Established in 2015 in collaboration with MIT Sloan Management, our vision is to be a global knowledge hub, with regional insights from Asia and the emerging world.
ASB’s research centers conduct impactful research in emerging markets, business strategies, technology, and sustainability. Together, they foster innovation in the business landscape.
The ASB curriculum seamlessly integrates MIT Sloan’s rigor with the strategic insights of Asia. With MIT Sloan Immersion and Industry Treks, it immerses future leaders in a diverse range of industries.
Introducing ACE (Agile Continuous Education), a structured micro-credentials initiative offering flexible, hybrid courses developed to strengthen professional capability in a rapidly evolving landscape.
ASB excels through dynamic collaborations, addressing business challenges with innovation, built on robust partnerships.
Some members of the academe are sounding the alarm on Artificial Intelligence tools as a roadblock for students’ learning. But many say we should be open to opportunities presented by digital education. Asia School of Business CEO, President and Dean Sanjay Sarma shares his views.
Originally published by The CNN Philippines.
In February 2022, Europe had a stark reminder of how quickly a massive number of people can be displaced, pretty much overnight. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced more than 8 million Ukrainians to flee, both within the country and to neighbouring European countries, with Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic among those opening their doors to these refugees.
Though the Ukrainian refugee crisis garnered much media attention and mobilization from European countries, there are numerous other conflicts, political regimes and natural disasters that have caused the displacement of many people from all over the world in recent years.
From Syria and Afghanistan to Sudan and Myanmar, the number of refugees worldwide increased to 35.3 million at the end of 2022, the largest yearly increase ever recorded, according to UNHCR, the UN refugee Agency Responsibility for ensuring refugees’ safety often rests on governments and global organizations such as the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR as well as NGOs and charities such as the International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders and Save The Children to ensure that they are able to evacuate their homes and settle in a safer place, as well as have access to basic needs such as healthcare.
But for many refugees, they leave fruitful and rewarding lives in their home countries, moving to new countries, cultures and contexts, and more often than not are simply surviving not thriving in their new environments.
This is where business schools recognize they can have a profound impact on refugees, and there are clearly plenty of opportunities where business schools, and their students and alumni, can play their part to help tackle the global refugee crisis.
Fatima Arabzada was a recipient of a State Department-funded exchange program that enabled her as a female entrepreneur to leave a highly conservative province of Afghanistan to seek asylum in the US. During her undergraduate at Bucknell University, she launched a/another business and her early career also included consulting with Deloitte.
Fatima graduated this month from MIT Sloan’s MBA Class of ‘23, where she was an Innovation Ambassador, Panelist for various entrepreneurship topics, and recipient of the MIT Sloan Social Impact Fellowship.
“Afghanistan collapsed two weeks before my MIT Sloan orientation started, and I was able to rescue 15 members of my family and 25 athletes from Afghanistan. I operated with incredible levels of ambiguity, stayed extremely calm under pressure, ingested large sums of information to make life and death decisions all while managing more than a hundred friends and family in the process.”
“Focus on expanding your horizons and allow curiosity take you to places that will provide you growth and exposure.” Fatima Arabzada, MIT Sloan MBA Class of ’23 FATIMA ARABZADA
For Fatima this is not an isolated story, unfortunately. “The refugee students have to both successfully overcome such hardships and acquire experiences that are relatable to corporate America. That is a significant hindrance when refugee students already work at least twice as hard for the same opportunities and recognition. “
She feels that it is important for business schools to acknowledge the skillsets that these individuals have acquired not only through their resumes but also through their lived experiences.
Cheikh Diouf Faye’s refugee story began in Africa, with Senegalese parents living in the north of the country. Because of the climate crisis affecting agriculture and livestock – the main economic activities in the area – many people began to leave the region to settle in more tropical areas of the south and centre. At the age of 10, Cheikh sought refuge as an infant, travelling to Spain by boat in a complicated journey that lasted more than a month, and ended with him living in a number of several Spanish Red Cross juvenile facilities.
“I was a minor and I was alone when I arrived at the peninsula. The person I came with, for different reasons, decided to separate our paths. From that moment on, the Spanish State kept custody of me until I turned 18,” says Cheikh. “My reasons for fleeing Senegal are diverse, among them are poverty, lack of education and opportunities, child labour, living in a conflict zone in the country (which demands independence) and a complex family structure.”
“I believe in education as a transformative tool, so I chose this path to change my reality and the reality of my family.” Cheikh Diouf Faye, BBA student at University of Loyola Seville CHEIKH DIOUF FAYE
At the age of 18, Cheikh had to leave the juvenile facility in Spain and, not knowing what to do next, an opportunity came to him. The University of Loyola, in Seville, offered him a scholarship to study at the university, with Cheikh choosing to study Business Administration and Management in the university’s business school.
Cheikh believes education is a key tool in lifting people out of poverty, and also helping refugees to integrate and flourish further. “I believe in education as a transformative tool, so I chose this path to change my reality and the reality of my family.
In the near future I intend to increase the number of young people in my care, my goal is to support people to have the ability to develop their futures freely and autonomously, so they do not risk their lives as I did at sea to come to Spain or any other country.”
For Cheikh, business schools are in a great position to offer refugees a close-knit community that will offer emotional support, peace of mind and the opportunity of being a valued member by helping others in any way he or she can.
Yuliia Honcharova’s story begins more recently than Cheikh’s. Yuliia left Ukraine to travel to Portugal several months before the Russian invasion, with plans to travel back at some point to the Donbass region where she is originally from. However the invasion of Ukraine left Yuliia stranded with nowhere to return to.
Technically a refugee, Yuliia decided to stay in Portugal, a country where she describes the people as “friendly and empathetic to the situation”, which she is grateful for. But the help for refugees may not be as strong compared to other European countries. Yuliia did receive help from the Galp Foundation, however, when she applied to study an International MBA at Porto Business School.
Yuliia Honcharova hopes other students will use her story at Porto Business School as an example of “resilience to life’s obstacles.” YULIIA HONCHAROVA
“I got my scholarship from Galp Foundation, which was a great opportunity to enhance my expertise with business education in Porto Business School. It is an inspiring initiative to support talented people when they most need the help.” Yuliia is currently on the program, with hopes of upgrading her education and advancing her business knowledge.
Yuliia hopes other students will use her story as an example of “resilience to life’s obstacles – how to start a new life from scratch in a new country, how to control emotions in difficult situations, and how to be kind to others.”
These are just two examples of refugees who’ve used the opportunities given to them at business schools to change their lives for the better. As we mark World Refugee Day this week, we look at some examples of how business schools around the globe are seeking to help refugees through scholarships and other innovative initiatives.
For many refugees, one of the biggest barriers they face in their new countries is access to education and work. The barriers to entry at business schools can be high, but offering scholarships to those with refugee status is a great way to improve their access to education and also create greater diversity on programmes.
ESMT Berlin, Germany, recently launched a partnership with the BMW Foundation to offer 10 full-tuition scholarships to displaced women from Ukraine to study in their Global Online MBA. The driver behind this decision was to support these women to develop the knowledge and skills that would help rebuild Ukraine, says Rebecca Loades, Director of MBA Programs at ESMT Berlin.
“Finance can be a barrier to many potential MBA students, particularly those who have been forced to flee their country and seek refuge in another,” says Rebecca. “As we firmly believe that education is a catalyst for change and transformation, we wanted to help those seeking a better life to also develop professionally and personally.”
“In offering educational opportunities to refugees, business schools are helping promote social integration, diversity, and economic empowerment too.” Rebecca Loades, Director of MBA Programs at ESMT Berlin FOTO BY MIKA-FOTOGRAFIE | BERLIN – FOTOGRAF MAIK SCHULZE
Given the scholarship is for the online programme at ESMT, applicants were not limited to having to live in Berlin or even Germany, and participants are experiencing the program from all around Europe. “In offering educational opportunities to refugees, business schools are helping promote social integration, diversity, and economic empowerment too,” says Rebecca.
“They are also helping foster social cohesion and demonstrate a commitment to humanitarian values that will benefit society.” Another business school who is offering scholarships to refugee is King’s Business School, London. As part of the wider University’s Sanctuary Programme – a programme created in 2015 in response to global displacement – the business school offers full-tuition scholarships to applicants with refugee status.
This is just one aspect of the Sanctuary Programme at King’s, which also offers digital learning platforms for refugees, and conducts faculty research into migrants and refugees. There are numerous other scholarships available for refugee students, including the Columbia University Scholarship for Displaced Students, which provides full tuition, plus housing and living assistance to students pursuing a degree at Columbia University.
The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans offers 30 merit-based fellowships worth $90,000 to immigrants and children of immigrants who are pursuing graduate studies in the US. And from the faculty perspective, the insights and knowledge that business school professors have can also be used to help further support refugee groups.
One such example is at the Asia School of Business in Malaysia, who’s ASEAN Research Center provides a space for free community-led organizations to offer trainings and workshops. The business school also partners with UNHCR to research important topics relevant to refugees and to disseminate it through media engagements.
One way many refugees gain income in Malaysia is by becoming entrepreneurs, and Asia School of Business hosts many events catered for these refugee founders. “More than 30 refugee businesses are able to sell their companies’ products through our ASB-UNHCR Research Workshop,” explains Dr. Melati Nungsari, an Associate Professor of Economics at the Asia School of Business and a Research Affiliate at MIT Sloan School of Management.
“Business schools have the responsibility to incorporate exposure and collaborations with vulnerable communities into their curriculum.” Dr. Melati Nungsari, Asia School of Business ASIA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
“We also engage with government officials on the labour market integration of refugees into the local economy.” For Dr. Nungsari, business schools are able to teach future management leaders about the value of hiring refugees in work. “Business schools have the responsibility to incorporate exposure and collaborations with vulnerable communities into their curriculum – be it formally or informally – in order to educate business leaders on the importance of sustainable and ethical business,” she says.
At the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University in the Netherlands, the business school saw the effect that the Ukraine war was having on Ukrainian student’s education, and decided to develop a 12-week programme on business fundamentals for a mix of Ukrainian high school, bachelor and Masters students, which could help students to rebuild the economy in Ukraine once the war is over.
“We worked everything out in our own time and we also teach for free – there are no other costs involved,” says Florian Madertoner, a lecturer in Corporate Finance at RSM. “It turns out, despite course manuals and accreditation procedures, the only ingredients necessary for a successful course are people willing to teach and people willing to learn,”.
At the end of the 12-week program, each student presented a full business plan for either a fictive or a real business. When asked how he thinks students’ final projects will benefit Ukraine and other countries, Madertoner is positive. “Currently, a problem exists, and these students see viable solutions to that problem. They are constructing socially relevant business projects such as providing more education, food, catering services and transport for the Ukraine once the war has ended.”
“The only ingredients necessary for a successful course are people willing to teach and people willing to learn.” Florian Madertoner – RSM, Erasmus University FLORIAN MADERTONER
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the University of St. Gallen, in Switzerland, has been offering various support measures for refugee Ukrainians. The “Offers for Migrants” initiative, provides selected executive education programmes free of charge to all refugee migrants with a university degree living in Switzerland.
The aim of the initiative is to enable refugee migrants to access high-quality, contemporary executive education so that they can build a better future for themselves, as well as giving them the opportunity to orient themselves professionally and to gain a foothold in Switzerland.
Offering executive education programmes for highly qualified refugees is particularly relevant, important and urgent today, says Christina Vetsch, Corporate Communication Manager at University of St. Gallen’s Executive School.
“Highly qualified refugees bring with them knowledge, skills and experience from which the entire society can benefit. In the individual programs, they learn and experience how to adapt their existing skills and supplement missing knowledge, thereby increasing and improving their chances on the labour market,” she says.
Vetsch emphasizes the importance of business schools undertaking initiatives for highly skilled refugees in terms of social responsibility and equal opportunities. “Such initiatives demonstrate that business schools are taking on social responsibility and contributing to the creation of an inclusive society.
At the same time, they promote equality of opportunity by providing skilled refugees with access to education and, subsequently, employment opportunities.” It’s not just in-person programmes for refugees on campus that business schools are looking to launch either.
Nyenrode Business University, in the Netherlands, travelled to the island of Samos in Greece to deliver a design thinking workshop to the residents of a refugee camp. The programme helped refugees to understand how to use design thinking to tackle challenges related to hygiene and sanitation, cultural and language barriers, and peace and conflict resolution in the camp.
“We worked on the challenge of lack of social cohesion and unity in the camp. A challenge that was identified by the refugees themselves.” Désirée van Gorp, Professor at Nyenrode Business University
“We train participants in design thinking and award them with an acknowledgement to provide them with a kickstart on the labour market,” says Dr. Désirée van Gorp, Professor at Nyenrode Business University. “Additionally, participants worked on solutions for the challenge of the disconnect of social cohesion and unity in the camp,” she says, with the aim for participants to become innovators and a source of inspiration and a role model in their communities.
Increasing geopolitical tensions, alongside the devastating effects that climate change is having means it’s likely that in future decades we will see more and more people displaced. The international thinktank, Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) predicts that 1.2 billion people could be displaced globally by 2050 due to climate change and natural disasters. And beyond governments and charities, business schools will need to do play a key role to help refugees gain access to education and work.
At MIT Sloan School of Management, there is a continual focus on inclusion for all members of the school’s community, welcoming students from a wide variety of backgrounds and locations around the world. Currently, MIT Sloan has a small number of refugee and asylum-seeking students enrolled, and the business school is enhancing the programming to better reach and positively impact students and better ensure that MIT Sloan feels as much like home as it can.
For Fatima Arabzada, Supporting refugees is an important area for the MIT Sloan administration to expand into. “It is critical to ensure that students have the financial and emotional resources to embrace all the learning and experiences inside and outside of the classroom.”
Fatima has three pieces of advice for refugee students who are considering pursuing business education or starting their entrepreneurial journey. “First, focus on expanding your horizons and allow curiosity take you to places that will provide you growth and exposure. During my time at MIT Sloan, I took AI, quantum computing, and entrepreneurial courses that will allow me to stay highly competitive anywhere in the world and fed the curiosity of my inner child.”
“Second, as a refugee, you are born into a cause that is significant and urgent; however, your commitment to the cause does not have to be immediate.” She observes that often survivor’s guilt can create mental blocks against embracing certain new experiences. “Focus on healing and growth so that you are able to serve in a much bigger capacity.”
Finally, she insists that betting on yourself will always pay dividends. “Find the right mentors and learn what it would take to minimize the risks of building a startup before you commit to that path. For example: I approached a businessman I respect greatly, Dob Belinsky, to be one of the founding members of his startup and I not only gained valuable insights but also gained a lifetime mentor.”
Originally published by The Forbes.
Founder and director of the Yemeni Refugee Women’s Association Leena Al-Mujaheed speaks to reporters at the research workshop on refugee studies and forced displacement jointly organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Asia School of Business in Kuala Lumpur June 19, 2023. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Refugees can be agents of change and help boost innovation and the economy of the host countries that accept them if given the chance, the founder and director of the Yemeni Refugee Women’s Association said today. Leena Al-Mujaheed said all refugees need are opportunities to rebuild their lives, such as education. “Despite the immense challenge they face, they possess untapped talents, skills, and aspirations.
“When given the opportunity to rebuild their lives and contribute to their host communities, refugees will become agents of change, driving innovation, cultural enrichment, and economic growth,” she said at a two-day research workshop on refugee studies and forced displacement jointly organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Asia School of Business here ahead of World Refugee Day tomorrow.
Prof Datuk Morshidi Sirat, special adviser to the Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin, delivers a speech at the research workshop on refugee studies and forced displacement jointly organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Asia School of Business in Kuala Lumpur June 19, 2023. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
Prof Datuk Morshidi Sirat, special adviser to the Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin, expressed the government’s full support for the workshop to advocate education as a basic right for refugees. “The refugees will be at stake if we play pretend on their issues. I fully support this workshop to challenge the national thinking, develop transformative and principle leaders,” he said.
About 200 participants from all over the world attended the workshop and gathered to exchange and discuss ideas to understand deeper on refugees issues. A refugee advocate from Tokyo, Japan, Yusuke Yasuda said he hopes that this will be a platform for him to gather more ideas and perspectives from people around the world. “This is my first time attending a workshop from UNHCR and I’m excited.
I studied the labour migrant issues years ago in the UK, but although this workshop Isn’t really my topic, I’m here to deepen my knowledge on refugees’ issues. “This type of workshop is important for us to exchange ideas and also to disseminate it to the public about awareness. I’m planning to further my study doing a doctorate and maybe I can get some basis, foundation, ideas and motivation here to do it,” the 32-year-old said.
Malaysian Sharleen Foo, 35, said she voluntarily registered for the workshop as she wants to learn more on why refugees’ matter to a country. “I wanted to know how refugees can contribute to our country and speaking to some people here, they explained that they can contribute to our economy and our communities to name a few. “I guess I’ll gain a lot more information when the workshop finishes. Refugees should be treated with basic human needs. Always,” she said.
Some 181,300 refugees in Malaysia are currently living in situations where they face a daily challenge to seek basic human rights. The two-day workshop is being held for the third time in Malaysia by the UNHCR, in collaboration with the Asia School of Business, to highlight the importance of those who fled their war-torn country receiving basic human needs such as healthcare and education when seeking asylum.
UNHCR representative Thomas Albrecht delivers a speech at the research workshop on refugee studies and forced displacement jointly organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Asia School of Business in Kuala Lumpur June 19, 2023. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
UNHCR representative, Thomas Albrecht, said the workshop is to create a space to connect researchers working on refugee studies in South-east Asia, including Malaysia. “World Refugee Day is a day to honour courage, strength, and contributions of millions of people around the world who have been forced to flee their homes due to violence, war or persecution.
“We see this workshop as a space for networking and merging ideas and a strengthening of the collective knowledge and understanding of where the gaps are in refugee research in the country. “Our hope is that this will be the start of a community of researchers and academics working to strengthen the efforts of civil society, the government, refugee communities, and UN organisations in Malaysia,” he said in his opening ceremony speech at the Asia School of Business here.
Albrecht said working more closely in partnership with academics towards solid and evidence-based advocacy is critical. “It is critical in strengthening our lobbying for policy change, especially when new or potentially unpopular ideas are being proposed,” he said.
Originally published by Malay Mail.
HAVING a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) mindset is important for students pursuing these fields. STEM is a mindset and a framework not just for these disciplines, but also for life, said professor of mechanical engineering at the Sloan School of Management at MIT Sanjay Sarma, who has more than 20 patents to his name for radio-frequency identification (RFID) and Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies. “Once you have mastery of a STEM mindset, you will view the world differently.
Every time you step into a lift or ride in a train, you will think about everything that makes it work,” he told StarEdu. Among Sanjay’s noteworthy achievements was teaming up with a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers to develop a disposable and affordable smart diaper embedded with an RFID tag designed to sense and communicate wetness to a nearby RFID reader which can, in turn, wirelessly send a notification to a caregiver that it’s time for a change.
The process of inventing, said Sanjay, starts with an idea, followed by attempts to make it practical and realistic before a prototype is created and finally commercialised.“Invention is an instinct that is practised all the time. It comes from problem recognition, which is important, followed by a problem-solving mindset and the mindset of connecting dots,” he added.
On encouraging young children to actively participate in STEM, Sanjay, who is also Asia School of Business chief executive officer, president and dean, said the current approach of having them solely solving examination problems and passive listening in classrooms is inadequate. He suggested that a mindset shift towards the practical application of knowledge is necessary to promote deeper learning.
“We need to change the mindset towards the act of doing something with what they learn. This will encourage a sense of urgency, invention, application and commercialisation. “The fire that drives performance is curiosity. Once this fire is lit, it needs to be fanned with information. “The application is a form of internalising the information. The more this becomes a practice, the more likely that they will continue in that field,” he said.
Cognisant of the constantly evolving STEM field, Sanjay said it is crucial to stay updated on the latest trends and innovations. As an avid reader, he sets up news alerts to stay informed about the latest developments. He also takes time out every day to consider the implications of ideas expressed within articles, videos and podcasts. Sanjay said this approach has helped him stay ahead of the curve and be more successful in his endeavours within the field.
“It is not the only future but mastering STEM will pave the way for you to have a lot of options. “Task yourself to understand vaccinations for Covid-19, for example. How do vaccines work? What is mRNA? Grapple with it and you will develop a knack for mastering it. There are so many channels these days to learn from,” he said. Despite his enthusiasm for STEM, Sanjay believes that having an interest in the arts and humanities is crucial to becoming a lifelong learner, of which he is an advocate.
While he played a pivotal role at MIT in developing cutting-edge technologies that now form the backbone of RFID standards used worldwide, he also created innovative programmes for open learning during his decade-long tenure as the vice president for open learning at the varsity. “We are heading for a much more integrated approach in our economies and so, I recommend students to not be unidimensional.
“Study STEM but read a book, appreciate music, and try your hand at an art like painting. The mental muscles, like your body, need balanced activation,” Sanjay said, adding that the act of being committed to learning is equally as important. “In the end, always remember to practise diligence and perseverance. It’s worth it.” Now that you have read the article, test your understanding by carrying out the following English language activities.
Originally published by The Star.
KUALA LUMPUR: As the Asia School of Business for the MBA Class of 2023 graduated today, the Sultan of Perak imparted a short and simple message that he himself believes in. “Keep learning,” said Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah before ending his commencement address at the Asia School of Business here today. Sultan Nazrin said he had decided to offer them the piece of guidance that resonated with his own life’s journey.
“And while today may, for many of you, mark the end of your formal education, I want to end by reminding you that there are always new skills to develop and new discoveries to be made. “So do keep learning as you continue your journey from here, and do not ever close off your imagination to new discoveries and opportunities. “Stay interested, stay engaged and stay curious. And remember that, even after centuries of revolutionary, high-tech inventions – after electricity, the Internet, and now ChatGPT – the human mind remains the most powerful tool on the planet.
“And while you keep seeking the truth through lifelong learning, do also make sure to take actions as well,” said Sultan Nazrin. He said they could also look to Academy Award winner actress Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh, who had delivered an address to the Harvard Law School of 2023 on how to pick oneself up after falling. He said in it, she drew on her own experience of moving unexpectedly from a career in dance to a career in film – of taking on industry barriers and death-defying stunts – to offer the graduating students some sage advice on “how to survive the fall” and get back up again.
“Unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, I have never taken on any action movie stunts myself. So, if you want to learn about falling and bouncing back, whether metaphorically or physically, I urge you to look up Yeoh’s wonderful speech,” he said. Sultan Nazrin said empathy and cultural understanding were both so important in the world today as while connected by technology, transport, business and networks, humanity was still plagued by many divisions.
He said there were also other uncertainties and grave risks from artificial intelligence (AI), geopolitics and the impacts of the climate crisis. “To steer humanity through these challenging times, what we need perhaps even more than the excellent understanding of business attained through your MBA programmes is compassion, togetherness and above all a sense of global community.
“We need to be aware of this community as perhaps never before – extending our concerns and applying our responsibilities not only to the rest of humanity, but to all other living creatures in the world and to the planet itself,” he added. He said in the past year, the world has witnessed a development which is as “seismic as the harnessing of electricity for human use was in the 19th century.”
Sultan Nazrin was referring to ChatGPT and the other generative AI tools, which emerged very recently and are being hailed as both saviour and downfall of humans. He said these tools would certainly massively boost productivity as humans, saving time and creating multiple efficiencies across all kinds of processes, let alone helping to spark ideas for anyone struggling with writer’s block.
“But they will also reshape so many aspects of our lives beyond the workplace, in unprecedented, and, yes, unsettling ways. And as far as generative AI goes, especially in combination with other advancing elements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, this is only the beginning. “So while this changing landscape presents exciting opportunities, with challenges in need of solutions and so many discoveries and innovations waiting to be made, it is also daunting.
“It will require members of the workforce of tomorrow to be inventive, proactive, adaptable, in ways never demanded before. Let alone being digital natives, these workers – including yourselves – will be natives of artificial, augmented and virtual worlds, using technology both existing and yet to be created,” he said.
Originally published by New Straits Times
Also published in The Star, The Edge, Astro AWANI, Bernama, Sinar Harian, Oriental Daily News and The Malaysian Insight.
There’s been a bit more buzz around AI this week following an open letter signed by a group of AI experts and other high-profile figures and released by the Center for AI Safety. The open letter had only one line – “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”
Listen to the full interview below.
Originally published by BFM.
Singapore Temasek Holding’s decided to cut the pay of the staff responsible for the failed 275 US million dollar investment in bankrupt FTX, in an unprecedented move for collective accountability and good governance. We speak with Elsa Satkunasingam from Asia School of Business, and what this could mean for Malaysia’s Government-Linked Investment Companies.
Listen to the full interview below.
Originally published by BFM.
Tabung Kewangan Antarabangsa – bersama-sama Bank Dunia yang menjadi Pertubuhan Perdagangan Dunia – diwujudkan pada Persidangan Bretton Woods pada Julai 1944. Matlamatnya adalah untuk mewujudkan sistem antarabangsa yang akan menyelesaikan masalah yang menjejaskan perdagangan dan hubungan kewangan semasa tempoh antara perang.
Manipulasi mata wang telah membawa kepada dasar perdagangan perlindungan yang membahayakan perdagangan dan perdagangan antarabangsa. Keutamaan tarif dalam empayar British juga telah mengehadkan peluang perdagangan untuk tanah jajahan. Beberapa negara, terutamanya Jerman, telah mengalami hiperinflasi dalam tempoh antara perang, dan secara amnya dipercayai bahawa aliran modal tidak stabil.
Kewujudan sistem antarabangsa dipersetujui untuk menangani kekurangan ini dengan menekankan kepentingan sistem perdagangan pelbagai hala terbuka; ketiadaan kawalan ke atas pembayaran antarabangsa untuk urus niaga yang berkaitan dengan perdagangan barangan dan perkhidmatan; dan sistem pariti kadar pertukaran yang dikaitkan dengan emas melalui dolar Amerika Syarikat.
Sistem Bretton-Wood telah berkembang dari semasa ke semasa melalui dua dimensi penting. Pertama, sistem nilai tara bagi kadar pertukaran yang ditambat telah, di banyak negara, memberi laluan kepada sistem kadar pertukaran yang fleksibel di mana bank pusat di setiap bidang kuasa bertanggungjawab ke atas dasar monetari dengan objektif untuk mencapai kestabilan monetari dan kewangan domestik dan bukannya mempertahankan nilai tara tertentu untuk mata wang.
Kedua, liberalisasi aliran modal antarabangsa telah membawa kepada peningkatan yang ketara dalam aliran sedemikian yang membolehkan negara membiayai pelaburan domestik melalui pinjaman luar tetapi juga menyebabkan ekonomi mengalami kejutan yang berpunca daripada pasaran modal antarabangsa. Peranan Tabung Kewangan Antarabangsa telah berkembang seiring dengan sistem monetari antarabangsa.
Daripada memberi tumpuan kepada kestabilan kadar pertukaran semata-mata, IMF kini memberi tumpuan kepada dasar monetari, kewangan dan fiskal secara lebih umum dalam kerja pengawasan dua hala dan pelbagai halanya. Ia juga telah berkembang menjadi sebuah institusi yang menyediakan pembiayaan kepada negara yang mempunyai keperluan imbangan pembayaran, sekali gus menyediakan apa yang dirujuk sebagai jaringan keselamatan antarabangsa untuk ekonomi yang mengalami kesukaran.
Pada masa yang sama, peningkatan pesat dalam perdagangan antarabangsa dan aliran modal telah memihak kepada penggunaan dolar Amerika Syarikat oleh sektor swasta sebagai mata wang yang paling sesuai untuk denominasi pembayaran, sehingga setakat ini ia merupakan mata wang yang paling kerap digunakan dalam urus niaga pertukaran asing.
Ini bukanlah satu evolusi yang secara langsung hasil daripada IMF sebagai sebuah institusi. Ia kerana daripada
Amerika Syarikat yang mempunyai pasaran kewangan yang terbesar dan paling terbuka di mana individu, firma, bank, dan institusi rasmi boleh meminjam dan meminjamkan secara bebas dan, sebahagian besarnya, dengan selamat.
Kita boleh mula dengan penyediaan jaringan keselamatan kewangan serantau yang membolehkan negara meminjam sekiranya menghadapi masalah pembayaran luar. Kemudahan sedemikian telah pun wujud dalam bentuk Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) yang ditubuhkan oleh negara ASEAN+3 (sepuluh anggota ASEAN ditambah Republik Rakyat China, Jepun dan Republik Korea).
Ini adalah perjanjian pertukaran kontrak antara negara yang terlibat di mana ahli boleh meminjam untuk membiayai keperluan kecairan imbangan pembayaran jangka pendek, dan ia menyediakan jaringan keselamatan kewangan serantau sama seperti kemudahan pinjaman IMF menyediakan jaringan keselamatan kewangan global.
Seperti yang dinyatakan, IMF menjalankan pengawasan ke atas dasar ekonomi negara anggota dengan objektif untuk mengurangkan secara awal kemungkinan mereka perlu memanfaatkan kemudahan pinjamannya. Begitu juga, negara ASEAN+3 negara menubuhkan AMRO-Asia (ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office) yang beribu pejabat di Singapura.
Di samping menjalankan pengawasan dasar ekonomi negara anggota, peranan utamanya terdiri daripada menyokong CMIM dan menyediakan bantuan teknikal kepada negara anggota. Dengan kewujudan CMIM dan AMRO-Asia nampaknya tidak perlu untuk mewujudkan Dana Kewangan Asia untuk menjalankan pengawasan makroekonomi, pinjaman sokongan imbangan pembayaran jangka pendek, dan bantuan teknikal.
Setakat mana fungsi ini perlu diperkukuh atau diubah suai, nampaknya lebih cekap untuk melakukannya dalam rangka kerja institusi sedia ada daripada menubuhkan institusi baharu. Bagaimana pula dengan percubaan untuk mengurangkan peranan dolar AS dalam transaksi pembayaran serantau? Ambil perhatian bahawa kepentingan dolar AS dalam pembayaran antarabangsa telah berkembang secara organik melalui keputusan oleh mereka yang terlibat dalam pembayaran tersebut dan bukan melalui dekri oleh mana-mana institusi rasmi.
Dan seperti yang telah dinyatakan, evolusi kebanyakannya adalah hasil daripada saiz pasaran kewangan AS dan ekonomi AS secara amnya, bersama-sama dengan apa yang dipanggil luaran rangkaian yang membayangkan bahawa faedah kepada unit individu menggunakan mata wang tertentu dalam urus niaga meningkat. apabila individu lain turut menggunakannya.
Luaran rangkaian ini biasanya membayangkan bahawa satu mata wang akan menjadi mata wang yang dominan dalam sistem ekonomi bersepadu. Walau bagaimanapun, teknologi pembayaran baharu yang menjadikan sistem pembayaran negara saling beroperasi tanpa perlu bergantung pada sistem pemesejan kewangan seperti SWIFT mungkin menjimatkan untuk menyelesaikan beberapa transaksi dengan wilayah tertentu dalam mata wang tempatan.
Perkara ini telah dibincangkan dalam kalangan negara-negara ASEAN khususnya dan memorandum persefahaman telah ditandatangani dan dilaksanakan bagi tujuan ini. AMRO-Asia sedang mengkaji bagaimana untuk membangunkan lagi penyelesaian mata wang tempatan sedemikian.
Sekali lagi, nampaknya tidak perlu untuk mewujudkan dan AMF untuk mempromosikan penggunaan mata wang tempatan dalam perdagangan dan pinjaman. Institusi sedia ada sudah pun meneroka kos, faedah dan modaliti untuk berbuat demikian. – DagangNews.com
Pandangan yang dikongsi dalam ulasan ini adalah pendapat beliau sendiri.
Originally published by Dagang News.
ChatGPT, AI, and the Evolution of Education In the rapidly shifting landscape of technology and education, few individuals have their fingers as firmly on the pulse as Professor Sanjay Sarma. With a career spanning decades in academia and innovation, Professor Sanjay has watched the sunrise of AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, and traced their trajectories as they reshape our world.
As these technologies gain momentum, their influence seeps into every sector, not least of which is tertiary education. Professor Sanjay, with his extensive experience in Open Learning, is uniquely positioned to predict and interpret these tidal shifts. The critical question on everyone’s mind is, “To what extent will AI change education?”
Professor Sanjay Sarma’s journey in academia and technology has been nothing short of inspiring. This journey began at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, from where he received his bachelor’s degree. Further education at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California at Berkeley resulted in a master’s degree and a PhD, respectively. Armed with this solid academic foundation, Sanjay embarked on a career that would see him break boundaries and redefine norms.
He served as the Vice President for Open Learning at MIT, where he also co-founded the Auto-ID Center. His pioneering work led to the development of many key technologies that form the backbone of the EPC suite of RFID standards, now a staple in industries worldwide. Professor Sanjay also brought his innovative thinking to the entrepreneurial world, founding OATSystems and serving as its Chief Technology Officer before it was acquired by Checkpoint Systems in 2008.
His remarkable journey doesn’t stop there. He serves on the boards of GS1US, Hochschild Mining, and several start-up companies, including Top Flight Technologies, a testament to his wide-ranging influence across various sectors. He was recently appointed as the new CEO and Dean of The Asia School of Business (ASB) where he is set to navigate the waves of change that AI is bringing to tertiary education.
Professor Sanjay Sarma’s varied background, rich with achievements and practical experience, positions him uniquely to comment on the future of technology, particularly the role of AI in education. Professor Sanjay has been living and breathing AI before it became a buzzword, delving deep into its potential for years. As we navigate this new age, his insights become ever more relevant and pressing.
I think that AI’s influence on education can go in both good and bad directions. It’s not unusual to see many educational institutions express concern about how AI could potentially disrupt the education system – for instance, students may misuse it to write essays. Such concerns are valid but futile – it’s akin to shaking your fist at the clouds, demanding the rain to stop.
The imminent influence of AI on education will undoubtedly challenge educators, urging them to wield this new tool effectively to improve education. This won’t be a trivial task. I see two broad areas where AI will make a substantial impact.
Firstly, AI can serve as an excellent coach and a co-passenger on the journey of learning. This requires educators and institutions to identify ways to utilize AI as a mentor. This mentoring role of AI can extend to various areas, from helping write code to diagnose problems. Khan Academy has demonstrated how ChatGPT-4 can function as a tutor, assisting students in problem-solving.
The second area where AI will influence education is what I like to call “outperformance.” It’s like a tiger that’s always chasing us, pushing us to outrun it. The people and educational institutions that can surpass AI’s capabilities will enjoy significant success.
Despite its many strengths, AI can often be wrong. So, the essential skill becomes the ability to identify when AI errs. This is what outperformance entails – the people who can surpass AI’s abilities. Regardless of our sentiments, it will undoubtedly influence education. We cannot simply wish it away.
Yes, I do use it. It would be intellectually dishonest to say I don’t. However, the key lies in how I use it. ChatGPT is an extraordinary tool – it’s the first time we’re engaging with a system that can carry on a rather cogent conversation. Like humans, it’s not always correct, but it gets it right a significant amount of the time.
The surprise element of ChatGPT lies not just in its ability as a language model but also as a knowledge model. It made me realise how profoundly we are defined by our language, and how language encodes a lot of knowledge. It’s quite astounding and it changes the dynamics of things, even for tech giants like Google.
As for my usage, I employ it as a co-pilot, much like Microsoft’s portrayal. Just the other day, I was drafting my own bio. On a whim, I decided to use ChatGPT to assist. While I had to revise and correct some parts, the overall process became substantially quicker – it probably saved me about 15 minutes. So, I do see it as an assistant, but an assistant that can make mistakes. It’s crucial to remember that you still need to be in control.
Yes, if a student is asked to write an essay and they use ChatGPT, that would be considered cheating. But trying to prohibit this entirely is akin to telling someone to swim in a lake but not swallow any water. It’s nearly impossible.
The solution lies in designing assignments in a way that ChatGPT becomes a part of it and students have to work around it. For instance, you could have students generate an essay using ChatGPT and then critique it.
It is about embracing “outperformance.” We need to redesign our assignments accordingly. Just as we don’t check spellings any more thanks to the automatic spell-check in Word, we need to move a step beyond and learn to outrun ChatGPT.
It will do both, in my opinion. It will help some while it may hinder others. Let me explain. For a lot of graduates who fall in the middle of the pack, AI might hurt them. There’s a risk that AI might take over their jobs, especially if their skills are common or easily replicable by machines. So, yes, for good writers, for instance, this could pose a problem.
However, individuals who possess extraordinary abilities, be it cognitive or physical, are likely to be least affected by AI. For now, robotics can do coarse motor skills but struggles with fine motor skills. It can drive a truck, but can’t, say, perform delicate stitching work or create nuanced art. Similarly, AI can do amazing things within its capabilities, but at the extremes of sophistication, it falls short.
So, for those who can outperform or perform tasks beyond AI’s capabilities, AI can serve as an excellent support system or an assistant. But for those whose tasks and skills fall within the sweet spot of AI’s capabilities, the technology can indeed be highly competitive and possibly disruptive.
Clearly, anything related to language is immediately impacted. Coding will also be significantly affected as AI can write remarkable code. However, even within coding, there will still be high-value jobs – the outperformers as I call them. Architect roles, for instance, will become more valuable, while those who write more basic code may see their jobs diminish.
Similarly, for someone who crafts the theme of a magazine or a story, their jobs will become more valuable, while routine tasks of writing based on prompts and facts might be automated. Someone still needs to edit the output and find errors. So, jobs that require outperformance will increase, while the standard ones will be impacted.
Look at the banking sector for an example. ATMs replaced the job of dispensing cash, but it led to an increase in the need for roles that give financial advice. In conclusion, I truly believe that education and learning are the oxygen of the new modern economy.
In the midst of this technology-driven evolution, the Asia School of Business (ASB) stands as a beacon of innovative education. Established by Bank Negara Malaysia and MIT Sloan School of Management, ASB is leading the way in management education, championing transformative and principled leaders through its award-winning Action Learning-based curriculum. With Professor Sanjay’s guidance as the new CEO and Dean, ASB is set to navigate the waves of change that AI is bringing to tertiary education.
Find out more about their MBA program.
Originally published by The Peak.
Image courtesy The Edge Malaysia
When it comes to retirement, it is first about setting your retirement goals. And then it is about coming up with a sound and prudent savings programme that helps you achieve those goals. In Malaysia, we are lucky to have a national social security savings system, also known as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), to help us save for retirement, so we can sleep soundly at night.
What should retirement be about? It should be about enabling you to continue with your economically and socially productive activities and lifestyle pursuits, be it for work or leisure. Since the proportion of time you allocate to each category will change from your working years to retirement, you have to be sure of three things on the financial front so you can freely pursue your goals and activities, and meet your consumption and healthcare expenses, even while in retirement:
What could we do to help nudge our nation’s retirement savings path towards a more correct direction? Here are three basic proposals we suggest:
1. The default mode on retirement should be a version of the EPF periodical payment withdrawal scheme. This provides for a regular income stream during retirement instead of a lump sum withdrawal. The latest EPF 2021 annual report states that only 271 members are on this scheme. Down south, Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) has implemented such measures more than a decade ago with the introduction of the Retirement Sum Scheme (RSS) and later, the CPF LIFE scheme.
2. To help the B40 and M40 groups accumulate more retirement savings during their working years, the employer contribution portion needs to be increased for these groups. On the other hand, for the T20 (top 20% income group), the employer contribution amount can be capped at a certain income limit. This capped contribution to tax-advantaged retirement funds has been a feature in many countries including Singapore and the US.
3. Last but perhaps most important, form a “The Future of Malaysian Pensions Advisory Panel” comprising industry financial experts, finance academics, EPF, financially trained civil servants from the appropriate ministries and so on to review Malaysia’s pension and social security savings scheme. It can perhaps be chaired by the most knowledgeable person with reference to pensions from EPF (or co-chaired with a secretary-general from the Ministry of Finance). The panel should come up with recommendations that can be considered by the government and/or parliament for implementation. That’s what Singapore did in 2014 via its CPF Advisory Panel, where the panel made important, value-added changes to the CPF scheme, which were all implemented by 2016 (just two years later).
Given the dire state of inadequate EPF savings in Malaysia, with around 73% of members having too little savings by EPF’s definition, the need to set up some kind of Malaysian SuperFund to support a Basic Pension Scheme appears imminent to some experts — that is, a Basic Living Wage provision within the SuperFund that is means-tested and needs-based given that the well-to-do don’t need subsidies or government handouts.
Prof Geoffrey Williams suggested during the Policy Roundtable to use excesses from a Malaysian petroleum fund (creating one if it doesn’t exist). Just the way Norway funds its pension system via the Norges Bank (NBIM or the Government Pension Fund Global), which states, “The aim of the oil fund is to ensure responsible and long-term management of revenue from Norway’s oil and gas resources, so that this wealth benefits both current and future generations.” This is something the Malaysian pensions advisory panel can perhaps take up as part of its deliberations.
In conclusion, these principles and ideas are presented here to hopefully ensure that Much Ado About Our EPF doesn’t turn into Much Ado About Nothing (of Shakespearean proportions)!
Joseph Cherian is practice professor of finance at the Asia School of Business in Kuala Lumpur and Cornell University (visiting) in New York. Ong Shien Jin is professor of practice at the Asia School of Business and an international faculty fellow at MIT Sloan.
Originally published by The Edge Malaysia.
