About
Please allow me to introduce myself...
-stole this line from The Rolling Stones
- About Mun Wai
Hello!
I’m Mun Wai, a father of three children who are all grown up now. My youngest is a doctor who did her part in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and the second is a corporate strategist in the healthcare sector. My son, the oldest child, works in the US as a merger and acquisitions specialist. I’m very proud of them because they’re sensible, grounded, and have good moral values (I think all credit should go to my wife, really!)
Let me tell you a bit about myself – from growing up in a tiny shophouse in Chinatown to travelling the world to pursue my career ambitions, and finally coming back to serve my country as a parliamentarian.
More importantly, I’d like to share with you the values I learnt every step of the way, how these have shaped my beliefs, and continue to propel me in my mission to build a fairer and more compassionate Singapore. Read on!
Growing Up: Of Samsui Women, Shiny Cars and Compassion
My father came to Singapore from Guangdong province in 1949 before the Communists came to power in China. As the eldest son, he was an “insurance” for the family because my grandfather was uncertain about what would happen under Communist rule.
He was well-educated for his generation, but he struggled to find a job as a first-generation immigrant so he had to become a hawker. He was the sole breadwinner as my mother had to care for me and my five younger siblings.
Chinatown was always bustling with life. One of my favourite past-times as a child was sitting by the window and watching street vendors, coolies and samsui women, and the occasional drive-by of a lavish Mercedes-Benz owned by tycoons.Together, all of us squeezed in a small room on the second floor of a Chinatown shophouse. Around 10 families were packed in just one floor and it was very congested, so my older siblings and I would sleep outside of our room to give the younger ones more space.
My family was fortunate because the samsui women living next door (or next curtain away, rather) took pity on us. These women toiled everyday as construction workers, earned a meagre wage, and ate very simple meals. But when we were in need, they would lend my parents money to buy rice and other essentials. They did not want us, children, to suffer the same way that they did. I was lucky that, somehow, they took a particular liking to me. Sometimes, they would even treat me to durian!
When they grew older and couldn’t do hard labour anymore, the samsui women peeled prawns at the market. They earned just 50 cents a day for five hours of work. Despite their own hardships, these samsui women found it in their hearts to lend my parents around $20-$30 every month. With their help, I managed to go to school, win a scholarship and go on to build my career in finance. I have never forgotten their kindness.
Seeing how my parents and my samsui women benefactors struggled, my ambition since I was a boy was to eradicate poverty in Singapore. Growing older and a bit wiser, I recognise that such an idealistic ambition would be a tall order.
But what I can do is fight to improve the lives of Singaporeans living in poverty – there are about 100,000 families living in such difficult circumstances – so that adults can live with less day-to-day anxiety and more dignity. And, so that their children can have a fighting chance of achieving success in life – the same chance I was given.
Change must start from the top, and the government must set the direction. The government is, after all, the custodian of the people. Disappointingly, in today’s Singapore – social inequality has reached an all-time high, while more Singaporeans find themselves pushed into the working class. This isn’t right, and this is why the Progress Singapore Party and I continue to press for a society that progresses with compassion.
Japan: An Early Eye-Opener into Life, Business and Culture
My luck took a dramatic turn for the better after I was awarded a scholarship to study in Japan in the spring of 1979. What’s more, upon my return, I was selected to join the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. I think that was because I was the first Economics graduate from Japan at that time and the Japanese financial markets were starting to take off. A person’s success in life is dependent on himself but the opportunities that come his way depend very much on luck. I was lucky to be given the right opportunity at the right time.
Beside learning the Japanese language, my time in Japan taught me a lot about culture, values, society and the principles of governance. The elite Japanese bureaucrats went to a great extent to suppress individual wealth in order to systematically channel resources to build up competitive industries like textiles, steel, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, analogue electronics and semiconductors under their industrial policy framework.
All these industrial policies helped Japan to emerge as the second largest economy in the world by the early 1980s. However, in the 1990s, the elite bureaucrats failed to pivot. They continued to adopt the same industrial policy model, which failed miserably and caused Japan to completely miss out on the digital and information revolutions in the years to come. The old model relied on a disciplined and relatively cheap labour force but for the Information Age, creativity, innovation and enterprise were key.
One must be critical and nimble, because what is successful in one phase of development might not be applicable to the next stage. Also, centralised government planning might be efficient, but no bureaucratic organisation has the ability to forecast everything accurately. Rather a government’s role should be to create a conducive environment for citizens and businesses to thrive by funding R&D, nurturing talents and opening up international markets for business ventures. It should not try to go-it-alone and be a dominant player in the market, much less act as a monolithic investor.
From GIC to Grinding it out on the International Stage
I returned to Singapore in 1984 and after finishing the remainder of my full-time National Service liability, started work at GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation), which is Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. I was lucky again to have very competent and selfless seniors from GIC and the Monetary Authority of Singapore – all of them Singaporeans – to guide me. The GIC days gave me vast experience and exposure to global financial markets and, most importantly, Singapore’s process of managing the national reserves. I had to learn fast, because besides investing in stocks and bonds we had to see to the asset and currency allocation process of the huge national reserve fund. We couldn’t afford to slip up!
The GIC experience opened doors for me. In 1987, I joined a global investment bank and established an equity derivates desk in Japan – one of the first of such desks at that time. We had a good run until 1991 when the Japanese stock market entered a long-term bear market, and the Japanese property market followed suit the next year.
The market collapse made me realise that a country must not rely too heavily on the property market as a tool to manage the economy during high-growth years. There will be long-term negative impact, such as the distortion of the financial system and lowering incentives for innovation. Simply put – if it is so easy to make money just by flipping property, why would anyone want to work so hard on innovations? Without such creativity and innovation, the Japanese were unable to keep up with the 1990s Information Revolution!
After Tokyo, I went to London and later on Hong Kong, where I joined another global bank to head equity distribution. There’s the old saying, “where there is a will, there is a way” and my experience with China when the country’s economy was just opening up really hammered this in.
China was in the process of reforming its state-owned enterprises. Sixteen companies were chosen to become the first batch of “H-share” companies. This essentially means that the shares of those companies would be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. I was involved in the distribution and due diligence of the Initial Public Offerings for the companies.
You must understand China then was not the global superpower it is today, and it was a tough sell because confidence in the Chinese economy tended to waver every time the winds of change blew. But the Chinese were very persistent, resilient and agile in their approach. Working together, we ploughed through and managed to successfully sell the shares. The whole experience was one rocky road and it really shored up the never-say-die attitude which I retain till today.
Heading OCBC Securities: Crisis and Transformation
In 1997, I returned to Singapore to run OCBC Securities. Trouble was brewing. The collapse of currency markets brought about the Asian Financial Crisis (1997/1998) which saw much suffering for businesses and the man in the street. We weathered the storm. After that terrible period, it was time to rebuild. I got down to the task of transforming the local stockbroking business, in response to the trend of financial liberalisation in global markets. This time, my change management skills and leadership acumen were really stretched.
Here’s one invaluable insight from that time – what’s not checked will not be done, but a leader must refrain from micro-management while paying attention to details!
That’s why I admire the working style of Singapore’s first-generation leaders, especially Dr Goh Keng Swee. These leaders had a clear objective (Singapore’s survival), were tireless in their pursuit of practical solutions, paid attention to details and continuous learning, and appointed good men to various levels across organisations. They demonstrated that effective public servants are those who focus on tangible and desirable outcomes and not just policy papers.
So, what’s a Bull-Headed Banker doing in Politics?
Well, you don’t need to be a captain of a ship to know that Singapore has been sailing in the wrong direction since the start of the new millennium, or at least from what I observe!
Recall 2011 – the turning point in our political landscape. The Workers’ Party fought and won in Aljunied GRC, a first for any opposition party in Singapore’s history. That same year, Dr Tan Cheng Bock almost won in the presidential election. He lost by less than one percent of the vote despite the overwhelming advantage enjoyed by the PAP-endorsed competition.
At the heart of this was Singaporeans’ anger with widening cracks in the system. Job displacements, high housing and living costs, public transport infrastructure plagued by persistent breakdowns, and the surge in the immigrant population that disrupted our Singaporean way of life. Added to all this, the increasing reliance on cheap foreign labour to sustain an uncompetitive domestic economy.
All these problems didn’t happen overnight, but developed over years of what I consider poor policy decisions. I knew the time had come that I had to do something.
Over my life, I owe much to many good people who taught me invaluable lessons and had the confidence to appoint me to positions where I would gain wells of experience. One of them is the late Mr Tan Teck Chwee, who was the Chairman of Public Service Commission when I was awarded my scholarship to study in Japan. Upon my graduation from university, he sent me for additional training at the Nomura Research Institute.
Mr Tan took the time to explain things to me, starting with why I was to be posted to GIC. My ambition then was to be a good civil servant and policy-maker, and as a young chap, I did not know how investing in stocks and bonds would contribute to the country. He shared his insights with me, and one of the things that struck me most was when he said that he had entered public service “after earning a few cents from the construction industry”.
That remark was life-changing for me. He put it humbly but I understood what he was implying, which is that one joins the public service with a heart to serve the public. That must be the overarching aim. One must never join the public service with the intention to make a quick buck. I knew then that I should make a few cents for myself as well, gain the necessary experience to be a person of value, and then come back to serve my country and fellow Singaporeans.
When I decided to enter politics, I didn’t have the support of my family or friends. It was deemed as “risky”. But I believe that I need to bite the bullet when problems can still be fixed. I do not want to regret on my death bed, perhaps twenty to thirty years down the road, that I could have done something now but didn’t. I have led a life with no regrets thus far and I want to keep it that way.
Slugging it out as a PSP NCMP
I joined Progress Singapore Party in 2019, and after General Election 2020 was appointed a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament representing the party and its supporters.
For this, I am indebted to Dr Tan Cheng Bock. “Doc”, with his decades of service and contributions to Singapore and residents of West Coast, has been my political mentor. He steered me through the realm of Singapore politics, and it was his popularity and that graciousness that enabled my appointment as a NCMP.
Over the last two years, my priority has been to strengthen the values of transparency and accountability in government – two values which Dr Tan holds dearly.
Barrelling it down to issues, these are what I am fighting for:
(1) good jobs for Singaporeans
(2) protection of citizens’ rights
(3) a fairer distribution of rewards to build resilient Singaporeans and local companies
(4) a better quality of life beyond monetary pursuits
(click on each to read more)
The greatest risk Singapore faces today is not political instability, as feared by some Singaporeans. Rather, it is the inability to change and improve. Today, the People’s Action Party has 90 percent of the seats in parliament. It has more than enough seats to effect political stability.
But because the PAP has a supermajority in parliament, any alternative voices are drowned out. Debate becomes difficult and many times, I feel, one-sided. How are better policies going to be formulated against such a backdrop? Consequently, how will our lives, and those of our family and friends improve?
I am doing my best and I hope I have made some impact. More can be done, and I’m sure that capable Singaporeans, many who are more capable than me in their own fields, will eventually rise to the challenge of serving the nation.
Coming Back to Serve My Homeland
Leong was appointed as assistant secretary-general of the Progress Singapore Party on 17 January 2020.
In the 2020 Singaporean general election, Leong contested in the West Coast Group Representation Constituency as part of a five-member PSP team. The team narrowly lost to the People’s Action Party with 48.31% of the vote.
However, as the Parliament of Singapore requires a total of 12 opposition members, and with Workers’ Party having won 10 seats, as the best performing defeated team, 2 Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seats could be offered to Leong’s team. PSP announced that they had chosen Leong and Hazel Poa for the NCMP seats after deliberations. The Returning Officer of the general election, Tan Meng Dui, declared them to be NCMPs with effect from 16 July 2020. Four days later, he stepped down as assistant secretary-general of PSP to focus on his NCMP duties, with the position handed over to Francis Yuen.
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Coming Back to Serve My Homeland
Leong was appointed as assistant secretary-general of the Progress Singapore Party on 17 January 2020.
In the 2020 Singaporean general election, Leong contested in the West Coast Group Representation Constituency as part of a five-member PSP team. The team narrowly lost to the People’s Action Party with 48.31% of the vote.
However, as the Parliament of Singapore requires a total of 12 opposition members, and with Workers’ Party having won 10 seats, as the best performing defeated team, 2 Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seats could be offered to Leong’s team. PSP announced that they had chosen Leong and Hazel Poa for the NCMP seats after deliberations. The Returning Officer of the general election, Tan Meng Dui, declared them to be NCMPs with effect from 16 July 2020. Four days later, he stepped down as assistant secretary-general of PSP to focus on his NCMP duties, with the position handed over to Francis Yuen.
Leong was appointed as assistant secretary-general of the Progress Singapore Party on 17 January 2020.
In the 2020 Singaporean general election, Leong contested in the West Coast Group Representation Constituency as part of a five-member PSP team. The team narrowly lost to the People’s Action Party with 48.31% of the vote.
However, as the Parliament of Singapore requires a total of 12 opposition members, and with Workers’ Party having won 10 seats, as the best performing defeated team, 2 Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seats could be offered to Leong’s team. PSP announced that they had chosen Leong and Hazel Poa for the NCMP seats after deliberations. The Returning Officer of the general election, Tan Meng Dui, declared them to be NCMPs with effect from 16 July 2020. Four days later, he stepped down as assistant secretary-general of PSP to focus on his NCMP duties, with the position handed over to Francis Yuen.