This year has been a year of incredible personal growth, through learning via the PhD and travel in Malaysia and Singapore. I traveled to Penang, Malacca, Ipoh and Seremban this year, video blogged for the first time and image made majorly for my blog. I also traveled to Singapore thrice including an unforgettable experience of a Coldplay Concert with the talented Hanna Sundahl !

I presented my PhD work at a YSI workshop at Universiti Malaya in September, and did research on EVs in Malaysia. I was blessed to guest lecture a masters class on migration governance in December. As a part of research , I went to a flurry of climate conferences in KL for ‘event ethnography’. I spoke at the 6th ASEAN Integration Forum on a Responsible Capitalism Panel organised by IKMAS UKM.

I spent the entire year in Kuala Lumpur, and learnt a massive amount about the rich mosaic that is Malaysia. It is more than the KLCC, Bukit Bintang and TRX. I went into the plantations in Bestari Jaya, which were a lesson in climate racial capitalism. As a researcher in SE Asian Studies, I am aghast at lack of focus on the region in India. I was blessed to meet incredible scholars from the world over in Malaysia and Singapore this year.

I did some M&A transaction advisory work with good people and a landmark study on platform work as part of my independent consulting practice. But this year was a time steeped in the life of the mind. This is a privilege that I do not take lightly.

I end my year with a major anthem press book chapter publication on the Gulf coming out next year. I also had abstract acceptance to three academic conferences in Singapore, DC and Bologna in 2025.

I was interviewed by New York Times for the tragic Kuwait housing fire in July, and was generously quoted in the story. I also participated in a couple of webinars by Red Lantern Analytica this year on the diaspora, a topic close to my heart as a migration scholar on the Gulf and SE Asia.

For folks who cancelled me from projects that I deserve to be onboard, I have news- I am just starting up again after a tough decade. Watch this space !

The coming year, I pray for peace and good health. There is no substitute for healing and health.