Sustainability – What does it mean to me?

Mar 9

Welcome back to an all-new Head’s Up. This week, MDEC’s ESG & Sustainability Head Shuba Karun shares her thoughts on what sustainability means to her and where her personal journey with it begins from.

But just before you head on to read her thoughts, here are some news and events to dive into. Till our next issue, stay safe and stay healthy!

News Recap

UOBAM’S United ESG Series Fund To Provide Retail Investors Access To Growth Opportunities In Emerging Markets

UOB Asset Management (Malaysia) (UOBAM (Malaysia)) has launched the United ESG Series-EAFE Plus Fund (UEAFEPF) to provide retail investors with access to companies that are contributing to and benefiting from the long-term growth opportunities in the Europe, Australasia and Far East, including the emerging markets (collectively known as the EAFE Plus Regions).

These companies also have environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations integrated into their business models and practices.

For further reading, click here

Sunway iLabs Launches 2022 Super Accelerator Focusing On 6 Verticals

Sunway Innovation Labs (Sunway iLabs) has launched its 2022 Super Accelerator programme for startups to test, validate and scale their businesses with up to RM100,000 of seed funding and an opportunity to leverage Sunway’s 13 business divisions as well as ecosystem partners.

It’s 4th cohort this year is a 1+3 programme for early-stage startups to deliver innovative solutions focusing on six key verticals; Smart Cities, Agri-food tech, Edutech, Digital Health, Retail Tech and Fintech.

For further reading, click here

Health Ministry and Futurise Launch Online Health Service Regulatory Lab

The Ministry of Health (KKM) together with Futurise Sdn Bhd (Futurise) today announced the launch of the Online Health Service Regulatory Lab (OHS RegLab) marking a major milestone in the evolution of a regulatory framework for Online Healthcare Services (OHS) in the country.

This announcement augurs well for OHS players within the Malaysian healthcare ecosystem striving to provide healthcare services to patients online. The OHS RegLab will run via a strategic collaboration between KKM and Futurise, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cyberview Sdn Bhd under the Ministry of Finance, that leads the National Regulatory Sandbox.

For further reading, click here

ScaleUp Malaysia Announces Investments In 11 Emerging Startups

ScaleUp Malaysia, in partnership with Quest Ventures, Indelible Ventures, and Mranti signalled the culmination of its third cohort with the unveiling of its selection of top startups.

The cohort which kicked off in August 2021 drew over 200 applications from 26 countries including Malaysia, the United States, Egypt, Indonesia, Singapore and Japan. 20 companies were shortlisted to participate in Cohort 3 and placed into separate tracks, giving them exclusive access to Quest Ventures and Indelible Ventures respectively over the course of 16 weeks.

For further reading, click here

Events

Starting your own Insurtech business or looking to join the growing community?
Join us to explore the state of the insurance industry and key trends indicating the future direction of insurance on our upcoming webinar on 9 March 2022, between 2PM - 4PM!

Gain knowledge and insights on the Insurtech landscape as we bring together some distinguished Insurtech startups who have secured up to Series C funding. Together, they will share the best strategies that insurance firms and Insurtech startups are undertaking in 2022 to innovate and overcome the challenges of the pandemic.

Explore from the speakers lined up:

1. Eddy Wong Co-Founder and CEO of VSure.life

2. Malek Ali the Founder of Fi Life & BFM 89.9

What you get from the talk:-

Explore the state of the insurance industry and key trends indicating the future direction of insurance
Learn more about the Insurtech startup journey and the different struggles faced by Insurtech startups in the insurance scene
Discover how Insurtech startups identify industry pain points, spot new trends within the value chain, mitigate regulatory risks and work with incumbents

See you on 9 March 2022, 2PM - 4PM. RSVP on Eventbrite: https://bit.ly/insurtechtrendsfwd

Calling all pre-seed & seed-stage startups who are contributing to Malaysia’s Islamic Finance and Insurtech industry, we are pleased to announce our Alpha Startups Pre-Accelerator for Insurtech Cohort 3 organized by 1337 Ventures & FWD Start-up Studio!

The Insurtech Cohort 3 Programme will provide participants with the following:
RM150K capital investment from 1337 Ventures
A top-notch mentor team
Market access with regulators
A cohort of like-minded entrepreneurs who can share in their experiences and motivate them to achieve their goals.

Learn more and apply at https://bit.ly/fwdpre-accelerator.

By Shuba Karun, Head of Environment Social and Governance (ESG) & Sustainability, MDEC

Perhaps the best-known definition of sustainability is that in the Brundtland Report “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs".

Like me, you have probably also seen an increasing number of remarks in the media along the lines of “we must build back better, greener, and fairer". While admirable statements, it does make me wonder about what it all means exactly for you and me and how we can truly make a difference individually.

In particular, I've been thinking a lot about how to reduce my personal carbon footprint through more sustainable living. More buzzwords I'm afraid, but I didn't have to look very far for my inspiration to do this - my parents.

*Shuba Karun, Head of Environment Social and Governance (ESG) & Sustainability, MDEC*

For them, it's all about their mindset and attitude. Central to this is their lifestyle: they lead simple but rewarding lives where everything is valued and reused. They don't do this just to save money but because they believe that it is the right thing to do.

If I take an honest look at my lifestyle, I'm sure that I emulate some of their values. However, like me, I'm sure that many of my generation confuse wants and needs in our rush to buy the latest gadget or item that we simply must have as it's become "essential" to our lifestyle.

Taking a quick look around my home, I will be the first to admit that I'm guilty of that!

So what’s next you may ask? My personal sustainability journey will start with small steps, as I believe that these add up and can really make a difference. From today, I will make a personal pledge to greening my daily actions to protect the environment.

This will range from simple things like switching off lights, fans and air conditioning when not needed, to turning off the tap while cleaning my teeth, to reusing and recycling everything that I can, to asking myself if I really need this new gadget! I hope you will join me in this journey!

Head's Up

Sustainability – What does it mean to me?

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