Ready To Lend A Hand

But, Sahai goes on to note, "as the number of these people increases and they get more experience, many begin to say 'I should do something more'." That was his thinking when he joined two classmates to form the nonprofit group iVolunteers back in 2002. The group, which has 9,000 active members in four cities, seeks to link young elites with suitable needy causes. Since its inception the matchmaking service has arranged for thousands of volunteers--mostly IT professionals or bankers aged 25 to 35--to mentor orphans, teach slum kids to trek, visit old folks homes or advise grassroots environmental groups.

"We have a lot of young people who are extremely intelligent and earn big salaries," says 27-year-old Misha Bhatt, who heads the group's Mumbai operation. "They meet others, brainstorm solutions to problems. The feel-good factor is extremely high." iVolunteers, which is expanding its services through links with companies also looking to do good, reflects a signal change in India: The tradition of village-level charitable giving is being replaced by corporate and individual giving, coming from cities and the new rich.

Different countries in the region are naturally at different stages. In China, grassroots activism dealing with anything other than environmental issues is largely suspect; Beijing severely curtails the formation of independent NGOs. In many ways the bigger challenge is to foster a sense of community within the workplace, as so many of the so-called little emperors born under China's one-child policy start their careers. Employers report that screaming matches, crying jags and other sandbox antics have become commonplace, as has job-hopping fueled by low job satisfaction. New hires often "come with a sense that the rules don't apply to me," says William Dodson, CEO of Silk Road Advisors, a Suzhou-based management consultancy. "The next five to 10 years are going to be rough."

And in fact, less individualism is not always a good thing. In Malaysia last week, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi warned that religious and ethnic tensions could cause the country "to fail as a multiracial and multireligious nation." His comments followed recent clashes between Malay Muslims and ethnic Chinese, many of whom are Christian. On Internet bulletin boards in Japan, South Korea and China, young nationalists trade slurs over everything from Japan's 20th-century imperialism to North Korea's recent nuclear test--suggesting that economic integration doesn't always portend warm diplomatic relations. In South Korea, President Roh Moo Hyun has edged his government steadily away from Washington, its mainstay cold-war ally, into a more neutral position vis-à-vis Pyongyang. That shift appeals to Roh's young political base, which is left-leaning, pro-unification, and favors egalitarian economic policies. In many Asian countries--and certainly in China, Japan and Korea--the younger generation is more willing than their parents to wear their nationalism on their shirtsleeves.

But at least the passion shows that Asians have more on their minds than just making money. Take the Muslim Student Association at the University of the Philippines in Manila, an elite training ground for future business and political leaders. Its members, many of them from impoverished Mindanao, are eager to serve their home communities. Association President Abdel Jamal Disangcopan, 22, is the son of two doctors. He attends law school but doesn't dream of becoming a highly paid corporate lawyer. "Money is just a plus. Fulfillment is first," he says. "I don't want to be stuck in a life where ... I'm not helping anybody." He aims to return to Mindanao and become a much-needed public defender. Another student in the Muslim Student Association says she wants to return to Mindanao to practice medicine, after she earns her degrees, and a third plans to return to become a teacher. All are likely to make good on their pledges--making small but invaluable contributions to the societies in which they live.

With Marites Vitug in Manila and Joe Cochrane in Jakarta

© 2006