essay: Companies do well when they do good

featured https://www.weekly-echo.com/have-hope-13/Doing good in this article is defined as advancing social and environmental objectives and the concept of ‘generating financial returns’ as ‘doing well’.  While there are many dimensions to businesses doing well, I am only focusing on the profit element of business, this being an important contributor to long-term growth and survival of businesses.  This measure is also a meaningful one for most business leaders, as Prof Alex Edmans said “Profits are valuable signals for what society wants” in his book Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit.

It has been reported in the media that businesses in Malaysia are open to ESG (often used interchangeably here in this country with – sustainability) adoption though they are also struggling to see its value.  The World Business Council for Sustainable Development and United Nations Global Compact also reported similar struggles by business leaders globally.  That while many corporations have expressed commitment to comply with the requirements, many leaders are in fact facing challenges to align operations with their aspirations. They explained that it is because ‘companies lack a thorough understanding of the business case that sustainability practices represent.’ 

Business

There is no question that business is the main engine of growth for thriving and dynamic economies, responsible for majority of spending, wealth creation and investment.  Businesses, being composed of communities of people working together to create value from inputs by people and nature, have a significant influence on the people, the social and the environment and in turn, are impacted by social and environmental changes.  

For decades, the common sense in the business world has been dominated by the focus on continued growth and profitability. You would be familiar with Milton Friedman’s famous view that the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.  It is this very worldview that has been driving businesses to maximize output with minimum input.  Unsurprisingly then, over time, this paradigm has resulted in huge consequential impact on society and our environment. For example, in 2010, the explosion of BP deep-water horizon drilling rig had 4.9 million barrels of oil spill into the sea, threatening eight national parks, endangered 400 species and spoiling 1000 miles of coastline.  You would have heard many other similar scary reports.  

On the other end of the spectrum, there are also companies which are more socially conscious, and which have benefited from being so.  Edmans cited that Costco pays its workers well above the national average for similar role, gives workers health care before its rivals, and provides all paid public holidays off (even though those are likely to be big shopping days). These investments in workers resulted in a more efficient and motivated workforce which led to redoubling their company’s revenues.  

Another example he gave was on the river blindness which affected over 18 million people in West Africa and Latin America.  As these populations were poor and unable to pay for drugs, a pure profit motive for pharmaceutical companies was never there. But Merck’s then-CEO, Roy Vagelos, decided to divert company R&D resources to study the disease. And when it found a cure, he decided to give the medicine away for free. While he did this for science and society, not only profit, he was so praised by the business and scientific community for his decision that the company’s reputation and standing (and hence profit) also gained a boost.  

Navigating in this new landscape

Covid revealed that many businesses did not have the financial resilience to withstand unpredictable changes.  The numerous lockdowns with many consequential impacts, led to liquidity crunch for many businesses.  Clearly, businesses have to re-think fast about what and how they need to be able to adapt to be financially resilient to weather future unpredictable forces.  

Over and above the shocks and the disruptions, businesses are also facing increasing demands to demonstrate their social licence to operate, earned from the ways the businesses manage themselves in their wider environment.  Communities are demanding that businesses cannot keep treating people and the planet as something expendable, and consumers are increasingly less likely to tolerate businesses which are not striving for more equitable and sustainable practices.  

For business leaders navigating these crosscurrents, the question then is how to deliver the business transformation so that it remains financially sound to withstand future unpredictable events, as well as meet their societal and environmental obligations.  

There is increasing realisation that profit and sustainability are not mutually exclusive; that making socially and environmentally-responsible choices is, in itself, a smart investment.  An Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders comprising CEOs from 79 companies with operations in over 150 countries, had seven years ago, called upon governments to take bold action at the Paris climate conference.  They ended their call by stating that the shift to a low-carbon economy will generate growth and jobs.  Similarly, Edmans urged companies and investors to seek profits by creating value for society, by expanding the total value available to shareholders and stakeholders. He believes that “Creating social value is neither defensive nor simply ‘worthy’ — it’s good business.” 

 

ESG:  The Pathway to doing good

The ESG framework, the pre-dominant approach used by businesses in Malaysia, is substantially based on balancing trade-offs among goals across the dimensions of environment, the social, the governance with the economic. It enables business to think across the three dimensions on matters such as mitigating climate change, upholding rights for employees, local populations, corporate governance commitment to workplace equality, and transparency, as well as ESG risks and opportunities.  

The nomenclature and concept of ESG factors is easy to understand and relate to. Indeed, the ESG framework is set up to encourage adoption. Companies in the early stages of their ESG strategy are not expected to be at an optimum level of sustainability in all categories.

They start by demonstrating their commitment to transparency and by establishing a roadmap covering the three ESG pillars. Once the ESG approach is more established within the companies, they then begin to track and disclose, often supported by third-party validation.  This flexible entry approach makes the framework accessible to many companies.  

There are many academic studies that provide empirical evidence that there is positive co-relationship between ESG practices and various variables of ‘performance’ of the companies, ranging from profitability to cashflows, to equity valuations.  They attribute the contributing factors to these companies having more engaged workforce, more secure license to operate, more loyal and satisfied customer base, better relationships with stakeholders, greater transparency, a more collaborative community, and a better ability to innovate.  

Edmans is convinced that many of the challenges we are now facing Is because we have been operating on a flawed underlying assumption of a binary choice between business (us) and society (them), shareholders (us) and stakeholders (them), executives and shareholders (us) and workers and customers (them).  He rejects the notion that it is a zero-sum game, and that stakeholders lose when shareholders won and vice versa.  He upholds that when we collaborate and work together, the pie or wealth expands benefiting all stakeholders.

 

Malaysia

In Malaysia, we are still at a nascent stage of this journey.  We do not yet have many with sufficient knowledge and experience in Malaysia.  Collecting and analysing good data is also problematic, and much groundwork is needed.  

But there are also many hopeful developments of late.  The Government and key regulators are actively steering and providing support; public listed companies and financial institutions are stepping up by embracing the ESG approach;  many financial institutions are helping to ensure capital acts for the long term and are offering innovative financial structures to better serve sustainable business; more civil society organisations and social enterprises are asking the right questions; and more academicians are providing local perspectives to help shape societal expectations.

 If we do nothing, nothing will change

Now that it is clear that businesses need to be both financially resilient to withstand disruptions in this volatile landscape, as well as be socially and environmentally responsible, and that there are clear empirical evidence that when businesses adopt ESG based strategies (do good), they are in fact helping to make their business improve their long-term financial performance (do well), I invite you to look at your own organisation, and at your own niche in the economic system, and consider what it would take for you to rethink your business practices.  

This is the decade for action.  

“We are the first generation that through its neglect could destroy the relationship between humans and the planet, and perhaps the last generation that can prevent dangerous climate change.”  observed Lord Nicholas Stern, in his book, Why are we waiting? The Logic, Urgency and Promise of Tackling Climate Change.  

We need the business community to be at the arrowhead of this urgent transformation journey with you, business leaders, as its champions to ward off this existential crisis we find ourselves hurling into.

 

essay: We are born into the world as a trust of the whole...

https://www.weekly-echo.com/trust-of-the-whole/

With news frequently breaking around us in regions across the world about the numerous strife we find ourselves in, I have been thinking a lot about this profound statement lately - that ‘each member of the human race is born into the world as a trust of the whole and has a responsibility to the whole.’[1] 

That we are all born into this world vulnerable and powerless - completely at the mercy of others. Truly, the only way we can even survive past day one of our existence is if we receive love and kindness and is cared for by another human being.  As our infant selves grow and gain strength over time to become independent, surely, we have a moral responsibility to reciprocate and pay this loving-kindness forward. 

Indeed, this trusteeship constitutes the moral foundation of most of the rights articulated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The security of the family and the home, the ownership of property, the right to citizenship and privacy are all implied in such a trusteeship. The obligations on the part of the community extend to the provision of employment, mental and physical health care, social security, fair wages, rest and recreation, and a host of other reasonable expectations on the part of the individual members of society.

If we believe that this concept of trusteeship should prevail with all our relationships including that with nature as well as intergenerationally, then by logical extension, we ought to believe that the world should work for every one of us.  Not a world where many do not have equitable access to our planetary resources. Neither a world where women and minority communities are disadvantaged or marginalised. Nor a world where we destroy our natural habitat without a care about the impact on future generations. 

Let us look at our workplace as a microcosm of our society.  Most of us spend our lives at work in organisations that are often focussed on limited goals, and where structures have been created that make us passive spectators instead of active participants in building our common future. In such settings, we are not enabled to tap into the immense potential that we have at our disposal to direct our energies towards making the world work for all of humanity.

One way to do this is perhaps to re-think what it means to work, and the assumptions underlying the role of companies, and management leadership.  We could also learn how to activate the potential in all of us to be agents of change who can transform our companies into communities through the power of the human spirit to love, learn, cooperate, and serve.  Would we help to make the world work for all of us if we re-assess the values we need to guide our collective behaviour, which might include alignment with the principles of unity, truthfulness, trust, and cooperation, as well as how to create meaningful sustainable partnerships with others based on trust, friendship, collaboration and reciprocity?  Perhaps in such settings, leaders are those whose focus is to promote unity between people and to accompany others to raise their capacity.

Even as the world is emerging from the pandemic, humanity continues to be challenged with numerous economic, environmental, societal and governance issues affecting us all.  COVID 19 has shown us that when humanity has collective will, it will draw from our collective stores of hope, faith, and magnanimity to behave with fortitude, determination, and cooperation as one global system.  I am hence hopeful that when we truly recognise our fundamental relationships with each other – that we are all born into the world as a trust of the whole and has a responsibility to the whole - not only would we wish to overcome our differences, but we would also celebrate the beauty of our diversity, and would arise to serve to contribute towards making the world work for all of us. 

 

---

[1] The Prosperity of Humankind, Baha'i­ International Community, 3 March 1995

 

essay: Salam Merdeka fellow Malaysians

 

On this morning of Malaysia turning 65, my thoughts naturally turn to how we are doing after so many decades of living together, in the midst of so many complex issues this nation is facing.  Which made me imagined about what President John F Kennedy might say to us Malaysians on this day along the lines of his famous ‘Strategy of Peace’ address of June 10, 1963.  This is my take on it, generously paraphrased, of course.

“I have chosen this time and this place to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived--yet it is the most important topic on earth: world peace.

What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? ... I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children--not merely peace for Malaysians but peace for all men and women--not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.

I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of differences --and frequently the words of the pursuer fall on deaf ears. But we have no more urgent task.

Some say that it is useless to speak of peace and that it will be useless until other leaders adopt a more enlightened attitude. I hope they do. I believe we can help them do it. But I also believe that we must re-examine our own attitude--as individuals and as a Nation--for our attitude is as essential as theirs.

First, let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that mankind is doomed--that we are gripped by forces we cannot control.

We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade--therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable--and we believe they can do it again.

Let us focus on a practical, attainable peace-- based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions--on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements which are in the interest of all concerned. There is no single, simple key to this peace--no grand or magic formula to be adopted by one or two powers. Genuine peace must be the product of many peoples, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process--a way of solving problems.

With such a peace, there will still be quarrels and conflicting interests, as there are within families and nations. Community peace does not require that each man love his neighbour--it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement.

So let us persevere. Peace need not be impracticable, and differences need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it.

So, let us not be blind to our differences--but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the country safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

Wherever we are, we must all, in our daily lives, live up to the age-old faith that peace and freedom walk together. When freedom is incomplete, the peace is not secure.

Is not peace, in the last analysis, basically a matter of human rights--the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation--the right to breathe air as nature provided it--the right of future generations to a healthy existence? While we proceed to safeguard our national interests, let us also safeguard human interests.

We shall also do our part to build a country of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labour on-- toward a strategy of peace.”

John F Kennedy

Salam Merdeka, dearest fellow Malaysians.

 

essay: Doing Well by Doing Good

Even as the world is emerging from the coronavirus pandemic, humanity continues to be challenged with numerous economic, environmental, societal and governance issues.  

At a time when the coronavirus crisis has devastated so many lives across the globe, Oxfam reported that the ten richest men in the world had seen their global wealth doubled since the start of the pandemic (Elliot, 2022).  This paradox must surely be an outcome of underlying structural flaws within the economic systems which have perpetuated such income inequalities. 

We witness how our planet’s climate is increasingly behaving in seemingly erratic patterns impacting countless lives across the globe.  Our planet’s biodiversity is rapidly and irreversibly are lost in many parts of the planet.  Despite the growing recognition of the unfolding man-made catastrophe before us, global carbon emissions continue to rise, hitting an all-time high in 2021 (iea, 2022).

Social issues are presenting themselves in many forms - ranging from lack of access to resources to unfair labour practices, resulting in social inequities and dissatisfaction, manifesting in numerous protests and strikes as well as movement of refugees in many parts of the globe. 

Corporations are increasingly challenged to re-evaluate their social license to operate and to reconsider how they should operate and be governed – from rethinking their purpose, business models, resource allocations to the roles and responsibilities of corporate boards of directors and shareholders, from more accountability and transparency with higher levels of standards for reporting and disclosures to re-imagining what opportunities there are for more sustainable value creation and re-defining corporate performance.

To effectively confront issues of such magnitude, complexity, and intensity, all protagonists of society – nations, governments, civil societies, businesses, and individuals – need, nay, must, play their part.  In 2014, the Peoples’ Climate March reminded us that ‘To change everything, we need everyone’. 

‘The slow pace and reactive nature of regulation means that society cannot sole rely on governments and policymakers to effectively navigate these challenges. There is a growing public expectation that businesses must step up and take responsibility for delivering positive outcomes for society and the environment (CISL, 2018).   Indeed, business communities have a crucial role to play in addressing the above issues as they are engines of growth for thriving and dynamic economies and are composed of communities of people working together to create value from inputs by people and the environment. Businesses thus has a significant influence on, and are, in turn, impacted by social and environmental changes.  Indeed, some global corporations wield economic power rivalling that of many nation states.

Of the many protagonists in the business communities, boards of directors who are vested with authority to manage their corporations’ business and affairs, have a special role in this effort.  At the most basic level, risk oversight is an important part of boards’ remit, and directors have an important role to oversee how strategy and risk management practices must meet the needs of broader stakeholders to drive shareholder value (Deloitte, 2018).  Boards are indeed well placed to steer their companies to think differently about the relationships between their business with the people - including intergenerational perspective - in the environment in which they operate.  Boards can shape business decisions to build a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable economy as they sit between the owners – the shareholders – and the executive and the management of companies, and increasingly, between society and the impact of the company on society (Calland, 2022).

Yet the corporate will in Malaysia to deal with the powerful crosscurrents we see around us, had, until recently, been feeble.  Many corporate boards viewed the environmental, social and governance (ESG) pathway as distinct and separate from the core strategy of their business or as too inconsequential to require board oversight (Mazars, 2021).   When considered, it is often attended to as a box ticking exercise that is performed perfunctorily, more to meet regulatory requirements than to accomplish any meaningful purpose. 

The Covid-19 experience has made us acutely aware that most of our current business systems are vulnerable to shocks and disruptions, an inevitable outcome from prioritising efficiency at the expense of resilience. Efficiency comes through optimal adaptation to an existing environment, while resilience requires the capacity to adapt to disruptive changes in the environment (Galston, 2020).  The potency of disruptive events to cause deleterious impacts on operations systems is making resilience building a top priority for many business executives (Business Continuity Institute, 2019).  

While there are some research that found inconclusive co-relationship of ESG strategies with improved corporate performances (Nikunj Sachin, 2021), other research found that embracing such strategies does enhance the resilience of companies during financial turmoil.  That ESG strategies could act as an insurance-like risk mitigation device for banks during periods of financial distress. A possible explanation is that engaging in environmental, social, and corporate governance practices seems to be associated with more prudent banking activities, fostering a more stable relationships with communities and enhancing a bank’s reputation. .. findings confirm that enhancing ESG engagement in the banking sector is not only beneficial in terms of its impact on the environment and the society but is also able to strengthen the resilience of the banking sector when a financial crisis occurs.  (Laura Chiaramonte, 2021). Another research found companies significantly outperform their counterparts over the long-term, both in terms of stock market as well as accounting performance (Eccles, Ioannou, & Serafeim, 2014). 

So when in 2021, several regulators in Malaysia, including the Bursa and the Bank Negara mandated sustainability measures, the ESG agenda became mainstream, and garnered support and traction especially with public listed companies and financial institutions.  With their consciousness on these issues awakened, boards now increasingly realise that their businesses need to address their externalities to maintain their social license to operate and crucially too, to ensure their long-term growth and survival.  Conversations in boardrooms are now shifting from ‘why’ to ‘how’. 

This is a hopeful development.  Happily too, almost on a daily basis, we hear about how human ingenuity is triumphing with new and often undreamed-of digital technologies across many industries - which both enables more level playing fields for many as well as utilises resources more efficiently.  We observe too of trends of empathy, cooperation, and engagement in altruistic acts during times of crises, such as during the coronavirus pandemic. With such inherent strengths of our species to thrive, it is certainly within our capacity to hasten the transformational journey that is much needed.

Unlike previous generations, who did not fully understand the consequences of humanity’s excessive actions, we now increasingly have the knowledge to comprehend, and the ideas and technologies to navigate this difficult terrain. Unlike future generations, we still have time to mitigate the worst effects of ecological damage.   This generation has the ability, and thus the responsibility, to save the planet as well as restore the economic and social imbalances. Shirking that responsibility only leaves the next generation with an even heavier burden—one they may find impossible to bear. (Shue, 2021)

Bibliography

Business Continuity Institute. (2019). Supply chain resilience report. Retrieved from www.thebci.org: https://www.thebci.org/knowledge/search-knowledge.html

Calland, R. (2022, April 26). Why Boards must lead - board governance and accountability. Retrieved from CISL: https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/news/blog/why-boards-must-lead-board-governance-and-accountability#:~:text=Boards%20matter%20because%20they%20sit,of%20the%20company%20on%20society.

CISL. (2018). Rewiring Leadership: the leadership we need, the future we want. CISL.

Eccles, R. G., Ioannou, I., & Serafeim, G. (2014, Nov 6). The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance. Retrieved from Management science: https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1984

Elliot, L. (2022, January 17). World’s 10 richest men see their wealth double during Covid pandemic. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jan/17/world-10-richest-men-see-their-wealth-double-during-covid-pandemic

Galston, W. A. (2020, March 10). Efficiency Isn't the Only Economic Virtue; It often comes at the expense of resilience, as the new coronavirus is making clear. Retrieved from Wall Street Journal : https://www.proquest.com/docview/2375562291?accountid=9851&parentSessionId=gReuRFdIGk4%2BF3KssY3Z%2FD8ksFXd0Wq7GOreRghXZsE%3D&pq-origsite=primo

iea. (2022, 03 08). Global CO2 emissions rebounded to their highest level in history in 2021. Retrieved from https://www.iea.org/: https://www.iea.org/news/global-co2-emissions-rebounded-to-their-highest-level-in-history-in-2021

Laura Chiaramonte, A. D. (2021, Sept 13). Do ESG strategies enhance bank stability during financial turmoil? Evidence from Europe. Retrieved from The European Journal of Finance: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1351847X.2021.1964556

Nikunj Sachin, R. R. (2021, August 9). An empirical study of supply chain sustainability with financial performances of Indian firms. Retrieved from Springer Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10668-021-01717-1

Shue, H. (2021). The Pivotal Generation. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

United Nations. (n.d.). Education is key to addressing climate change. Retrieved from un.org: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/climate-solutions/education-key-addressing-climate-change

virtue sessions

We host regular sessions where virtues are used as a tool for personal growth and healing and a path to deeper meaning, purpose and joy in our lives.  

gift of sight project with the Somalian Refugee Community

 

In collaboration with the Baha'i Community of the Baha'is of KL Central, in May 2022 we provided pre-loved spectacles to the Somali Refuge Community.  

Acknowledgements:

• Mr Ken of Potts Glasses Sri Hartamas (https://www.pottglasses.com/) who very generously contributed his time and expertise to assist with assessing the prescriptions of the pre-loved spectacles and labelling them accordingly.  
• Many many friends who very kindly send us their pre-loved glasses. 

essay: Thriving in a VUCA World

 

https://www.weekly-echo.com/thriving-in-a-vuca-world/

Without doubt, we now live in a society where change is fast-paced and unpredictable.  Rapid advances in technologies have increased the sense of flux - turbulence and unpredictability. The Ukraine war which seemed so far and remote from us here in Malaysia is impacting our lives in more ways than one. 

Indeed, we now live in a VUCA world - a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.  Many are feeling the strain and are struggling to cope. Businesses know that they must get their act together if they wish to thrive in these times.  A nation is no different.  It needs to re-think how it should govern and organise itself if it wants to thrive, and to care for the well-being its people. 

There are of course many pathways and aspects to build a vibrant nation.  Leveraging on the trust and drawing strength of all its peoples is surely one way, as the synergies that will arise from the unity of its diverse population can be immense.

It is hard to deny that the various cultural/racial/religious groups in Malaysia are interconnected in so many aspects of our lives – we savour each other’s food – just check out our favourite nasi lemak stall, or banana leaf restaurant and we will see the glorious mix of happy patrons.  Our common vocabulary is a result of generations of cross fertilisation which had generated charming local slangs such as ‘ok boss’ or ‘cincai’ or ‘alamak’ or ‘macha’.  When a Malaysian is on the sport arena, the sense of the unity of the people behind the sportsman or woman is palpable.

Yet when discussions and decisions are held around social issues and their remedial programmes, they are often premised along lines of racial groups.   Policies continue to be formulated as if these communities operate in isolation, as if the practices of one do not profoundly impact another. This surely is an outworn model.

Can a nation prosper if its people are fragmented?  Crucially too, can a nation prosper if it is governed in a way that fragments its people?

Surely, we need to rebalance our focus from segregated communities to an integrated whole, in its entirety, as this is, after all, a more accurate reflection of our reality. We need to re-conceptualise our operating models across the fabric of our society, not with coordination revolving around the needs of the various segments of society, but rather with all of us seeing ourselves as part of an entire whole.  This shift will open vistas previously unconsidered, as it will allow us to better appreciate each other, that we have more in common with each other than not, that we are interconnected and interdependent.  That we are of one human family. 

Crucially, over time, foundational qualities such as unity, trustworthiness, mutual support, collaboration, fellow feeling, selflessness, commitment to truth, a sense of responsibility - building blocks of a stable social order - would be engendered.  Increasingly in such settings, the people would be inspired to be committed to the prosperity of all, as they would recognise that the welfare of individuals rests in the welfare of society at large.   They would rise to their higher nature to advocate understanding, to learn to put aside inherited customs and attitudes, endeavour to overcome prejudices, and instead sustain constructive outlooks.  They would focus on transcending differences, harmonising perspectives, and helping to find unity through pursuit of common goals, looking for opportunities to collaborate.   They would champion rationality and science as essential for human progress.  They would prize both spiritual and material progress and would be conscious of how the forces of materialism are at work around them.  They would be mindful of the many injustices that persist in the world, yet they are equally clear sighted about the creative power of unity and humanity’s capacity for altruism.

These above may sound like a utopia.  But it is possible, and within our grasp, if we govern and organise ourselves as members of one family and if we care for each other as one would do for own family members, ensuring everyone has equitable access to be empowered. 

Another pathway to building a vibrant nation is through the provision of balanced education drawn from both sources of knowledge of science and religion. When decisions are made based on foundations of both scientific and spiritual considerations, the tendency to reduce human progress to the consumption of goods, services and technological packages is minimised. For example, scientific knowledge can help to analyse the physical and social implications of, say, a given technological proposal of its environmental impact, and the spiritual insight will give rise to moral imperatives that uphold social harmony and to ensure the technology serves the common good. There is no doubt that education drawing on both these sources of knowledge are vital to equipping us to be a force of social good.

It has to be said that seeing all of us as one is not a threat to national, local autonomy, cultural diversity, or human freedom; instead, this mental model reveals and enables a richer, more flourished form of nationhood, where the needs of all people are met.  In such settings, communities would become more vibrant because it would embrace the interdependence and interconnections of all, arranging its affairs in light of that appreciation, advancing in new and creative ways.  Its people, though each one labouring in their own endeavours, would be connected by bonds of trust and camaraderie with their brothers and sisters, united in a collective effort for the betterment of their communities.

 

essay: Citizen of the World

 Today I got a glimpse of how it feels to be a citizen of the world.    And confirmation that we are all interdependent and that each one of us of the human race is born into the world as a trust of the whole.

I have just returned from the vaccination centre with a booster jab. Just as in previous occasions, I am so grateful for the free vaccination given to us, all so systematically delivered.  It took me all of 15 minutes from the time I arrived at the centre to the time I received the jab, all done with much care and concern by the service providers.   With this booster jab, I know I will be less likely to succumb to the relentless virus.

The journey that the vaccination dose had taken to travel thousands of miles to be now coursing through my veins this minute is truly a remarkable one.

When covid struck, humanity was horrified at the vastness of destruction it was causing – countries after countries, communities after communities.    While medical professionals treated those who needed attention, scientists exchanged data and cooperated to look for cures and vaccinations.  Many vaccinations were trial tested across the world but only a handful were finally approved for their efficacy with minimal side effects. 

A little over a year after the health pandemic struck, while the virus was (still is) mutating away, vaccinations arrived at our shores offering protection to us here too in Malaysia.  Many parties are involved along the supply chain to make this happen so expeditiously.   

For sure, there are many aspects of the management of this pandemic that have gone wrong and are still wrong - almost no country seem to have been spared from man's folly or greed. 

But, this health pandemic has also forced humanity to cooperate and care for each other, not least because we realise that we are only as strong as the weakest of us.  Whatever the driving force that made the supply chain moved so swiftly, I felt cared for as a member of the human race, as a citizen of the world.  It is clear that when humanity has collective will, there is nothing we cannot overcome together.