Yesterday, we lost the King of Singapore.

I never had the privilege of meeting him, but a year ago, I sent a cheeky email to Adrian Tan asking if he’d share his life story on the So This Is My Why podcast.

In a true spirit of generosity, he said yes.

And we spoke for over 2 hours! 🤯

Podcast hosts shouldn’t have favourites but… Adrian was one of my favourites. It is true.

Today, Adrian’s episode has been rereleased as a tribute to him. It is the almost 💯 unedited version (minus the umm & ahhs), so you’ll hear some of the parts that didn’t make the cut the first time around in 1 full episode.

I hope this interview did justice in showcasing the kind of person that he was.

If you don’t know Adrian’s backstory, here are some highlights (found in the episode too):

🔥 Adrian grew up in a HDB flat that had zero concept of privacy. His neighbours crowded outside his flat every day to watch their TV & would get mad if it wasn’t available! 🤣

🔥 He was the subject of maternal gaslighting 🤣 which helped him become very, very good at English

🔥 His English was so good, he was refused a scholarship to do law and told to do English instead! 

🔥Adrian ended up writing multiple bestsellers - The Teenage Textbook & The Teenage Workbook (they’ve been turned into a play, TV series & movie!)

🔥 Ironically, Adrian was very embarrassed by the success of his novels. Because he was a tough, hardened litigator but his clients just wanted to talk about his silly teenage romance novels?! 😫

🔥Despite being a lawyer, he found it impossible to stand up for himself in real life.

🔥 But he realised that he needed to start speaking up. On LinkedIn. 

Because it was time to strip away the “mystic” around the legal profession & that begins with lawyers becoming legal influencers.

🔥 Finally, his vow as the President of the Singapore Law Society to “fight cancer, fight my cases in court & fight for lawyers as their President, until the clock runs out”.

I hope you enjoy this re-released, unedited episode with the King of Singapore.

📍Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/101

🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/QOEeOIiQvyk

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062

Welcome to a special Questions from the Audience episode with Peter Yong aka Mr Money TV - one of the top personal finance YouTubers in the region.

In this episode, we feature questions that came from you! Which include Peter's own co-founders & staff.

If you haven't done so already, do check out Episode 122 Parts 1 & 2 to learn more about Peter's journey from being a replacement child to abandoning his lucrative career (+ selling his BMW!) to go in to his YouTube business and all things entrepreneurship.

Highlights:

• 1:21 What should my net worth be if I want to retire ASAP?
• 2:47 What was it like giving up everything to start your own business?
• 3:51 Advice for young entrepreneurs in a similar position
• 5:10 Ever received any extreme threats?
• 6:18 Peter's many tattoos
• 9:10 How do you see yourself in 5 years?
• 10:13 Will MrMoney become an MNC?
• 10:24 Coughing?!

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/122 

🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/saQkikbcwaY 

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062

✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

What does it take to build a 7-figure YouTube business on personal finance?

Peter Yong aka Mr Money TV spills the tea on STIMY Episode 122 Part 2.

That includes telling us:

• Why he tells all his staff, "I am not your father!"
• Why he hires 5, works 10 & pays 8;
• How he creates a moat around himself;
• How he's built his personal brand;
• Why his staff actively tell him to NOT hire more staff!
• Why his entire team knows the financials behind Mr Money TV;
• Working for free & getting equity?!
• His dream of building a Hershey town.

And that's just some of juicier takes. 😎

Highlights:

• 3:05 Being taken advantage of
• 5:22 Having partners work for free until 2 - 4am?!
• 10:33 Prototyping the life you want
• 12:37 Matt the Ultimate Gen Z
• 15:59 Hire 5, work 10, pay 8
• 17:52 I am not your father!
• 18:32 Hiring process
• 21:57 Becoming a business
• 22:56 Getting the staff involved in the hiring process
• 23:56 How does Mr Money make money?!
• 26:32 Evaluating priorities
• 31:55 Creating a moat
• 40:22 The Personal
• 41:01 Mr Money TV almost shut down?!
• 42:28 Becoming more cynical
• 44:56 Can a boss ever be friends with his employees?
• 47:43 You're going to shut down. Do you tell your employees?
• 51:05 Hershey's World (P/S: Thanks, CK!!)
• 53:48 The legacy for Peter's 2 sons

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/122 

🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/saQkikbcwaY 

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062

✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

Hey STIMIES!

It’s time to meet the Replacement Son who refuses to drive a Porsche: Peter Yong aka Mr Money TV.

One of Malaysia’s most beloved personal finance YouTubers with 153k subscribers!

It’s one thing to start another YouTube channel; quite another to turn it into a thriving 7-figure business in Southeast Asia, but Peter has done just that. And today, we dive deep & personal, touching on things like how:

🔥 Peter was born to be a replacement son, which severely affected his confidence & self-esteem

🔥 His father was a gangster!! Who taught Peter to clean his gun when he was just 5 years old?!

🔥 He thought money was evil. Until he realised it wasn’t

🔥 He was thriving in his RM 250,000/year insurance job then gave it all up & sold his BMW, to go all-in with his YouTube channel. 

Just when his son was born.

Peter has so many gems to share that I had to cut this interview into 2 parts!

This is Part 1.

I hope you enjoy it!

Highlights:

• 3:43 Running away from death
• 5:48 Money isn’t important
• 6:25 The replacement son
• 10:15 Cleaning a gun at age 5?!
• 12:27 Surviving bullies?!
• 16:44 What do I do with my life?
• 18:21 Money isn’t evil?
• 24:59 Planning to x6 his income in 6 years
• 27:57 Being in control of money
• 30:45 Admitted to the hospital
• 31:39 Sales is the most humiliating job in the world
• 33:02 Making RM 250,000/year
• 36:09 The secret to convincing
• 37:11 Starting his own agency
• 42:18 What can make money?
• 46:16 Odd jobs
• 47:31 Drowning
• 52:03 The vision
• 55:42 Going full-time
• 57:36 The Porsche life?!
• 1:00:33 The girl & the train

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/122

🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/saQkikbcwaY 

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062

✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

❓What is it like becoming a Deputy Minister in a government that’s never been in power before?

❓What was the relationship really like between Malaysia’s then Prime Minister & Deputy Prime Minister, Mahathir & Anuar?

❓How does one pick a constituency and why even politics in the first place when you can make good money as a BCG consultant?

If you haven’t already guessed it, today’s STIMY guest is Dr Ong Kian Ming aka imokman.

He went from being a BCG consultant to a lecturer and policy analyst at UCSI University and director of the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (MERAP). He then entered politics and eventually became the Deputy Minister, Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia in July 2018!

If you don’t know anything about Malaysian politics, here’s a heads up: Kian Ming (legitimately) thought he would always be in the opposition. The then incumbent government had been in power since Independence Day for the past 60+ years!

So as you can imagine, today’s conversation focuses on politics. A lot. 

Touching on things like why Kian Ming chose to enter politics, what it was like becoming a Deputy Minister, what went so wrong (e.g. the Sheraton Move!), why he’s setting up a PPE course and so much more.

Highlights:

• 2:07 imokman
• 3:32 Wanting to be rich
• 4:22 Being an ASEAN scholar
• 6:44 Seeking a “higher purpose” in BCG?!
• 9:14 Make your boss look good (not your client!)
• 10:29 Public policy
• 15:06 How his PhD in political science helped his career
• 19:24 Meeting Tony Pua & blogging
• 20:50 Sacrifices we don’t know?
• 22:32 “The Talk” with the wife
• 24:18 Only 2 terms?!
• 26:21 Preparing for his first election
• 29:51 Deciding who to help
• 32:40 Managing expectations from his constituents
• 33:32 Giving safe financial support
• 34:49 I’ll be in opposition forever?!
• 37:06 The manifesto
• 38:29 Managing the euphoria
• 40:34 Building trust
• 41:47 The legacy he inherited at MITI from Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz
• 44:56 Industry 4.0
• 47:23 That $70 billion investment from China
• 49:24 The realities of running trade investment missions
• 50:50 How does China see Malaysia?
• 53:36 The Sheraton Move - what really happened?
• 55:49 What could’ve been done differently?
• 57:05 The relationship between Mahathir & Anuar
• 58:56 No reelection
• 1:00:17 How do we know if constituents are actually doing the work?
• 1:01:11 Wishing he’d worked better with his minister
• 1:03:31 Who’s a lifelong politician?
• 1:04:43 When is it time to leave?
• 1:05:26 Building Malaysia’s first PPE Course (and future Malaysian Prime Ministers?!)

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/121

😮 Interested in building your personal brand on LinkedIn? Just shoot me an email at [email protected] & we’ll get started!

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062

✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

Apolo Ohno has won 8 Olympic medals & 21 World Championship medals, which makes him the most decorated US Winter Olympian in history!

He was the state champion swimmer at age 13 & national speed skating champion at age 14, but it was short track speed skating that really caught his eye.

Because to him, they were like Superman!

After 6 months of training, Apolo won the 1997 US Championships. He was a shoo-in for the 1998 Winter Olympics but then... 

Apolo grew complacent. 

He self-sabotaged & threw away his training, finishing last in the Olympics trials.

His father was so upset, he sent Apolo to an isolated cabin at Copalis Beach and said: "You'll stay here for as long as it takes for you to figure out what you want to do with your life!"

That was traumatic.

Apolo decided he would give this sport a real shot & that's when everything changed. 

But there was a price to pay for such "psychotic obsession".

He was ruthless to everyone, including himself.

In this STIMY Episode, we talked about how he finds FLOW, sports psychology, self-sabotage, the importance of recovery, and being obsessive without being "mindlessly handcuffed to it".

So if you want to live your life to the fullest the way an Olympic champion does, then this is the episode for you!

Highlights:

• 3:27 Survival
• 7:23 Why did this happen?
• 10:35 Blowing up toilets?!
• 12:25 Joining the Superman sports
• 15:33 Sleeping with his skates
• 16:48 Sacrifice
• 22:01 Not being handcuffed to failure
• 24:39 Self-sabotage
• 30:57 The darker side to obsession
• 39:31 Finding the FLOW state
• 42:50 The power of introspection
• 45:25 The controversial Salt Lake City Olympics win
• 49:20 Turin Olympics
• 50:46 Why Apolo turned away from Hollywood
• 52:30 A lion is most dangerous when it knows it's near its end
• 56:11 Psychotic obsession outside of sports
• 57:31 Not returning to sports + Michael Phelps
• 58:51 The Great Divorce
• 1:02:37 What do you say yes to?
• 1:05:07 Building his personal board of directors
• 1:08:31 Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/120

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062

✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

Entrepreneurs must be ruthless, obsessive and willing to cut corners.

Something that Justin Byam Shaw, Chairman of ESI Media, would know.

He co-owns (alongside Evgeny Lebedev) the Evening Standard & the Independent, and also co-founded the Felix Project - one of the biggest food redistribution charities in the UK!

If you've ever been in London, you'll notice the Evening Standard lying around Tube stations. It's a 100% free quality newspaper and I'd always wondered - what does it take to run it? How do you manage to keep a newspaper free on such a scale?

Well today, Justin shares it all.

He takes us through his decision to:

🔥 Study classics at Oxford University - even when everyone told him it was good for nothing!

🔥 Pivot from advertising - when he realised he was terrible at it

🔥 Drop out of British Telecom within 1 week of finding a market gap to launch his own startup - at a time when it wasn't the "cool thing" to be a founder

🔥 Buy both the Evening Standard & the Independent (alongside the Lebedevs)

And also his thoughts on:

🤔 How George Osborne faired as Editor of the Evening Standard

🤔 How to turn around failing media companies

🤔 Launching the The i newspaper (within 7 months of acquiring the Independent!)

🤔 The rise of superstar journalists turned media personalities

🤔 The media publication he'd be most interested in taking over & what he'd do differently!

Highlights:

• 4.44 Studying "good for nothing" Classics at Oxford?!
• 7:18 Being bad at advertising
• 9:27 Moving to British Telecom when it'd just privatised
• 11:34 The talent show that kickstarted Justin's entrepreneurial journey
• 12:38 Remortgaging his apartment?!
• 15:32 Expanding to 12+ countries
• 19:39 The tipping point
• 20:54 Life after acquisition
• 22:34 Arrogance
• 26:59 Being ruthless
• 29:00 Buying the Evening Standard
• 33:41 Launching The i in 7 months?!
• 36:38 Not going digital with the Evening Standard
• 38:58 Internal resistance
• 40:27 Appointing George Osborne as editor
• 45:14 What do media owners expect from their editors?
• 49:23 Journalists become media superstar personalities
• 51:59 Buzzfeed
• 53:05 If Justin could buy any newspaper publication, it'd be...
• 55:14 The Felix Project

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/119

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062

✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

Not everyone has to be a Steve Jobs.

The charismatic, big picture, visionary leader that everyone gravitates towards.

We also have (and need) those who execute.

Who double down on the nitty gritty and ensure that things actually get done. And well

Which brings me to today's STIMY guest: Chen Chow Yeoh.

Speak to anyone in the Southeast Asian startup scene and they'll likely have heard of Chen Chow and have a tremendous amount of respect for him.

He's an OG in the space:

• Co-Founder of Fave - one of the fastest growing fintech platform in Southeast Asia
• Co-Founder of KFit.com - which revolutionised how people approached fitness in Asia Pacific
• Regional Operations Director in APAC & COO (Malaysia) for Groupon

But he never had a plan. 😅

Chen Chow:

❌ Was one of the top 8 people who scored the worst in his English exams at Cornell University;

❌ Didn't get a promotion at Accenture (and cried about it ☹️)

❌ Landed his role at Jobstreet by chance

❌ Was rendered obsolete in Groupon when he joined - he was hired for a sales role but by the time he finished serving notice at his previous company, that role was obsolete!

But:

🔥 At Accenture, he did eventually get that promotion. By buckling down & putting in the work.

🔥 He did odd jobs at Groupon & within 3 weeks of joining, was promoted to COO!

🔥 He worked with Joel Neoh to turn Groupon Taiwan from a $1 million loss making monster to $8k in profits in 8 months!

🔥 He has never formally applied for any jobs - people always go to him

But he is not like his charismatic, visionary counterpart.

He just does the work.

Great work, in fact.

And this, is his story.

So are you ready?

Let's go 😎

Highlights:

• 2:04 Catching the 5am bus
• 2:56 Going to Cornell University
• 6:59 Failing to get a job promotion
• 8:13 A coincidental offer from Jobstreet
• 12:16 Joel Neoh
• 13:47 Why take the leap to Groupon
• 15:38 Never formally applied for a job!
• 17:36 From random jobs to COO?!
• 21:57 Inferiority or imposter syndrome?
• 24:54 Don't ask for more?!
• 27:29 How to turn a $1 million loss making business into $8k profit in 8 months in Taiwan
• 35:29 Co-Founding KFit
• 39:35 Raising $1 million from friends & family?!
• 41:11 Landing Pieter Kemps from Sequoia as an investor!
• 50:47 Turning KFit into Fave
• 54:05 Laying off 50% of staff but still being good friends with them
• 59:30 How to bring 2 company cultures together during an acquisition
• 1:01:36 China
• 1:11:55 What are Chen Chow's strongest features?
• 1:12:33 Will Chen Chow stay even though Joel has left?
• 1:14:04 A competitor Chen Chow really admires

📍Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/118

🙊 Like STIMY? Buy us a ☕️?: https://beacons.ai/sothisismywhy 

💌 Weekly Newsletter on upcoming STIMY guests/interesting reads to make you smarter: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062 

Former US Congressman Barney Frank has been described by the New York Times as "one of the people most responsible for overhauling financial regulation after the 2008 economic crisis".

Little surprise, given that this acerbic politician was:

🔥 Member of the US House of Representatives (1981 - 2013)

🔥 Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (2007 - 2011); and

🔥 Lead co-sponsor of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act - which introduced the greatest Wall Street reform in history.

He hit the headlines again given the Silicon Valley Bank meltdown & ironically, his role as director at the now defunct Signature Bank.

❓ But how did Barney end up in the top echelons of politics?

❓ Why did the Pope have to intervene with his appointment to the US House of Representatives?

❓ How did staying silent about being gay impact him, and why did he decide to out himself in a Boston Globe article?

❓ How does he get along with his peers?

Specifically, in his own words, "You learn how to ingratiate yourself with them and how you can help them and make them value your friendship. And that becomes particularly important when you move up."

❓And what does he think of Trump (p/s Trumplestilskin) & the upcoming US Presidential Elections?

This episode is full of gems that we can apply to our own lives (even outside of politics).

So do give it a listen, and let us know what you think!

Highlights:

• 7:39 Obsession with politics
• 14:27 Anne Frank
• 15:50 Politics in the blood?
• 19:58 Campaigning in a Republican state
• 23:07 Enjoying the things he's very good at
• 24:20 1980 campaign was the toughest race
• 26:31 Intervention from the Pope?!
• 29:24 Congress is like "high school as a freshman"
• 30:53 Do the job well, but not TOO well
• 31:51 How do you become/stay popular?
• 35:34 How do you know what's happening on the ground?
• 38:20 The Boston Globe article
• 40:43 Being willing to sacrifice his political career
• 41:52 Why did Barney keep winning by wide margins?
• 44:34 Having empathy due to being closeted for so long
• 45:33 The average American isn't homophobic?!
• 47:44 Dodd-Frank Act
• 53:28 Could the Dodd-Frank Act have done more to prevent the SVB meltdown?
• 56:01 Challenges in raising the insurance limit on bank deposits
• 58:01 Disagreeing with Senator Elizabeth Warren that the Dodd-Frank Act is to blame
• 59:46 Crypto
• 1:00:57 Where's the banking crisis headed?
• 1:02:36 The 2024 US Presidential Elections, Trumplestilkin as the most self-destructive politician he's seen in awhile
• 1:05:13 How governments can encourage crypto innovation
• 1:06:19 A mistake to be the director of Signature Bank?
• 1:10:56 Was it a mistake to partially repeal the Dodd-Frank Act?

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/117

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062

✍🏻 Leave a review on STIMY: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/so-this-is-my-why/id1521191442

John-Son Oei’s EPIC social enterprise was born out of guilt.

This former Rain oppa lookalike (time to check out his photos! 😏) knew the importance of giving back. Wanted to give back. 

But never did. 

And it wasn’t as though he hadn’t dabbled many things in his life prior to graduation: 

He’d worked retail with Polo Ralph Lauren, did video production, was a fitness instructor & a Marshall at Camp 5 (rock climbing) and even modeled (yes, you really want to see his photo now, don’t you? 😉). 

Yet despite all that, John-Son wanted to become a jet ski operator. A bona-fide “beach bum”, as his mother declared!

Until a toilet came along.

Because you see, he’d been told that while it was great to want to give back, he couldn’t stay idealistic for too long. 

“The moment you go into the real world, it’s a dog eat dog world.”

And that troubled John-Son: 

“It’s not that I couldn’t be a dog. To eat other dogs. But I said, is that really what life is about?”

*

The opportunity to explore this ideal came when he visited an orang asli community & discovered their need for a functionable toilet. 

He set up a Facebook group, and 64 strangers came.

Not his friends or the ones who said they were into charities, but complete & utter strangers.

And that sent John-Son down a rabbit hole.

He realised that we all need a purpose beyond ourselves. 

It wasn’t as though he, and many others, didn’t care about giving back - but that we all felt alone. And honestly, “What impact can one person have?”

As it turns out?

An EPIC amount.

*

But this won’t be a STIMY interview if we didn’t talk about the “darker sides”.

The difficulties in running EPIC as a social enterprise, figuring out their business model, convincing companies that they weren’t a “con job”, the pandemic and also, how John-Son would even question his own purpose. 

This, despite the numerous international awards and recognition showered upon him, e.g. being accepted into the Ashoka Fellowship; Forbes 30 under 30 2016; The Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award for Dedication 2017; SME Malaysian Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2017; Tatler Malaysia—Force for Good Award; The Edge Inspiring Young Leaders Award; the Iclif Leadership Energy Award 2015; and Microsoft’s Global YouthSpark Star award. He was also Malaysia’s official flag bearer for Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee and 2012 Commonwealth Day.

So if you want to know the realities of giving back to the community, why it’s important to have a purpose beyond ourselves and how you can do so too?

Then this is the episode for you.

Highlights:

• 3:03 Having a gentle giant for a father
• 3:52 Does God exist?
• 10:58 I had two As & failed everything else 😳
• 15:58 Aspiring to be a beach bum
• 20:30 Giving back to the community
• 22:47 Becoming Rain the KPop Superstar
• 23:46 Building a toilet
• 25:17 From toilet to a house for Pak Cihong?!
• 32:42 The realities of running a social enterprise
• 37:33 This is a con job!
• 43:33 Why is this team building?
• 46:40 Why 2012 was a really difficult year
• 51:38 The personal significance behind winning the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award for Dedication 2017
• 53:21 Is there something more?

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/116

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062