40

40

under

This years roll call of rising stars hail from diverse sectors of industry and society.
Some help further medical research, others broker billion-dollar deals, or define
excellence in their creative pursuits. All are leaders in their own right who share in a
common goal making tomorrow a better, more exhilarating yet inclusive place to be.
by lydianne yap, dazzlyn koh, sara yap and hillary kang
september 2014 PRESTIGE

233

INTELLIGENCE

Dawn Ng

Sanveer Gill

Director, Gill Capital, 30

By the time he was 14, Sanveer
Gill had played football with Andy
Cole, tennis with Michael Chang
and basketball with Shaquille
ONeal all thanks to the fact that
his family ran sports retail empire
Royal Sporting House back then.
Having divested in 2007, the
family now spearheads Gill Capital
and manages a diverse portfolio
of fashion, dining and lifestyle
concepts including iwannagohome!
and Candylicious. Being able to
meet the incredible people that my
family worked with was the best
education I could have asked for,
says the 30-year-old. It moulded
my mindset in a different way.
Presently a director at Gill
Capital, the younger of two children
spends most of his time running
H&M franchises in Indonesia and
Thailand through the familys
holding companies Mthai and
Hindo. Gill considers himself an
entrepreneurial capitalist as well,
with investments in a wide variety
of start-ups across Asia, Europe
and the US. A lot of start-ups have
great ideas, but sometimes need
guidance on how to structure and
grow their businesses this is
something that I have experience
in and would like to pass on both
professionally and socially, says
Gill who has also just returned from
volunteering at an orphanage in
Chiang Mai.

234 PRESTIGE september 2014

Artist, 32

You might be familiar with Walter,

the colossal white inflatable bunny
with a knack for popping up in
the uncanniest of places across
Singapore,
turning
everyday
scenes into places of whimsical
wonderment. Now meet the artist
behind this rebellious rabbit: Dawn
Ng. Having been dubbed the tour
de force of the local art scene,
Ngs sometimes irreverent but

always inspiring creations have gone on

to receive numerous commissions from the
Singapore Art Museum.
She has also staged solo and public
exhibitions,
including
her
latest
work
Windowshop, a collection of nostalgic
curiosities and knick-knacks from Singapores
yesteryear, at the Chan Hampe Galleries
Singapore. Despite her portfolio, Ng hates
being called an artist. It stands for too much
and nothing at all at the same time, she says. I
like creating things and I plan to do that for the
rest of my life. What you call a person who does
that is irrelevant.

Jackie Lee

Entrepreneur, 38
From offering advertising services
to
selling
sommelier-selected
wines, Jackie Lees businesses
under investment holding company
Kyosei Ventures where he is
managing partner may seem
an odd mix. But Lee explains they
share a common objective: To show
clients how to leverage on new
media and digital technology for
both personal and work use.
For instance, his advertising
agency,
clickTrue,
provides
services such as social media
marketing, while wine retailer
The French Cellar lets customers
order wine online. Lee hopes his
companies can break new ground
in this Internet era somewhat
like a digital utilities group where
anyone with a digital initiative will
require [our] services or advice.
Always an intrepid entrepreneur,
Lee also co-founded the online
portal HardwareZone.com with
four friends in 1998.
The joy of running a start-up,
fuels him each day, he explains.
[It is] the diversity, the creating
something out of nothing, the
people I meet in the course of work
and my other founders who share
a common goal that inspires me
the most.

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INTELLIGENCE

Pang Kok Keong

Chef-Owner, 39

Being a chef had always been Pang Kok Keongs

childhood ambition, but he never expected to
go into pastry-making. Hoping to learn the
ropes, he started out as a kitchen helper in
coffee shops during his secondary school days.
Back then, his ideas of pastries were confined
to pandan chiffon cakes and coconut buns from
the neighbourhood bakery. Then came a chance
internship in the pastry kitchen of the nowdefunct Oberoi Imperial Hotel, where Pang was
placed because it was short-handed. There, he
picked up skills in creating sweet offerings such

Aseem Kumar Thakur

Social Entrepreneur, 28

Toothpaste is peddled with far

more sophistication than the
lifesaving work of aid groups,
declared one writer in the New York
Times. Troubled by this statement,
Aseem Kumar Thakur sought
to create a platform that would
make donating easier and more
accessible for people: A simple
idea but one that snowballed into a
greater cause.
Together with a classmate from
NUS, Thakur founded Give.sg
in 2009, an online platform that
allowed people to set up their
own charitable initiatives in a fun
and hassle-free manner. Take, for
example, the Run for Autism cause
set up by brothers Daniel and Ethan
Khor through Give.sg, it raised
$7,500 last year in conjunction with
the Standard Chartered Marathon.
In 2012, Thakur expanded the
platform across Asia, resulting in
GIVEasia, which received a special
mention from the Presidents
Challenge that year. It is amazing
to see everyday people fundraise
for causes they believe in, says
Thakur, who has raised over
$5 million for various charities
through GIVEasia so far.

236 PRESTIGE september 2014

as chocolates and desserts.

Today,
he
helms
French
patisserie-inspired Antoinette and
Western bistro Pique Nique. Both
come under his Sugar Daddy Group
of restaurants, which was set up in
2010. Despite winning accolades
such as the Pastry Chef of the Year
award thrice at the World Gourmet
Summit, Pang remains down-toearth. I appreciate the recognition,
but the greatest acknowledgement
is [having a loyal customer] who
has been ordering cakes from me
for the past 10 years, he says.

Elizabeth Kong

Director, Stamford Law Corporation, 32

A go-to rising star for corporate
law matters, Kongs broad practice
includes mergers and acquisitions,
equity capital markets, corporate
finance and securities regulations.
Given the nature of her practice, she
regularly deals with transactions worth
billions, including advising F&N in its
US$4.5 billion divestment of its stake
in APB; Fortis in its US$2.3 billion
offer for Parkway; and NOL in its US$1
billion rights issue.
Acknowledged in notable legal
publications such as Chambers
Asia, Legal 500, AsiaLaw Leading
Lawyers and Lawyer Monthly, the legal
eagle is also a trustee of Cambridge
Assessment Singapore and a fellow of
the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust.
I have a passion for law and the
legal practice, just like an artisan would
have for his craft. And to be able to
help my clients reach their objectives
gives me an enormous sense of
satisfaction, she shares. Yet while
Kong may love the law, there is one
aspect that grates on her nerves the
usage of Latin legal terms. Lawyers
sometimes hide behind legalese or
fancy jargons to appear sophisticated;
I avoid using them altogether. The law
should be expressed in plain English
and should not be the domain of just
lawyers and academics, she says.

september 2014 PRESTIGE

237

INTELLIGENCE

Stefanie Sun

Vincent Ha

Singer, 35

Co-Founder, Gushcloud, 30

238 PRESTIGE september 2014

Arguably one of Singapores most

successful singers, Stefanie Sun
emerged from her two-yearlong hiatus in dazzling fashion
by performing at the newly built
National Stadium in early July.
Despite having been overseas for
the larger part of her illustrious
career (most of her internationally
acclaimed albums, of which she
has sold over 30 million copies

corbis

By the age of seven, Vincent Ha

was already earning his keep. The
budding entrepreneur rented fiction
and gaming books from bookstores
at $2 a week, then proceeded to loan
them to his classmates for a fee. I
charged my classmates $0.50 to $1
a day to borrow those books from
me, depending on demand, recalls
Ha, with a laugh. My mum told me it
was illegal because I did not register
a business and so asked me to return
the money to my friends.
Today, Ha is the co-founder
and CEO of Gushcloud, a digital
creative agency that specialises in
influencer marketing and which,
yes, is a legally registered firm.
Since its establishment in 2011,
Gushcloud has served over 500
clients and has launched over 1,000
campaigns for brands including
SingTel, KLM Dutch Airways and
Unilever. We help connect brands
to influencers [who will] reach and
engage its audiences with [social
media] content, he explains.
Of course, for someone as
entrepreneurial as him, his business
dealings dont end there. The
30-year-old also owns The Barnett
Group, an integrated marketing
communications
agency
that
offers creative, branding and social
media marketing services. He is
also a silent partner at Big 3 Media,
a leading video production house in
Singapore that he co-founded with a
friend while at university.

worldwide, were recorded in Taiwan), the

songstress clearly has not waned in popularity
back home. Her Singapore concert was
reportedly sold out within moments of going
on sale.
These days, the Mando-pop starlet is busy
travelling the world to promote her 12th studio
album Kepler and spending time with her
young son, nicknamed Little Nadim. When
youre a mum, therere some things that are not
that critical anymore like whether I am still
popular, said Sun in a separate interview. If Im
super popular, then thats greatif Im not, maybe
Ill shed a tear and get back to being a mum.

Kevin Seah

Bespoke tailor, 39
Some men dread the idea of
shopping, because it entails going
from store to store in search of the
perfect outfit, or worse, spending
hours waiting for their significant
others to try on clothes. For Kevin
Seah, his dislike for shopping
stems from neither reason. He
doesnt enjoy retail therapy simply
because he already devotes so
much of his time working around
apparel at his bespoke label.
It has always been a pain to
shop for myself because I know
too much about clothes, says
Seah, whose eponymous brand
specialises in menswear. He
describes his designs as made
for the wearer and must always
represent the world of the wearer.
The self-professed Anglophile also
draws inspiration from the classic
British Savile Row style of tailoring.
More recently, he started the
Kevin Seah Bespoke Denim
service, which uses denim sourced
from Japan and is inspired by his
own difficulties in finding the right
pair of well-fitting jeans.
He says: I want to offer what
most tailors dont want to do and
show people what we are capable
of doing with tailoring.

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239

INTELLIGENCE

Gen Neo

Songwriter, 25

Li Jing Mei

Research Fellow, 31
There are some cancers which
you die with and some cancers
which you die from my aim is to
contribute to the understanding of
the genetics and biology underlying
the mean cancers, says Dr Li
Jing Mei, one of 15 women from
around the world to be awarded the
LOral-Unesco Women In Science
International Fellowship this year.
Prior to that, the 31-year-old was a
research fellow with the Genome
Institute of Singapore under A*Star.
As part of the Human Genetics
group, her research delved into the
genetic determinants of complex
diseases, particularly, breast cancer.
Today, she is based in Swedens
Karolinska Institutet under the aegis
of the LOral-Unesco International
Fellowship and is working on
discriminating aggressive cancers
from those with a more favourable
outlook. The path I took wasnt
very rational, says Li of focusing on
breast cancer research. But its very
much like falling in love you dont
know how it happens until you fall
right smack into it.

240 PRESTIGE september 2014

Mohamed Faizal Mohamed

Abdul Kadir
General Counsel, 33

Fresh from receiving the Public Administration

Medal (Bronze) at the recent National Day
Awards, Mohamed Faizal is a name to look out
for. General counsel and Director (Legal), at the
Singapore Medical Council, he is also an adjunct
trainer with the Singapore Mediation Centre,
who has been involved in international conflictresolution efforts spanning countries such as Fiji,
Lagos and Nigeria.
I have been lucky that in the initiatives I have
been a part of all relate to causes and issues I
am passionate about. I also get the opportunity
to work with and learn from an amazing and
inspiring bunch of people, he says.
Faizal is published internationally and is the
only non-US-based member on the Editorial
Board of the New York International Law Review.
He has also held teaching appointments at the
NUS Faculty of Law and the Singapore Institute
of Legal Education. In 2012, he was appointed by
the president of Singapore to the MUIS Appeal
Board, the apex appellate forum here for Islamic
law. The lawyer, who won the International
Insolvency Institute Gold Medal while pursuing
a Masters degree at Harvard Law School, was
also a recipient of the Ten Outstanding Young
Persons (Singapore) Award.

Singapores involvement in the

burgeoning K-pop craze isnt just
limited to hoards of screaming
fangirls. Enter songwriter Gen
Neo, one of the few if only
Singaporeans
whos
managed
to break into the Korean music
industry thus far. Forming onethird of production team The
Noizebank, Neo has produced
tunes for the likes of Super
Junior-M, f(x) and solo songs
for members of K-Pop royalty,
including Super Juniors Donghae
and Eunhyuk.
A graduate of the Berklee
College of Music, Neo got his
break into the Korean music scene
after his classmate Henry Lau
now a member of Super Junior-M
invited him to South Korea
to write music together. Having
produced hits like Its You, Go
and My Love For You for Super
Junior-M, Neo reveals that the
next person he wants to create
songs for is himself. But aside from
his personal singing aspirations,
the 25-year-old has a larger
goal: I hope that by doing this I
can spread Singapores artistic
[talents], giving better chances for
our younger generation around
Asia if not, around the globe.

Grace Sai

Co-Founder, The Hub Singapore, 30

A believer in using business to solve
social problems and not just to
maximise self-profits Grace Sai
set up The Hub Singapore in 2012
to provide a space for discussion,
networking
and
incubation
programmes relating to social
enterprises. Its original 25 members
has since ballooned beyond 500,
revenue streams are healthy and
there are plans for expansion with a
Hub 2.0 in the works.
The former Nanyang Business
School graduate, who also holds a
Masters of Business Administration
from Oxford University, was
previously a strategy consultant who
went off the beaten path by plunging
into rural Indonesia in 2008 to set up
her first social enterprise Books
for Hope at the age of 24. I was
unsure of what to do with my life then
and the idea of setting up libraries
for children came to me in a dream
one night. Somehow it just felt right,
so I went with it and was very happy
that everything worked out well,
she shares. Within the year, she had
partnered various villages to set up
12 libraries for children. Today, there
are more than 30 libraries stretching
from Bali to Komodo.

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INTELLIGENCE

Selena Young
Speech Therapist, 37

Kumaran Rasappan

Orthopaedic Surgical Resident, Tan

Tock Seng Hospital, 29
In 2012, Dr Kumaran Rasappan
took a one-year sabbatical from Tan
Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) to focus
on one thing: Climbing mountains.
I climbed Mustagh Ata, Cho Oyu,
Ama Dablam, Aconcagua, Ojos
del Salado, San Francisco Peaks,
Lobuche and Everest in that
order, he says. Not your ordinary
thrill-seeker, his climbing spree
was, in fact, fuelled by a desire to
alleviate the plight of less fortunate
individuals in Singapore.
[Through my work], I saw needy
patients and their families struggle
to make ends meet, receive medical
treatment and pay off their medical
bills, says Kumaran. I really wanted
to help these patients out in one
way or another. So the avid climber
decided to marry his passion for
scaling mountains with fundraising
for the hospital by launching No
Mountain Too High.
To date, the initiative has raised
over $40,000 for the TTSH
Community Charity Fund. For three
months overseas, Kumaran also
helped refurbish and run a clinic at
a Phortse, a Himalayan village in the
Everest region. For his efforts, the
doctor was awarded the Singapore
Youth Award.

242 PRESTIGE september 2014

Karl Chong
Entrepreneur, 32

According to Karl Chong cofounder of Groupon Singapore,

which was acquired by Groupon
in the US for a rumoured US$24
million the greatest lesson he
has learnt is not to take no for an
answer. If you truly feel passionate
about your newly introduced
service or product, then you need
to keep pushing forward with it until
you get your first yes, he says.
More recently, the entrepreneur

launched GoFresh, an Internet grocer with a

free, next-day-delivery service. His idea of
transforming laborious grocery-shopping into
a convenient and user-friendly experience has
paid off with GoFresh now selling 150 different
varieties of fresh meat, seafood and vegetables.
Chong is also an angel investor in several startups in the e-commerce and healthcare markets.
One that he is particularly excited about is his
investment in an assisted living facility for the
elderly that will soon be launched.
In his spare time, he sails, surfs and
volunteers at non-profit organisations to teach
underserved youth how to build their own
start-ups.

After a stint shadowing speech

therapists during her junior college
days, Dr Selena Young knew it was
the occupation for her because it
encompassed human science, the
arts, language and psychology.
Now head of craniofacial speech
pathology at the Department
of
Plastic,
Reconstructive
and Aesthetic Surgery at KK
Womens and Childrens Hospital,
she specialises in craniofacial
anomalies defects in the facial
structures and velopharyngeal
dysfunction,
working
with
abnormalities in the soft palate
muscle. These deformities may
lead to serious problems, such
as distorted facial growth and a
build-up of fluid in the sufferers
brain, which may lead to visualimpairment or cognitive delay.
But speech and language therapy
can ensure the normalisation
of speech, voice, language and
resonance as early as possible,
says Young.
Outside of her fulfilling and
balanced job, Young is also a
lecturer at NUSs Master of SpeechLanguage Pathology programme
and does community work with
medical charity Operation Smile.

september 2014 PRESTIGE

243

INTELLIGENCE

Nurulasyiqah
Mohammad Taha

Pearry Teo
Film-maker, 35

Para-Athlete, 29

Jonathan Ng
Doctor, 26

When Dr Jonathan Ng was a

student at Raffles Junior College, he
heard an upperclassman recount
an incident in Cambodia, where
a group of doctors had to use
handheld torches to light up their
rudimentary operating theatre due
to a power failure. So moved was
the then 18-year-old that he and
his classmates banded together
to hold a charity concert, raising
over $300,000 to set up a proper
operating theatre at the Angkor
Hospital for Children, which they
later built.
Inspired to do more, Ng took the
helm of Children of Cambodia to
implement programmes for better
child healthcare in 2008. Five years
later, the organisation opened the
countrys first neonatal ward with
funds raised from its numerous
initiatives. Medical training in
Singapore is rigorous and I really
appreciate the times when I travel to
Cambodia, says Ng, who earned the
NUS Student Achievement Award
this year for his tireless efforts. [Its
where] I remind myself why its all
going to be worth it in the end.

244 PRESTIGE september 2014

Jolene Chong
Hotelier, 30

Before entering university, Jolene Chong never

considered joining the hotel industry. I [aspired]
to be a performer, either to be a singer or dancer,
says Chong, general manager of Hotel Re!, a
boutique hotel owned by her family. But her
focus later switched from the stage to business
management, which attracted her because of
its versatility across any industry and amongst
any occupation. So she studied finance at the
National University of Singapore and worked in
media sales before entering the hotel industry.
As it turns out, it was the right choice: The
mother-of-one loves the sales and marketing
aspect of her current job, where she thinks of ways
to make her modern-retro-themed hotel stand
out. The satisfaction you derive from being able
to package and brand something successfully
is unbelievable, says Chong. Without proper
branding, the hotel will be just another building
with rooms and food to offer. Not one for
complacency, she is constantly on the lookout
for expansion opportunities. In the corporate
world, three senses are critical: Common sense,
business sense and market sense, she says.

Although
born
with
Spinal
Muscular Atrophy, which confines
her to a wheelchair, Nurul leads an
active life. In January, she clinched
two gold medals at the 7th Asean
Para Games.
I hope these achievements
will spur future Boccia players
and support team members to
work harder together to achieve
even greater things for Boccia,
disability sports and Singapore,
says the Singapore Youth Award
recipient, who is also the first local
Boccia player to compete at the
Paralympics.
For Nurul,
something
like
coming down with the flu can be
problematic, because her condition
leaves her too weak to cough out
phlegm. The most recent bout was
at the Boccia World Open Event in
May, but the plucky athlete pushed
through, snagging gold in the BC3
Pair Event.
Next up for her are the Boccia
World Championships and Asian
Para Games. Also gunning to qualify
for the 2016 Paralympic Games, she
has this advice for para-athletes:
Be brave to try new things; you will
never know until you give something
a try. Believe you can be brave.

Think Singapores only claim to

fame on the silver screen is Anthony
Chen? You must not have heard of
Pearry Teo, the first Singaporean
to direct a full-length Hollywood
feature film. Propelling Teo into the
limelight is the Gene Generation, a
dystopian sci-fi thriller that stars Bai
Ling and Academy Award-winner
Faye Dunaway.

Other genres in his oeuvre include spinechilling horror (Necromentia and Dead Inside)
as well as fantasy. In Witchville, an original
movie he directed for Universals SyFy channel,
Teo imagines a stylish, medieval-feudal period
packed with heart-stopping action. Despite the
dark nature of his films, Teo believes there is a
softer side to film-making. There are so many
things we can learn through films, he says.
About humanity, love, acceptanceyou begin
to realise that we all share one thing in common:
Were humans. Its a beautiful revelation and I
hope to share it with others one day.

Christopher de Souza

Lawyer and Member of Parliament,

38
One would expect a lawyer to be
kept busy working long hours.
For Christopher de Souza, his
schedule is even more hectic
he has to balance legal work
with his responsibilities as a
parliamentarian. A litigation partner
at WongPartnership, De Souza
specialises in commercial litigation.
He also takes on criminal briefs,
some of which are pro bono cases.
Away from his law office, the MP for
Holland-Bukit Timah GRC serves
the residents of Ulu Pandan ward.
Its a lot on his plate, but he finds
meaning in both roles. It is very
fulfilling to see a young offender
receive probation rather than a
jail sentence because the judge
has been convinced he deserves
a chance to rehabilitate in the
community. Similar fulfilment is
experienced in MP work, where the
volunteers and I partner residents
through difficult times, says de
Souza, a father of two.
When asked about what he hopes
to accomplish next, he replies: I
hope to be a good husband and
father, a lawyer whom clients can
confide in and an MP who serves
residents with sincerity.

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INTELLIGENCE

Kwok Jia Chuan

Pro bono consultant, 27

Charina Widjaja

Co-Founder, DFW Creative, 29

In 2012, the world was introduced to
the first fully digital, live-streamed
fashion event that allowed viewers
to make instant purchases off the
runway: Digital Fashion Week.
Brought forth by creative agency
DFW Creative, the affair was borne
out of co-founder Charina Widjajas
desire to showcase outstanding
local designers at an international
yet easily accessible level.
The digital platform enables
us to transcend geographical
boundaries,
explains
Widjaja.
It also allows our designers and
sponsors to enjoy increased
exposure to consumers from all
over the world. The 29-year-old
handles DFW Creatives business
development affairs and is looking
to export the event overseas.
When not scoping out the local
fashion scene for up-and-comers to
feature at her annual extravaganza,
the businesswoman makes time
to volunteer at orphanages and
is currently looking to partner a
charity organisation for a fringe
event at this years fashion affair.

246 PRESTIGE september 2014

Zaini Osman
Urban builder, 37

Giving a new lease of life to

heritage sites and using the
income generated to serve the
community is what Zaini Osman,
CEO of Warees Investments, the
real estate development arm of
the Islamic Religious Council of
Singapore (MUIS), finds most
satisfying.
Having studied architecture
at the University of Melbourne,
Zaini has always been fascinated
with the built environment and

heritage preservation and it seems working

in real estate investment has brought these
interests together: At Warees, high-potential
assets some of which are heritage sites
are refurbished and income produced goes into
initiatives for the poor.
The best and most rewarding part of this
job is when we disburse proceeds to social
beneficiaries at the end of the project, seeing the
smiles and the positive change impacting their
life, he says.
Zaini is now preparing for Wareess year-end
launch of a semi-detached cluster-housing
development in District 10. Also in the pipeline
are
built-to-suit
heritage
enhancement
projects in the tourist and conservation areas.

Driven by the desire to give back to

the community that [gave them]
so much, Kwok Jia Chuan and his
best friend wanted to do more than
just organise a one-off event: They
wanted to use their talents to give a
gift that would keep on giving.
In 2011, they set up Conjunct
Consulting, Singapores first pro
bono consulting firm for social
enterprises. To date, the company
has worked with 40 organisations,
two of which went on to be
honoured at this years Presidents
Challenge Social Enterprise Awards.
In 2012, Kwok himself was
nominated for Yahoo!s Singapore
9 award in social enterprise, a prize
that honours role models and future
leaders. Of his aspirations for his
brainchild, Kwok says: I hope that
Conjunct will help to encourage
talented professionals to go beyond
their day jobs and use their skills
to benefit the social sector. In our
opinion, Kwok who works in the
civil sector by day has gone far
beyond the call of duty.

september 2014 PRESTIGE

247

INTELLIGENCE

Paul Tan

Tang Tee Khoon

Courtroom dramas such as Matlock

and L.A. Law, John Grisham books
and a love for argument are what
inspired Paul Tan, partner at Rajah
& Tann, Southeast Asias largest law
firm, to enter the legal sector.
Although the practice of law is
very different from the fictional
accounts, I have no regrets, says
the former national debater and
National University of Singapore
Law alum, whose areas of practice
include
commercial
litigation,
appellate
and
international
arbitration his favourite because
of its opportunities to work in new
environments and learn about new
cultures.
His passion for what he does has
paid off: He was recently included
in the Best Lawyers guide a
peer review publication for his
work in commercial litigation and
international arbitration, and was
praised in the Global Arbitration
Review. Despite these accolades,
Tan believes commercial success
is only one way of defining
accomplishment.
Outside of practicing law, Tan is
an adjunct lecturer at the Singapore
Management University where he
nurtures young, aspiring lawyers.

Music
can
move
peoples
hearts.And as a performer, I have
this privilege to do so, says Tang
Tee Khoon,who started playing the
violin at age four.
The second recipient of the
1750 J.B.Guadagnini violin under
the National Arts Councils Violin
Loan Scheme the US$490,000
instrument will be in her care
until 2016 Tang made her
concerto appearance at 12 with
the NUS Symphony Orchestra.
But she prefers to not dwell on
her accomplishments. She says: I
dont remember what my proudest
moment is. I am proud if I am able
to do my best.
She is now preparing for Love
and friendship: Mendelssohn, the
Schumanns and Brahms, a concert
that will be held later this month.

Lawyer, 33

248 PRESTIGE september 2014

Violinist, 30

Noel Hidalgo Tan

Archaeologist, 35

Studying the ruins of ancient civilisations, and

getting down and dirty in an excavation site may
not appeal to some, but for Noel Hidalgo Tan, it
is a way of life. Speaking of his passion for his
field, Tan a senior specialist in archaeology
at the Seameo Regional Centre for Archaeology
and Fine Arts says: Archaeology is one of
those fields where you can still make great aha!
discoveriesits inherently stimulating.
One such discovery by Tan was a 2010
find in the ruins of Cambodias Angkor Wat.
There, he uncovered some 200 never-beforeseen paintings of deities, animals and musical
instruments his biggest haul yet. The PhD
candidate at the Australian National University
got his first brush with archaeology when
he interviewed a curator from the National
Museum of Singapore in 2003. His interest
piqued, he subsequently volunteered for an
excavation effort at St Andrews Cathedral,
where he dug up centuries-old ceramic
pieces in what he described as a humbling
experience. The rest, shall we say, is history.

Edgar Kieu

General Dental Surgeon, Raffles

Dental, 29
Currently dental physician leader
for the Raffles Medical Groups
East cluster of clinics, Kieu was
only 26 when he first managed the
Singapore Prison Services Dental
Services. A graduate of NUS Faculty
of Dentistry where he was awarded
the university-wide Outstanding
Undergraduate Researcher Award
Kieus accelerated career has
seen him go on to receive the Raffles
Medical Group Chairmans Service
Excellence Award 2013 for his
compassion and commitment to
patient welfare.
Away from the office, Kieu is
an active grassroots leader in
Tampines where he was appointed
town councillor in 2013. He has
also chaired or served as a member
of various grassroots committees
over the last six years, serving
youth, elderly and other community
causes. I love meeting people
from all walks of life and working
hand-in-hand to help forge a better
community for all. I also cherish
the opportunity to engage and
empower youths the leaders of
tomorrow, he shares. One initiative
he feels strongly about is Festive
Wishes Come True, a programme
that raises funds to fulfil gift wishes
made by children of lower income
families every December.

september 2014 PRESTIGE

249

INTELLIGENCE

Cherie Teng

Managing Director and Head of

Global Corporates Singapore,
Standard Chartered, 38
High-powered banker and highly
involved mother are not often
used to descibe a single person,
except for Cherie Teng the head
of Global Corporates Singapore
at Standard Chartered Bank is a
proud mother of two boys who
believes in seizing the day and
living every day like its the last.
As juggling a demanding job
in finance with the needs of two
children is no easy task, Teng
makes it a point to prioritise
and manage expectations. It is
impossible to be mentally and
physically at two places at one
time, she says frankly. The key is
to be aware of your own capacity
and ask for help when you need it,
she adds. I believe that it is okay to
say no, but it is never okay to break
a promise the consequences
are far worse. That formula has
worked well, judging from Tengs
portfolio of both local and regional
roles over the course of her 17-year
career at the bank.
She currently leads a team
of client coverage managers
responsible for managing the banks
largest corporate and institutional
clients operating in Singapore.

250 PRESTIGE september 2014

Abigail Sin
Pianist, 22

Andrew Tang
Race Car Driver, 19

Andrew Tang has a dream: To

become Singapores first Formula
1 driver. He may well be on his
way, after emerging tops in this
years Toyota Racing Series in New
Zealand.
The first non-New Zealander to
win the racing series, he has trained
under the McLaren teams Young
Driver Development Programme

since 2012. Winning is just the passport to more

hard work, he says. There is always someone
else working to be better.
Tang discovered his love for fast cars at age
seven, when his father would take him karting
in Sepang, Malaysia. I have always loved the
adrenaline rush and the feeling of being in control
of a car, he says.
Tang, who recently completed his Basic Military
Training (BMT), intends to train in Sepang and
participate in races around Asia and Europe. The
best part about doing something you love is that
you never feel like it is work.

Recipient of the Lee Kuan Yew

Scholarship, Abigail Sin will head
to London this month to pursue
a four-year PhD programme in
performance practice at the Royal
Academy of Music. She hopes her
music skills can contribute to the
community and show people that
classical music can be a vibrant
force in society
A child prodigy, she won the
HSBC Youth Excellence Award for
Musical Excellence at the age of 10
and at 14 was the youngest student
accepted into the Yong Siew Toh
Conservatory, where she topped
her cohort. Despite her early
successes, Sin remains humble:
Im grateful for what Ive been
given but Im looking forward and
working towards whats ahead.
Sin is currently juggling several
projects, including Play!, a concert
on September 9, where she will
perform alongside violinists Loh Jun
Hong and Gabriel Ng. As she sums
up: There is a long, winding journey
ahead and I still have so much to
learn and grow as an artist.

september 2014 PRESTIGE

251

INTELLIGENCE

Wan Yue
Scientist, 30

Theres an invisible threat to our

healthcare system, one that could
potentially take us back to the preantibiotic era where even simple
infections might be deadly and
scientist Wan Yue is determined to
tackle it.
The threat is antimicrobial
resistance (AMR), where bacteria
and viruses cannot be easily cured
by antibiotics. This means diseases
such as pneumonia and diarrhoea
could become more difficult to
treat. Wans mission is to study
the genes of microorganisms,
so she can find out how bacteria
and viruses become resistant to
antibiotics.
Her research has led her to
become the first Singaporean
recipient of the Branco Weiss
Fellowship given by Swiss-based
philanthropic organisation Society
in Science, which comes with a
grant of $700,000. The fellowship
motivates me to drive my research
towards areas that can most
benefit our society, says Wan,
who is a fellow at A*Stars Genome
Institute of Singapore.
Apart
from
her
scientific
endeavours, there is something
else that has been keeping her
busy: Motherhood.

252 PRESTIGE september 2014

Susan Cheong

COO, DBS Consumer Banking

Group (Singapore), 38

Royston Tay
Technopreneur, 31

In 2007, Royston Tay and a few friends started

Zopim, a cloud-based customer service chat
platform, out of a small office space provided
by NUS, their alma mater. This April, the oncelow-profile firm made headlines after being
acquired by San Francisco-based customer
service company Zendesk for US$30 million
a move that will reportedly grant each of its cofounders up to $7.7 million in cash and stock
options after a three-year period.
The road to success for Tay and company
was not an easy one for two years, all cofounders received monthly salaries of $500.
Even then, they voluntarily took pay cuts before

the company found its footing in

late 2008 when after introducing
a paid subscription plan for their
service, adoption rate picked up,
putting the tech firm on an upward
growth trajectory. Naturally, it
was a tough decision to let go of
Zopim, says the CEO of Zompin.
But in a way, we dont feel like
were selling our baby. It feels
more like finding godparents who
are willing to shower as much love
and attention as we did.
Zendesk has since filed an IPO
on the New York Stock Exchange
to raise $150 million for Zopim.

Cheongs story is the classic

career tale of talent, vision and
company loyalty. She first joined
DBS Bank in 1998 as a management
trainee upon graduation from
Nanyang Business School. In just
a decade, she rose through the
ranks to become the managing
director and head of Customer
Experience & Operations at the
Consumer Banking Group (CBG)
before assuming the role of Chief
Operating Officer last month.
On how she keeps things fresh
despite being with the same firm for
16 years (my colleagues say that I
am a fixed asset at DBS, she jokes),
Cheong lets on that her role changes
every two to three years which helps
to keep things going. She also takes
a keen interest in listening to how
entrepreneurs conceptualise and
start up their businesses. I find it
very exciting. They have motivation,
a lot of guts and most importantly,
are very happy doing what they do.
The serial online-shopper (as she
describes herself tongue-in-cheek)
also believes that online businesses
are the future: It gives resourceful
people flexibility with low overhead
costs. With a lot of support from
the government, I believe online
businesses have a bright future
here. The mother of two boys is also
a watch enthusiast.

september 2014 PRESTIGE

253

INTELLIGENCE

Nicholas Chan
Entrepreneur, 36

Mohamed Jinna
Director, MES Group, 31

He may be in charge of managing the

logistics and warehousing division
of Mini Environment Service (MES)
and overseeing operations at
The Leo the first purpose-built
housing facility for foreign workers
to receive the Green Mark Gold Plus
award but Mohamed Jinna has
bigger dreams.
The group founded by his father
Mohamed Abdul Jaleel has a
portfolio that provides integrated
property and facilities management
solutions, of which he hopes to
strengthen and broaden. Entering
F&B and hospitality, land acquisition
and new fields of logistics are
various projects and ideas he has
underway. One of which is The
Daulat a 16-room boutique hotel
in Little India which he manages.
He is also developing a 100-room
serviced apartment project and is
looking into buying a magnesium
mine in China.
With so much on his plate, what
is his guiding philosophy? In both
business and my personal life,
I always make it a point to treat
people with honesty, sincerity and
loyalty, he shares principles he
inherited from his father, a wellknown philanthropist.

254 PRESTIGE september 2014

Zul Othman
Artist, 35

Zul Othman is on a mission. Having

founded
RSCLS
(pronounced
rascals),
a
collective
that
promotes and develops urban
art, and taken the local art scene
by storm with his bold graffiti,
Othman has been integral in
helping his discipline achieve an
unprecedented level of exposure in
Singapore though it seems it is a
continual task.
RSCLS and myself have been
busy advocating for the opening up
of public spaces for graffiti murals
and such, says Othman, who
received the Young Artist Award
in 2013 for contributions to the
art scene. Without these spaces,
street art will just disappear.
But with frequently held public
talks, workshops and mentorship
programmes organised by the
artist, along with displaying his
works in public galleries like the
Singapore Art Museum and The
Substation, street art in Singapore
may have hope yet.

Pat Law
Creative, 33

Following the norm is the last thing that Pat

Laws marketing agency Goodstuph aims to
do. God forbid, wed ever use Lotus Notes,
she thought when setting up shop in 2010.
What Goodstuph does is combine witty socially
driven, word-of-mouth promotion and digital
marketing, generating campaigns for clients
such as Nike, HP and Bobbi Brown.
The agency also teamed up with FLY
Entertainment to launch Bar Naked, a watering
hole that serves as a blank canvas for brands
to turn into a living advertisement. Of her latest
brainchild, she says: Its a show of creativity; and
why not? Surely we can do more than a Facebook
page or a photo competition on Instagram.

Starting a business can be

unpredictable but Nicholas Chan
has nurtured his entrepreneurial
streak since his teenage years,
starting his first IT trading and
consulting enterprise with a
classmate while studying at a local
polytechnic. The firm did well,
enabling him and his business
partner to make a comfortable
living. Today, Chan is the founder
and director of venture capitalist
firm Azione Capital, co-founder
of OpenRecruiters, a cloudbased
recruitment
platform
and Maelstrom Asia, a military
simulation paintball war-gaming
company.
Being an entrepreneur typically
involves frequent communication,
so it may come as a surprise that
Chan was diagnosed with mild
autism in his late teens, which he
spent living in [his] own world
ignoring or minimising human
contact. Chan has since come a
long way. His accolades include
winning the Young Professional
of the Year award at the IT Leader
Awards organised by the Singapore
Computer Society in February. But
he remains down-to-earth about
his accomplishments. Everyone
has the same opportunity to be
called to greatness, no matter ones
situation or background, he says.

september 2014 PRESTIGE

255

INTELLIGENCE

ART DIRECTOR CLEMENTINUS LIEM

PHOTOGRAPHER MICKY WONG
HAIR AND MAKE-UP ARTIST JOI LEONG @

Chen Zhangyi
Composer, 30

Can Singaporean culture and

Western opera go well together?
Yes, according to composer Chen
Zhangyi, who has come up with
works such as last years Laksa
Cantata and the recent chamber
operatic
Window
Shopping
(inspired by Singaporeans love for
retail therapy.)
Chens love for music began
at age 10, when he picked up the
violin and promptly fell in love.
At 17, he began composing and
earlier this year received the Paul
Abisheganaden Grant for Artistic
Excellence, which funded a fourweek stint at leading Parisian
conservatories. Perhaps it is the
sheer beauty of music, especially
beautiful harmonies, timbres and
textures that drew me in, he says.
Chen is now in talks to launch
a new work at NUS Arts Festival
next year. Other future projects
include
exploring
Chinese
instruments such as the zither.
Singapore is actually the perfect
place for cross-cultural musical
interaction, he says.

256 PRESTIGE september 2014

Roshni Selvam

Equestrian and Veterinarian, 38

Competitive in show-jumping and dressage, Dr
Roshni Selvam is Singapores only veterinary
delegate for Fdration Equestre Internationale
(FEI), the regulating body for equestrian events.
As founder of the Equine Veterinary Practice, she
also assisted in the transfer of horses for the 2010
Youth Olympic Games.
Growing up with horses, I was distraught
whenever one of the riding school horses had to
be put down after an injury. I wanted to be a vet
very early on so that I could learn how to treat and
care for them, says Selvam, who competed at
the Prix St Georges level in Florida this year. She
is currently training to represent Singapore in
equestrian events at the 2015 SEA Games.

JOI THE MAKEUP BAR

SANVEER GILL wears the GRANDE REVERSO
ULTRA THIN 1931 ON CHOCOLATE-TONED
DIAL WITH CASA FAGLIANO LEATHER STRAP,
FROM JAEGER-LECOULTRE
ELIZABETH KONG wears the REVERSO
SQUADRA LADY DUETTO, FROM
JAEGER-LECOULTRE
VINCENT HA wears the GRANDE REVERSO
NIGHT & DAY, FROM JAEGER-LECOULTRE
GRACE SAI wears the RENDEZ-VOUS DATE,
FROM JAEGER-LECOULTRE
KUMARAN RASAPPAN wears the MASTER
ULTRA THIN 1907, FROM JAEGER-LECOULTRE
CHARINA WIDJAJA wears the RENDEZ-VOUS
NIGHT & DAY, FROM JAEGER-LECOULTRE
EDGAR KIEU wears the MASTER
GRANDE TRADITION TOURBILLON
CYLINDRIQUE QUANTIME PERPTUEL,
FROM JAEGER-LECOULTRE
CHERIE TENG wears the RENDEZ-VOUS
NIGHT & DAY, FROM JAEGER-LECOULTRE
SUSAN CHEONG wears the GRANDE
REVERSO LADY ULTRA THIN WITH VALEXTRA
STRAP, EXCLUSIVE TO JAEGER-LECOULTRE
BOUTIQUE
JINNA MOHAMED wears the
DUOMTRE UNIQUE TRAVEL TIME,
FROM JAEGER-LECOULTRE