Business China held the “ALP Alumni Programme” on 17 December 2021 (Friday). Due to the restrictions brought about by the pandemic, such a closed-door hybrid seminar was organised in place of the annual Advanced Leaders Programme (ALP), which includes an immersion trip to China.
Themed “Tech Innovation for Business Sustainability”, the programme comprised of two panel discussions. The programme saw over 50 participants attending physically at Orchard Hotel Ballroom and virtually on Zoom. They included Business China’s ALP Alumni (made up mainly of next generation business leaders, senior executives from the private sector and senior government officials) and invited guests.
The programme began with a welcome remark delivered by Business China’s Chairman Mr Lee Yi Shyan. He shared the objectives of the ALP and that the programme helps to grow a premium network of leaders who, despite the pandemic, interact frequently with one another, and in the process spur new ideas and create opportunities. This was followed by a presentation made by Singapore’s Minister of State for Ministry of Communications & Information, and the Ministry of National Development, Mr Tan Kiat How, who graced the event as the Guest-of-Honour.
The first panel discussion held in the morning is themed: Business Sustainability and Opportunities to Grow in Singapore and China under the “Endemic”, and the two speakers were Mr Tey Wei Lin, President of RGE Group and Mr Tommy Xie, Head of Greater China Research & Strategy, OCBC Bank. The moderator of this panel was Mr Nicholas Fang, Managing Director of Black Dot Pte. Ltd. The panel speakers discussed how should businesses transform, what attitudes and mindsets leaders need to adopt in order to sustain and stay relevant in the business environment. In particular, Mr Tey shared RGE’s 5 C’s philosophy, i.e. doing what is good for the Community, Country, Climate and Customer, and only then will it be good for the Company. The panel also touched on the possible areas of collaboration between Singapore and China, and the next group of Chinese consumers that businesses should target. In addition, they explored topics such as the “Common Prosperity” doctrine and new concepts such as social commerce.
In the afternoon, Mr Suji Yan and Mr Leo Lin, who are both founder cum CEO of their respective blockchain companies, Mask Network and aitos.io, came together to share their insights arising from the theme: “Tech Innovation and Critical Success Factors for Businesses under the “Endemic”. The moderator of this panel was Ms Yang Danxu, Beijing Correspondent cum Associate China News Editor, Lianhe Zaobao (联合早报). The panel speakers touched on business transformation, geopolitics influence on the technology industry, as well as how Web 3.0 technology can benefit a country and its society. In particular, Mr Lin shared with the audience an example of how has the Web 3.0 technology, namely Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain platform, helped farmers in China to tokenise their crops, allowing them to mortgage the crops as assets and for the banks to track the size of these assets.
The event concluded with an appreciation ceremony, where each appointment holder in the ALP Alumni Executive Committee (2019-2021) received a token of appreciation from Business China CEO, Ms Tin Pei Ling, as well as the appointment ceremony for the following term (2022-2024). Below is the list of Exco appointment holders for the 2022-2024 term:
President: Mr Clyde Lee
Vice-president: Mr Zhong Ming
Vice-president, Mr Koh Boon Pin
Honorary Secretary: Ms Jolyn Pek
Treasurer: Mr Tey Soon Heng
Exco member: Mr Kwek Wei Geng
Exco member: Mr Benjamin Ow
Exco member: Mr Christopher Ng
Exco member: Ms Ruby Teo
Exco member: Ms Chua Ai Ling
Exco member: Mr Leonard Lin
Exco member: Mr Yong Weng Soon
Exco member: Ms Michelle Lek