Often when I tell people I’m traveling to Kuala Lumpur (or KL), the capital of Malaysia, they tell me “how brave” I am to be traveling to such an exotic and far away place, especially alone as a woman. Surprisingly, I felt safer walking around parts of “KL” at alone at night than I have felt walking around in my old neighborhood in Brooklyn.
Petronas Towers
Women-only cars
When I first bought my plane tickets I had never even HEARD of Kuala Lumpur, and I wanted to go there because it did feel so far away and “mysterious.” But the most unexpected thing about KL was that, at times, it felt so familiar.
Kuala Lumpur is a bustling cosmopolitan city with excellent public transportation. New York’s subway system pales in comparison to the clean, air-conditioned, easy-to-navigate Malaysian stations. Needless to say, I do not miss waiting for the G train in the heat of summer. To cut down on sexual harassment, the trains even offered women-only cars, a welcome oasis away from grabby hands. NYC, take note.
Most of my interviews and meetings took place in coffee shops, like Starbucks, Coffee Bean, or boutique artsy ones, all located in large malls. Malaysians spend a significant amount of time in huge western-style malls, fully equipped with H&M, Apple Stores, and yes, even Johnny Rockets. City residents make an exodus out of the central part of KL to airconditioned havens to escape the oppressive heat and overcrowded streets. The food court is basically my idea of heaven, imagine curry, hot pots, and delicious rice dishes for under $3.
Interestingly enough, it was not just the infrastructure of KL that reminded me of the western world. In my short time connecting with social entrepreneurs and intermediaries there, I discovered that their community faces many of the same barriers and fears that are felt in the global social economy.
The two issues that arose time and again were:
1. Access to talent – Nonprofits and social enterprises find it difficult to recruit the best talent. They cannot offer competitive salaries or perks. (Have yet to find a charity that provides yoga classes or sushi much like a certain company that rhymes with Foogle).
2. Changing public perception to highlight the need for social enterprises. People around the globe understand charity, and they get what a for profit business does. It’s quite difficult to explain the need to change these fundamental structures, to explain that our current system (in most countries) is not working.
There is something seriously comforting that social economies across the globe face similar barriers. It builds community and increases the chances for collaboration. It makes me feel that we are all in this together, all of us unsure of how to ensure the ideas of a social enterprise do not become a passing fad. After meeting the incredible folks in this space in Malaysia and Singapore, I have faith that this movement will be the thing we need to put soul and humanity back into the business world, and maybe, just maybe, make the world suck a little less.
Edited by the extraordinarily talented and hilarious Cat Crow
