Chandran Nair (businessman) explained

Chandran Nair is a Malaysian businessman and scholar. He is the founder of The Global Institute for Tomorrow, an independent think-tank based in Hong Kong.[1] He is also Project Director for The Other Hundred, an international photography competition and photo-book project.[2] [3]

Background

Nair was born in Malaysia, the seventh of eight children. His parents were immigrants to Malaysia from India, and not well off, with all the children sharing a room. He studied chemical engineering in the UK, where he then worked for a few years. At 28, he joined the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, building sanitation and water systems by day on a stipend and playing the saxophone in his free time in a band.[4] He later earned a master's degree in environmental engineering from Bangkok.

Career

Nair is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council for Sustainability[5] and has argued at numerous forums including the WEF, APEC[6] and OECD[7] about the need for radical reform of the current economic model and strict limits on consumption.[8] Nair was previously Chairman of Environmental Resources Management (ERM), building the company to be the leading environmental consultancy in Asia Pacific. He left in March 2004.[9]

Nair is a frequent contributor to various media outlets including The Financial Times,[10] The Guardian,[11] The Huffington Post,[12] The New York Times.[13] and South China Morning Post.[14] He is the author of Consumptionomics: Asia's role in reshaping capitalism and saving the planet, named one of the top ten books of 2011 by The Globalist.[15] In 2018 he published The Sustainable State: The Future of Government, Economy, and Society.[16]

Controversy

On August 26, 2021, Nair wrote an op-ed in Time magazine accusing Nicole Kidman of using her "White Privilege" to avoid being quarantined when arriving in Hong Kong to film the Amazon Prime Video series Expats. Hong Kong's Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) responded in a press statement that Kidman received a quarantine exemption for the purpose of performing designated professional work and necessary operation of Hong Kong's economy,[17] and a CEDB permanent secretary wrote a letter to the editor of Time stating that Nair's claim was "not only just misplaced but absurd".[18] [19]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Romann. Alfred. A GIFTed man. China Daily. China Daily. 25 April 2014.
  2. News: 'The Other Hundred' - World's untold photo stories. 23 April 2014. CNN. October 14, 2013.
  3. Web site: Nair. Chandran. The Other Hundred: The Non-Rich, Non-Celebrity List. The Huffington Post. 28 February 2014 . 23 April 2014.
  4. https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2011/05/21/up-close--personal-with-founder-of-gift-and-author-chandran-nair/ Up close & personal with Founder of Gift and author Chandran Nair
  5. Web site: Global Agenda Council for Sustainability 2012-2014. World Economic Forum. 25 April 2014.
  6. Web site: National Center for APEC. APEC. 25 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140426232607/http://www.ncapec.org/media/photos/ceosummit/FutureFlash.html. 26 April 2014. dead.
  7. Web site: Speakers - OECD. OECD. 25 April 2014.
  8. Web site: Global Economic Symposium. Interview with Chandran Nair. Global Economic Symposium. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140426220758/http://www.global-economic-symposium.org/symposium-2014/news/interview-with-chandran-nair . 2014-04-26 . 25 April 2014.
  9. Web site: Chandran Nair. 23 April 2014.
  10. Web site: Nair. Chandran. We should stop talking of an Asian century. The Financial Times. 23 April 2014.
  11. Web site: Nair. Chandran. Why is the west seen as the greatest threat? From Asia, the answer's clear. The Guardian. 6 March 2014 . 23 April 2014.
  12. Web site: Nair. Chandran. If Asia wants to prosper, don't listen to the IMF. The Huffington Post. 19 February 2014 . 23 April 2014.
  13. News: Nair. Chandran. Focusing Science on the Damage. The New York Times. 15 July 2012 . 23 April 2014.
  14. Web site: Chandran Nair. 2021-11-30. South China Morning Post. en.
  15. Web site: The Globalist's Top Books of 2011 - The Globalist. 22 December 2011.
  16. Web site: The Sustainable State. 9 October 2018.
  17. Web site: Kwan. Rhoda. August 19, 2021. Hong Kong exempts actor Nicole Kidman from Covid quarantine as Amazon's 'tone-deaf' expat TV shows see backlash. Hong Kong Free Press.
  18. Web site: Letters to Editors/Op-ed - Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco. live. 2021-12-03. www.hketony.gov.hk. "Chandran Nair’s article “Quarantine, What Quarantine? Nicole Kidman, Expats and White Privilege” (posted on August 26) regarding a recent decision to provide a quarantine exemption to personnel involved in the production of a TV series contains assertions that are groundless and speculative.". https://web.archive.org/web/20211203053134/https://www.hketony.gov.hk/letters-to-editors.html . 2021-12-03 .
  19. Web site: Letter to TIME. live. 2021-12-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203053132/https://www.hketony.gov.hk/letters/083121.pdf . 2021-12-03 .

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