Here's a glimpse of what you have missed.
Past Events and Guest Speakers
2012
2013
We would like to thank our generous guest speakers for their support and volunteering their time to share their stories of success and spread the message of PASSION.
Mr Miyagi, aka Benjamin Lee
Famous blogger, comedian, playwright, social entrepreneur
Mr Miyagi, a.k.a. Benjamin Lee currently resides somewhere near the Whitley Road Detention Centre, but has no idea where it is, and suspects that the name of the place is merely to throw snoops off the scent. Just like the original Katong Laksa, which is sold in Marine Parade and not Katong.
His blog, My Very Own Glob {Curiosa Felicitas}, was created in April 2004 on Blogger, and after much badgering from established bloggers like mrbrown, moved to miyagi.sg in August 2005.
Since then, he’s been writing on and off this blog, irking the Establishment on occasion, who’ve responded in the best possible way by hiring him to irk other people: Mindef for one, after interrogating him about unauthorised blogging about military affairs, commissioned him to write a comic book to commemorate 40 years of National Service in Singapore, titled “In My Time”, which was on the Straits Times Bestsellers’ List for October 2007.
2007 also saw Benjamin successfully trying his hand at a new brand of staged comedy, notably, writing his first stage/theatre production for Hossan Leong: Multiple Personalities Disorder, a stand-up and sketch comedy show which played to packed houses in February 2007.
In 2009, Benjamin fulfilled one of his ambitions — to write a show to be staged at the Esplanade. “Kumar: Stripped Bare & Standing Up” played to full houses and rave reviews.
Ronald Tay
Executive Director with UBS University, Head Singapore BU & APAC Leadership & Talent
Ronald Tay is Executive Director with the UBS Business University responsible for Leadership and Talent programs in the APAC region. Having joined UBS since Aug 2005, his roles have covered a gamut of responsibilities including learning partnering with the businesses, graduate training programs, key talent programs as well as senior executive development programs. In addition to his UBS responsibilities, he draws passion also interacting with varsity students serving as adjunct lecturer on a core Career Management module at Singapore Management University.
Ronald had completed his executive MBA from the University of Southern Illinois with distinctions earned in all his 11 course modules. His meritorious results have also earned him the Valedictorian award for highest results achieved in his MBA cohort.
Thaddeus Lawrence
Speaker, trainer, author and founder of Runaway Success Learning Practice
Thaddeus is best known for successfully completing a total of 1,000 kilometres in a footrace through the hottest, coldest, windiest and driest deserts on earth. His remarkable feat in the Sahara, Gobi, Atacama and Antarctica has been rated by TIME magazine as one of its Top Ten Endurance Competitions in the world.
He embarked on his adventures in a spirit of self-discovery and experienced first-hand how an indomitable spirit is an essential bedrock to an extraordinary level of physical strength and mental fitness. He has used his endeavours to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charitable organisations with an emphasis on children and education.
“A spirit of curiosity is, without question, a gift’ – Thaddeus Lawrence
With his accomplishments, Thaddeus’ media appearances were in high demand and after appearing on Channel NewsAsia Primetime Morning to share his insights, Thaddeus presented 938LIVE’s Positive Business Minutes segment. He is a regular on the news and talk station’s airwaves and has been featured numerous times in newspapers and magazines including The Straits Times, TODAY, The New Paper, Action Asia and Men’s Health.
Thaddeus Lawrence sits on the Executive Committee of the Association of Professional Speakers Singapore (APSS). As an inspirational speaker, he moves audiences with his captivating storytelling. Thaddeus embodies the spirit of ordinary people living extraordinary lives and, with a personal mission of inspiring passion and purpose, believes that by being our best selves, no dream is too small or too big to pursue.
Daniel Wong
Author of’ The Happy Student: 5 Steps to Academic Fulfilment and Success’
Daniel Wong is passionate about personal growth, and he is interested in anything related to maximizing your education, career and life.
His determined pursuit of personal growth began at the age of 19, when he realized that he had achieved many things, yet was not experiencing the fulfilment he desired.
Daniel suddenly became aware that achievements and accolades—no matter how amazing or noble—never truly satisfy, if they are not motivated by the right purpose. He started on a journey of intense, holistic personal development—physical, emotional, mental, spiritual.
Daniel was so eager to share his transformation from unhappy overachiever to happy straightA student that he ran his first seminar entitled “Why Is My Life Going Nowhere? And What I Can Do About It,” in July 2009. This seminar aimed to help participants find new purpose and passion in school and work. Daniel has also given talks on topics such as goalsetting and developing a personal vision for your life. Daniel wrote a biweekly column for Duke University’s The Chronicle. In April 2011, he had the opportunity to give a TEDx talk at Duke University entitled Realistic Idealism: Seeing People as People. His first book, The Happy Student: 5 Steps to Academic Fulfilment and Success, was published by Morgan James Publishing in 2012.
Emily Lim
Multiple award-winning children book writer, who is also the first writer outside North America to win 3 IPPY Awards, the world’s largest book awards contest
Emily Lim, an award-winning author of 14 children’s picture books, is the first writer outside North America to win three medals for children’s books at the IPPY Awards (the world’s largest book awards) since its inception 14 years ago. Emily’s books have been translated for the Korean and China markets, crossed platforms into animation, App and e-books, and adapted to sell-out shows at the Esplanade theatre. Her most recent books are used across kindergartens and lower primary schools in Singapore. Emily’s first book for adults, Finding My Voice is based on her personal story of losing her voice and discovering a new voice in writing and publishing.
Hugh Mason
Co-founder and CEO of JFDI.Asia, the first Global Accelerator Network seed accelerator in South East Asia
Following a degree in Physics, Hugh trained as a science TV producer on the BBC’s live primetime science show, Tomorrow’s World. Subsequently, Hugh founded a successful independent TV production business. Invincible Films won awards, including a British Academy Award nomination, making over 150 documentaries about science and technology for Discovery Channel, National Geographic and many other international broadcasters.
In 2001, Hugh co-founded Pembridge Partners in London to provide finance and advice to marketing, media and technology businesses. Pembridge raised or directly invested USD50 million. Along the way, Hugh mentored over 300 innovative ideas people and companies.
Alongside his work as JFDI.Asia’s CEO, Hugh is a regular public speaker and teaches as an Adjunct at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Asia. Hugh’s first book, “Brainfruit: Turning Creativity into Cash from East to West”, was written with Mark Chong and published by McGraw Hill in November 2011.
Chatri Trisiripisal
Self-made multi-millionaire, Harvard MBA entrepreneur, Chairman of the Evolve Group
Chatri Trisiripisal (41) is a self-made multi-millionaire and Harvard MBA entrepreneur with business holdings in retail, media, and real estate. His businesses are regularly featured on CNN, Reuters, ESPN StarSports, New York Times, Straits Times, China Post, Times of India, and many other media around the world. He is the Chairman of the Evolve Group, a leading multi-million dollar sports business. He is also the Chairman of Indiabulls Properties Investment Trust, a S$2.0 billion publicly listed company in Singapore. He is also Chairman of Group ONE Holdings, the largest sports media startup in Asian history. Mr. Trisiripisal is also involved in several other private companies. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors of Project Sunshine, one of the world’s largest volunteer organizations dedicated to terminally-ill children. Mr. Trisiripisal has also been a distinguished speaker and advisor at the Singapore Management University‘s Entrepreneurship Centre.
A dedicated martial artist for almost 25 years, he is also a certified instructor of Muay Thai and holds a Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He continues to fight at the professional level as a hobby. Mr. Trisiripisal has competed in over 30 fights across Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Mixed Martial Arts.
He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Tufts University.
Annie Italia, Senior Manager for Consumer and Market Knowledge, P&G
Annie Italia was born in the Philippines and grew up in the city of Manila. By training, she is a Chemical Engineer. Annie works for Procter & Gamble International (P&G) and has been in P&G for the past 23 years. She was Associate Director for R&D while based in Japan and is currently the Senior Manager for Consumer and Market Knowledge in Singapore.
Among her passions are writing, training and coaching. Annie is a trainer for Leadership and Self-empowerment courses such as 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Ben Zander’s The Art of Possibilities. She is also a Certified Practitioner of Nero Linguistic Programming (NLP).
Realizing that life is more than success in career, she moved from Japan to Singapore to re-invent and re-discover herself and in this journey found love. Annie is married to Maurizio Italia, an Italian engineer who grew up in Germany. A perfect match as he loves to cook, while she loves eating.
Chua Wei Loon, Sales Manager, SunTech Door & Shutter Pte Ltd
Li Kunqi, Assistant General Manager, Executive Coach International Pte Ltd
Wei Loon and Kunqi have been in a relationship for more than 8 years. They would be married for 3 years and 6 days on the day of the talk. Wei Loon is a Sales Manager in the construction industry. Other than love for his wife, he loves his gadgets, fast cars and good food. With this combination, you'll see him driving around in his car with his wife in tow and looking for the great tasting food.
Through the years, Kunqi has made major career changes from being an aerospace engineer to doing management work in the coaching industry. She loves the excitement of working with people to make their dreams reality. In her mischievousness and "can-do" spirit, she signed up her unsuspecting husband for mypaper Executive 2012 where he became one of the top 16 finalists out of more than 500 applicants.
People around them have always admired their strong relationship – there is an unpredictable playfulness between them yet there is mature commitment to each other. As a young couple, they will be sharing what really goes in their minds and what kind of efforts they put in to keep their relationship happy.
Angela Tan
Doctor and Life Coach
Angela is a registrar with a Masters in Family Medicine. While saving lives in the day, she makes a difference in people’s lives as a life coach for the past 4 years, coaching over 200 clients.
From helping her clients find fulfillment in life to overcoming barriers that hinder them in their careers, she has helped clients secured promotions within weeks. Her clients have also building deeper & more meaningful relationships with their loved ones, she is one lady who is passionate about her own life and helping those around achieve it.
