Some business conversations take an hour. Others take only a few minutes. Both can create meaningful opportunities. #164
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Some business conversations take an hour. Others take only a few minutes. Both can create meaningful opportunities. #164

Some business conversations take an hour. Others take only a few minutes. Both can create meaningful opportunities.#164 Yesterday, I attended two very different events: SIGEP 2026 and the SME Cybersecurity Symposium with ST Engineering. SIGEP brought together businesses exploring franchising, food, hospitality, technology and regional expansion. The cybersecurity symposium focused on a different but increasingly…

#163 Charity Deserves Reliable Technology Too — And So Do Public Services 慈善机构也值得拥有可靠的科技——公共服务亦然
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#163 Charity Deserves Reliable Technology Too — And So Do Public Services 慈善机构也值得拥有可靠的科技——公共服务亦然

What a food bank’s single point of failure and a library’s “haunted seat” reveal about digital resilience, dignity and trust Technology does not have to be sophisticated to be important. Sometimes, it is a barcode scanner recording groceries collected by a family in need. Sometimes, it is a booking portal helping a student find a…

#155 Why Pay Transparency Is Still Not Talked About: The Real Organisational Scenarios Behind the Silence 为什么薪酬透明仍然鲜少被谈起:沉默背后的真实组织场景
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#155 Why Pay Transparency Is Still Not Talked About: The Real Organisational Scenarios Behind the Silence 为什么薪酬透明仍然鲜少被谈起:沉默背后的真实组织场景

Pay transparency sounds simple on the surface. Employees want to know whether they are paid fairly. Employers want to attract talent, retain people and build trust. Regulators increasingly want organisations to show that pay decisions are not discriminatory, arbitrary or opaque. Yet in many workplaces, pay remains one of the least openly discussed topics. The…

#138 What Food & Hospitality Asia 2026 Reveals About the Future of F&B in Southeast Asia
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#138 What Food & Hospitality Asia 2026 Reveals About the Future of F&B in Southeast Asia

#138 What Food & Hospitality Asia 2026 Reveals About the Future of F&B in Southeast Asia 在 Food & Hospitality Asia 2026 上的观察,让我看到一个更大的趋势。 Over the past few days at Food & Hotel Asia 2026, I’ve shared a few observations: • A Taiwan brand (所长) scaling through story, culture, and packaging • A Malaysia player (Daily…

🌽 POST 2 — Malaysia (Daily Fresh / HC Chay) From Sweet Corn to Smart Retail: #136
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🌽 POST 2 — Malaysia (Daily Fresh / HC Chay) From Sweet Corn to Smart Retail: #136

🌽 POST 2 — Malaysia (Daily Fresh / HC Chay) From Sweet Corn to Smart Retail: #136 Scaling Through Format Following my earlier observations on Taiwan brands scaling globally, I encountered another compelling model at Food & Hospitality Asia 2026. Through HC Chay from Daily Fresh — a principal partner behind Morgan’s Liverpool booth. What…

🥢 POST 1 — Taiwan (所长 / Sheriff) From Tainan to the World: #135
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🥢 POST 1 — Taiwan (所长 / Sheriff) From Tainan to the World: #135

🥢 POST 1 — Taiwan (所长 / Sheriff) From Tainan to the World: #135 When Food Becomes Culture, Brand, and Infrastructure At Food & Hospitality Asia 2026, I came across something deceptively simple — yet deeply strategic. A high-protein tea-leaf egg and braised tofu snack from the Taiwan market, by Jin Jialong Enterprise (brand: 所长…

#127 🧭 When Systems Work — But People Fall Through 🧭 当系统运作良好——但人却被遗落
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#127 🧭 When Systems Work — But People Fall Through 🧭 当系统运作良好——但人却被遗落

A Ground Reflection on Singapore’s Emerging Trust Gap Over the past months, I’ve been receiving an unusual pattern of messages from readers. They are not always about crime. Not always about policy failure. Not always about injustice. But they all point to something deeper: A slow erosion of trust — across systems that are technically…

#100 When Job Losses Rise but Public Bonuses Hit 1.7 Months — Singapore Must Rethink What “Service Excellence” Really Means 当裁员加速、却发放 1.7 个月花红——新加坡必须重新思考什么是真正的“卓越服务”
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#100 When Job Losses Rise but Public Bonuses Hit 1.7 Months — Singapore Must Rethink What “Service Excellence” Really Means 当裁员加速、却发放 1.7 个月花红——新加坡必须重新思考什么是真正的“卓越服务”

Over the past year, I’ve spoken to countless professionals, parents, business owners, HR leaders and job-seekers. Across every group, one line keeps surfacing: “The numbers look good. But the ground reality doesn’t match.” Across industries, job losses and quiet retrenchments are accelerating. PMETs are disproportionately affected. Hiring freezes are becoming common. This isn’t speculation —…

TIEMBA Tsinghua-INSEAD EMBA 2027 Dinner at South East, NUS Shaw Foundation Alumni House
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#97 🌍 Global Minds, Shared Purpose: Reflections from the Tsinghua–INSEAD EMBA 2027 Dinner 🌏 全球视野,共同使命 —— 清华–INSEAD EMBA 2027 晚宴感想

Last evening, I had the privilege of joining fellow members of the Tsinghua–INSEAD EMBA 2027 community for an intimate dinner at South East, NUS Shaw Foundation Alumni House. What began as a simple gathering quickly evolved into a rich exchange of ideas — crossing industries, nations, and belief systems. 🌍 A Truly Global Table Around…

#85 Singapore’s Food Identity in Flux: Welcoming Change While Holding Ground #85 新加坡的饮食身份正在重塑:欢迎改变,也要守住根基
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#85 Singapore’s Food Identity in Flux: Welcoming Change While Holding Ground #85 新加坡的饮食身份正在重塑:欢迎改变,也要守住根基

中文版在英文刊文下方 In Singapore today, there’s a growing tension between heritage narratives and market realities. We champion hawker culture, Peranakan heritage, and food icons passed down through generations; yet in the same breath, longtime operators are being squeezed out as new Chinese restaurant brands proliferate, rents soar, and immigrant capital fills the void. I believe this…