Contributors

Lai Wei Xiang

Lai Wei Xiang, 32, is the third-generation Managing Director of Lai Yew Seng Pte Ltd, a family-owned construction company established in 1972. He graduated with a Diploma in Business Administration from Kaplan Business School in 2014, and went on to serve his National Service with the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Soon after, he joined the family business, starting as a site supervisor in 2016 before moving into project management in 2017, and was appointed Director in 2019.

Raised in a traditional environment where education and discipline were emphasised, Wei Xiang’s earliest memories of the company were working on the ground as a fabricator and being directly involved in the manufacturing process before progressing into project work. These early hands-on experiences shaped his understanding of the business and continue to inform his leadership today. Outside of work, Wei Xiang enjoys listening to music and reading.

Lam Yimin

Lam Yimin is a Consultant for the Financial Services Division at Robert Walters Singapore.

Larissa Murphy

Larissa Murphy is the Director of HBO+EMTB.

Larissa Murphy

Vision Creator at Dare Design

With 25 years’ experience in Workspace design and considered a thought leader in the industry, Larissa uses her extensive knowledge to take a different approach to the workspace.

Focusing on business objectives and the role of employees in organisational success, to create spatial flows that channel the engagement, energy and enthusiasm of staff, to improve business outcomes.

As well as speaking widely at events Larissa also lectures at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore on the study of human efficiency in space as part of their course on organisational psychology.

Laura Houldsworth

Laura Houldsworth is the Managing Director for South East Asia at SAP Concur. She has more than 12 years of experience in helping corporations of all sizes manage their travel programmes effectively and drive value in their travel and expense budget.

Laura has been living and working in Asia for more than 15 years. Prior to joining SAP Concur, Laura was the Regional Sales Director for BCD Travel Asia Pacific and in the last 7 years she has been with SAP Concur to grow the Southeast Asia markets.

Laura holds a Bachelor's Degree in International Marketing Management from Bournemouth University, United Kingdom.

Laurence Pitt

Laurence Pitt is the Global Security Director for Juniper Networks. He joined the firm in 2016 and is the security subject matter expert for the corporate marketing team. He has over twenty years of cyber security experience, having started out in systems design and moved through product management in areas from endpoint security to managed networks.

In his role at Juniper, Laurence articulates security clearly to business and across the business, creating and having conversations to provoke careful thought about process, policy and solutions. 

Prior to joining Juniper, Laurence was director of Global Solutions Marketing at Symantec. Previously he was product management director of Managed Security at NTT and Endpoint Computing at Novell.

Lawrance Lai & Jack Wong

The writers are Lawrance Lai and Jack Wong, Partner and Director for Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services at EY respectively.

Lawrence Chia

Lawrence Chia is the Group Chairman and CEO of the Hong Kong-listed Pico Far East Holdings Limited (752.HK). Founded in Singapore in 1969, Pico is a global leader in total brand activation with a proven track record of more than five decades. Experience-led, digital-first thinking and capabilities matter more than ever in today’s fast-changing world. Pico merges experiential, communication and technological talent to create extraordinary experiences and powerful activations engineered for superior results, engaging target audiences everywhere. Pico’s uniqueness and strengths lie in the diversity of some 2,000 inspired professionals working in over 30 cities worldwide, backed by about 90,000 sq. m. of production facilities. In financial year 2021, Pico Far East Holdings Limited reported revenue of nearly US$521 million and a market capitalisation of nearly US$205 million.

Chia was educated in the United States, graduating from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with highest honours. In 2006, he received the International Executive in Sport and Entertainment Award from the University of South Carolina in the United States. In 2016, Chia received the University of Tennessee Outstanding International Alumni Award.

Before assuming the Chairmanship of Pico Far East Holdings Limited, he was the Managing Director of the Pico Group of companies in Europe and North America, and was based in London for six years. With more than three decades of experience in the event marketing industry, Mr Chia embodies a forward-looking vision to continuously drive the growth of the company – particularly in the areas of business process innovation and digital transformation.

In 2022, the Pico Group won the Gold award for ‘B2B Agency of the Year’ and Silver for ‘Event Agency of the Year’ presented by Marketing Magazine in Hong Kong. The Group won ‘Company with Most Investment Value’ and ‘Best ESG’ awards at the China Financial Market Awards 2021.

Lawrence Loh

Lawrence Loh is associate professor of strategy and policy at the NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. He is also affiliated to the School’s Centre for Governance, Institutions and Organisations.

Lawrence Yeo

Lawrence Yeo is the CEO & Principal Consultant of AsiaBIZ Strategy