Lessons learnt while doing tasks bring true reward

How has your life experience made you the leader you are today? Being an avid traveller and a person who understand the importance of having experiential learning, has allowed me to gain insights from people with diverse backgrounds. The ability to communicate with a vast group of people and genuinely relate to them allows me to be a more compassionate leader.

How has your previous employment experience aided your current position? I worked for a non-profit organisation in Singapore that tackled the issue of racial and religious harmony. Interacting with world leaders, youths from various countries and diverse inter-faith experts made me more empathetic and mindful of my surroundings. Having limited funding forced me to depend on forming a strong network of volunteers from various social economic classes and explore innovative methods to get funding. The experience has helped me develop the skills needed to grow LittleLives.

What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenures at the company? In 2015 when we decided it was time to go global, it was difficult to decide which country was the next step for LittleLives. Malaysia was directing a lot of efforts in improving the quality of early childhood education and I felt it was right to move to Kuala Lumpur. It was a wise choice and we now have 110 preschools in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malacca, Penang, Ipoh and Johor which are using us daily to improve the quality of their nurseries and kindergartens. Through strategic moves, LittleLives now has global offices in Vietnam and in China. We co-organised the first ever International Pre-school Conference 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, attended by over 400 preschool participants from Malaysia. Many notable figures spoke at the conference, including Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan, Malaysian academicians as well as industry experts from Singapore and America. Also present were Asean delegates who collectively govern 1,200 preschools in SouthEast Asia. The conference theme was derived from the African saying: “It takes a village to raise a child” and we wanted to have cross sharing among schools in this region. LittleLives now serves nearly 1,000 preschools in these countries.

How do you maintain work/life balance? I travel to the various states in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and China on a monthly basis. It is vital that I allocate time for selfreflection and to ensure I communicate with my colleagues who support me in the various global offices.

Having this collaborative effort with your team allows you to grow as a leader. It also allows you to put yourself in their shoes to understand their perspectives. I also make a conscious effort to spend quality time with my family and friends.

How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal lives? Managing a team of 24 staff in four countries with over 200,000 active users in nearly 1,000 preschools takes a lot of effort. However, to increase these numbers by fivefold in the next two years will require skills that I might not have at the moment.

I felt it was crucial for me to pursue my masters in early childhood education as it will help me connect better with my clients. I am also blessed to be working in a company that provides a professional life coach to help me grow both professionally and personally.

What do you want to accomplish in the next five years? On a professional front, growing the LittleLives presence globally and improving the overall quality of preschool education around the world. On a personal front, pursuing my doctorate in early childhood education.

Best piece of advice you ever got on your career? Never seek praise for your work as praise is not the reward but the lessons you learnt while doing the task is the true reward.

Most admired business leader? Why? There are aspects from various business leaders that inspire me and three of them in particular resonate with me.

Tesla’s Elon Musk for his constant hunger to innovate. Elite Model Management’s founder the late John Casablancas for his ability to market a “product” with a fresh and exciting perspective. Oprah Winfrey for building an empire that not only creates many job opportunities but also has a strong social standing.

How do you stay abreast of issues affecting your industry? As cliché as it sounds, if you know your client’s problems and you can create a solution, you have won half the battle. Providing a solution that is innovative and unexpected gives you the edge. Visiting preschools around the world, interacting with academicians and observing how clients operate their schools give me that edge to be in tune with developments in early childhood industry.

If you could have an hour with any thought leader in the world, who would it be and why? Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau. His approach to diplomacy and diversity fascinates me.

What was your biggest failure and how did you learn from it? Oscar Wilde famously quoted that youth was wasted on the young. In my adolescent years, the opportunities I received were not well utilised.

The older I get, I realised the importance of seizing opportunities. However, not all opportunities are worth the effort, and I have realise it is crucial to weigh the opportunity costs that can occur as a result of such choices.

What man-made innovation confounds you? Why? The smartphone. It has connected the world and literally provides information at your fingertips. It has also created a platform for companies like LittleLives a software as a service company to exist.

Millions of jobs have been created by the invention of such a small device and the constant competitiveness of the smartphone companies pushes the boundaries of creativity and technology.

Malaysia’s greatest brand. Royal Selangor. A brand that is a gift that befits royalty and world renown for opulence.

A must-read for every business owner/ manager is ... The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho for the purpose of believing in oneself.