I’m group CFO for a construction and property group listed on the SGX-ST Catalist board. I most enjoy handling M&A activities. Another interesting aspect is finding ways to improve finance function productivity by taking advantage of technology tools to streamline processes and automate functions.

Throughout my career I’ve been fortunate enough to be blessed with bosses who were able to identify my strengths and weaknesses. They guided me in the right direction in terms of the skills I needed to hone and areas to improve. They were also generous in sharing their knowledge and wisdom, not only about work and the profession, but also lessons for life.

The pandemic has taught all of us harsh lessons, including how we conduct business

If I had the power, I would implement laws to simplify the financial reporting rules and standards to make them easy to understand for the common man, the individual shareholder. It’s my humble opinion that the standards are becoming increasingly complicated and costly to implement. At the end of the day, the only stakeholders likely to read the financial reports are regulators, auditors, professionals and institutional investors.

It’s not just the way we conduct business that has changed in Singapore. The way of life as we know it has changed drastically in the last year and a half. The pandemic has taught all of us harsh lessons, including how we conduct business. It has proven that change is the only constant. The pandemic has forced businesses that were not ready for change, to change, embracing working from home, e-commerce, cloud computing, virtual meetings etc. We are unlikely to go back to the old way of working and conducting business.

Because of Covid, a seemingly connected world has become very disconnected as a result of travel restrictions. The pandemic has shown that having your supply chain spread across the globe is not always a good thing. It has shown that those who cannot adapt to change will perish. And last but not least, it has shown that cash is king.

My biggest achievement to date? Stepping into a vacant CFO role at a financially-distressed listed company riddled with debts in excess of S$100m. I worked with a team of highly qualified professionals to successfully revive the company’s fortunes, lift the suspension on the trading of its shares and hand over to a new investor. It was the most challenging job I had taken on in my career and there were times when I wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew. It was the hardest two years, but the sense of achievement was gratifying. The joy, though, has been bittersweet, as I learnt that the company delisted last year, three years after my departure.

If I weren’t an accountant, I’d be a travel guide or a yoga practitioner. Or both.

Advertisement