Sankofa

Judy Ann Santos - Philippine Superstar

If there is someone that I hate more than Ms. Judy Ann Santos, that someone would have to be a person who has a job that he or she is not passionate about.

I don’t know if it’s the Philippine economy or just the Filipino culture that makes it “okay” for someone to live a life of suffering; enduring a job he or she hates for exchange of a comfortable life and a prestigious career. I’ve heard countless stories of teenagers being forced by their parents to take a course like Medicine, Law or Engineering (Courses which will attach fancy-sounding, age-old, titles to their child’s name) against their child’s will. I’ve accidentally watched countless Pinoy movies with the same theme. (Kid wants to major in Fine Arts, MOM aka Mrs. Attorney wants the kid to major in Law and be a lawyer. Sounds familiar?)

Five years ago, Nursing became a popular course for High School graduates to take in college. I know that because that was the year when I graduated from High School. During that time, some of my classmates took Nursing courses not because they want to be nurses but just because being a nurse would almost guarantee a free-work pass to the US and a chance of snatching that American dream. And you know what? I think majority of the newly graduated nurses thinks the same too.

Nursing school in the Philippines

Is this already a deeply-ingrained practice in our society? Seems so.

In College, I have met a lot of people who did not know the exact reason why they took Computer Science. Most of them did not even know what Computer Science is when they took it. Some of them took the course because they heard from their Uncle’s Friend’s Cousin’s who is the Executive Vice President of a multinational company that being a programmer pays well. True Story. Some of them took computer science because they thought computer science is EASY and because they thought computer-related jobs are easy to get.

For me, the only reason that you should take a course is because you absolutely love it. No other reason should override that. Your course will more-or-less dictate your life long profession. It will define you. You will breathe it, you will think about it, most of your waking hours will be used to deal with it. IT WILL DEFINE YOU. Why waste it in something you don’t really want? That’s stupid.

This pattern is not limited to Nursing or Computer Science. Look around you… Technical support staff, Call center agents, etc. I bet you that majority of them are there not because they love their job but because of the money. And you wonder why you are getting crappy customer service when you call your DSL support hotline? The moment they pickup the phone, they are already thinking of the best and fastest way to put it down. The more calls they get, the more money they’ll receive. This should stop. (One could argue that the system is to be blamed, but who can change the system?)

When I was in college, I really believed that everyone working in the software industry are passionate, nerdy, geeky programmers. But reality begs to disagree. I have met my share of software developers who are just here for the money, for the career.

So what is wrong with having a job that you are not passionate about? Well, I believe that if one is not passionate about his or her job one will always produce average and mediocre result. The Filipino culture of “Puwede na yan” (That’s good enough) fits the image perfectly. Maybe this is why you can see this pattern everywhere?

If you don’t really like what you are doing and if you are only after the rewards of finishing the job, you would never go the extra mile to rise above mediocrity. Well, if there is an additional reward for doing so, then you just might. But you would never work unpaid on an overtime just because you want to add that last “touch” that will make your result or product a little more perfect, because there is no additional reward for doing so.

I really admire the Japanese work ethics… they always aim to perfect something. I call that the Samurai Mindset, the art of the samurai. On the other hand, the unpassionate Filipino worker would outright claim that “nothing is perfect”, “perfection is impossible” then give up trying.

During my college days, I’ve met my fair share of these unpassionate programmers. Some of them are even dean’s listers and cumlaudes. Its just sad. You can see it on their projects (Computer Systems)… Since projects only accounts for 15% of the total grade, they would submit these mediocre systems that just meet the requirements. They would argue that its pointless to make your project perfect since its only a portion of the grade. Never trust the grades.

It is a well known fact that the local IT industry gives one of the highest salary and that is making the situation a lot worse. Just like in Nursing, teenagers and their parents are most likely to choose IT courses because of the eventual monetary payoff and that is attracting more potential unpassionate programmers.

And Software companies hiring non-technical graduates for a programming job isn’t helping either.

Without passionate programmers, the local Software Industry would never be able to produce really innovative products. We will just be stuck as a source for cheap software “labor”. Making and remaking the same boring “business” systems. Producing average products, for average people.