BY LARRY SHAW AND ALEX BOOME Mutually sustainable global trade improves life standards.  According to the Asian Development Bank, over the past 25 years, more than 950 million people in the region have been lifted out of extreme poverty, infant mortality rates have fallen, and marked improvements have been seen in terms of basic literacy, vocational training and university education. It is clear that the prosperity provided by cross-border trade has made a significant contribution to these outcomes.  “Global trade improves lives and strengthens relationships among nations,” said Merle A. Hinrich, APC member and Founder of the Hinrich Foundation, an…

BY CINDY HSIAO Who comes to mind when you think of the word hero? Was it superhero figures from movies? Or was it the healthcare workers serving on the frontlines of COVID-19? Or perhaps it’s someone closer to home – a family member or a friend who inspires you with their courage and the selfless way they serve others? More often than not, heroes are closer to us than we think. APC member, Lionel Li’s Li Foundation is therefore on a mission to share extraordinary stories of everyday heroes through their Inspiring Lives Impacting Asia short film series, in hopes…

BY CINDY HSIAO As the world approaches the 70th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the number of forcibly displaced people remains concerningly high. At the end of 2019, 79.5 million people were recorded to be forcibly displaced, almost double the 41.1 million recorded in 2010. It is therefore more urgent than ever that the world works together to enable refugees and displaced people to recover and flourish. In view of this, APC organised our first-ever dialogue focused on refugees and people of concern for APC members and guests engaged in philanthropic work with refugees. We invited Aurvasi Patel, United…

BY THERESA CUA Civil society in Malaysia is relatively young. Almost 80% of its 80,000 pool of non-profit and voluntary organisations are less than 20 years old. This ‘Third Sector”—comprising of organisations that fill needs not addressed by either State or Market—face a multitude of challenges: from lacking structural support from the state, to being highly fragmented, and having inadequate human capital equipped with necessary skills to effectively deliver impact. In such a sector where collaboration and partnerships are essential in working together to solve social challenges, what can philanthropists, foundations, and funders do to strengthen Malaysia’s Third Sector? In…

BY ALEXIS WONG Philanthropy in China is growing at a rapid and inspiring pace. In the past decade alone, the volume of Chinese philanthropy has quadrupled from US$ 44 million in 2007 to a new high of US$ 23.4 billion in 2017, allowing China to emerge as an important contributor to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. In light of China’s emergence as a rich ground for potential philanthropic activity, and with APC members having highly active impact projects in the country, APC organised the China Philanthropy Online Forum to spark greater interest in international collaboration, and to examine what meaningful…

BY CINDY HSIAO Do you remember what your world was like when you were three? Perhaps it involves memories of your father teaching you to wait for the green light before you cross the road, your grandmother taking you and your friends to the local park, or waiting at the doctor’s office with your mother because you’re unwell?    Even from an early age, children’s development can already be impacted by interactions with a complex system of relationships, settings, and cultures. Adopting a holistic approach to early childhood development (ECD) is therefore crucial, if not essential. As such, the Asia Philanthropy…

BY MIRA NADARAJAH AND BRADLEY WO APC celebrated its sixth birthday in July 2021, which prompted some reflection on our role and place within the sector. As a network, we know that the relationships and interactions between our members forms the core of APC and sits at the heart of the work that we do. Recently, we came across Ilona Haslewood and the Carnegie UK Trust’s report, which offered a framework to understand how networks support policy and practice development to foster social change. This framework, known as Network Functional Analysis, was designed to assist humanitarian networks to strategically reflect…

BY BRADLEY WO Philanthropy can play many roles: filling in gaps in government services, driving advocacy efforts, and bolstering change leaders. But one area where philanthropy can truly be “risk capital” and punch above its weight is in blended finance. The need for blended finance is especially pressing as the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). World Bank projections in June 2020 estimated 71 million people would be pushed back into extreme poverty due to COVID-19 with the Asia-Pacific region most severely affected. Even before the pandemic, there was already an estimated US$2.5 trillion annual…

BY LAURENCE LIEN This month, APC celebrated its sixth birthday. It is also the time I have moved on to becoming the non-executive Chairman at APC.  I am certainly proud of what APC has achieved so far. We set out to build a community of philanthropists, the principals, and we have 47 now. Many warned us at the start that the task was hard. It would be like herding cats. (I like cats.) Then we set out to put together joint projects, and we have more than 10 now. Many said that philanthropists did not like giving up control. And lastly,…