Page 136 - The Ethics of ASEAN

The Ethics of ASEAN

Accreditation offers a way of promoting ethicality, on top of
the compliance.
Secondly, there is Fairwork, an ongoing Oxford study
where Prof. Binghay is a participating expert. The Fairwork
framework follows five principles: fair pay, fair conditions, fair
contracts, fair management, and fair representation. These
principles provide a way to operationalize abstractions such
as “decent work” within specific country studies with differing
labour laws.
Finally, ethicality can be structured through what
academics call “organisational culture embedding
mechanisms.” These are more internal than external ethical
frameworks and according to Prof Binghay they are the most
powerful of the three. They take the form of a code of conduct
aligned with international rights and policies that express
organisational and corporate values. Another embedding
mechanism is ethical leadership, what Prof. Binghay calls
a “leadership imbued with spirituality” that is guided by an
aspiration towards doing good. A recent trend in organisational
culture today is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) a growing
manifestation of human development ethics in companies.
Ultimately Prof. Binghay believes that ethicality is part
of strategic leadership. A business that prioritizes workers
is more sustainable in the long run and attracts workers that
value the business and ensure its growth. Adopting ethical
principles is therefore a win-win for employers, workers and
society.

Professor Welyne Jehom: human
development at work needs social science
concepts and measurement
Anthropologist Dr Welyne Jehom from Universiti of Malaya
adds the holistic perspective that human development must
include cultural particularities and cultural diversity. She
has been actively championing human rights and human
development for indigenous peoples across ASEAN. She is also
responsible for developing ASEAN’s first Master’s degree in
human development to be launched in 2024 at the Universiti of
Malaya.
Figure 4: Professor Welyne
Jehom, Anthropologist at In her studies of rural-urban migrants and indigenous
the Universiti of Malaya workers, Dr Jehom found that the social, cultural, and
psychological dimensions of work are as important as working
conditions. Yet they are often neglected. She points out that
communication barriers between ethnic groups and migrants

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