Chandran Nair is a vocal advocate of a more sustainable approach to development in Asia. A former chairman of leading environmental consultancy, Environmental Resources Management, Nair has advised governments and multinational corporations in the Asia-Pacific region on this issue. Nair, who is a Malaysian of Indian origin, is the founder and CEO of the Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT), a Hong Kong-based independent think-tank offering executive education from an Asian world view. His book, “Consumptionomics: Asia’s Role in Reshaping Capitalism and Saving the Planet” focuses on the subject, and since its publication in 2011, he has spoken about it at various global platforms such as the World Economic Forum, Apec summits and OECD events.
Nair is also the director of The Other Hundred project, a non-profit photo-book initiative launched last year by GIFT, as a counterpoint to the Forbes 100 and other lists of the rich published by the media. He was in Dubai recently for the opening of an exhibition featuring stories from the book, and spoke to Weekend Review about the challenges of being one of the few Asian voices to question Western development models and advocate the need for a new path when Asia is at the wheel. Excerpts:
What is your vision for GIFT?
I feel that Asia is asleep at the wheel with regards to sustainable development. We are aping the West, and few pan-Asian thinkers are willing to challenge the dominant Western narrative. I wanted GIFT to be a beacon of honest inquiry; hence I set up an independent think-tank that is not funded by government, industry or political groups. The idea is to offer leaders of the future experiential executive education about the new world from an Asian world view.
What is unique about your courses?
Participants in our global leadership programmes come from the largest companies in the world, who know that the world has changed and they must understand other narratives. My basic premise is that the 21st century will be defined by Asia, simply because of the massive population of the region. The Western business model is based on promoting relentless consumption through the externalisation of cost and under-pricing of resources. If we ape the West, we will destroy ourselves and the world. Hence, we need to think about our political models, about pricing our resources and finding the balance between individual rights and freedoms, and collective good on our path to prosperity. So, in the first week, we deconstruct the whole idea of progress through intensive debate on topics such as capitalism, democracy and the eastward shift of economic power. And in the second week, we take the participants to another country, where they develop an alternative business model for a socio-economic opportunity, such as developing a plan to build the first dairy industry in Myanmar to address issues of poverty and malnutrition.
What motivated you to write the book about “consumptionomics”?
The whole debate on environment and sustainability in Asia is based on the Western narrative. My book basically says that in 2050 the population of Asia will be five to six billion, and the idea that so many Asians can and should aspire to live like Westerners is a lie. The idea that capitalism, technology, democracy and free markets can solve this problem must be debunked. The Western economic model was based on the premise of a small minority ruling the world and its resources. But that era is being dismantled and we cannot be like them because of our sheer numbers. Asians will have to redefine the fundamental notion of prosperity and a good life, based on our value systems, and the accumulated wisdom of our ancient civilisations. I wrote the book to mainstream something Asians thought they could not talk about, because it is contrary to Western models. I am an Indian, who was born and raised in the multicultural society of Malaysia, studied engineering in London, and was involved in political and developmental work in Africa. I believe I have a better understanding of the world than a politician from Texas or somebody from a British public school. I cannot let these people tell me what the world looks like or that the ancient Eastern civilisations have nothing to contribute. I want to speak up and challenge this.
What is the idea behind The Other Hundred project?
This project seeks to provide counterpoints to mainstream-media narratives and stereotypes that glorify the rich and famous. It is a reminder that a majority of the world’s population is not so rich, but those people are also doing great things, and their stories must be told so that we have a more realistic perspective on “the global village”. So, we issued an open call for photographers from around the world to submit photo-stories from their communities. We received 12,000 submissions from 1,500 photographers in 156 countries. From these, we selected 100 stories of people from 91 countries. The book also features short essays by acclaimed thinkers such as author Pankaj Mishra, poet Bei Dao and Amy Goodman.
What were the criteria for selection?
We wanted positive stories that challenge the negative stereotypes of oppression, violence and poverty perpetuated by celebrity photographers who parachute into developing countries to capture exotic images. We also wanted to challenge the idea of a coffee-table book with pretty pictures of unknown people. We wanted the names of the people and their stories. We avoided stereotypical stories. So, from Rwanda, we have the story of a young woman who is the top coffee taster, alongside information about the country’s revenues from coffee exports. The story from Laos is about a group of women involved in demining the countryside, which brings attention to the heavy bombing by the United States in the country. We had thousands of stories about the violence in Syria, but we chose a story about four traders who sell bread, fruit, baklava and meat, because these are the people who keep a society together in times of distress. The story from Dubai is about weekend dance and wrestling competitions for labourers, which speaks about the spirit of these hardworking people. Every continent is represented, highlighting the fact that the “other hundred” are also there in the richest countries.
How do you plan to take this project forward?
The second edition of The Other Hundred will focus on stories of entrepreneurs who are not tech billionaires or graduates from elite business schools. The idea is to show that entrepreneurship is not about becoming a millionaire, but about taking control of your life; and that 99 per cent of entrepreneurs never went to business school, never met an investment banker or did IPOs and exit strategies. They build things that last and are not looking for global dominance, or to make quick money by selling the business. We hope to be able to help the people featured in the books through the funds raised from sales.
Jyoti Kalsi is an arts enthusiast based in Dubai.
