Winning with Honour: An SGLN x Honour SG Event

Tuesday, 8th April 2025

About The Event

Since Singapore’s independence, our success has been built on human imagination, hard work, and the courage to be different—all founded on honour, integrity, and trust. From governance to business and community leadership, these values have shaped the nation’s global standing.

SGLN and Honour (Singapore) hosted an insightful session featuring Mr Lim Siong Guan, former Head of the Singapore Civil Service and Founding Chairman of Honour SG. His sharing reminded us of the enduring importance of leading with values. In an increasingly transactional world, principles like honour, humility, imagination, and trustworthiness are more essential than ever—not just for national success, but for meaningful leadership across all levels of society.

Mr Lim spoke candidly about the need to ground our leadership in purpose. His reflections challenged us to think deeply about how we lead our lives—and how we uplift others in the process. He also reiterated a powerful quote by Maya Angelou: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Let’s continue to lead with honour—at home, at work, and on the world stage.

Speaker

Mr. Lim Siong Guan

Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore
Senior Fellow of the Singapore Civil Service College

Mr Lim Siong Guan is a professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and a Senior Fellow of the Singapore Civil Service College.

Having joined the civil service in 1969 as an engineer, he served two Old Guard Ministers – former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and former Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee – during his 37-year career with the civil service. He has described both leaders as his master teachers.

Citing Dr Goh Keng Swee in particular as his role model for leadership, Mr Lim is a great believer in the need for critical thinking, imagination and courage, as well as the urgency of being in time for the future. Because leadership is about “making good things happen”, he believes that, by definition, leadership must recognise values and principles, and that values form the compass for organisations entering into unknown territory.

Mr Lim has served as Group President of GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Advisor to the GIC Group Executive Committee, Head of the Singapore Civil Service, Permanent Secretary in the ministries of Defence, Education and Finance and in the Prime Minister’s Office, and as Chairman of the Economic Development Board and various other government agencies.

Prior to his retirement from the civil service in 2006, he was recognised for his ability to draw out talent and for inspiring younger officers to innovate and excel. Mr Lim has compiled key lessons from his life experiences and his leadership insights into a book he co-authored, “The Leader, The Teacher And You: Leadership Through A Third Generation”, which co-won the Singapore Literature Prize for English Non-fiction in 2014. He is also co-author of the book “Winning with Honour: In Relationships, Family, Organisations, Leadership, and Life”. He has written a third book, “Can Singapore Fall?”, based on his lectures as the fourth S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore, delivered at the Institute of Public Policy.

A frequent speaker on the topic of leadership and change management, Mr Lim is a member of the International Board of the stars Foundation in Switzerland, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes development of next generation leaders. He chairs the Board of Directors of SwissRe Asia Pte. Ltd., the Asian subsidiary of Swiss Reinsurance headquartered in Zurich, and is also Lead Independent Director of Wilmar International Ltd.

He is an alumnus of the University of Adelaide, Australia, which he attended on a President’s Scholarship and graduated with First Class Honours in Mechanical Engineering in 1969. He attained a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration from the National University of Singapore in 1975. Mr Lim was awarded the Order of Nila Utama (First Class) in 2006.