Articles,
Published Opinions & Works.
- 23 Jun 2021
- IFoA
Actuarial Innovation in the Covid-19 Era – The Year that Was
This essay is an expanded version of my remarks in 'The Year that Was’ webinar on 7 May 2021.
- 20 Jun 2021
- IFoA
New Qualifiers 2021
Qualifying is not easy, and you should be very proud to qualify as an Associate or as a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. I am delighted to celebrate your success with you.
- 8 Jun 2021
- The Actuary
Nurturing and Growing
This message will be my last as president, and I thought it would be fitting to address the issue of stewardship.
- 1 Jun 2021
- Asia Insurance Review
Five Reflections from actuarial innovation in the COVID-19 era
Twelve months on from the peak of the first COVID-19 wave in Europe, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries hosted a fortnight series of events to showcase the range of ways in which the actuarial profession has added value, in the public interest, to the understanding and management of the current
pandemic.
- 5 Mar 2021
- IFoA Blog
Changing the conversation on financial regulation
On February 19 the IFoA submitted its feedback and recommendations to HM Treasury on the Phase II Consultation of the Financial Services Future Regulatory Framework Review. [...]
- 1 Nov 2020
- Longevity Bulletin
The voice and soul of the profession
The current pandemic is the first real global ‘VUCA event’ of our lifetime. I have experienced many uncertain and volatile situations before, from racial riots in Malaysia in my childhood to more recent financial crises and then Brexit. But none of those compares
with this crisis. What can actuaries do in a VUCA environment?
- 12 Sep 2020
- Longevity Bulletin
The Longevity Bulletin
It gives me great pleasure to introduce this issue of the profession’s Longevity Bulletin, a publication that has been running for almost ten years now, helping ‘longevity stakeholders’ – not just actuaries – achieve a better understanding of the drivers behind mortality, morbidity and longevity.
- 7 Aug 2020
- The Actuary
Tilling The Soil
There is a broad agreement that the IFoA and the profession need to be more agile and respond to changes faster, more courageously and more imaginatively. A senior actuary described the IFoA as ‘treacle’; I think Ira Progoff’s metaphor, that “under pressure of events, our lives have become hard-packed like soil” that has not been tilled for many years, is appropriate. I invite all of us to till the soil, so we can flourish on our own ground.
- 14 Jun 2020
- Actuaries for Transformational Change
Actuaries for Transformational Change – Our Charter and Purpose
Actuaries for Transformational Change - our charter and purpose.
- 9 May 2020
Sixty-One Tips for Young Actuaries
Here are sixty-one tips which I have distilled from my sixty-one years of life for young actuaries. These lessons are roughly in the order of my appreciating and applying them. [...]
- 16 Apr 2020
Risk, Uncertainty, Psychology and Judgement
We are confronted with a crisis which is unparalleled in a generation. We could not have conceived of this unprecedented event at the beginning of this year, how the threat of contagion could shut down the world, have such enormous impact on our daily lives and psychological well-being. [...]
- 20 Mar 2020
- Actuaries Response Group Charter
LinkedIn Covid-19 Actuaries Response Group Charter
LinkedIn Covid-19 Actuaries Response Group Charter
- 1 May 2019
- ICMIF
Managing Across Borders In Asia
Professor Richard Smith of Singapore Management University and I published this short article, “Managing Across Borders” in May 2019. We contrast leadership traits between Asian and Western leaders. I have been a partner and guest lecturer of Professor Smith’s Human Capital and EMBA classes in SMU since 2012.
- 9 May 2014
- ICMIF
Modern capitalism in crisis: The opportunity of our lifetime
I represented NTUC Income on the Executive Committee of the International Cooperatives and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF). In May 2014, I contributed a short blog on their website, where I argued that the time for business to adopt the Triple Bottom Line has arrived. The 3 Ps are Planet, People and Profit, coined by an Englishman, John Elkington many years ago.
- 3 Mar 2010
- Straits Times
What it takes for social enterprise to succeed today
In this first of two articles which were published in the national dailies, I reflected on my own learning. The gist of this is that for businesses to thrive they have to make social sense, and for social enterprises to thrive they have to make business sense.
- 23 Jun 2009
- Straits Times
Why no one seemed to see the crisis coming
The title of this article “Why did no one seemed to see the crisis coming” mirrored exactly what the Queen of Great Britain asked when she visited my alma mater London School of Economics in December 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis. In this article, which was published in our national daily The Straits Times, I attempted to answer the question.
- 23 Oct 2008
- Straits Times
NTUC Income’s ‘Cultural Revolution’
On 20 August 2007, NTUC Income kick started a 1500-day transformation process which we called the “Cultural Revolution”. We had many good values like trust, teamwork and execution orientation. But we were weak in having a sense of ownership, independence of thought, achievement orientation, and creativity. We drew inspiration from Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to rally and sustain the Revolution.
- 30 Jul 2008
- Business Times
Reflections on leading a Singapore Social Enterprise
In this article, I assured the public, that “doing good” remain the foundational value of NTUC Income, even as we embarked on our Cultural Revolution.