Q&A with SGTech Executive Director Ms Yean Cheong 

 

 

Ms Yean Cheong recently joined SGTech as our Executive Director, in December 2020. We catch up with her to find out more about her and learn about what’s coming up for SGTech members in 2021.

 

Yean, welcome to the SGTech family! Being so new, many of our members have not had a chance to interact with you. Could you tell us about yourself?

 

Yean Cheong (YC): Thanks for the warm welcome! I know it’s only been a month, but I don’t feel I’m a newbie anymore. Thanks to everyone’s graciousness, open knowledge and information sharing, the last month flew by quickly.

Firstly, my name is pronounced as ‘Yen’ (think Japanese currency). I’m Cantonese, which is why my name is spelt “Yean”. As for my career history, you can see from my LinkedIn profile, that I am a marketer for almost 30 years, having worked in diverse industries, including start-ups, in cities across the Asia Pacific.

My choice of employment over the years has been driven by my love for food and travel, curiosity in people and cultures, intrigued by systems and processes, and the passion to immerse in living and change. 

My first foray into the world of digital and TravelTech was in early 2000 via Zuji. I was part of the start-up team that democratised real-time eCommerce travel booking across APAC. Since then, I became “hooked” on all things tech and the Internet.

 

 

How do you foresee yourself applying your experience in guiding the Secretariat’s work?

 

YC: Thanks to my experience, I have become a “jack of all trades” and master of some. And every day I strive to live by my mantra “the only constant is change”. Serendipitously, I am prepared for the change that is now upon us.

With COVID-19 forever transformed the way we live and work, I felt determined to actively participate in shaping the new normal. I believe that SGTech, as the business enabler and advocate for change for our tech industry, is the place to start a new chapter of my life.

We have an amazing group of budding talent in our Secretariat, full of potential, with great work ethics. I feel privileged that I’ll be working alongside these next-gen leaders, to bring about the transformation that is needed from within, to empower us to play forward the transformation we want to see, with our stakeholders.

 

 

Advocacy is an important focus area for SGTech. Other than digitalisation, which has seen a lot of attention in the past year, what interesting themes are we focussing SGTech’s work on, and rallying companies around, in the coming year?

 

YC: Advocacy matters, the two themes SGTech will focus on this year, which also resonate closely with me, are “Diversity” and “Sustainability”. More specifically, we want to amplify the role Tech can play in these themes.

By Diversity, SGTech seeks to start a movement to eradicate gender bias in tech jobs, encouraging young girls and women to enter the tech workforce. Such mindset shifts need to begin early upstream, from breaking down stereotypes in the toys children play with, to the language used in education or criteria applied in recruitment.

By Sustainability, we want to be the advocate for our tech industry and a respected partner to tech businesses and government, acting as the voice of reason, connecting stakeholders, to collectively address issues like e-waste management. We have made good progress that we hope to share very soon. Watch this space.

The focus on sustainability is not just within the confines of industry-government relations; we will also involve ourselves in initiatives that encourage and support tech companies in building a culture for the workplace of the future, carrying sustainability practices into their environment and workplace.

 

 

What can members look forward to in 2021?

 

YC: Like the rest of the world, our Secretariat was super busy last year, coping with changes at work, home and relationships. Coming into 2021, I have requested us to take a pause; we are gathering to recap, revisit, reinforce and reboot. Members can continue to look forward to initiatives that will connect them to government, businesses, customers and peers. We also promise to address areas and topics that matter, whether via the always-on Chapter and Committee activities, through our flagship Techblazer Awards this month, or Talent & Capabilities development programs such as a signature event that we’re organising for TeSA coming up soon.

Please join us, engage with us, help us to help you. And most of all, let’s have fun.

 

Let's get connected!

While we've reached the end of this short introduction, it's just the beginning. Yean would love to be connected with you on LinkedIn.

If you want to join SGTech as a member, drop us a note at membership@sgtech.org.sg.

 

---Published Jan 2021