their industry are passionate about what they do. Jamie Dimon probably gets a hard-on from a 1 basis point rise in hedge fund returns. Vincent Tan probably rips his clothes off and gyrates vigorously to "You Sexy Thing" everytime a Cosway store opens up. (At this rate he's going to break a hip). Tiger Woods probably blows a load everytime the ball goes into the hole. Yup, I'm just gonna gloss over that one.
The thing is, these guys have a passion for what they do. Do what you love and you never have to work a day in your life. That's the old saying and how true it is. I recently attended an information session by JPMorgan and was just struck at the questions people were asking during the networking period. What's JPMorgan's policy towards risk management? How has the landscape changed since the GFC? What would you say are the core values of your firm? And they were genuinely interested in the answers to these questions GENUINELY INTERESTED. And the guy at IB wasn't giving simple one or two line answer either. Noooo, he was taking at least 7 minutes to answer a question. 7 minutes of constant talking. About risk management policies.
I think it was then that it really struck me that investment banking is not for me. It really is a 24/7 job, and I can't imagine surrounding myself with forex rates and securitised loan figures and debt market capitalisation numbers all the time.
So what am I passionate about? Hmm - Manchester United, hating on the iPhone, FIFA, the fried sotong at Nirwana, managing my love/hate relationship with Korean culture (hate) and their women (love) - not things I can envision building a conglomerate out of. But what I am looking for in a job I know much better too - good work/life balance, opportunity to pursue personal goals, the opportunity to work on different things, mobility (!). I don't see myself chained to a desk. I see myself out and about, meeting people and doing a varied range of work in different countries. That's the sort of work I can see myself enjoying and therefore, working my hardest at.
This time round, maybe I've found the industry. Management consulting. It's very interesting. And very very appealing. And it makes me excited about working. In the big players there. Much much more so than at a big investment bank. But it's as hard to get into as one of those big boys on Wall Street. So hopefully fingers crossed I get a chance. I'm just hoping to get interviews. One step at a time.
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