Jacob Chew

I am a first-year Master's in Public Policy student at Georgetown University. Prior to embarking on my studies, I served in the Singapore Foreign Service for 7 years. My career with the Foreign Service included a four year stint as First Secretary responsible for Political Affairs at the Singapore Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. My duties including researching and writing reports on the Arab Spring upheaval in Egypt, Libya and Syria, as well as the Middle East Peace Process. I was also responsible for channelling and making recommendations to Singapore on the technical assistance that should be provided to the Egyptian and Libyan governments to help improve their economic and governance structures in the post-Arab Spring period.

I am interested in international development, especially in fragile states in Southeast Asia (in particular Myanmar) and the Middle East. In particular, I am interested in working on issues related to building and strengthening the institutions of democracy and improving political and economic governance practices. Additionally, I am interested in working on issues related to the sustainable management and use of water resources which are becoming increasingly scarce with development and climate change.

Following my graduation in 2015, I hope to pursue a career either with an International Organization or International Development Organization to craft or evaluate programs related to the implementation of policies that would create greater transparency and accountability within governments, strengthen the institutions of democracy, and improve the quality of life of people in developing countries.

I believe that the external relations internship would give me the opportunity to research into obstacles that countries face in achieving rule of law and be involved in the design of policies and projects that would help civil society organizations and governments promote the rule of law in their countries as well as the respect for human rights.