The inspiration that he must have been, that he must be ... Philip Yeo. The one who envisioned Jurong Island when he saw the unconnected islets ... the one who did not take the required exam and caused a change in IM ... the one who told Dr Goh Keng Swee why he could not attend meetings (wow!) ...
http://www.straitstimes.com/Pioneers%2BOf%2BSingapore/Philip+Yeo/Philip+Yeo.html
Inside Philip Yeo’s maverick magic
TODAY Weekend • July 26, 2008
STRATEGIC Maverick. That was the moniker that his higher-education alma mater, the University of Toronto, coined for him after he had shown his uniquely Philip Yeo worth as chairman of the Economic Development Board. During his stint as A*Star chairman, Time magazine called him a serial kidnapper in recognition of his success in attracting some of the world’s best scientific talent to come and work in Singapore. Now, thanks to a Straits Times interview with him earlier this month, he has a new label which, Philip Yeo being Philip Yeo, he will unabashedly display: Serial rule-breaker. A serial rule-breaking, long-serving government employee in Singapore, a nation regarded by many at home and abroad as rule-bound, seems highly improbable. But, as the cliché goes, reality can be stranger than fiction.
So, Philip Yeo, in continuous government service since 1970, is one of Singapore’s enigmas. Like a culture of wanting excellence in national pursuits when government control is so strong. Like Singapore sending its most promising young people to study in the best universities in the West when the West is often criticised by government leaders for undesirable influences. Like top business and scientific leaders coming to do their varied things here when Singapore is under constant criticism by human rights groupsand even embassy reports of friendly governments. Inevitably, enigmas do not just puzzle observers, they also prod them to come up with theories and explanations, some of them highly engaging.
MM LEE’S INFLUENCE ON HIS LIFE One frequently-asked question is:How has he managed to survive in government service, or avoided getting house trained? Some friends have said to me (words to this effect): “Of course, lah! He has the Lee family behind him.” My somewhat cheeky response has been: You mean people like Dr Lee Wei Ling, the daughter of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, the Lee family member who publicly criticised the way Philip Yeo was pushing biomedical research in Singapore? “No, lah! We mean Minister Mentor himself, or Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Must be one or both of them.”
Indeed, Mr Lee Kuan Yew has been acknowledged by Mr Yeo himself as a vital turning-point influence in his life. As he was quoted in The Business Times in March last year: “In early August 1985, the then Minister for Trade and Industry asked me to be chairman of the Economic Development Board (EDB). At the time, the Singapore economy was in its first recession. I consulted Dr Goh Keng Swee, then chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and formerly Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Defence (Mindef) and Minister for Education. I had worked with Dr Goh at Mindef since July 1970. “Dr Goh told me that the EDB was not an outfit I should go to. Instead, he advised me to take charge of Singapore Airlines (SIA). He personally went to speak to then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who advised me to go to the EDB as I was needed there. PM Lee also said that I could go to SIA at a later date. I wonder if the offer had an expiry date.”
Mr Yeo has not been sent to run SIA. Not yet, anyway. In the same Business Times edition, he was quoted as saying: “I retired from the Singapore Administrative Service after nearly 29 years of public service but stayed on at the EDB on a five-year contract from April 1, 1999. “A Hong Kong friend, hearing of my retirement, flew to meet me in Boston on Aug 29, 1999. He invited me to be chairman of his Singapore-based holding company that owned his Hong Kong-listed company. His terms were attractive: $20 million and share options at the issue price for three years’ work. “On Feb 10, 2000, I was in Hong Kong to finalise the contract accompanied by Mr Wong Kok Siew, then deputy chairman and CEO of SembCorp who planned to join me, too. Business Times leaked the news in Singapore on Feb 13, 2000, blowing the whistle that I would be leaving. Then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew asked me to stay and carry on with my life sciences pursuits.”
He stayed. And now, having launched A*Star and given it momentum, he is chairman of Spring Singapore, special adviser for economic development at the Prime Minister’s Office and senior adviser for science and technology at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
WAS THERE A GODFATHER?
At Wednesday’s EDB Society-Straits Times Pioneers dialogue, I asked Mr Yeo how he managed to survive despite his maverick ways. “You need a boss who is very tolerant. But, of course, you need to deliver,” he said. He was referring to Dr Goh, who truly gave him considerable leeway (with a small letter “l”). My question was a double-barrel one, with this second shot: Dr Goh Keng Swee was said to have been your godfather. Now that he is retired, who is your new godfather?
After the laughter subsided and after he had answered the first part of the question, he paused. Mr Yeo thinks and talks so fast, he is hardly ever stumped for words and seldom pauses in speech. He did this time. But it was just a moment. Then, the 61-year-old said, sticking out his tongue like a schoolboy: “At my age, I don’t need a godfather.” The applause was thunderous. His highly receptive and entertained audience in the Old Parliament House chamber seemed to accept his word for it.
But the speculation will go on. Was Dr Goh his only godfather? Is there one now? Did he, does he really need one? Dr Goh himself was a maverick in many ways, though he was never as flamboyant as Mr Yeo in situations good and bad. So, Dr Goh must have seen at least a bit of himself in the much younger Philip Yeo and given him full rein. But that would not have been enough.
There was also the convergence of many factors: Circumstances, challenges, individual and team responses, foreigners of influence or experience who decided for various reasons to respond and to help Singapore on its way, whether in defence, or economics, or science. So, at many points in Mr Yeo’s working life, there was sweet confluence. You know, like the celebrated, much sought after sweet spot in ball-and-racquet games: The precise point of contact on a bat or club or racket that will give the ball the most power, speed and accuracy. Philip Yeo has been sweet spotting so much of his life that he probably does not really understand the meaning of “catch no ball”.
Peter H L Lim is a writer and mediaconsultant. He has known Philip Yeo since the late ’70s.
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