OPTIMALITY THEORY AND PUBLIC POLICY MAKING: ALUMNA SELENE TSOI REVEALS ALL
Selene Tsoi graduated from UCSC with the MA in Linguistics in 1994. She is spending the current academic year at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and WHASC took advantage of the opportunity to catch up with her.
WHASC: Selene, you earned the MA in 1994 with a thesis on the phonology of Cantonese. Could you fill us in on your career since then? What have you been doing?
Selene:
I have been working for the Government in Hong Kong as a member of the Administrative Service. We are responsible for policy development, as well as interfacing with the community, legislature and media. Rather than being assigned to a particular subject area, we are regularly rotated to different bureaux. My past portfolios included human rights, immigration policy, language education (marginally related to linguistics!) and teacher and school awards schemes. I was half-way through my three-year posting to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York during the events of 911. I then spent a few years in the Chief Executive’s private office, around the time of the SARS epidemic. I found myself on the team responsible for accounting and bankruptcy policy and corporate law reform during the financial crisis a few years ago. Most recently, I worked on civil service benefits.
WHASC: Those all sound like very demanding and challenging responsibilities indeed. What brings you to Cambridge at this point?
Selene: The Hong Kong Government evidently decided I need training! I am currently completing a one-year degree (Mid-career Master in Public Administration) at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. The program started in July last year and ends this May.
WHASC: All of this seems like it’s very far from theoretical phonology. Does your training in linguistics now seem just like an interesting interlude, or has it helped you at all in your professional life?
Selene: Yes and no. I don’t get to engage in any linguistic analysis. Yet, UCSC’s linguistics training provided a solid base for my policy analysis and write-ups: fact-finding, pattern recognition, developing alternative hypotheses, logical presentation backed by data. And Optimality Theory is useful in making policy and management decisions—figure out my inviolable constraints, rank the rest, and voilà!
WHASC: What do you like best about your current worklife? What interests you most?
Selene: I appreciate being in the public sector and having the chance to contribute to the city I grew up in. Plus, I enjoy the the excitement (and anxiety) of being assigned a new position every so often and figuring out how to tackle an unfamiliar subject while meeting and working with counterparts inside and outside the Government.
WHASC: What are the biggest challenges, the biggest sources of stress?
Selene: Unsustainably long work hours. 12+ hour days during the week, plus part(s) of the weekend are unfortunately not uncommon. Like many other places, the relationship between the executive and legislature can be improved. The community as a whole needs to find a better balance between Government accountability and overall development and productivity.
WHASC: What are your hopes and plans for the future?
Selene: To apply what I know and have learnt to do more of the same, regardless of the policy area I am assigned to next. On a personal level, to achieve a healthier work-life balance, to travel more, and to help support education opportunities for children in rural China.
WHASC: That sounds wonderful. But does it leave any room for a future possible visit to Santa Cruz? It would be great to welcome you back.
Selene: Oh, hopefully! No confirmed plans yet though. In the meantime, if anyone is stopping over in Hong Kong, please let me know!