Business and Money Tips

Your Independent Director Shouldn't Be a Policeman What is the job of an Independent Director? To check compliance? Monitor management? Control risk? Say “No” when things become dangerous? Yes. But if that's all your Independent Director does, your board may be missing half its value. At the 2026 SID Directors Conference on 28 August 2026, Keppel Chairman and former DBS CEO Piyush Gupta made an important point: Boards cannot just be policemen. Boards are responsible for strategy, direction and creating long-term shareholder value. That made me think about one of my favourite analogies: Corporate governance is the brakes that allow businesses to go faster. Think about a Ferrari.  What makes it fast?  The engine? Of course. But would you drive it at 200 km/h without reliable brakes? Good brakes don't make a Ferrari slow. Good brakes give the driver the confidence to accelerate. Business works the same way.  Management is the engine.  Management creates ideas, pursues ...

I Don't Want to Be a Policeman on the Board What is the real job of an Independent Director? Is it to check compliance?  Ask difficult questions? Stop management from taking too much risk? Yes—but that's only half the job. At the 2026 SID Directors Conference on 28 August 2026, former DBS CEO and current Keppel Chairman Piyush Gupta made a point that really resonated with me: Boards cannot just be policemen. Their responsibility is also strategy, direction and creating long-term shareholder value. That's exactly how I see corporate governance. I describe it using a very simple analogy: Corporate governance is the brakes that allow a company to go faster. Think about a Ferrari.  A powerful engine gives you speed.  But would you dare to drive at 200 kilometres per hour without good brakes? Probably not. The better your brakes, the more confidently you can accelerate. Business is the same.  Management provides the engine.  Management drives growth. The board should...

How Do We Protect Both the Family’s Wealth and Relationships for the Next Generation? Many successful founders spend a lifetime building wealth for their families. They work long hours, take enormous risks and endure hardships their children may never fully understand. Their greatest hope is simple: May my children and grandchildren enjoy a better life. Yet wealth can be a blessing—and also a burden. When money passes from one generation to another, unspoken questions often emerge: Who should lead the family business? Who should control the investments? Why did one child receive more than another? Whose voice should matter most? The family may successfully transfer its assets, yet lose something even more precious: trust. Protecting wealth is therefore not only about making good investments, minimising taxes or preparing legal documents. It is also about protecting the relationships that give the wealth meaning. This requires three things. First, Care —to listen to each family member a...