Photos by Suniko.

Get to know Oyungerel Munkhbat (Hobby: 2012-2013), the Project and Partnership Manager at Mongolian Sustainable Finance Association (Тогтвортой Санхүүгийн Холбоо - ToC) and co-Founder of Hobby School Alumni Association. Read about how this 22-year-old is financing energy-efficient projects in order to battle air pollution in UB and why sustainable finance is the future for all business. Oyungerel has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from the National University of Mongolia. She is also the Board Member of Breathe Mongolia and previously volunteered at Flourishing Future NGO and Mongolia LIVE.

• Full name: Oyungerel Munkhbat

• Hobby Alumni: 2013 (years attended 2012-2013)

• Higher Education:  BSc in Environmental Science, National University of Mongolia

• Sector(s): Sustainable finance, environmental risk assessment

• Current Workplace:  Mongolian Sustainable Finance Association (ToC), Hobby School of Alumni Association, Breathe Mongolia

• Past Workplaces: The UB Post, Eco Trade LLC, Mongolia Live, consultancy in Pacific Risk Advisors LLC

• Languages: Mongolian, English,

• Countries Lived In: Mongolia, the USA

• Frequented Website:

• Current phone: Galaxy S8

• 3 Favorite Local Restaurants or Coffee shops: Ruby Room, Rosewood, Green Zone

• 3 Apps To Recommend: Daywise (Notification batcher), Omwana (Guided meditation), Podcasts by Google

• 3 Books To Recommend: At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson, Surely You’re joking Mr.Feynman! By Richard Feynman, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino, Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth

• 3 Movies To Recommend: In the mood for love, Life of Pi, Goodwill Hunting

• 3 Songs You Are Listening To Most Right Now: The Greatest by Lana Del Ray, Sous le Ciel de Paris by Zaz, Go the distance from Hercules

EDUCATION

1) How many years have you studied at Hobby School and where have you studied before and/or after Hobby?

Only 10th and 11th grades at Hobby. Before Hobby, I was at King’s Kids School, which was run by Hobby alumni Khulan Tsenddoo. I skipped 3rd grade, so I studied for a total of 10 years.

2) What kind of a student were you?

I had good grades without studying very hard, I remember I got the second highest PSAT score in my class shortly after I joined. I was active in terms of extracurricular activities like drama club, newspaper club, etc. For instance, our class started and ran the first newspaper at Hobby called Mosaic with help of Nami (‘12 alumni); and later created Hobby’s first actual yearbook. I hear current Hobby students are still continuing our work, which is great.

3)  What were your favorite classes/subject and who was your favorite teacher?

Environmental science and math. My most favorite would be John who taught me environmental science. I kept in touch with John even after Hobby as he helped me on AP in Environmental Science by doing one-on-one sessions. Gunsen, our math teacher, was really hard on us and she still works at Hobby. 

4) What’s your fondest memory at Hobby?

My class was very touchy and we were always leaning on one another. My classmate Mungun made hilarious videos and the fondest memories would be our times at drama and newspaper clubs.

 5) How different was Hobby compared to King’s Kids?

I feel like I was more spoiled there. Surprisingly, I spoke more day to day English there and I had to speak full Mongolian when I came to Hobby. At Hobby, we had super advanced AP classes like literature. I am far from classics, so it was vexing and  challenging. Now that I think about it, we had classes in economics, environmental science, world history and so forth, so it really expanded our perspective in various ways.

6) Did you get the Hobby scholarship and transferred?

No. My classmates at King’s Kids were all transferring elsewhere at 9th grade, so I also wanted an upgrade and I chose Hobby. Hobby seemed really uptight and nerdy (laughs).

7) After graduating in 2013, where did you go?

I went to a very small town in Illinois, USA, for 10 months and came back. My initial plan was to stay at the host family and apply to schools there. I had applied to a few universities for political studies and got up to 50% scholarships. I din’t go because my family wanted me to get a 100% scholarship and that summer, I tore my ACL completely playing softball and had to undergo 2 heavy surgeries. Actually I’m glad I didn’t learn politics haha.

8) What was Illinois like for you?

Illinois was very redneck and it was everything I was against, so it was eye-opening. I was on the east side and I never looked west. I stopped hating Republicans though! (laughs). 

During my stay in the USA, I came across an interview by composer Jantsannorov about his college days in Kiev. Basically, his teacher had postponed his studies for 2 weeks and when she returned, he gave her very valuable traditional gifts that he brought from Mongolia. She loved the gifts and asked many questions about the gifts out of curiosity. The teacher told him that she had spent two weeks researching about Mongolia and Buddhism, because he is her first student from a Buddhist country, and asked “What are you doing in a foreign country when you do not even know about your own country and culture?” This really hit home for me, because I had no pride for my country and all I really wanted was to get out of Mongolia. However, I realized that I didn’t know anything about Mongolia, but acted like I did. I was ashamed, so I came back and enrolled at National University of Mongolia (“NUM”)’s Social Science Department.

9) Why Environmental Science for your bachelor’s degree?

Initially, I wanted to study Anthropology and my parents wanted me to study International Relations, but after looking at the air pollution while snowboarding one day, I decided to study Environmental Science instead. I was terribly shocked to see that  we breathed whatever that was, every day.

I had travelled to every province except 5 because my parents are geologists. However, I never thought I would be studying anything related to natural science.

10) How was it to study at National University of Mongolia (“NUM”)?

NUM was really eye-opening and grounding. Obviously, when I first enrolled, I thought and felt I was better than the students there. But the most grounding experiences were when I first realized that even “countryside kids” could teach me valuable lessons. I was very humbled and still remember their wisdom and stories.

It really bothered me when my classmates told me that I had an accent when I spoke in Mongolian. Despite living and traveling in Mongolia, I felt like a foreigner, the ignorant kind.

Professionally, I felt pretty under qualified despite fundraising and implementing multiple projects, and writing my thesis on environmental chemistry, which was about the chemical characteristics of PM2.5 in Ulaanbaatar. 

11) Did you do a master's degree also?

When I was part of the “Sustainable Leaders” program with Global Shapers of Ulaanbaatar, my mentor at the time Ariun Zorigt told me to work a few years before doing my masters so that I gained insight into what I wanted to do and where the sector was heading for Mongolia.I took her word for it and started working at FreshWater and Ecosystem Institute and worked at their sister organization EcoTrade. Although groundwater and freshwater topics were interesting, I realized that I was not a researcher. Then I was approached by my friend and co-worker at Breathe Mongolia, Azjargal Tsogtsaikhan, who introduced me to my current boss Nomindari Enkhtur at the Mongolian Sustainable Finance Association (aka “ToC”). Nomindari was going to Columbia University to do her masters, so they were hiring and looking for somebody else. Our then CEO Naidalaa Badrakh interviewed me and I got the job and started working immediately.

CAREER

12) Before we jump into ToC, you mentioned that you worked a lot during your studies. What were your first paying jobs?

I was 13 when I worked as a translator for a few weeks at Flourishing Future’s project at a summer camp of a local orphanage. Missionaries would come and we spent 1 fun week teaching and learning from the kids. They paid me a bonus of around 100,000 tugriks per week. I did this for 7 summers actually. It was also a super humbling experience.

My second paying job was at The UB Post English newspaper where I interviewed many people, made friends, wrote and translated a lot. I was fully in charge of the art and domestic pages, so I used to go to art exhibitions at many art galleries including the 976 Gallery which turned into 976 Art Space or the Union of Mongolian Artists (UMA) Gallery a lot and drink free wine during launch events.

 I also contributed to the Feature and Opinion pages, and everyone helped on the cover page. I used to be great at the Opinion page, because I am an expert at complaining (laughs). I quit, because I started to grow sick and tired of complaining I used to complain about lack of policy coherence, collaboration between ministries, and the weird goals that we had set.  For instance, do you know that Mongolia is aiming to get its 3-4 national universities ranked as one of the TOP 100 Best Schools in the world by 2021? To me this was funny and bound for mockery, because why would you put such unrealistic goals when you would never fulfill? With what money are they improving their curriculum or what action plans/policies are they following? I wrote many pieces like this on education, legislation, and environment. By the time I quit, I didn’t want to write a single word about others and spent time focusing on myself and the people who were working to change. 

13) Why “ТоС” or sustainable finance when you had offers from other corporations?

My passion was sustainability. ToC may seem small compared to corporations, but it was the multidisciplinary field I always wanted to work in. It was the bridge between finance and environment, public and private, and local and international. Mongolia is actually ranked high among other emerging markets. Our vision is to become a regional sustainable finance knowledge center.

I saw ToC as a platform to connect. Connect different sectors. Connect people under the same vision of sustainability. Connect the underserved to opportunities.

14) Didn’t you want to work at a big private corporation or public sector with thousands of employees and make friends first? 

I don’t see it that way. To me, it is mostly the difference of bureaucracy and speed. Of course there is bureaucracy everywhere, but within the private sector it is less and the speed of getting things done is faster. Previously, I used to get annoyed at the public sector’s slow pace, but now that I work closely with them, I have started empathizing with them.

I’m working with both types of organizations, as well as many international partners both based in UB and elsewhere. So I don’t see it as a missed opportunity.

15) As a tradition, please explain ToC to those who might not know. Do you guys know that ToC (meaning oil in Mongolian) sounds like you work at Petrovis? Why couldn’t you called it “Ногоон Санхүүжилт” or something with Green?

(laughs) I know. They said it was a very last minute decision because they had to quickly brainstorm a forum name  and abbreviated “Тогтвортой Санхүүжилт” which means sustainable finance into ToC. Our motto has “ТоС” in it as well: “Сайн санааны үзүүрт шар тос” (laughs). We call  our monthly meetings with bankers “Шар ТоС” too. It is hard to translate it into English, but just know that шар тос (yellow oil?) is good for your health and keeps you warm in winter.

16) Okay (laughs). When was ToC founded and how does it introduce sustainable finance standards, guidelines and policies in Mongolia?

ToC is now the Mongolian Sustainable Finance Association, which is an initiative that turned into an organization. In 2013, Trade Development Bank of Mongolia (TDB) organized a forum on sustainable finance, as large investors lending to Mongolia required environmental, social, governance (ESG) compliance. The bankers reached a consensus to implement so all the 14 banks in Mongolia signed a promise stating that although they are competitors, they will work together and share everything regarding sustainable finance in Mongolia and the Bankers Association held the secretariat of the Sustainable Finance Initiative. 

It was inevitable, because if you wanted any investment from abroad, you had to implement best practices and be ESG compliant, so in 2015, all banks started implementing environmental and social (E&S) risk assessment. In late 2017, the Bankers Association Board decided that sustainable finance cannot be limited to banks, so now it’s an organization with a mandate to green the MFIs and other business fields.

Do not confuse it with corporate social responsibility (CSR), but think of it as improving their risk assessment and hence their overall businesses. This also improves their client’s businesses and risk assessment. Win-Win for all. 

For example?

According to the Bank of Mongolia research, almost 40% of non-performing loans (NPLs) were E&S related issues. For instance, a mine would take a bank loan, but the National Specialized Inspection Agency would go to the mine and shut it down if it is violating the environmental requirements by law. Hence, the mine would become an NPL. Also, the one at fault is also the investor, aka the bank. Currently, sustainable finance and E&S assessment are only implemented at banks. 

Secondly, drawing green climate capital into Mongolia so that we can do concessional lending for green, inclusive products, which are incapable of reaching, such as ger district people. Our main agenda is to mobilize capital within private and public sectors, but also draw capital from outside, specifically climate funds.

17)  How does ToC promote E&S responsible business practices?

People think ToC is a part of CSR. I see CSR as someone saying sorry after they hurt someone. Your company’s day-to-day operations do not have to hurt people or the environment. How you do business is more important than how you mend and fix something you have already negatively impacted on.

ESG is neutral and Green lending is a plus. ESG is basically saying you have to decrease your environmental and social risks by just following what’s legally required of you. Just follow the law. You would be surprised how hard it is for people when banks ask them to follow these E&S laws. Green lending is saying, do more than follow the law, and actually contribute to reducing greenhouse gases, or help herders adapt to the effects of climate change. For instance, we are working on energy-efficient housings with GIZ Mongolia. Construction companies are not legally required to make energy-efficient houses, but we are working to provide policy and financial support for these companies to promote sustainability because they’re going out of their way to do green.

18) What are your roles and responsibilities at ToC?

I am a Project and Partnership Manager at ToC. Currently I have 2 energy-efficiency projects with GIZ Mongolia, and I am also involved in the Mongolian Green Finance Corporation (MGFC) project where we are trying to raise a 50 million USD green fund (specifically mandated for green projects which decrease CO2). MGFC is a public and private partnership fund to support affordable financing for green projects and we are trying to tap into GCF resources. I also just finished the Green Taxonomy project.

On the partnership side, I am working with policymakers such as the Central Bank of Mongolia and Ministry of Environment, and also bringing new members to ToC, as we’re a membership based NGO.

As ToC became an organization with the objective to spread to other non-financial sectors, we are planning works with NBFIs and businesses in construction (energy-efficiency), and agriculture (funded by EU Switch Asia Program). 

We are now planning work with IFC on developing a sustainable finance framework for non-banking financial institutions (NBFI). Since banks now have a set of documents and templates prepared by ToC regarding E&S management and risk assessment, we are trying to tailor it to the NBFIs and other financial players such as development banks, micro-lending organizations, insurance, leasing, etc.

We are also working with UNEP on Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) to create environmental reporting disclosures. Although it is at a scoping age, the main objective is to have Top 100 listed companies disclose their environmental impact information.

To sum up, working to keep our members happy and implementing sustainable and green finance projects.

19) Who are your current members?

Currently, we only have Mongolian banks as members. For all banks, we developed a template environmental and social risk framework. Now we are trying to recruit NBFIs and construction companies. Also, players in the agriculture and production side. We’re currently meeting around with organizations who expressed their interest. In simple words, ToC works to create the infrastructure for its members to become sustainable, and work to create policy and financial incentives to implement sustainable and green finance.

20) Which projects are you most proud of?

I like them all! However, I would say the “National Green Taxonomy” project, which is an identification and classification of green activities. It enables green bonds and green loans without “green washing”. I am most proud of this, because Mongolia became the second country after China to approve its national green taxonomy! After Mongolia, the EU approved its taxonomy. We worked with Tsinghua University on this and I took care of the Mongolia side on this. What this means is that we now have to build capacity for MRV - monitoring, reporting & verifying. To verify to the investor that this project is reducing this much CO2.

Right now, I love our energy-efficient housing pilot project with GIZ Mongolia where we are granting up to 12 million tugrik to over 60 ger district people who would purchase one of the 8 energy-efficient houses approved by GIZ with an 8%-12% interest rate. It is capacity building at its best, where both banks and construction companies learn by doing. Energy efficiency in construction reduces air pollution as you burn less coal as the building is well insulated and keeps its warmth better. What’s interesting for me is how many families are applying and how many are actually getting it. I want to know the main challenges so we can work to tackle those problems and scale it up.

21) It is obvious, no? Jobs/income and social health insurance (SHI) criteria. Ger district people live on paycheck to paycheck and they cannot pay the 30% down payment for the 8% mortgage.  

So we’re asking for 20% down payment to see how big of a problem that is. In real life, there are many many reasons as to why somebody won’t or can’t get a mortgage for energy efficient houses in the ger district. We want to see if there’s a market, how ready the market is, etc. Then we can put the lessons learnt and come up with suitable solutions.

Introducing innovative financial mechanisms in Mongolia is a challenge itself, because many Mongolians have trouble with even the most traditional savings and credit cards. Unless you are planning to create and buy a home, you do not really save. I do understand that.

22) These 12 million tugrik grants for 61 ger district people - where is the funding coming from?

Banks are giving the 8%-12% mortgage interest rate differences, so it is funded by themselves. GIZ Mongolia is giving the 12 million tugrik grants to 61 ger district people with their own funding. This is a pilot project for the MGFC.

 23) ToC changed its leadership as your previous CEO Naidalaa Badrakh resigned to run for the 2020 election. Who is running ToC now?

Our current CEO is Nomindari Enkhtur who used to be in charge of sustainable finance at the Bankers Association from the start in 2013. She had to leave for New York, because she became a Fulbrighter at Columbia University to do her masters in Sustainability Management with a minor in Sustainable Finance. She has also a certificate of Adaptation Finance Expert from Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. She is also the Portfolio Management Consultant at the UN Joint SDG Fund. She is everywhere and I don’t know how she does it! (laughs). She is decisive, empathetic, adaptive and super inclusive We’re learning a lot from her. I’m very lucky when it comes to bosses. Naidalaa zahiral was a very huge presence in my life also, supported me like no other.

24) Besides GIZ Mongolia, what other Green lendings or fundings are out there for Mongolia?

There are multiple big programs. GCF is now working with XacBank (programs of up to 50 million USD) and TDB (programs of up to 250 million USD). The JICA 150 billion tugrik’s program gives out two-step 8%-9% per annum loans via 5 banks in Mongolia, and they are 80% targeted to SMEs and 20% to the environment. ADB has a sustainable tourism or agriculture related loan for specific reasons. Three banks are giving green loans of 8%-9% to green products such as insulation, heaters, and bikes subsidized by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. EBRD did and just finished their MONSEFF project, and are now launching MONGEFF - Mongolian Green Economy Financing Facility - with Khan Bank to finance green technologies. But I believe it has been delayed due to coronavirus.

25) What are the biggest challenges in sustainable financing?

The biggest problem is on the supply side. There are no green projects to finance. We did a market study in the textile sector and found that there is a 175 billion MNT gap between supply and demand. Despite the demand, the study found that only 1 company got a loan of 150 million MNT. If we manage to succeed raising a 50 million USD green fund, will businesses be ready? Do they meet all the legal criteria? That’s one problem. The second problem is to verify that the project truly decreases CO2. This is why we want to establish a separate entity to develop standards and definitions of green, and verification capacity. 

26) More than 61% of Ulaanbaatar citizens live in ger district. Why is energy-efficiency more important than sewage, water and infrastructure to combat air pollution?

This is a very big question. We have to have a unified vision about UB. Our prediction is: Ger district will remain there, but gers won’t. They need to have a house that lets them live comfortably and in a sustainable way in the ger district. The more we invest in UB, the more nomadic people will relocate to UB and hence increase the ger district population. We need to create jobs outside UB! Now that we are already stuck in UB in such a disorganized manner, houses need to be changed. Coal usage will not change for the next 100 years in Mongolia, because we have the best and cheapest abundant coal in the world. The Ministry of Energy doesn’t see it going anywhere either and renewable energy has its own disadvantages, such as inconsistency due to our harsh climate. Hydropower is consistent though, but the Egiin Gol Hydroplant has gotten too political so we have to find more hydropower options.

This is why we need to make buildings energy efficient and well-insulated, so that people burn less coal. Less coal is less air pollution. Also, indoor air quality in winter is terrible too. I don’t think people know how ger district people truly live. It’s hard to breathe when you start burning coal, but you have to stay inside otherwise it is freezing outside, you have to pee outside in -30C degrees etc. All this will improve their livelihood as they will have lower health illness, save money by burning less coal, etc.

27) Climate change has always threatened the ways of life for herders, but natural disasters (i.e.: zud or drought) are becoming more and more frequent. Although we support our herders by exempting them from taxes, more and more herders are moving to the capital city. What are your thoughts on this?

In 2015, Mongolia’s average temperature increase was 2.1 degrees (compared to 1980), which was higher than the 2 degree goal that the world set. Technically, it was 1.5 degrees, and if we go beyond 2 degrees hotter, then the natural catastrophes will increase and the world will have no chance to go back to normal.

Most affected people by climate change are our herders. People in UB are not at risk, because if you lose your job, you find another one in the city. Our nomadic herders are not equipped to survive in our 21st century. All they know is animal husbandry and 60% (sometimes all) of their animals can die in one winter. After interviewing Onon Bayasgalan, I felt really bad for our herders. Surviving winter in Mongolia is extremely risky for our herders, so it is smarter to sell 40% of their livestocks and move to UB for a better chance in life. To me it seems like our herders see UB as how Mongolians saw America in the 1990s - land of opportunities where you can find jobs and meet people.

To fix this issue, money needs to go outside UB. For instance, 50% of Bayankhongor citizens are living below poverty level. We are of course trying to fix our capital city first, but obviously we need to invest in the countryside also. The upper class needs to start talking about sustainability. There is so much inequality and nobody cares. Nobody is actually looking into ger district and asking citizens if they can afford our energy efficient mortgage? If not, why and how can we help?

28) Is sustainability too expensive for Mongolian business?

It is expensive at first, but it will be paid back. This is where the regulators and policies come in and it is the right thing to do!

 Sustainability is to stop living like we currently do. Win-win for humans and environment. Humans will cause damage, but we will try to revive it.  The world is changing and will no longer finance unethical companies who treat their staff like shit (so they need to abide by labour law) or pollute the environment.

Are there more pressing issues like creating jobs and supporting SMEs? Yes. However, our Government is also wasting our tax money on forgiving pension loans, building giant soum doors etc. So now, I think that we can actually prioritize our state budget spending and be smart about it!

29) Okay, if you were the Prime Minister of Mongolia, what would be your immediate actions?

Energy tariff increase. SME funds will be run better. Decrease corruption by auditing and regulating our state budget better. Create more jobs and direct more financing to megaprojects in the rural areas.

30) Mongolia is excellent at creating new laws. We fail on implementation and accountability parts. How will your taxonomy be assured and followed?

It will be implemented by the private sector, so we are not worried. We’re developing a usability guide. My main concern in everything is actually education and its capacity. We need technical experts i.e.: energy auditors. 

31) Where do you see ToC in 5 years?

Financial sector will be much greener. More projects will be financed as green.

32) You volunteer a lot - Hobby Alumni, Mongolia LIVE, Orphanage Camp and Breathe Mongolia. Why is volunteering important to you?

I volunteer a lot, because we get to understand how privileged we are. I haven’t taken a proper holiday for a long time. I loved working at the orphanage camp, because they took me in. Mongolia LIVE taught me so much about my country. Breathe Mongolia - same team as Mongolia LIVE - we try to make awareness about air pollution and we have launched our website. I want to connect people from all backgrounds basically. Even at Hobby Alumni, I try to connect people, especially with Hobby Alumni as they are middle or upper class. Our elderly alumni need to reach out more to its younger alumni and I believe it can be used to reach lower classes.

FUN QUESTIONS

33) May we ask if you are single or married? What are your thoughts on family planning in Mongolia?

Single! Mongolians do not have any family planning like some countries.

34) How do you relax? What’s your hobby or where can we find you when you are not working?

I do kungfu to teach myself discipline. I draw and sketch when I am stressed. I also run to relax. I am terrible at relaxing. I am never home, so you can usually find me at work or out drinking.

 35) You are one of the few vegetarians I know in Mongolia. What motivated you to become one?

I became spiritual and I didn’t expect myself to become vegan or vegetarian. I will never tell others to stop eating meat, but scientifically speaking you reduce greenhouse gas emission while you do, and you improve your health by eating more fiber. I realized that Mongolian diet is extremely unhealthy and once I started eating vegetarian dishes, my skin got so much better with no breakouts. With a vegetarian diet, you feel lighter - physically and mentally.

 36) When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grow up?

Middle school - interior designer. High school - diplomat.

37) Now, where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

I see myself bringing funds to outside UB and create jobs outside UB.

 38) Who do you admire most in Mongolia? A living person and why?

That’s hard. Oh, Otgontugs, the economist professor at the NUM and now she is going into politics. I admire women going into politics despite being afraid of it. Bold Magvan - he is the ideal businessman as he is extremely trustworthy. We’re actually working with him now.

39) Do you have any mentors? How did you pick them as mentors?

I don’t have any mentors, but I have many whom I look up to and get advice from. Personally, I would say our former CEO Naidalaa. 

40) If you could compare yourself to another animal, what animal would you be?

I look like a chipmunk, but I would say a cheetah, because of my speed.

41) What’s the best life advice that you’ve received? Who gave this advice?

My friend told me to accept what I do not have any control over and fix what I do.

42) A personal advice you would like to extend to fellow Hobby Alumni?

Please, volunteer and mentor younger alumni by tackling these issues we face every day. Create jobs! Be sustainable. Try being flexitarian.

43) A personal advice you would like to extend to fellow Hobby students?

Don’t be afraid of being stuck to your one major. Experience life in all its abundance.

44) What are your good and bad habits?

I wake up before 6am and do 10 push ups every morning. Bad - time and energy management.

45) Funniest story at work you can share with us?

At one of the first meetings at ToC, Khan Bank was hosting us. I didn’t know the CEO John Bell at the time So naturally, when I was introduced, I asked him “I am Oyungerel, who are you?” and people all laughed asking me “You do not know the CEO of the biggest bank in Mongolia?”. I was made fun of for a while about that (laughs).

46) If you can pass 1 law globally, what would it be?

Equal and quality education.

47) Now if you can fix 1 problem in Mongolia, what would it be?

Energy corruption in Mongolia. Every stage has some sort of energy subsidy, and another stage supports some sort of politician and/or parliament members. This needs to stop! 

48) If you could have dinner with anyone dead or alive who would it be, and why? Also, what would be your first question?

Richard Feynman. I’m fascinated by curious minds like him and how he sees the world.

49) Name 3 conspiracy theories you believe in.

Pyramids were built by aliens. Illuminati. China and Russia have agreement to block any major projects without their approvals first.

50) Who would you recommend to interview next from Hobby Alumni? And Why?

I want to start interviewing younger hobby alumni, like Oyunkhishig Gonchigsuren (2016 Alumna - she released a MV recently) or Amina Erdenebaatar (2016 Alumna - vlogger) for instance. Or as we were discussing, Urin and Ayush Bayarsaikhans, the model sisters. I’m sure they’ll be super interesting.