Page 66 - The Ethics of ASEAN

The Ethics of ASEAN

Dr Wit points out that their current business model is
not an easy one. From the very beginning, DTGO’s objectives
include the nurturing of children’s education for its foreign
contract workers. In terms of property development, Dr Wit
discusses supply chain challenges in ensuring that the families
and children of contract workers are documented and given a
decent education. He also discusses how DTGO is not simply
doing charity work but is working to ensure that the people in
need could be supported in the long term. Dr Wit explains, “if
you are talking about a student who is in Grade 1 and you would
like to support that child until they reach university, it means we
are talking about 15-16 years from now.”
Despite the planning and difficulties, Dr Wit still believes
that it is compassion that matters most in sustaining ethical
practices in companies. When it comes to ethics, he says, “we
use our heart rather than our heads”. In other words, it is “doing
rather than planning” that makes a company ethical. It is good
for companies to incorporate ethics into their strategy and
comply with ESG requirements. It is even better when ethics IS
the company.

Mun Ching Yap: ASEAN Companies create
Foundations to support ethical causes

Ms. Mun Ching Yap is the Founder and Executive Director of
the AirAsia Foundation, as well as the Head of Sustainability of
the AirAsia Group. Her background was initially in journalism,
writing as a columnist for the Malaysian newspaper The Sun
Daily, with focus on socio-political developments. Her first
encounter with AirAsia was as a journalist interviewing Tony
Fernandes, the founder of the Malaysian low-cost airline
company, AirAsia. Mun Ching would emerge as its route planner
and later its Head of Strategic Planning. She would spend a brief
time working for the Malaysian government before meeting
Figure 2: Mun Ching Yap Tony Fernandes again, this time to discuss how to take action
is Founder and Executive for social responsibility. The result was the AirAsia Foundation.
Director of the AirAsia
Foundation and Head of The AirAsia Foundation was founded in 2012, and calls
Sustainability of the AirAsia
Group. itself “the philanthropic arm of AirAsia Group”. Its corporate
ethics focus on supporting social entrepreneurship and small
businesses through grants, mentorship, networking, and sale
of social enterprise products through AirAsia. According to the
AirAsia Foundation, they have funded 28 social enterprises in
7 countries with over 3,000 direct beneficiaries. Aside from
providing grants, they also run Destination GOOD, a flagship
social enterprise shop that serves to retail over 400 ethically
produced goods from 50 different social enterprises.

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