Good to be quoted in Malaysia’s leading weekly- The Edge in their special issue on ESG.

Thank you North South Initiative and Adrian Sir for the kind opportunity. North South Initiative is a leading CSO in Malaysia on BHR issues.

ESG ratings or disclosure data is the symptom of the phenomenon rather than the actual drive towards net zero or climate adaptation. Disclosure frameworks shape ESG culture as it is a compliance risk as it veers towards legal risk. Anything legal drives change on the ground. Is it the change which the climate intellectual class want, the answer is a like negative as businesses will treat ESG as compliance, and that will be its material implication as businesses are here to serve their customers and draw a return on investment.

ESG disclosure frameworks if considered for what they are that is as a trust building method by fostering transparency will serve the ecosystem better. ESG data are weak signals for a black swan event, anyone who has read the Bhopal Gas Tragedy case study will understand the reasons for disclosure as an early warning system.

Disclosures have their own in built set of risks, in particular green washing which can be remedied by robust reasonable assurance. A few sectors such as power and energy are under the transition heat, and will encounter the a large pivot from BAU. The treat of climate litigation to their boards will increase the magnitude of risk. The quality of data or the lack of it, including tick box yes or no answers add to the ESG risk.

The shift towards ESG disclosure itself is a big shift from voluntary CSR which is still corporate philanthropy without major systemic ripples. We have learnt from the digital wave that data is the new oil (but for whom?) and that data is culture. The convergences between digital and ESG are significant.

The Fridge of Bangladeshi Mishti in a migrant ethnic supermarket that feels like a space of belonging.

The Edible Turn in Migration Infrastructure needs to be tasted oops written about ☺️

As an academic outsider at best into Gulf Studies but a cultural insider from Al Khuwair, growing up with Swahili Speaking Al Rawahy’s and Al Barwani’s in Muscat/ I thoroughly appreciate the talk by Dr Nathaniel at the UVa History Department Webinar Series, which has been a leading learning resource.

Love the methods slide!

Chicken Rice

Kopitiams or Coffee Shops in Hokkien are an index of convergence in the Nusantara. In the various ‘ethnoscapes’ , food and its cooks often from around the region, have their own language in its everyday. The ability to think and create the unique vocabulary on one’s own terms is the key to thinking from below, plurality of thinking is the key to decolonizing migration studies which is a thoroughly colonial enterprise.

With the legendary Debbie S and the Altsean Burma team for a chat in KL. So much learning about transnational movement building in SE Asia.

Eddin Khoo Sir shares on cultural heritage, documentation and the institutional journey of Pusaka today evening at the Ahlam Gallery.

The sharp edge of cultural politics is only seen couple of generations later.

Looking forward to learn more in the next talk. The aspects of rituals is so powerful or puja in Bahasa Melayu is a fascinating aspect.

Stories of migration within Tamilakam are encountered each day in KL and the wider Nusantara as today the only person who speaks fluent Hindi in a Hindu Tamizh Saapadu space, lived in Dharavi in Mumbai for a decade and is from Tirunelveli which is a region known for outward migration to Mumbai, especially Dharavi, Matunga and Bhandup areas. Mr. Murthy, now works in a Thambi eatery in KL which could well be a spatial extension of Ramashreya in Matunga or Prata Planet next to Clementi MRT.

An influencer ready atas fine dining place with ok food and view of the twin towers. More for IG than for the palate. The manager was from Chandigarh and the service staff from Nepal, hospitality workers are a site of migration research that stitch transnational spaces and lives of the desi diaspora.

At the ASEAN Forum for Migrant Labour AFML- Malaysia Civil Society Organisation Consultation today with representatives from ILO, NGOs, Migrant Leaders on issues of grassroots Business & Human Rights such as recruitment fees, grievance mechanisms and how different communities shape responsible supply chains.

Real ESG is on the ground, beneath the indicators and the data deluge and BHR risks need a ear on the ground.