Asian Studies Alumni Spotlight Featuring Vincent Ng

Interested in what you can do with a degree in Asian Studies? In our Alumni Spotlight Interview Series, we ask our alumni about their career paths, how they became interested in Asian Studies and for any advice they would give to current students. This interview features Vincent Ng, UBC Asian Studies BA’08 (Asian Area Studies). Ng is currently an entrepreneur and international business consultant based in Japan.

Vince Ng Photography – Asia

Could you go into some detail about your career path until now?

My career path has not been on a single track since I left the comfort
of UBC. In short, I have worked as a teacher, a corporate trainer, a
staff at a traditional Japanese inn, NGO staff in a remote hospital,
disaster relief worker, and trading company section manager. I
currently am an entrepreneur and international business consultant.
With my unique experiences in both the non-profit and business worlds,I am now focused on helping Japanese SME’s expand their operations to developing countries in Asia (Burma, Nepal, Mongolia, Indonesia) as well as setting up CSR projects that benefit companies, locals and the environment.

How did you get your first job after graduating?

My first job was an English teacher in Japan. I believe many Asian Studies students take advantage of this path not only make a stable income, but for also a chance to experience Asia as a resident instead of a visitor. I was quickly moved to Corporate training and that allowed me to work inside large companies and institutions such as ASICS and the Osaka city government.

How has an Asian Studies degree helped you in your endeavours?

Asian Studies is not one of those majors that have a direct relationship with a specific job. As an electrical engineering major, you would most likely become an electrical engineer. As a journalism major, you would most likely become a journalist. Asian Studies is a major with immense potential because the beating heart of the world has shifted to Asia. However, to find a job or business that is applicable is still a challenge. Recently I have seen more and more companies hire ‘Asia regional managers’ or ‘Asia marketing managers’ in which intimate knowledge of a country, local connections and language abilities are valued more than the business education background.

I’ve always been the type to know a little bit about everything. Entrepreneurship was particularly appealing to me because it required knowledge of everything as well as adaptability, people skills and lots of patience. I could turn my knowledge into an advantage as I could easily connect ideas and people across borders. As an Asian Studies major who has been trained in numerous disciplines, I can think of new ideas much faster than those with a more focused education.

Are there any opportunities in your field?

There are always opportunities in entrepreneurship. In fact, the world’s ideas and jobs are created by entrepreneurship. This can be as broad as starting a new trading business by bringing goods from one place to another, designing a new service or product, marketing something to a new market, starting a new franchise in a country, or NGO work. Asia is now the place to be for entrepreneurship as production remains cheap, markets are gigantic and the pace of change is only getting quicker.

What can students/recent graduates do to get a foot in your industry?

There is no direct way of becoming an entrepreneur. If you’ve always had a gut feeling that there are no jobs in the world that are right for you, then maybe you have a drop of the entrepreneur blood in you. But before you quit school and start a Microsoft from your mother’s basement, you should first find a job that is related to your true passion and learn as much from it as you can. It’s important to excel at your job and build a strong list of clients that work directly with you instead of your company. Being an entrepreneur is not about taking big risks but taking carefully calculated ones.

Do you have any other advice that you would like to impart to students/recent graduates?

You will discover your passions during travel when you are stripped of all comfort and safety nets. It will teach you what is and is not important in your life, what you have taken for granted, what are others doing better than you, different paces of life and challenge your values. Travel extensively in your twenties as you will not be able to do so in the future. As an Asian Studies major you have more of a duty to do so than others!

Here is an article I wrote about that topic in detail:
http://hana.bi/2013/10/talking-about-traveling/

Can you recommend your favourite location in your region?

My favourite location in Japan is the Yaeyama Islands in Okinawa. These remote islands are home to some of the oldest people in the world. The culture is very much a ‘champloo’ (stir-fry mix, the most common dish) of Chinese, Japanese and Okinawan influence in the local Yaeyama pot. People there live with little worries, work hard, drink lots of alcohol, dance and sing all night. Each island within that chain is so varied. Even a 10 minute ferry ride from Ishigaki to Taketomi will take you from a busy port to a quaint village with ox carts and roads made from white coral.

What is one of your funniest or memorable moments abroad?

There are just too many! One that I often end up telling people is an extremely awkward situation in a quiet Himalayan village. I was on a medical survey with a doctor. We had released our guide and continued up the mountains in search of a suitable place to set up a future mobile clinic. A few days into our trek we arrived at Barpak, a small village riding the steep back of a mountain chain. Rice terraces hundreds of layers high surrounded the village. There was no electricity and barely any running water, and of course, no Hilton hotel in sight. We talked to a few locals and one man said he could put us up in his house’s basement. Very few travellers wandered into this region, except for the occasional French mountaineering team. Our host treated us very well, showering us with food and his homemade alcoholic concoction called raksi. As time went on, he become increasingly friendly with us and out of nowhere, asked me to become his blood brother. I took it lightly and agreed out of fun and friendliness. Little did I know that he was very serious about this. Because of the extreme conditions and remoteness, it is not uncommon in Himalayan culture for blood brother and brothers to share a very strong bond. That night he offered his wife to me and explained that blood brothers share everything. His wife reluctantly sat near me, without protest. I refused this kind offer, claiming that it would not be fair as I had no wife to share with him. We skipped town the next morning but I wonder if that was the raski speaking. I hope he has no recollection of that event ever having taken place.