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Robin Hu
Temasek, Vice Chairman Asia and Operating Partner. Milken Institute, Asia Chair
Robin Hu is the Vice Chairman Asia and Operating Partner at Temasek, a prominent global investment firm based in Singapore with a portfolio value of US$297 billion. In his role, he focuses on fostering relationships with Asian nations and understanding their connections with major global players like the US, EU, and China amidst the complex global geopolitical landscape. With a background in leadership positions within Temasek, he has spearheaded initiatives in sustainability, stewardship, international policy, and institutional relations. By advocating for social resilience, international cooperation, and advancements in science and nature, Hu emphasizes the importance of leaving a positive legacy for future generations.
Before his tenure at Temasek, Robin Hu held significant roles such as the CEO of the South China Morning Post Group and the leader of the Chinese Newspaper Group at Singapore Press Holdings, where he closely observed and reported on the transformative Rise of China. His diverse professional journey encompasses experiences as a programmer analyst, a diplomat, a Dotcom entrepreneur, a government official, and an international business developer across various regions including Taiwan, Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing, and Singapore. Hu has also ventured into diplomatic efforts, serving as Singapore's Non-Resident Ambassador to Timor Leste and assuming the position of Asia Chair at the Milken Institute, a US-based think tank committed to addressing global challenges.
With a strong educational foundation that includes studies in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Media and Management, Robin Hu brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his current roles. Apart from his associations with Temasek and the Milken Institute, he has been involved in a range of esteemed organizations such as OMFIF, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Executive Education, and Mediacorp Pte Ltd, among others. His leadership extends to serving on various boards and advisory positions in entities focused on media, nature conservation, cultural promotion, and public policy.
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Stephen Roach is an American economist. He was formerly chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, and chief economist at Morgan Stanley. I append below an abbreviated version his recent post having attended all but the first China Development Forum (CDF) in 2000. His participation over each of the ensuing 24 years makes him the longest-attending foreign delegate to China’s most important public conference. The question he asks "What's The Point"? Here goes.
I raise this question as a CDF insider, present at the creation of this event by former Premier Zhu Rongji who believed in the power of debate and exchange between senior Chinese leaders and foreign “experts” from academia, think tanks, and MNCs. Zhu brilliantly timed the event to occur immediately after the National People’s Congress (NPC), holding the provocative view that the ministers of China’s State Council should be tested by external debate immediately after their internal deliberations at the NPC.
I remember well my first CDF in 2001 when I was a keynote speaker at what was then a much smaller, more intimate gathering. I presented my views on the global economy, arguing that a post-dotcom slowdown was at hand. Fred Bergsten, founder of the Petersen Institute, took the other side of the debate. At the end of the meeting, Premier Zhu pulled me aside and said in perfect English, “Roach, I hope you are wrong, but we will plan as if you are right.”
On the eve of CDF 2024, I was informed by the powers that be that “… your recent comments on the Chinese economy have generated intense scrutiny and even controversy among Chinese and international press. It is very likely that whatever you say at CDF in a public setting will be misinterpreted and even sensationalized by media.” As a result, I was not given a speaking role for the first time in 24 years.
CDF 2024 was tightly scripted, with no debate, no meaningful exchange of views. Yes, there were plenty of Western multinationals in attendance, but mainly for shameless, commercialized pitches of their commitments to China. CDF 2024 was shorter by a day, with a streamlined agenda that was belatedly posted on the CDF website.
I still have great admiration for the Chinese people and for the miraculous transformation of China’s economy over the past 45 years. I refuse to buy the western consensus that China’s development miracle was always doomed to failure. I am highly critical of the outbreak of a virulent Sinophobia that portrays China as America’s most dangerous adversary since the former Soviet Union.
My agenda remains analytical, not political. In the end, I intend to keep showing up and to keep pushing for free and open debate in China. And I will continue to do so in the spirit of Deng Xiaoping’s famous credo of “seeking truth from facts.” I am not giving up. That’s the ultimate point of it all.
You can follow Roach on X/Twitter @SRoach_econ
You would have noticed this in the media chatter, and may even be wondering if you should be concern about Japan’s largest power company Tepco, is set to dump into the ocean some 1.37 million cubic metres of treated water stored in more than 1,000 tanks after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. If so, this detailed visual explainer by the South China Morning Post may be what you are looking for. The filtering process was able to remove almost all the radioactive agents, but the discharge, which will take about three decades to be completed, has raised concerns in the region.
The move has been approved by the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but China’s authorities have said issues remain, such as over the “hasty” release of the safety report, reliability of the purification equipment and the monitoring plan. The release point is 1km off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture in northeast Japan. After the 2011 disaster, large amounts of water were used to cool and stabilise the meltdown of three reactors. The used water, contaminated with high levels of radioactive material, leaked and flooded the tunnels and underground areas of the facilities. It then came into contact with groundwater from the surrounding hills, creating toxic water stored in tanks at an annual storage cost of US$912 million.
The Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) removes most of the radioactive elements, but the primary contaminant remaining is tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Removing tritium from water is possible in laboratories. But given the scale, the effort comes at an enormous cost. Water containing tritium is routinely released from nuclear plants around the world. Tritium is considered to be relatively harmless because it does not emit enough energy to penetrate human skin. But when ingested, it can raise cancer risks according to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Tritium is found in a range of common consumer items because it can be used in combination with phosphors to make materials that are self-luminous such as exit signs, watch dials and key chains.
In 2022, Hong Kong was Japan’s second-largest market for agricultural and fisheries exports, taking in about HK$12.3 billion (US$1.6 billion) worth of goods, or 15.6 per cent of Japan’s total exports. In 2021, Hong Kong was the largest importer of Japan’s seafood products. The Hong Kong government has said that if the treated water is discharged into the ocean, the city will immediately ban imports of food items from the coastal prefectures near the Fukushima plant and impose strict controls on other goods from the rest of Japan. The ban could affect 10 prefectures: Tokyo, Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama.
#fukushima #nuclearpowerplant #fisheries
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.