Celebrating grit and survival instincts

YEAR upon year for the past three and a half decades, The Singapore Business Awards (SBA) have highlighted and honoured some of the most inspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders. This year - SBA's 36th - once again organised jointly by The Business Times and DHL Express Singapore, is no different. Some found their "aha moment" in a tech lab in Singapore or during an ordinary university lecture in Shanghai; another, while sharing a "cuppa" of coffee sachets in eastern Europe with his mates. Other corporate leaders steered their businesses with unflinching grit seasoned by the many commodity boom-and-bust cycles.

No matter how their journeys began - and unfolded - these chieftains nurtured their businesses and alongside that, their people, with exceptional tenacity and prowess worthy of celebration. At the heart of it, they are all people managers.

Tech academic-turned-tycoon Dr Shi Xu took his firm Nanofilm Technologies International public only a year ago with a listing on the Singapore Exchange but the toil began 20 years ago in a lab in Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. Upon his deep passion for material science, he has built a firm that produces its own revolutionised surface solutions and plays a pivotal role in the supply chain for countless Fortune 500 companies.

Michelle Cheo, who heads Mewah International, an agri-commodities group that sells its products to more than 100 countries and has thrived through many seasons, shares her wisdom on the merits of adaptability with the Class of Covid-19 - "never waste a crisis".

"Leadership is all about others" is clearly an ethos near and dear to Singaporean corporate lawyer Milton Cheng of Baker McKenzie. The high-performer, no stranger to awards, 2 years ago became the first Asian to fill the seat of global chair for the giant law firm. Under his watch, the firm crossed a record US$3 billion revenue mark in the year ended June.

While the past year or so has been a grind for F&B stalwart Food Empire Holdings with lockdowns including in its biggest market Russia, the pandemic is not the firm's first rodeo. Led by founder and executive chairman Tan Wang Cheow, it has not merely withstood several crises, but has expanded both presence and products and has been fortified by them.

Who doesn't respect a man, who has built an empire making business easier for the so-called underdogs - small and medium enterprises (SMEs)? Jeff Tung, founder of Sheng Ye Capital, has methodically sharpened the Shenzhen-headquartered supply chain fintech firm's systems through trial and error. Having scaled it up to a billion-dollar business, the 34-year old is set to tap more of the digitalisation wave.