Collectively Speaking

Join this episode's host, Prof. Kenneth Goh (SMU) as he speaks with Allan Lim (ComCrop), Pamela Chng (Bettr Coffee Co.), Huang Shao-Ning (CareerBuilder) and Kwok Jia Chuan (Conjunct Consulting) about using business to create more than just monetary value. They talk about the problems they attempted to solve through business, and what they've learned along the way.

Follow us on IG @TheBirthdayCollective for occasional AMAs with our panelists and on FB at The Birthday Collective.

Join this episode's host (Eddie Choo) and guests (Khoo Seok Lin, Dr. Nazry Bahrawi & Khee Shihui) as they share their ever-changing purpose & manage tensions between seemingly binary choices in life and society. Can one be Austere, yet Audacious? Prudent, yet Spontaneous? Only one way to find out - listen in! Follow us on IG @TheBirthdayCollective and FB (The Birthday Collective) to learn about other initiatives and opportunities we have to share. About the Panel: Eddie Choo writes about futures & systems on his Medium blog - Scalable Analysis. He also engages in interfaith dialogues at Explorations into Faith, a volunteer-run programme supported by Southeast Community Development Council.

Khoo Seok Lin is an economist by training, spending 15 years in the Economic Development Board as Director (Human Resources) and Co-Director (Organisation Development). She left EDB to pursue her passion to introduce the principles of organizational learning and development into education. Seok Lin is currently a freelance trainer and facilitator in leadership development.

Dr. Nazry Bahrawi is a literary and cultural critic at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. He is the co-founder and convener of the critical humanities collective Bras Basah Open. His idea of a Singapore utopia necessitates a functioning Arts and Humanities Research Council, among other fanciful things. Khee Shihui enjoys learning about what gives purpose and meaning to people and seeks to find ways to support them. She's most energised at the confluence of the arts, people and organisation development, community engagement, and social innovation. She is the Programme Director of Common Ground, a civic institution that seeks to facilitate critical partnerships to solve pressing national concerns.

Join this episode's host, Geetha Creffield & Christopher Chok and guests Hazel Peh, Jamie Tan & Arunan Amuthalingam as they revise through the past, present & future including the lessons from their own journeys in making the most of their education.

Follow us on IG @TheBirthdayCollective for occasional AMAs with our panelists and on FB (The Birthday Collective) to learn about other initiatives and opportunities we have to offer.

About the Panel:

Geetha Creffield is a theatre & literature educator, and also a PhD candidate with the Department of Theatre and Performance at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research work is on ethnicity, race & multiculturalism in contemporary Southeast Asian Theatre and Performance. In her spare time, Geetha is also passionate about debating & creating a powerful speech culture.

Christopher Chok taught History at a local secondary after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National University of Singapore. He was awarded the Chevening scholarship in 2018 and holds a MA (Distinction) in Religious Studies from Durham University. He currently works at the intersection of learning and development, evaluation and analytics, futures scenario planning, and innovation in adult learning experiences.

Hazel Peh is a postgraduate student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Learning and Teaching. She is passionate about equity, education and the environment. She is particularly interested in teacher professional development and improving school culture. She is the vice president of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Singaporean and Malaysian Association, and a member of the Singapore Policy Journal based at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Jamie Tan is an educator. She taught high school Literature after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania. Since then she has worked for the International Baccalaureate, helped to set up the first United World College in China, and now works in the field of lifelong learning at NUS. Walking the talk, she is also pursuing a further degree in Computer Science.

Arunan Amuthalingam has a degree in English Literature and Theatre Studies from Royal Holloway and a Master's in Shakespeare in History at UCL. Arunan now is excited about debate and public speaking. While being a IB and GCSE school teacher in various countries, Arunan has had multiple opportunities to coach teams. He enjoys being a debate coach because it promotes teamwork, turn taking and propels students to think and speak eloquently about regional and global issues- all of which prepare them for a world beyond debate. His love of debate matches his love of theatre and Shakespeare.

Join this episode's host, Cherie Lim-Tseng, as she joins Joan Leong, Simar Kaur & Rain Khoo in traversing the multitude of pathways that families undertake - beyond what is conventionally shared.

Follow us on IG @TheBirthdayCollective for occasional AMAs with our panelists and on FB (The Birthday Collective) to learn about other initiatives and opportunities we have to offer.

About the Panel:

Cherie Lim-Tseng is the COO at Secur Solutions Group and Founder, Principal Consultant at Rie Ink. In her spare time, Cherie is an essential oil enthusiast, runs a diaper cake patisserie, writes food reviews for a leading gourmet magazine and contributes to parenting magazines & platforms. She is a mother to 3 boys who sometimes think she moonlights as a female Jedi - a masquerade she's always happy to fuel.

Joan Leong is a media professional who has been telling stories through pictures, stills or moving frames since she first picked up a camera almost two decades ago. When not capturing moments, she can be found working out a sweat in the gym or whipping up a storm in the kitchen.

Simar Kaur champions people development and learning by creating cultures in which employees can thrive. Outside of work, you'll find her spending time with the people she loves. She enjoys traveling, Netflix, reading and dance parties with her family. Simar and her husband, Malminderjit, are proud parents of their three delightful children - Thiya, Daya and Liv.

Rain Khoo is a work-in-progress human being. He works as a professional in consumer goods and sees work as an enriching platform to improve himself to help others. He loves travel, the arts, design, food and all things spiritual. A bi-gender trans man, he was blessed to transit from female-to-male while keeping his marriage intact. He is Maddy - Mommy & Daddy - to two very precious girls. Their family attends Free Community Church, where there is a ministry to support transgender individuals.

Join this episode's host, Joshua Chambers, as he speaks with Tseng Wun Hsiung, Lim May-Ann & James Chan on a platitude of considerations pertaining to integral technologies used towards building Singapore's Digital Future.

Follow us on IG @TheBirthdayCollective for occasional AMAs with our panelists and on FB (The Birthday Collective) to learn about other initiatives and opportunities we have to offer.

About the Panel:

Joshua Chambers is the Founder of GovInsider, a Singaporean media startup focusing on global government innovation.

Tseng Wun Hsiung is the Group CEO of Secur Solutions Group, which focuses on digital identity, security & next-gen solutions for financial, government & enterprise sectors.

Lim May-Ann is the Managing Director of TRPC (tech regulatory & policy consulting company), Executive Director of Asia Cloud Computing Association & Adjunct Lecturer at the Communications & New Media Dept of National University of Singapore.

James Chan is the CEO of Ion Mobility, building Southeast Asia's leading EV motorcycle company.

Join this episode's hosts, Aaron Maniam & Eddie Choo as they speak to Cheryl Chung, Mariam Aljunied and Tan Eng Teck about trying on various lenses, rose-tinted or otherwise, in an attempt to envision a glimpse of Singapore's future.

Follow us on IG @TheBirthdayCollective for occasional AMAs with our panelists and on FB (The Birthday Collective) to learn about other initiatives and opportunities we have to offer.

About the Panel: Aaron Maniam wears many hats as a curious generalist-civil servant, poet, volunteer educator & diversity facilitator. He was the Founding Head of the Singapore Government's Centre for Strategic Futures, host of multiple CNA documentaries on the future of work & equity and is the Co-founder of The Birthday Collective. Eddie Choo writes about futures and systems on his Medium blog, Scalable Analysis. He also engages in interfaith dialogues at Explorations into Faith, a volunteer-run programme supported by Southeast Community Development Council. Cheryl Chung thinks about the future. A lot. As co-founder of Quad.sg, she is obsessed with how to expand space for non-partisan data-driven discourse in hopes that it would help us make better decisions for Singapore's future. Mariam Aljunied is a Chartered Psychologist with more than 25 years of professional practice & research experience in the area of special needs & disability support. She volunteers actively with Autism Resource Centre, OnePeople.sg, Mendaki & Muhammadiyah Home. Tan Eng Teck is a Systems Analyst who lives at the intersection of geopolitics, technology & social issues. As a social scientist, learner, builder & coordinator, he enjoys futures thinking - where he dances with black swans & rides with the black elephants of tomorrow.

The Future, Technology, Family, Education, Entrepreneurship, Purpose and 11 other themes (read: Episodes) in waiting - plus bonus content! Launching on 10/10/2020 with Episode 1: The Future & Episode 2: Technology. Don't miss any episodes, subscribe to the show!