What is your company’s mission?
At Grab, our mission is to drive Southeast Asia forward by elevating the quality of life and solving real world problems for Southeast Asians. This focus on solving everyday problems continues to drive our approach across all our verticals at Grab.
What’s a favorite inspirational/motivational quote?
A quote underpinning our culture is “Iron sharpens iron”. We believe in challenging each other, finding new ways to solve age-old problems while building a nurturing and collaborative environment. While we work hard, we also work smart. We spur each other to innovate and think out of the box, ensuring we continually create value for our customers and partners.
What characteristic of your team has contributed most to your success?
Here at Grab, we instill four ‘H’s across our ecosystem as core values: Heart, Honour, Humility and Hunger. Grabbers must have the heart and humility to serve, the hunger to execute and bring ideas to life, and the honour to keep their word.
Surprise us with a little-known fact about your team.
Before the onset of COVID-19, you’d often find our team at my home when not in the office. On most days, there would be at least a few Grabbers having a meal, a meeting or a social gathering together at my place. We are a close-knit family and see each other as not just colleagues but friends as well.
What does your team enjoy doing together outside of work?
We love to eat together! As is typical with Southeast Asian hospitality, we show our love and spend our time having many meals together.
I also strongly believe in “healthy body, healthy mind”. Our team includes athletic leaders who encourage the rest of us to exercise and work out together.
What is the best piece of advice you were given when just starting out?
When I was starting out, I was often told “no”. I’d get feedback that our ideas or proposals would not work. I took this feedback to motivate my team to get us closer to a “yes”.
What is one piece of advice you wish you were given when just starting out?
Life is a marathon. There is always going to be adversity – pandemics, wars and ordeals bigger and harder than the last. Stay active, humble, and hungry, and never neglect your family. They are not mutually exclusive.
Which future technologies (other than yours of course) are you most excited for and why?
I’m excited about the future technologies in the education space. I believe technology has already transformed the world of education for the better, but we’re only touching the surface. This has become more apparent with COVID-19 restrictions forcing education and learning to go online. The education system that we are used to – one with physical, offline learning – may no longer be the norm for future generations.
Importantly, I’m focused on issues of access, and my outlook on education is no different. I look forward to seeing technology continue to bridge the accessibility gap for high-quality education, and create more personalised learning platforms tailored to individual interests and passions in our region. After all, education is the great enabler.
