In December of 2018, Malaysia’s rubber glove industry, the biggest in the world, woke up to a rude shock. 

Global media had begun reporting a series of accusations about the industry’s labour rights practices, including issues of forced labour, unsafe working conditions, confiscation of worker passports, illegal withholding of wages and “mental torture”. 

The reports kicked off a series of events that rumbled on for more than three years, and brought  major repercussions for the industry’s biggest global players.

The issue of labour rights has been a global concern for decades, but the story of Top Glove, Kossan, Hartalega, and Supermax brought into sharp focus how worker rights issues are now a major business risk for Asian companies. 

In the space of a few days the Malaysian Big 4 were singled out by Reuters, the UK’s  Guardian and Australian media. Over the coming months and years the world’s biggest asset manager would take action to block the appointment of directors at Top Glove, and most significantly of all, the US government began taking action to block imports of rubber gloves from the targeted companies. 

Less reported but no less important was the shocking oversights that allowed these problems to continue for so long. Those global agencies charged with monitoring workers’ conditions regularly gave the Malaysian glove industry a clean bill of health. Even the media were asleep at the wheel, until the realities were revealed by the diligence of one man.

That man was Andy Hall.

Here, he and Darian McBain discuss the ever increasing scrutiny being applied to Asian labour issues, and how other business leaders should consider their own exposure. Further readings:Clean Gloves, Dirty Practices: Debt Bondage in Malaysia’s Rubber Glove IndustryDebt Bondage Payouts Flow to Workers in Malaysia’s Glove IndustryAfter Pressure, Growing Transparency in Malaysia’s Glove Industry

ESG is under attack. From all sides.

On this episode of Risky Business Asia we’re joined by Rajeev Peshawaria, the CEO of the Stewardship Asia Centre and author of the new book Unsustainable Sustainability - why ESG is not enough.

On this episode, Darian and Teymoor discuss a recent article in The New Yorker that digs into the controversy surrounding South Pole – the world’s most influential climate consultancy. Did South Pole misrepresent the value of its Zimbabwean climate offset products, as The New Yorker suggests? And what lessons can comapnies learn from the issue? This episode's special guest is Marc Allen, co-founder of Unravel Carbon.

A quick explanation of Risky Business Asia by Dr Darian McBain

Dr Benjamin Horton, CEO of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, warns that islands like Singapore are in danger of becoming "the new Atlantis" if the 1.5 degree climate target is breached.

Interview with Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather Group.

Asia is developing at warp speed — but how can it do so without challenging the environment?We sit down for a full-length interview with Dr. Parag Khanna, global strategy advisor, founder of FutureMap, and author of “The Future is Asian”, to discuss what must be done to ensure that future is sustainable.

He talks about accelerating hydrocarbon markets, subsidizing large-scale solar projects, and transferring technology out of China, India, and Japan and into ASEAN countries — and, most importantly, explains why Asia doesn’t need to wait for Western powers in order to do any of these things.

East Asian cities (Seoul is a prime example) are combining high technology with social innovation. So how can we harness this tech for the public good throughout the rest of Asia Pacific?

Sir Geoff Mulgan, former CEO of the innovation foundation Nesta, lays out a roadmap for scaling simple technology to spur development.

Now a Professor of Creative Intelligence, Public Policy & Social Integration at University College London, Geoff is a leading global thinker and consultant in the fields of innovation and social impact. 

TFI sat down with him this week for his insights on how investment in social enterprise will bring Asia into the future.