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About The Event
Today, more Asian leaders are managing international businesses in their local countries. How can we prepare for these expanded roles? In this workshop, Kenneth Chan, a seasoned Singaporean leader with 30 years of hands-on experience in Fortune 500 companies shared his own personal experiences and his journey to the top as McDonald’s CEO for China and Division President for the Greater China region.
Key Takeaways
1️⃣ Master the art of impactful communication. Don't be left out of the conversation. Kenneth shared how he was able to bring value to the table by sharing the cultural differences and business needs in Asia.
2️⃣ Get out of the comfort zone. Kenneth said it was important to have a “full-bodied experience” by taking on regional, cross-border opportunities. “Once you do it, it’s possible.”
3️⃣ Don't expect recognition to come automatically. Singaporean leaders generally rely on a pragmatic, KPI-focused "heads-down" approach. Instead, we need to take personal ownership of our unique strengths and seize leadership opportunities that will enable our strategic thinking, creativity, and openness in a "heads-up" manner. Only then can we bring our own brand of Asian stewardship and executive presence to the global table.
Key Moments
About the Singapore Leaders Network
Supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the Singapore Leaders Network aspires to help advance the social capital of Singaporean corporate leaders who can support one another on their professional and personal leadership journeys - whilst cultivating a vibrant and robust community. This is achieved through large scale in-person events, smaller business networking sessions on various topics of interest, mentoring, as well as an online LinkedIn community.
Speakers and Panellists
Kenneth Chan
McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer for China, and Division President for the Greater China region between 2009 to 2015
Kenneth Chan is a seasoned CEO and organisation leader with over 30 years of hands-on experience in Fortune 500 consumer and retail multinational companies such as McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Singapore Airlines.
Kenneth was McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer for China and Division President for the Greater China region between 2009 to 2015. He led an organization of 15,000 employees and oversaw the fastest period of expansion at that time (opening over 1,000 restaurants in the span of 5 years) and more importantly laid a strong foundation – organisation, talent development, supply chain, systems and tools, IT and digital transformation, brand – that has paved the way for continued, sustainable growth.
More recently from 2016 to 2021, Kenneth served as an equity and operating partner (as part of the Lionhorn Group –McDonald’s licensee) for McDonald’s Singapore and Malaysia, and the Managing Director of McDonald’s Singapore. Under his stewardship, the business saw a significant turnaround following the award of the market franchise at end of 2016, behind a solid focus on restaurant expansion, operational excellence, digital transformation, organisation upskilling and the customer. With his vast experience in crisis management, Kenneth also guided the organisation successfully through the Covid-19 pandemic with a grounded resilience plan that has resulted in keeping everyone safe, jobs and wages secure, and customers loving and appreciating the brand even more, all culminating in a business and organization that has emerged stronger vs pre-Covid.
Kenneth previously led the McDonald’s Singapore business (2004-2008) while having simultaneous regional responsibilities for Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia. During this time, McDonald’s was also recognised as the Hewitt Best Employer and Kenneth led this winning local organisation to achieve record revenue, profit and share growth since its 20 years of business inception.
Prior to McDonald’s, Kenneth held regional and in-market brand positions in PepsiCo International and Procter & Gamble, grounding his foundation in consumer-facing businesses. He started his career in Singapore Airlines in International Relations, after completing his national service responsibilities as an officer in the Singapore Armed Forces.
Kenneth was conferred the prestigious Overseas CEO Award at the Singapore Business Awards (2014), as well as the Leading CEO Award by Singapore Human Resources Institute (2007) and Champion of HR by HRM Magazine (2008). He now serves as a strategic advisor and executive mentor.
Ooi Huey Tyng
Board Member I Business Builder I Angel Investor I Ex-Grab
Ooi Huey Tyng (Tyng) has 30 years of experience in senior positions at global banks, leading payments technology provider and fintech.
She is currently an independent director of AIG Asia Pacific Insurance Board, chair to Risk Management Committee and member of the Audit Committee. She is also an independent director of Maxis Berhad, serving on the Transformation Committee, Audit Committee, and Remuneration Committee. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Governors of Raffles Institution (a leading Singapore pre-tertiary institution) and an independent director for Pacific Century Group, Bridgetown 2 SPAC.
From 2018 to September 2021, Tyng held increasingly responsible positions with Grab, an information services and technology company with a focus in Southeast Asia. She had been a Regional Managing Director, Head of GrabPay until Mar 2021, where she was responsible for launching and driving adoption of GrabPay across multiple markets in SEA including overseeing the strategic direction, regulatory requirement, partnership model, and go-to-market plan for the GrabPay businesses in these countries to bring millions of merchants and consumers into the cashless future. She also served on multiple GrabPay-led JV boards in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
An exceptional leader and business builder, she is instrumental in setting up a strong team and foundation, driving growth in GrabPay to where it is today. She also served on the boards of a number of GrabPay and GrabInsure JVs. Tyng took on an advisory role in Grab Financial Group (GFG) starting end Mar and will continue to help steer the strategic direction of GFG.
Prior to joining Grab, Tyng was Visa’s Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei and was responsible for the overall country strategy, growth priorities, innovation/digital roadmap, expansion of payment ecosystem and P&L of the business in these two markets, working in close collaboration with financial institutions, regulatory bodies, strategic merchant partners and FinTech communities.
Prior to Visa, Tyng was the Head of Cards and Unsecured Loans at DBS Bank Limited and held senior roles at United Overseas Bank Limited and Citibank Singapore Limited spanning across consumer and commercial products, merchant acquiring, portfolio management and partnership. She started her career as a Financial Analyst in Procter and Gamble and worked in General Motors and Otis Elevator in the areas of budget and business planning, operational analysis and internal controls, covering the Southeast Asia markets.
In addition, Tyng was a nominated subcommittee member of the Committee of the Future Economy (CFE), a committee set up by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to develop economic strategies to position Singapore for the future as a smart nation. Tyng is also a firm advocate of women in leadership and diversity. She is a member of the Diversity & Inclusion committee for Asia Pacific at the workplace and an active participant of The Diversity Action Committee (DAC) to help build representation of women directors on the board of SGX-listed companies.
Tyng holds a Master of Science in Finance from Purdue University, USA and is a Certified Public Accountant in Singapore and the UK. She is also a member of INSEAD alumni and attended the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. She is fluent in English and Mandarin, and proficient in Bahasa Melayu.
Tommy Leong
Senior Vice President, Global Marketing International Operations - Schneider Electric
Tommy Leong is the Senior Vice President of Global Marketing for International Operations in Schneider Electric since July 2021, a region spanning South America, Middle East, Africa, India, East Asia and Pacific. Prior to this, he was the Zone President for East Asia & Japan where he led Schneider Electric’s operations in South-East Asia, North-East Asia, and Mongolia for 6 years.
Tommy has 30 years of business experience in professional and consumer businesses in Asia-Pacific and China. Prior to Schneider Electric, he held management and marketing roles in Philips for 13 years, including President of Philips Lighting for Greater China, and Vice President of Philips Consumer Lifestyle for ASEAN and Pacific. He started his career at Procter & Gamble, where he held marketing roles over 9 years in South-East Asia, covering the baby care and haircare categories.
Tommy graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and has completed executive development programmes with INSEAD, Stanford-NUS, and the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.
Tommy is also serving as Board Directors for the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce and the Green SG Collab.