Kevin Chua (Accredited Director, ICF ACC, iHRP-SP)

At the Singapore Institute of Directors conference, Minister Hong Tat Chee encouraged board directors to be catalysts for value creation, transforming their companies and unlocking the shareholder value that lies within Singapore's corporate sector. He outlined three areas that can help companies unlock value: 1️⃣ Capabilities development - going beyond financial management, skills to include corporate strategy, capital optimisation, investor engagement, and media outreach 2️⃣ Communication - helping others to understand what we can deliver and what value will be created 3️⃣ Communities - having networks that help foster peer learning and knowledge exchange Grateful to Minister Chee for acknowledging that “𝗦𝗜𝗗 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀.” He not only leveraged the conference to share some exciting plans by SGX Group to support companies in communicating their value including the launch of a new index that tracks companies beyond the Straits Times Index (STI), as part of its efforts to showcase Singapore’s broader equity market as well as Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)’s plans to work closely with SID to support the development of essential skills. Minister also shared that SID will be launching a chairperson guild. Supported by MAS and SGX, this programme will bring together the board chairs of listed companies to build a micro community for learning and mutual support. Huge thanks to our colleagues at MAS for working behind the scenes with us to facilitate the messages and announcements. 👉 Read Minister’s speech here: https://lnkd.in/g_tSuUSk 📺 Thank you CNA for covering the conference and the opportunity for me to share how SID is supporting the national effort to strengthen our equities market. View the news clip here: https://lnkd.in/g2CnABN7

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Another 3.30am university lecture with 80 students of City University of Hong Kong, who logged on in spite of having the day off school due to the heavy black rain weather warning. Thanks to Adam Pun and Camellia Li for inviting me back to speak! In-between sharing the secrets I learned from studying Interview Skills since my first interview at the age of 12 And the 10 years’ experience I gained dealing with all kinds of hiring, firing, promotions and pay issues at Goldman Sachs I shared with them what I believe is the core to staying relevant in this new economy. 1. AI is coming for your (traditional) jobs. You need to embrace AI to stay ahead of the game - or else be left behind.     2. The one thing AI cannot replace is your ability to communicate and build relationships with other human beings, in real life, where you can’t rely on AI. This is no longer a “soft” skill but your core skill.     3. The gap between the haves and have nots will very likely only get worse. For normal, middle class people like myself, who aren’t in positions of ultimate power to move markets, knowing how to invest is more Important than ever before, and likely the only way to maintain a middle class lifestyle (I actually forgot to mention this one yesterday, oops).     This is the world we’re leaving our kids to inherit, and this is the advice I’m sharing with my kids. What would you advise students and kids nowadays, to stay relevant so they have a future to look forward to?

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We are in a very dangerous period, and it is worth reminding ourselves that the founders of any good governance system envision "free speech" as a forum for open and HONEST dialogue over social issues, and as a bulwark to tyranny. Here, free speech must be distinguished from 1) capitalist speech, which is financially and optically incentivized by the attention economy to elicit the most primal and visceral human reaction, and 2) stochastic terrorism, hate speech, or other violent rhetoric. There are plenty of examples of highly structured societies where social norms encourage self-regulation and constructive dialogue as a means to prevent the conversion of rhetoric to physical violence.

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The Women's Directorship Programme, launched in 2013, has empowered over 300 top women executives with a #Masters in #Board #Governance. A collaboration of Meraki Executive Search & Consulting and HKU Business School, this 13-year initiative has seen over 75% of graduates taking up positions on corporate boards. In 2024, the inaugural #India edition, #WDPIndia, was introduced with a similar mission: to enhance #genderdiversity in #boardrooms across Asia and beyond, fostering better #corporategovernance. The first cohort in Mumbai last November included leaders from Salesforce, United Breweries Ltd. HSBC AXA, Syngene International Limited, and more. Looking ahead to November 2025, preparations are underway for the second cohort of #WDPIndia. With half the spots already filled, there's still an opportunity to participate. If you aspire to be an #INED, explore board roles, seek insights into board dynamics, or wish to engage your company, feel free to reach out via DM. Joining this program could be #lifechanging. Kirti Lad Soni Sajnani Priyali Kamath Sumit Seth Sutapa Banerjee Vinita B. Nicholas Allen 30% Club UK

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📺 News flash: Just been informed by CNA that CuriousCore is going to be briefly mentioned at 10pm (SGT) tonight's news about the surging demand of #GenAI course participants. We've always believe that technology skills should be relevant, practical and accessible to all adult learners so we are very happy to have increasing interest on Gen AI (we are platform/tool agnostic). Some asked why we didn't hop on the coding or data analysis or cybersecurity bandwagon? One said, "You could have made a few extra million dollars if you rode that wave!" I'll admit I'm probably a better teacher than a businessman or capitalist. I saw there were several technical training providers which delivered exactly what technology teams require and I doubt we can beat the cost competitiveness of the Indians or the creativity of the Europeans or the recognised certifications of the Americans. However, few took time to understand the business dynamics and change management side of things especially for middle managers trying to sustain and grow their business units. I was once a middle manager in the system, I wasn't given a playbook only some pep talk and problem solving frameworks. I was asked to do change management and training + coaching of my juniors on top of my BAU responsibilities, which included P&L or innovation management. Earlier in my career, I had wished I didn't need to flip through 5 books and 3 courses to make sense of a topic. That's how I learnt A/B testing, performance management and financial analysis. I had mentors but not all are gifted to teach and impart skills without hubris. Hence, we designed our courses for time-sensitive professionals delivered with business and learning outcomes in mind. So yes, capability development is a strategic business growth lever and training doesn't have to be once and done. That's what we are: a learning partner to evolving companies.

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We were pleased to contribute Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP)’s perspectives to the "Skills-First: What Does It Mean for Me?" roundtable, hosted by Institute for Adult Learning Singapore (IAL) on 7 August 2025. IHRP Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Shirley Lim, joined a panel of industry leaders and academics to explore how workers can navigate an increasingly flexible labour market through skills-first readiness and multi-portfolio career approaches. This vital dialogue, part of the Skills-First Working Paper Series, brought together diverse stakeholders to co-create practical solutions for advancing Singapore's skills-first ecosystem. The session was opened by Edwin Tan, Director of the Office for Skills-First Practices, who set the stage for meaningful discussions on translating skills-first concepts into actionable strategies. Patrick Tay Teck Guan, Assistant Secretary-General for National Trades Union Congress, and Dr Soon Joo Gog, Fellow, SUSS-IAL, were also invited to share their thoughts around what it meant to take a skills-first approach as individuals as AI continued to shape the world of work. Distinguished panellists included:  * Patrick Tay, Assistant Secretary-General, National Trades Union Congress  * Tracy Lee, Assistant Chief Executive, Workforce Singapore  * Wee Siong Yeo, Group Director, SkillsFuture Singapore  * Zhuo Gangwei, Divisional Director, Ministry of Manpower * Gloria Arlini, Chief Executive Officer, Generation Singapore  * A/P Chong GUAN, Director, Singapore University of Social Sciences  * Jeremiah Wong 王俊傑, Lead Career Developer, AVODAH People Solutions  * Kai Ning Lim, Co-Founder, The Courage Chapter  * Morag Lynagh, Director, Blue Moth Consulting * Dr Gog Soon Joo, Fellow, SUSS-IAL  * Dr Ruby Toh, Principal Researcher, SUSS-IAL • Dr Albert Liau, Head Analyst, SUSS-IAL * Dr Samuel Chng, Research Assistant Professor, SUTD (Moderator) We appreciate the invitation and the opportunity to share insights on how progressive HR practices can better support workers in developing competencies needed for multi-career success, especially in the face of disruptive challenges and an evolving economy. 📄 To learn more about the “Skills-first: What Does It Mean for Me?" working paper - do visit https://lnkd.in/gRKkfqE8 #IHRP #SkillsFirst #HRLeadership #WorkforceDevelopment #CareerResilience #Singapore

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