Sustainable Business in Asia:
'Like a Flamingo Among Chickens'

“Like a flamingo among chickens” is the cool version of “a crane among chickens” from the Chinese expression: hè lì jī qún 鶴立雞群; an appropriate description of sustainable business practices in the Asia region. It states the practices as pioneering but necessary.

By Eva Hsu | Published 11 years ago | About a 3 minute read

“Like a flamingo among chickens” is the cool version of “a crane among chickens” from the Chinese expression: hè lì jī qún 鶴立雞群; an appropriate description of sustainable business practices in the Asia region. It states the practices as pioneering but necessary.

Implementing and accelerating workable sustainable business models in the Asia region might be the smartest way to sustain a rising global population. In less than 40 years, the world is projected to receive 2 billion more people, adding to a total of 9 billion by 2050, according to a report by the United Nations (UN) launched in June. While many developed countries are facing an aging population, most developing countries are experiencing an increasing population. How to share the same resources on planet Earth with 2 billion more people is the task at hand.

International organizations are part of the equation for this: Tokyo-based Fuji Xerox’s eco-manufacturing center in Australia, which opened in 2000, won a United Nations Award for the ability of re-manufacturing of parts and sub-assemblies that are taken from devices at their end-of-life. Shanghai-based non-profit organization Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE) contributes to accelerating the use of clean energy in China; and Sir Richard Branson has brought his US-based non-profit Carbon War Room to Asia, starting with Singapore, to attempt to harness the power of entrepreneurs in the region to implement market-driven solutions to climate change. The list goes on.

But there is something Asia is doing differently due to the social structure of its nations. Sustainable business models could be translated into social enterprises in the region. Unlike most of the Western World, where the concept of social enterprise has been around for a century or so (depending on the location) and the scale of social enterprises could be that of a large organization such as Ashoka or Oxfam, social enterprises can be relatively small with a single mission in providing innovative, creative, simple solutions to a community or social issue in Asia.

“[It is the practice of] of frugal/reverse innovation, grassroots innovation that harnesses the creativity among regular citizens who see issues in their communities and find socio-entrepreneurial approaches to solve them,” suggested Shariha Halid, co-founder of Scope Group, a Malaysian social impact consultancy. “[And also] community resilience — the strength of community support and collaboration in solving problems faced by other community members.”

We see examples of this across Asia, from Change Fusion in Thailand, which assists young social entrepreneurs with financial aid and mentorship, to Yooja Salon in South Korea, which aims to bring “gravity-free youth” back to society, to Changee in Taiwan, which acts as an incubator and accelerator for innovation by providing a co-sharing space for entrepreneurs as well as organizing events and lectures in promoting innovation.

The international organizations and social enterprises mentioned here are just a few of the “flamingos among the chickens” creating change in Asia, with many more to be introduced in future articles. All in all, with the global push for sustainable business models, there will no doubt be more flamingos in the foreseeable future of Asia.