Lim Siong Guan is a Professor in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, instructing on leadership and change management. Siong Guan was the Head of the Singapore Civil Service from September 1999 to March 2005. He has been the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence (1981-1994), the Prime Minister’s Office (1994-1998), the Ministry of Education (1997-1999) and the Ministry of Finance (1998-2006).He worked directly with Singapore's founding fathers to help Singapore transform itself into a modern economic hub of Southeast Asia. He was also Lee Kuan Yew's first Principal Private Secretary. He has chaired the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (2004-2006), the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (2004-2006) and, the Central Provident Fund Board (1986-1994), and has been a board member of many companies including Temasek, the other sovereign wealth fund manager of Singapore. He is currently an Advisor to the Group Executive Committee of GIC. GIC is the fund manager for the foreign financial reserves of Singapore. He was the Group President of GIC from 2007 to 2016. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Singapore University of Technology and Design, and Senior Fellow of the Singapore Civil Service College. Siong Guan was Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board from October 2006 to June 2009. The Board is the Singapore government’s lead agency for planning and executing strategies to enhance Singapore’s position as a global business centre. Much of its work is attracting international corporations to set up manufacturing and services activities in Singapore as critical links in the global supply chain. Siong Guan has co-authored with Joanne H. Lim two books. The first was “The Leader, The Teacher & You – Leadership Through the Third Generation,” a book on leadership and governance, which won the Singapore Literature Prize for non-fiction in 2014. The second was "Winning with Honour in Relationships, Family, Organisations, Leadership, and Life, a book on winning in life and work. He is the founder chairman of Honour (Singapore), a charity that seeks to promote the culture of honour and honouring in Singapore. He is a SwissRe Group Advisor and a member of the International Board of the Stars Foundation, a Swiss foundation that promotes leadership development for leaders of the next generation.
This is the 69th episode of Front Row Podcast.
CHAPTERS:00:00 Trailer00:46 Introduction & Early Public Works Experience04:09 The Road Roller Story: Learning Practical Governance08:41 Dr Goh Keng Swee's Leadership in MINDEF10:29 Building the Junior Flying Club & Early Lessons15:01 The Glider Experiment: Learning to Cut Losses18:50 Becoming Lee Kuan Yew's Principal Private Secretary22:27 Understanding Power: Service Before Self26:16 The Three Pillars of Trust: Care, Competence, Commitment29:39 Building Singapore's Defence Force from Zero35:42 Total Defence & the Philosophy of Deterrence40:29 Talent Management Across the Public Service46:51 Introduction to Scenario Planning49:37 Hotel Singapore & Home Divided: National Scenarios53:54 PS21: Transforming the Public Service57:45 The Innovator's Dilemma: From Copy-and-Improve to Indigenous Innovation01:04:56 The Unknown Unknowns: Planning for Uncertain Futures01:08:38 The Mother's Challenge: Cultural Barriers to Innovation01:12:41 Defining Success 30 Years Out01:14:50 Advice For Fresh Graduates Entering The Working World Full transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
Dr Jostein Hauge is a political economist and an Assistant Professor in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge, based at the Centre of Development Studies and the Department of Politics and International Studies. He is also the Director of the MPhil in Development Studies and a Fellow of Magdalene College.
His research lies at the intersection of international political economy and development economics.
He is the author of The Future of the Factory: How Megatrends are Changing Industrialization, published by Oxford University Press.
The book investigates how industrialization pathways are shaped by recent technological developments, new forces of globalization, and the threat of ecological collapse. It also charts new pathways for industrial policy and global governance.TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Introduction and Trailer
01:20 Why Alexander Hamilton Still Matters for Economic Development
03:03 The Return of the State: From Free Markets to Industrial Policy
07:21 Beyond Tariffs: The Full Toolkit of Modern Industrial Policy
10:28 America's Industrial Policy Deficit and the CHIPS Act Gamble
14:02 The Rise of Services and the Manufacturing Illusion
17:35 How America Lost 25% of Global Manufacturing in Three Decades
20:43 The Fatal Mistake: Conflating Low Price with Low Value
23:41 Losing the Industrial Commons: Why Offshoring Costs More Than Jobs
26:04 The East Asian Tiger Playbook: Investment, Patience, and Reciprocal Control
33:32 China's Gladiator Economy: When Copycatting Drives Innovation
37:27 The Patent Paradox: Protecting Profits or Enabling Development?
40:16 Vietnam's Geopolitical Tightrope: Navigating US-China Competition
44:56 Mexico's Cautionary Tale: When Liberalisation Fails
50:31 Financial Repression as Development Strategy: Controlling Capital for Growth
54:31 Why Industrial Policy Requires Embracing Failure
55:35 Who Bears Responsibility for Climate Change?
59:00 China's Green Tech Dominance: Opportunity or Threat for the Global South?
1:02:01 The Overcapacity Debate
1:08:52 AI Anxiety and the Luddite Fallacy: What History Teaches About Automation
1:16:20 Ha-Joon Chang's Impact on Jostein
1:20:42 Advice for Fresh Graduates Entering the Working World
Scott D. Anthony serves as Clinical Professor of Strategy at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, where he teaches courses including "Leading Disruptive Change," "Horizon Scanning," and "AI and Consultative Decision-Making."
He is also Senior Advisor and Managing Partner Emeritus at Innosight, the growth strategy consultancy co-founded by Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen.Anthony spent more than 20 years at Innosight, serving as elected Managing Partner from 2012 to 2018, during which time the firm tripled its revenues and expanded internationally. He has worked with CEOs and senior leaders at global organisations across six continents, helping them navigate disruptive change, design growth strategies, and build innovation capabilities.00:00 Intro & Trailer01:30 Understanding the Innovator's Dilemma03:30 What Makes Disruptions "Epic"06:15 Lessons from the Printing Press for Today's AI Revolution10:50 Why Great Companies Still Fail Despite Doing Everything Right15:01 The Risk of Not Innovating18:24 Can Leaders Act Without Clear Data?21:03 Singapore's Innovation Paradox24:39 Why Even Governments Face the Innovator's Dilemma26:36 How to Become the Right Kind of Anomaly29:27 Building Teams That Embrace Disruption32:12 Getting People to Actually Embrace Innovation35:09 Redesigning Education for a Disrupted World38:25 Using AI to Make Learning More Human40:59 What Nokia Should Have Done in 200745:20 Microsoft's Remarkable Comeback Story47:06 Final Advice: Have More FunThis is the 67th episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Louis Vincent GaveAfter receiving his bachelor's degree from Duke University and studying Mandarin at Nanjing University, Louis joined the French Army where he served as a second lieutenant in a mountain infantry battalion. After a couple of years, Louis left the army and joined Paribas where he worked as a financial analyst—first in Paris, then in Hong Kong.Louis left Paribas in 1998 to launch Gavekal with his father Charles and Anatole Kaletsky. The idea at the time was that Asia was set to become an ever more important factor in global growth, and that consequently Gavekal needed to offer its clients more information, and more ideas, relating to Asia.Louis has written seven books, the latest being Avoiding the Punch: Investing in Uncertain Times which reviews how to build a portfolio at a time of rising geostrategic strife, and when very low interest rates and stretched valuations on most assets announce constrained returns on most assets over the next decade.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Trailer & Intro01:35 The Significance of 2018 in US-China Relations08:36 The Shift in China's Industrial Policy16:37 China's Response to US Technology Embargoes22:17 The Economic Pain of De-Westernization26:40 The Future of US-China Relations and Supply Chains31:02 The Economic Landscape of Europe32:06 The Fallout of the Ukraine War37:03 The Future of NATO and the EU37:28 Europe's Relationship with China39:28 The US-China Dynamic41:18 Investing in China: Opportunities and Challenges48:22 China's Engineering Talent and Innovation52:50 The Future of the US Economy56:47 AI Development: US vs. China01:03:11 Southeast Asia's Tech Landscape01:06:56 Career Advice for New GraduatesFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
Dr. Mato Njavro is the Dean of Zagreb School of Economics and Management. Mato is also Professor at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management, the Luxembourg School of Business and a lecturer at the University of St.Gallen and at the Singapore Management University, where he teaches a course on Chinese Economy.
From 2016 to 2020, Mato was based in Singapore where he was a Senior Research Fellow at the St.Gallen Institute of Management in Asia (SGI-HSG).
CHAPTERS:00:00 Introduction and Overview06:06 Croatia's Path to Europe12:00 Defining European Identity18:04 Migration and Social Cohesion24:05 Ukraine Tests European Unity30:06 Europe's Strategic Autonomy33:39 Transatlantic Financial Integration36:02 Economic Resilience Under Pressure40:55 Confronting China's Rise45:26 Europe-China Cooperation Potential49:42 Competing in the Chinese Century54:49 Broadening Asia-Europe Dialogue57:38 Europe in a Multipolar World01:01:29 Counsel for Future Leaders
Full transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/
Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/
Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.co
Get access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
Arthur Kroeber has spent more than three decades trying to make sense of Asia’s most important economies — and helping the rest of the world understand them too. In 2002, he co-founded Dragonomics in Beijing, a research firm born out of his deep intellectual curiosity about China’s economic transformation. He went on to edit its flagship publication, China Economic Quarterly, for 15 years.When Dragonomics merged with Gavekal in 2011, Arthur became head of research, continuing the work he’s best known for: clear, rigorous analysis of China’s economy at a time when the world needed it most.Before moving into research, Arthur spent 15 years as a journalist travelling across Asia — reporting from China, India, Pakistan and beyond. Those years on the ground shaped the way he thinks about policy, people and the forces that drive economic change.Today, he teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Economics at NYU’s Stern School of Business, and contributes to global conversations as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Committee on US-China Relations. He is also a senior non-resident fellow at the Brookings-Tsinghua Center in Beijing.His book, China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know, published by Oxford University Press and now in its second edition, is widely used in classrooms around the world (and is a personal reference book I use to better understand China)TIMESTAMPS:00:00 – Trailer & Intro 01:18 – China’s New Five-Year Plan03:32 – Was "Made in China 2025" Successful?07:04 – Why The US Prioritizes Financial Efficiency 12:47 – Can the US Reshore Manufacturing?16:24 – How China Mastered Technology Transfer23:03 – Why Are Cars The Key Consumer Product26:46 – Behind The Real "Catfish Effect": Tesla in China33:07 – China’s "Hunger Games" Industrial Policy42:11 – China's Chronic Problem with Industrial Overcapacity51:27 – China’s Confidence Paradox55:49 – The Fight For Supply Chains58:48 – What to Expect from The Remainder of Trump 2.001:08:55 – Semiconductor Bans vs. Rare Earth Control01:15:33 – The Future of US-China Relations01:21:00 – Advice for A Fresh GraduateFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Parag Khanna. Parag Khanna is Founder & CEO of AlphaGeo, the leading AI-powered geospatial analytics platform. He is the internationally bestselling author of seven books including MOVE: Where People Are Going for a Better Future (2021), preceded by The Future is Asian: Commerce, Conflict & Culture in the 21st Century (2019)- both of which are books I highly recommend. TIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Introduction & Trailer01:30 - Why The China-US Frame Of The World Is Wrong 05:37 - Eurocentric Historical Distortion07:48 - Asian History Rewritten09:58 - Our Present Is Already Asian15:27 - Reconstructing Asian Silk Roads18:59 - Why Technocracy Is The Most Important Element of Governance 24:21 - Singapore and Switzerland As Parallels 30:08 - What Makes Technocracy30:53 - Southeast Asia's Developmental Trajectory 34:45 - China's Development Role37:14 - Why The Best Geopolitical Strategy Is Multi-Alignment 39:27 - Why Globalisation and Migration Will Accelerate48:58 - Managing Migration And Its Downsides 55:50 - Demographic Blending As The Future 1:00:38 - Advice For Fresh Graduates Entering The Working World This is the 63rd episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Gita Wirjawan. This podcast was recorded in front of a live audience at SCAPE Singapore. I would like to thank National Youth Council, the Singapore Global Network, *SCAPE and the Endgame team for helping us put this event together. Gita Wirjawan is an Indonesian entrepreneur, investment banker, and philanthropist. He is the Founder and Chairman of Ancora Group, a business group with investments spanning private equity, natural resources, real estate, and sports.Before founding Ancora in 2008, Gita held senior roles in global finance — including Vice President at Citibank Indonesia, Vice President at Goldman Sachs Singapore, and President Director at JP Morgan Indonesia.Mr Wirjawan also served as the Indonesian’s Minister of Trade from October 2011 to January 2014. During this time, he also led the ninth World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference held in Bali, December 2013. Where he chaired 159 WTO member countries in consenting to a set of policies to ease international trade barriers.Today, he is the host of Endgame with Gita Wirjawan, a podcast by the School of Government and Public Policy (SGPP) Indonesia, co-produced with Visinema Pictures. Through Endgame, Gita explores ideas and conversations with visionary leaders, uncovering the stories shaping Indonesia and Southeast Asia's bright future.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Trailer & Intro01:35 Why Indonesia Championed RCEP Over TPP08:18 - RCEP's Progress and Current Assessment10:53 - The Chicken-and-Egg Problem: Education and Development14:35 - Teachers as the Key to Regional Transformation15:25 - Southeast Asia's Value Proposition to American Investors19:09 - Why US Re-industrialisation Won't Work20:36 - China's Role: Technological Capital for Southeast Asia26:06 - The Nuclear Reactor Thought Experiment31:50 - Singapore-Indonesia Complementarity37:43 - ASEAN Research Council Proposal40:39 - Q&A: Translating Education to Impact41:24 - Q&A: De-dollarisation and G-142:07 - Q&A: Danantara Fund and Prabowo Administration42:18- Pak Gita's Answers 55:34 - Q&A: Language as Growth Impediment56:00 - Q&A: Learning from US-China Dynamics58:00 - Q&A: Addressing Corruption Through Education1:03:29 - Brain Drain as Brain Circulation1:06:52 - ASEAN's Historical Multipolarity1:10:56 - Final Advice1:13:15 - Closing RemarksThis is the 62nd episode Of The Front Row Podcast
Today's episode is a short keynote episode brought to you by George Yeo.
George Yeo is a Singaporean statesman, former Brigadier-General, and distinguished scholar. He served in Singapore's Cabinet for 23 years (1988–2011), holding key ministerial positions including Foreign Affairs, Trade & Industry, Health, and Information & the Arts. I consider him to be one of Singapore's greatest public intellectual in the 21st century and find it my great privilege to call him a friend and mentor. I hope you will learn from this short address as much as I did. This is the 61st episode Of The Front Row Podcast(Yes, even this mini-episode counts. Thank you Mr Yeo for giving us great access to your insights) This keynote was given at The Danube Institute earlier this year.
The Danube Institute was established by the Batthyány Lajos Foundation in 2013 in Budapest, with the aim of encouraging the transmission of ideas and people within the countries of Central Europe and between Central Europe, other parts of Europe, and the English-speaking world.
Hian is a founding partner of Openspace Capital, a leading multi-strategy asset management firm focused on Southeast Asia. Most notably, he was an early investor in some of Southeast Asia's most notable tech startups such as Gojek, Love Bonito and Lucence. Hian himself has extensive entrepreneurial experience. He founded and built Asian Food Channel, a 24-hour pay TV channel that was sold to US media giant Scripps Interactive (now Warner Brothers Discovery Inc.). Prior to this, he was a technology investment banker at SG Warburg (now UBS) and Salomon Smith Barney (now Citi).He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Law Degree from Trinity College, Oxford.In our conversation today, we cover the following as seen below- TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Introduction to Hien Goh and OpenSpace Capital1:06 The Early Days of OpenSpace Capital in 20143:02 The Southeast Asian E-Commerce Boom 5:15 Selecting the Right Founders 9:10 The TRUST Framework for Evaluating Founders14:29 What Makes A Great Founder for VCs 16:13 Investing in Gojek: Finding Indonesia's Unicorn20:05 Is AI a Bubble? 25:47 What The Dot-Com Era Can Teach US 27:30 AI Economics and New Business Models33:13 Why Focus on Cost of Distribution 35:04 Who Will Win the AI Race?40:03 The Agentic Revolution and Hian's "Hey Gorgeous" Idea 44:05 Beyond NVIDIA: The Future of AI Chips50:10 Jim Keller, The Famous Chip Ronin 54:18 Singapore's Talent Strategy in the AI Era58:59 Made in Singapore: Changing Mindsets1:03:16 Singapore Inc and Strategic Decision-Making1:05:41 Avoiding Over-Optimisation for Success1:08:21 Advice for Fresh GraduatesThis is the 60th episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
Professor Jochen Wirtz serves as Vice Dean of MBA Programmes and Professor of Marketing at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School. He holds several prestigious international appointments, including as an international fellow of the Service Research Center at Karlstad University in Sweden, an Academic Scholar at the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures at Cornell University, and a Global Faculty member of the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University.In our conversation today, we TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Trailer & Intro00:49 What The Re-Industrialization Hype Misses03:01 Growth Sectors in Services03:21 The Importance Of The Service Economy09:06 How Singapore Emerged As A Services Hub14:50 What Makes An Excellent Service Company20:21 How Singapore Airlines Became Best In The World37:35 The Coming Technological Disruptions In Service Industries38:29 Consolidation Of Services47:28 Artificial Intelligence & Robotics53:00 Economic Implications of AI01:00:40 How does Singapore Stay Ahead 01:06:24 Advice for the Next Generation: Embracing Lifelong LearningThis is the 59th episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Gita Wirjawan. Here's what the podcast sponsor, Revolut is offering: 💰Get S$50 cashback when you sign up to Revolut Business at https://www.revolut.com/rb/tfr/ before 30 Nov 2025 and top up your account. T&Cs and end date apply.Gita Wirjawan is an Indonesian entrepreneur, investment banker, and philanthropist. He is the Founder and Chairman of Ancora Group, a business group with investments spanning private equity, natural resources, real estate, and sports.Before founding Ancora in 2008, Gita held senior roles in global finance — including Vice President at Citibank Indonesia, Vice President at Goldman Sachs Singapore, and President Director at JP Morgan Indonesia.He is also the host of Endgame with Gita Wirjawan, a podcast by the School of Government and Public Policy (SGPP) Indonesia, co-produced with Visinema Pictures. Through Endgame, Gita explores ideas and conversations with visionary leaders, uncovering the stories shaping Indonesia’s bright future.TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Trailer & Intro01:02 Gita's Entry Into Governance07:16 Revolut Ad08:40 What It Took To 4X Indonesia's FDI18:00 Southeast Asia's Place in Global Consciousness23:45 The Importance of STEM Education for Southeast Asia34:38 The Intellectual Gap Between China And Southeast Asia 36:23 Why China Is More Democratic Than We Think40:13 Is Technology Undermining Democracy?44:00 Shifts in Global World Order49:30 How Polarization Happens in the Digital Age51:30 Southeast Asia's Economic Future56:38 Building ASEAN Consciousness01:01:51 Advice for Future Leaders and Young Southeast AsiansThis is the 58th episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Kee Lock. Here's what the podcast sponsor, Revolut is offering: 💰Get S$50 cashback when you sign up to Revolut Business at https://www.revolut.com/rb/tfr/ before 30 Nov 2025 and top up your account. T&Cs and end date apply.This is the 57th episode Of The Front Row PodcastChua Kee Lock is the Group President and Chief Executive Officer of Vertex Holdings, a Singapore-headquartered global venture capital investment holding company. He also serves as Managing Partner of Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India and as Chairman of the Vertex Growth Fund.Under his leadership, Vertex has grown into a global network of venture capital funds investing in early-stage and growth-stage technology and healthcare companies.As of today - Vertex Holdings has USD 6.8B assets under management and 300+ active portfolio companies. Some of the notable startup successes under their belt include Grab, Patsnap, Nium and Instarem. TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro & Trailer01:11 Kee Lock's Exposure to US Tech Ecosystem05:55 Importance of Technical Expertise in VC07:56 Revolut Ad09:22 Revitalizing Vertex Ventures13:34 Why Was Kee Lock Chosen To Run Vertex?14:46 Avoiding the Traps of Silicon Valley17:57 The Importance of Discipline in Venture Capital21:10 The Decentralized Model of Vertex Ventures26:40 Advantage of Decentralization28:42 How It Was Like To Invest In Grab31:15 How To Evaluate Founders35:48 Grading Anthony of Grab39:58 How VCs Value-Add42:47 Future of Startups in SEA46:03 Where Can Singapore Innovate And Lead?49:10 Future of Technology52:33 Disruptive Technologies On The Horizon54:34 How Singapore Can Prepare 55:10 Preparing for a Globalized Future56:12 Advice To A Fresh GraduateFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Patrick Mcgee. Here's what the podcast sponsor, Revolut is offering: 💰Get S$50 cashback when you sign up to Revolut Business at www.revolut.com/rb/tfr/ before 30 Nov 2025 and top up your account. T&Cs and end date apply.(This is also the first sponsorship I have taken since the inception of the podcast. Your support will help me grow the podcast) Patrick McGee is a business journalist who has spent over a decade uncovering the stories behind the technology we use every day. Since 2013, he's written for the Financial Times from Hong Kong, Germany, and California, covering everything from Apple's inner workings to the rise of electric vehicles and the Volkswagen diesel scandal.From 2019 to 2023, Patrick led the FT's coverage of Apple, earning a San Francisco Press Club Award in 2023 for his investigation into the company's HR problems. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, and several other major publications.His first book, Apple in China, draws on more than 200 interviews with former Apple executives and engineers to tell the story of how Apple's decision to build its supply chain in China has increasingly left the company exposed in an age of increased geopolitical tensions between the US and china. Spanning three decades and featuring new details and vivid characters, the book offers a sobering look at Apple's future and the broader state of play in tech and geopolitics. What I like about Apple in China is that it goes beyond the usual executive biographies and fleshes out the increasing convergence between economics, technology and geopolitics. It's both a detailed historical account and an exciting read. TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Intro & Trailer
1:42 Why Apple's Manufacturing Legacy Is Misunderstood
6:21 A Message From Revolut
7:46 How Steve Jobs Lost Manufacturing Control
11:35 The Dot-Com Crisis And Its Impact On Apple
18:49 America's Post-WWII Economic Transition
27:52 Foxconn: The Unsung Partner Behind Apple's Success
33:52 Apple Was Ignorant About China
38:02 Beijing's Strategy Towards Apple
40:48 Apple's Economic Weight In China
46:46 Addressing Critiques of Patrick's China Numbers
49:42 US-China Interdependence
53:37 Why China's Scale Created Unique Challenges
57:51 Can Apple Ever Escape China Dependence
1:01:40 Advice To A Fresh GraduateThis is the 56th episode Of The Front Row PodcastFull transcripts of episodes can be found here: https://www.ykeith.com/tag/podcast/Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontrow.65/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-yap/Website: www.ykeith.comEmail: keith@frontrow65.coGet access to every episode by subscribing for free on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/keith-yap8 or Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/front-row/id1771599400
Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview with Kyle Chan.
Here's what the podcast sponsor, Revolut is offering: 💰Get S$50 cashback when you sign up to Revolut Business at www.revolut.com/rb/tfr/ before 30 Nov 2025 and top up your account.
T&Cs and end date apply.
(This is also the first sponsorship I have taken since the inception of the podcast. Your support will help me grow the podcast)
Kyle Chan is an American sociologist and postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University, as well as an adjunct researcher at the RAND Corporation.
He is also a 2025 fellow with the Penn Project on the Future of U.S.–China Relations.
His research centers on industrial policy, clean technology, and infrastructure in China and India, with work published in journals such as Current Sociology, Asian Survey, and the Chinese Journal of Sociology.
Kyle has testified before the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission and contributes to public debates through his widely read newsletter High Capacity and a New York Times op-ed on U.S.–China competition and technology.
You can find his newsletter here: https://www.high-capacity.com/about
This Is Episode 55 of The Front Row Podcast
Timestamps:
00:00 Trailer & Intro
01:00 The Utility Of Sociology
05:34 Revolut Ad
07:00 Insights From China's HSR Projects
11:17 Understanding The China Shock
17:16 Made in China 2025: A Shift in Policy
22:24 Divergence From The East Asian Model
26:08 Compounding Effects of Overlapping Industries
29:25 The Rise of Swiss Army Knife Companies
33:02 Why Apple Abandoned EVs
37:11 The US Service Economy vs. Manufacturing
42:57 Goals for US Industrial Policy
43:29 How China Resolves Tech Inequality
48:13 US Policy Attempts At Reducing Inequality
53:34 Lessons from China's Industrial Policy
58:17 Is There An AI Race Between US and China?
01:03:58 How China and US Diverge In AI?
01:10:16 What Should US-China Relations Be Like?
01:17:00 Will America Become Irrelevant?
01:24:35 What US' China Strategy Should Be
01:26:55 Advice For Fresh Graduates
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This is a recording of a conversation I had with Prof Kishore Mahbubani at an event I co-organized with Bloomberg Singapore and Thinksuite. I hope you will enjoy the conversation as much as we did.
Thank you Bloomberg and Thinksuite for your support of the podcast.
Kishore Mahbubani is a Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute (ARI), National University of Singapore (NUS). Mr Mahbubani has been privileged to enjoy two distinct careers, in diplomacy (1971 to 2004) and in academia (2004 to 2019).
He is a prolific writer who has spoken in many corners of the world. In diplomacy, he was with the Singapore Foreign Service for 33 years (1971 to 2004). He had postings in Cambodia, Malaysia, Washington DC and New York, where he twice was Singapore's Ambassador to the UN and served as President of the UN Security Council in January 2001 and May 2002.
He was Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry from 1993 to 1998.
Mr Mahbubani joined academia in 2004, when he was appointed the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School), NUS. He was Dean from 2004 to 2017, and a Professor in the Practice of Public Policy from 2006 to 2019.
This is the 54th episode of The Front Row Podcast.
CHAPTERS: 00:00 Trailer & Intro00:50 The Trauma of War in Cambodia05:47 Revolut Business Ad07:12 Learning From S Rajaratnam In Cuba13:52 Experiences at the United Nations21:32 Winners and Losers Of Trump's Trade Wars36:37 Are We In The Asian Century?43:49 Will The US Decline?44:50 Role Of Gulf Countries45:34 Pragmatism vs. Idealism46:06 Kishore's Answers51:09 What Keeps Kishore Up At Night?51:32 Will China Force Everyone To Be Protectionist52:44 Advice For Young Singaporeans53:19 Economic Fallout for US on Tariffs53:42 Kishore's Answers 2
Feel free to mingle in the comments below or head to...
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Note: Prof Kishore misspoke early on refering to S Rajaratnam as Prime Minister but in fact, he meant to say Foreign Minister.
Marc Levinson is an American economist, historian, and author celebrated for his accessible writing on economic forces and globalization.He’s authored seven acclaimed books, notably:The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, a groundbreaking history of containerization that reshaped global trade. It was shortlisted for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year and earned top honors in industry publication awardsOutside the Box: How Globalization Changed from Moving Stuff to Spreading Ideas, which argues that globalization is evolving—from physical goods toward the global exchange of ideas and services Other notable works include An Extraordinary Time (on the economic disappointments of the 1970s) and The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America.He is considered to be a leading expert in the economic history of globalization. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Trailer 00:23 The Early Waves of Globalization07:15 Innovations That Shaped Trade14:16 The Role of Containerization22:21 Malcolm McLean: The Entrepreneur Behind the Box30:07 Impact of Containerization on Port Cities33:07 Lessons from Past Disruptions39:26 The Evolution of Ports and Automation46:05 Globalization and the Rise of Value Chains52:20 Deindustrialization and Its Impacts58:07 The Future of Globalization and Policy Responses01:05:19 Advice for Fresh GraduatesThis is the 53rd episode of The Front Row Podcast.
Professor Tansen Sen is a renowned historian of India–China relations and Asian interconnections. He is Professor of History at NYU Shanghai and Director of the Center for Global Asia. His research spans Sino-Indian interactions, Buddhism across Asia, and maritime networks that shaped the region’s history.
He is the author of Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400 and India, China, and the World: A Connected History, both foundational works in the study of Asia’s past and its global links. He is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading historians in Sino-Indian relations.
TIMESTAMPS:00:00 – Trailer
00:53 – The Importance of India-China Relations
02:46 – Understanding Pre-Modern Interactions
08:26 – How Xuan Zang Brought Buddhism To China
12:21 – The Sinicisation of Buddhism
19:34 – How Sinicisation Works Today
22:49 – How Was Nalanda University Like?
26:23 – Why Does It Look Like India Influenced China More?
30:07 – Impact of India and China on The World
32:22 – Colonial Impact on India-China Relations
39:32 – The Birth of Nation States and Historical Narratives
41:37 – Border Issues and Trust Deficits
45:24 – Flashpoints of Distrust Since Independence
52:42 – Pathways to Improved Relations
59:19 – Advice For A Fresh Graduate
This is the 52nd episode of The Front Row Podcast.
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Cheong Yip Seng is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Straits Times, Singapore’s flagship English daily, where he led the newsroom for over two decades.
Joining the paper as a young journalist, he rose through the ranks to shape its editorial direction during some of Singapore’s most pivotal years.
Under his leadership, The Straits Times navigated the complexities of reporting in a young nation, balancing journalistic integrity with national sensitivities.
He later chronicled his experiences in his memoir OB Markers: My Straits Times Story, offering a rare insider’s perspective on Singapore’s media–government relationship.
Beyond his work in Singapore, he has also been closely involved with media developments across Asia, including advisory roles on the transformation of the South China Morning Post.
He recently published his follow-up book, Ink and Influence- arguing that Singapore media can take a more international and geopolitical outlook.
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Stephen Witt is a Los Angeles–based investigative journalist and author whose work appears regularly in The New Yorker.
His latest book, The Thinking Machine (April 2025), chronicles the extraordinary rise of Nvidia and its CEO Jensen Huang—from immigrant dishwasher to leader of the world’s most valuable company. Stanford’s former computer science chair Bill Dally remarked: “Without Jensen we’d be ten years behind.”
Witt’s previous book, How Music Got Free, explored the digital revolution that transformed the music industry and was later adapted into a TV documentary.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Trailer 01:00 How Stephen Got To Jensen Huang
06:35 Reading In An Age of Social Media
08:15 How NVIDIA Became So Valuable
12:25 Jensen Huang's Early Career and Its Impact13:48 Jensen Huang's Early Career17:15 The Secret of NVIDIA's Success18:06 Jensen Huang's Unique Management Style20:41 How LSI Made Him21:51 Why NVIDIA Didn't Make Financial Sense24:52 How NVIDIA Made The AI Transition30:58 How Jensen Leads
34:35 How Jensen Evolved Into A Business Leader37:38 How Jensen Knew To Double Down on AI43:53 NVIDIA's Competitive Edge47:36 Current AI Bottleneck48:23 AMD vs NVIDIA50:52 NVIDIA in China52:25 Intel's Downfall56:05 Should We Be Worried About AI60:43 Advice for the Next Generation
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