With trends, some have their 15 minutes of fame, and others are here to stay. Environment, Social, and (corporate) Governance (ESG) seem to be the latter, in that it encompasses many vital points in your daily living, down to the finest detail.

Before the pandemic, the three letters ‘ESG’ were not as widely known and used by businesses, even more by investors in the local space. It was only when the world as we knew it was upturned by forced closures, bankruptcy, and unsustainable businesses that companies began to look at these three key points, and so did investors in return. 

Gone are the days when keeping tabs on the performance of stocks in the market was enough for the average investor. More investors are taking into account the part they play in socially responsible investing, or sustainable investing. ESG issues are real-world problems, and investors want to put their money where their mouth is – by seeing their hard-earned money go into places that bring good impact, and not contribute to the problem. 

With that, what is the importance of ESG when it comes to influencing one’s choices in investing, and how important is ESG investing in the bigger picture?

ESG is present in our everyday life 

One of the barriers to decision-making is usually a lack of understanding. Asking the man on the street about their knowledge of ESG may result in confused responses along the lines of “something that only bigger corporations need to be concerned about”. 

If ESG investing comes off as a concept that is too ‘big corporate’ to grasp – breaking it down into its three elements (environment, social, and governance) in everyday terms is a good start. Would you invest in a company that is known to pollute the waters or atmosphere with toxic gases at the expense of profit? Can you turn a blind eye to corporations that run sweatshops manufacturing t-shirts retailing at $500? How about buying stocks at an investment bank infamous for helping others launder money in offshore accounts?

Whether or not we are aware of these issues, or choose to advocate against them – these three elements are key points that every business needs to consider to not just survive but also thrive. As more investors are standing up and paying attention – silence about such issues is almost regarded as compliance.

Investing in ESG-compliant companies empowers us to keep them accountable 

It is one thing to talk about current issues plaguing the planet, but can businesses walk the talk? Major corporations with sustainability arms pledge their commitment to the environment, their support for a community, or merely just promise their transparency – and investing in these companies allows us to hold them to their word. 

Even if these pledges are a corporate stance for good publicity – shareholders and investors can pressure them into taking action and making better decisions. Consumers, too, are now making conscious decisions to support brands or companies whose values align with theirs. These campaigns are a message from the companies to consumers that they are walking the walk. In turn, it gives consumers a vested interest in where they are putting their hard-earned money. 

ESG investing helps us to look at the bigger picture

In today’s rapidly evolving and volatile economy, it can be difficult to determine where our investments will end up in the next month, and what more in the next 5-10 years. However, with an ESG compliance or framework in place, companies can manage and future-proof their organisations against risks that could crop up in the future. This includes risks such as climate change (E), social welfare (S) and loss of shareholder confidence (G) in business practices – all of which could jeopardise financial standings. 

As a result, these companies will be able to see fewer disruptions, downtime and see better financial results in the long run. ESG on its own is a long-term goal, where the benefits and rewards are reaped by putting in the hard work now, thus giving us the opportunity to take a step back and evaluate how our choices today will bring about a changed tomorrow. 

ESG reporting is still evolving 

Just last year, PwC together with MICPA (The Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants Malaysia) ran a survey on investors’ impressions and expectations of ESG in Malaysia. One of their key findings was that only 3% of respondents agree that the current reporting of ESG in Malaysia is good – demonstrating the need for bigger-picture reporting and the call for consistency. 

For now, one of the more well-known points of reference is the Bursa Malaysia FTSE4Good Index, which lists and ranks Public Listed Companies (PLCs) according to their compliance with ESG-related principles. Done in accordance with FTSE Russell ESG Ratings Methodology, it aims to support investors in making ESG investments in Malaysian-listed companies, encourage best practice disclosure and support the transition to a lower carbon and more sustainable economy. 

The list of these companies in the index is also available to the public, so you can view each company’s current status (at the time of writing, the website is updated as of December 2022) as a reference. Some corporations have also pledged their commitment to the Task Force on Climate-related Disclosures (TFCD) – with Bursa Malaysia also providing instructions to assist corporations who attend to join.   

While this may mean that how companies adopt ESG-compliant initiatives and reporting can differ from case to case, there is still a need for uniform standards and reporting – or else it could leave investors with more questions than they can find answers to in the long run.

By Grace Lim

Liked this article? You may be interested in these other articles:

• Malaysia’s First ESG Transparency Research Reveals FBMKLCI Companies Lack Depth and Detail in ESG Reporting
• SC Unveils Principles-Based Sustainable And Responsible Investment Taxonomy For The Malaysian Capital Market
• ESG Investing – How To Integrate It Into Your Investment Planning?

Breast cancer conjures images of disfigurement, pain, and all things negative, yet it is highly treatable if discovered early and given timely and appropriate treatment. Early discovery also means the overall treatment may be simpler, less costly, and more effective.

The exact cause of breast cancer is unknown. Many of the risk factors are those we cannot change— such as being born female, getting older, having dense breasts (a feature best seen on mammograms), and inheriting certain gene changes (although genetics only causes 5-10 per cent of cases).

“Early detection is the best protection.”

– Ranjit Kaur Pritam Singh, Board Member of Reach to Recovery International

So How Do We Go About Discovering Cancer Early?

Understanding and getting to know your breasts’ characteristics and appearance is the first step towards being breast health aware, and this applies to both men and women. In the ideal situation, one examines one’s own breasts systematically once a month, about 3 days after menstruation ends, or in those who are menopaused or who are male, on the same date each month. Ladies older than 18 years can begin this self-familiarisation process.

If you feel or observe something of concern in your breasts, and it persists after two menstrual cycles, please see your doctor. For those who are menopausal or male, please see your doctor without too much delay. While we might be worried about getting breast cancer, worrying does not make cancer go away. Instead, you may be wasting precious time. Good news, ladies, most abnormalities felt (commonly a lump) are not cancerous.

The Routine Procedure That Can Save Your Life

As a woman gets older, an annual clinical breast examination (by a doctor or breast care nurse) may be added to her routine. If you are female, even if you feel nothing wrong in your breasts, consider a screening mammogram once you are over 40 years old, when the risk of getting breast cancer has increased enough to make screening useful.

Then get it done regularly at one or two year intervals. Screening means getting a mammogram even when you do not feel or see anything wrong with your breasts. A mammogram can detect cancer before you can feel it, which means early discovery.

“Cancer is just a word. With the right mindset and support, we can thrive beyond imagination.”

– Kim Lim President of Breast Cancer Welfare Association Malaysia

The mammogram is a series of special low dose X-rays with the breasts in optimal compression. The standard mammogram is made up of two views per breast. The 3D mammogram obtains a series of low dose X-rays in an arc for each view. This produces many images, each with less overlapping breast tissue, thereby improving the ability to pick up abnormalities.

The mammogram does not have a 100 per cent cancer pick up rate. The ability to detect cancer depends on several factors. This includes each person’s unique breast tissue pattern and density (proportion of fat in relation to the fibroglandular tissue). Therefore, it is important to keep your old mammograms for comparison to improve detection and accuracy rates. Despite these factors, the mammogram continues to be the gold standard for breast cancer screening.

Now is the time to take charge of your own health.  Remember, early cancer discovery saves lives.

About the Author

Dr Evelyn LM Ho is a Consultant Clinical Radiologist at ParkCity Medical Centre; Technical Advisor -Breast Cancer Welfare Association Malaysia; and Immediate Past President – Asian Oceanian Society of Radiology.

Manulife and the World Economic Forum (“the Forum”), announced the launch of two Innovation Challenges in 2023 through UpLink, the Forum’s open innovation platform. The partnership was announced at the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos and aims to engage ecopreneurs and partners to help them scale new and innovative ideas and ventures.

The two UpLink Innovation Challenges will unlock solutions that stem from, and are aimed at, forests, to galvanize an ecopreneur revolution that will help to safeguard nature, climate, livelihoods, and the well-being of people. Full project details, including eligibility criteria and timelines, can be found on the challenge page here.

The Sustainable Forest Economy Challenge will aim to source innovative solutions across the value chain from the sustainable management of forests to the production and utilization of wood. A climate smart forest economy approach is critical to protect, maintain, manage, restore, and regrow forests. Applicants can begin applying today through March 1st, 2023.

The Forests and Trees Improving Human Health and Well-being Challenge will aim to surface innovations fostering improved interlinkages between planetary and human health. Details for this challenge will be made public later this year.

Biodiversity is degrading faster than at any time in history[1], driving poor environmental, economic, and human health outcomes. This includes the loss of forests, which is destabilizing natural systems. Sustainably managed forests and farms are a critical part of reversing harmful environmental impacts; they sequester carbon, regulate global temperatures and freshwater flows, recharge groundwater, anchor fertile soil, act as flood barriers, and have been shown to enhance mental and physical health.

Through this project, Manulife furthers its ongoing commitment to continue scaling nature-based climate solutions and investments in sustainable forestry and farmland to help combat nature loss, because collective action is needed to sustain our societies and economies.

“Our environment is key to human health and wellbeing, and as a global life insurer and asset manager, we see firsthand how damaged ecosystems put livelihoods and economies at risk,” said Roy Gori, President and CEO, Manulife. “Given our position as one of the world’s largest sustainable timberland and farmland investment managers[2], we can support and scale innovative solutions, which are urgently needed in response to the rapid degradation of nature and biodiversity. We are very excited to launch this project with the World Economic Forum and UpLink and want to hear from passionate, big thinkers who can help us address and reverse nature loss.”

“Innovation is not a nice-to-have, but an essential ingredient in achieving the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals,” said John Dutton, Head of UpLink and Member of the Executive Committee for the World Economic Forum. “We’re proud to join forces with Manulife to source and scale the innovative solutions that will strengthen sustainable forestry, improve wellbeing, and promote nature-based solutions to climate change. This commitment will help to shine a light on the often-overlooked purpose-driven entrepreneurs whose solutions are so urgently needed, giving them the visibility, resources, and expertise they need to tackle the world’s biggest challenges head on.”

This project builds upon Manulife and the World Economic Forum’s continued partnership. Late last year, Manulife announced a pledge to 1t.org which is the Forum’s Trillion Trees initiative. As part of the pledge, Manulife is aiming to scale Manulife Investment Management’s carbon-focused forestry investments and sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere through the forests it manages over a period of 5 years.

Like the 1t.org pledge, this partnership with Uplink aligns to Manulife’s recently announced Impact Agenda, which aims to build business to better the world by making decisions about the future of the firm’s business, rooted in the belief that collective actions drive meaningful change. To learn more about Manulife’s Impact Agenda, and to track progress against its goals, visit manulife.com/impact.

[1] Based on the “The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services” released by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IBPES) in 2019.
[2] RISI, Inc. 2021 data based on top 15 global Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMO) by assets under management. Manulife pays a subscription fee for access to the database.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we provide financial advice and insurance, operating as Manulife across Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Through Manulife Investment Management, the global brand for our Global Wealth and Asset Management segment, we serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2021, we had more than 38,000 employees, over 119,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 33 million customers. We trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under ‘945’ in Hong Kong. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit http://manulife.com/.

About UpLink

UpLink is the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum, designed to unlock an ‘entrepreneur revolution’ for people and planet by supporting start-ups with innovative solutions for the world’s most pressing issues, as outlined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Launched at the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Annual Meeting in Davos in partnership with Deloitte and Salesforce, UpLink builds bridges between entrepreneurs and the investors, experts and partners who can help scale their ventures. UpLink crowdsources new innovations through a competition framework known as innovation challenges. UpLink has now run more than 43 challenges and identified over 350 entrepreneurs with innovative solutions across critical SDG areas including health, food, freshwater, ocean, plastics, education, climate and more. For more information, visit https://uplink.weforum.org

About 1t.org

1t.org is a World Economic Forum initiative that serves a global movement to conserve, grow and restore 1 trillion trees by 2030. 1t.org is set up to support the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. 1t.org mobilizes private sector engagement and ambition in forest conservation and restoration, facilitates multistakeholder dialogues in key geographies, and supports innovation, ecopreneurship and youth to incentivize and accelerate restoration. For additional information, please visit www.1t.org.

The post-electoral coalition between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN), along with Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah, has vividly shown us what “politics as the art of the possible” really means. But what about Malaysia’s economic challenges?

After all, who would have thought BN, whose legitimacy has been relentlessly challenged since Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s fall from grace in 1998, would eventually erode when it lost a two-thirds majority in 2008 and the popular vote in 2013 to the Anwar-led Barisan Alternatif. BN’s reign ended with the power shift to PH in 2018.

At least for now, the seemingly strong coalition with two-thirds majority seats masks a critical fact: nearly two-thirds of Malay voters believe in Perikatan Nasional (PN) as a reliable political party after UMNO when it comes to protecting their interests. Many of them are young, semi-skilled, and reside in rural areas.

However, whether the shifting landscape of Malay votes is purely ideological and political remains to be observed. Its economic roots should not be taken lightly. Of all the economic dissatisfactions capable of shaping voting preferences, nothing can be more personal and consequential than the low, nearly stagnant, and relatively unfair wage progress.

Let’s chart out a few hypotheticals.

Malaysia’s Economic Challenges

Let us take an honest, hard look at what Malaysia’s economic challenges mean. Suppose we take 2010 as the year of comparison. In 2021, gross national income expanded by 71%, or 6.45% on average each year since. Going at this speed, the national income would have doubled every 11 years.

At the same time, half of the wage earners in Malaysia witnessed the purchasing power of their income stall at 22%. It is, at most, better than the individuals in the same income group were 11 years ago.

Compared to 2010, when the B50 earned RM1,000, their standard of living has only gone up by RM220, or RM22 per year. To double B50’s monthly income after adjusting for the cost of living will take 35 years or more.

The truth becomes even more obnoxious if we go down the demographic road. Look at the purchasing power of the income for B50, aged 30 to 34 years old, and it is just 11% better over the same period of time, or 1% on average each year.

In other words, it takes 70 years for a B50 in this age cohort to live one time better than the older generations. Unfortunately, the gross national income is already 64 times higher by then!

The worst is for those in the younger age cohort. The income of people aged 25 to 29 in 2021 was 4% less than that of the same age group in 2010. This means that they have less money to spend, and this is one of the main issues when it comes to Malaysia’s economic challenges.

Malaysia’s Economic Challenges: Of Regions And Skill

Turning to the perspective of regions and skill level, it is perhaps unsurprising to find out that rural and semi-skilled median wage earners, which constitute more than half of our labour force, benefit the least in their categories from the growing economic prosperity.

Rural residents are 14% better, while semi-skilled workers are 20% better. What’s more surprising is that race doesn’t matter as much as we used to believe. Actual salaries and wages for Bumiputera B50 in 2019 were 65% greater than that of the 2010 cohort, outperforming the 44% advancement for Chinese B50.

Bumiputera B50, on the other hand, was hit the hardest by the pandemic and had been getting better more slowly. Putting all this together, the lesson is straightforward: not all Malaysians prosper equally. And when they don’t, it instigates a sense of unfairness.

As economic anxiety and discontent mobilises voters, it must be more than just a coincidence that rural residents, semi-skilled workers, and young voters identified along the racial line, who are losing out in the horse race of prosperity and suffering the most in the pandemic, happen to be bowling with Perikatan Nasional in the most recent general election.

Against this backdrop, addressing economic anxiety and discontent makes the economic slogan ‘shared prosperity’ meaningful. Perhaps more importantly, it works to break down electoral divisions based on ethnicity, geography, and occupation without using racial rhetoric.

Bolstering economic growth, though necessary, is no longer sufficient to lift the living standard of the majority. The trickle-down effect of growth is long dead. For this, the Anwar government and cabinet need a paradigm shift in their policy-making philosophy.

Growth policies shouldn’t stop looking for new growth sectors. Instead, they should make existing products and sectors more complicated. That means investment policies cannot be satisfied by bringing in more foreign direct investment. It will be done by strengthening ties between domestic and foreign companies and giving domestic companies more ways to work with the rest of the world and export.

That means labor policies shall not be bound by the traditional domain of labor issues when laborers go through the gig economy route and become entrepreneurs. The employer-employee social contract is evolving.

Welfare policies will be more than just a one-time cash transfer and financial aid for marginalised communities and poor families. It is, in fact, a way for all Malaysians to get automatic protection against risk and a way to share returns. This is done by coordinating cash transfers, tax rebates, unemployment insurance, subsidies, and other programs.

That also means that government functions shouldn’t be put in separate boxes and that policies should be thought about, designed, and put into place in a way that doesn’t divide them up. It’s true that politics is the art of the possible, the attainable, and the best.

But don’t get it wrong. A power play for the possible and attainable without pivoting to the economic needs of the people only ends with pushing voters to their next best option.

“Good politics is the art of bringing the possible and the attainable to the people.”

I hope the new Malaysian government will take a severe look at Malaysia’s economic challenges and take the right step towards addressing them.

About the Author

Wong Chin Yoong is a professor of economics in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, and an external consultant to Max Wealth Group. This article is in collaboration with Max Wealth Education Sdn Bhd, an approved Education Provider for the CFP Certification Program.

Talentbank recently revealed the winners of the Graduates’ Choice Award (GCA) 2023 – Asia Pacific’s Most Authoritative Graduate Employer Branding Award.

The event which was held on January 5, 2023 at Sunway Resort Hotel, was officiated by Guest of Honour Datuk Mohammad Yusof Apdal, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Higher Education and Datuk Prof. Dr. Husaini Omar, Director General, Ministry of Higher Education. Also in attendance were Vice-Chancellors from tertiary education institutions including Universiti Teknologi MARA, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Sunway University, Heriot-Watt University Malaysia, University of Nottingham Malaysia, UOW Malaysia and Multimedia University.

The GCA 2023 takes into account the wants and needs of more than 23,000 public and private education students – in various aspects – as well as their most preferred employers. The results were vetted by a group of audit members to ensure that the findings were independent and valid.

“Since its establishment in 2018, Talentbank’s GCA has received more than 200,000 accumulative votes from university graduates, giving the award meaning when it comes to what graduates want in an employer.

“University and tertiary education students voted for a solid 12 months for GCA 2023 and as we continue to receive an increasing number of votes each year, undergraduates are signalling to the industry on the growing importance of employer branding,” Ben Ho, Chief Executive Officer of Talentbank said.

He added that without the right employer branding, employers risk not hiring the right talent.

The Graduates’ Choice Awards, he said, is a big part of an effort to improve Malaysia’s employability landscape. It serves to pave the way for graduates to find their preferred careers.

GCA’s 2023 survey revealed flexible working opportunities to be a popular attribute for employment besides the value for work-life balance. Salary and bonuses, career development and company culture remain in the top three important attributes and there was a stark increase in graduates expecting salaries ranging between RM3,000 and RM3,500.

On the topic of career readiness, GCA’s 2023 results found employers rating career readiness among fresh graduates a 6 out of 10, indicating the importance of equipping fresh graduates with adequate skill sets. Based on the results, Talentbank encourages further active engagement between universities and students, while seeking alternative methods to ensure graduates are well prepared before entering the job market.

“Communication and interpersonal skills rank top in the critical skills employers look for in fresh graduates and besides good academic skills, talents with good attitude are always sought for by employers,” Ho said.

In his key address, Datuk Mohammad Yusof Apdal commended Talentbank for its effort that corresponds with the ministry’s development of an ecosystem to provide a high-quality education to develop individuals’ potential and meet national aspirations.

“The private sector has a big role to play in the process of improving our graduates’ employability, while being supported with the right policies to create a sustainable environment. Talentbank plays the conduit through which universities and the industry can form a successful ecosystem linking top employers and graduates,” he said.

Noting the constant evolution of the job market and skills demanded for in the workforce, Datuk  Mohammad Yusof Apdal said human talents are still pivotal even as the world moves towards a more digital workforce.

“According to a study by McKinsey, superior talent can be up to eight times more productive. Unfortunately, talent is not easy to come by. Great talent is scarce. The competition to attract and retain talents is becoming increasingly fierce. This is why I applaud Talentbank for starting this journey of recognising the importance of employer branding”.

“It does not only reward the companies that go above and beyond to build a brand amongst university graduates, but more importantly it provides a fair and robust measurement on which graduates can start researching on their preferred employers and careers,” he said, adding that employer branding can be the silver bullet to attract top candidates.

“A strong employer brand increases the chances of recruiting the right talents significantly”, the Deputy Minister said.

The GCA 2023 saw big brands like Maybank, Petronas, Shopee, Google, and Microsoft on the Top 25 list of the 2023 Graduates’ Choice of Employers. Also making the list were Maxis, Shell, EY, CIMB and Intel.

The brands that have made the list for five consecutive years are: AIA Berhad in the insurance category, Maybank in the banking category, Nestlé in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) category and in the engineering category, Petronas.

Talentbank also revealed that Sunway Group bagged five Champion positions across nine industry categories while Maybank took three Champion, and made the Overall Champion across the categories. Petronas won three Champion titles in four categories they were listed in and EY clinched two Champion awards in the field of accounting and consulting.

“We applaud all the winners for your hard work, determination, and the excellence and distinction you achieved in exceptional employer branding in Malaysia,” said Ho.

About Talentbank

Established in 2010, Talentbank is an enabler in the employability ecosystem, focused on producing career-ready candidates and providing them with better career paths by connecting them with industry leaders. Over the last 13 years, Talentbank has helped tens of thousands of graduates in finding their feet post-graduation. Talentbank also assisted hundreds if not thousands of employers in hiring talents from universities nationwide. This list includes the likes of Maybank, Petronas, Shopee, Maxis, Shell, EY, Huawei, CIMB, Shopee, Intel and many others.