The Wisdom Archiver: Recent Episodes

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The most inspiring woman in Indonesia by Forbes in 2015, Ibu Tuti Hadiputranto shares her life story and her wisdom. She grew up during the war in Indonesia, became an activist.

In this episode, we talked about

• Her childhood during the war in a very strict military-style family values
• Her activist days against Sukarno government in 1965 - braving themselves against military people
• Her dreams when she was young and how they changed over time
• Being the first Indonesian corporate lawyer who is a female
• Her work experiences including the iconic Telkom IPO
• Setting up partnership structure for her own law firm in Indonesia
• What is the meaning of work-life balance?

“Success used to mean closing successful deals with clients, big deals, something that was so cutting edge, I felt so successful. But to me now, success means to continue working but also more sharing. Success means the balance of life is achieved now. I don’t lead deals now but involve in all cases, I can travel when I want."

Ibu Hadiputranto is a well-respected Indonesian lawyer who has been working for 40 years with primary focuses on capital market/securities, corporate finance & restructuring work and in the Indonesian government’s recapitalization program for Indonesia banks. She graduated from the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Law and Social Sciences in 1970 and continued with a Master of Law from the University of Washington, USA (LLM) in 1981.

Currently, she serves as Senior Advisor of the Gajah Tunggal Group, the largest integrated tire manufacturer in Southeast Asia; Senior Advisor for Investment Banking company, Morgan Stanley Indonesia; Independent Commissioner of PT Astra International Tbk. and Members of the Risk Monitoring Committee of PT CIMB Niaga Tbk.

She is the founder and senior partner of Hadiputranto, Hadinoto, & Partners, notable as one of the largest Law Firms in Indonesia and affiliated with Global Law Firm, Baker & McKenzie. Tuti Hadiputranto also became an International Partner of Baker & McKenzie from 1989 to 2016 (retired). Tuti Hadiputranto also served as Member of the Disciplinary Committee, the Indonesia Stock Exchange (2009-2013) and as a Member of the Board of Commissioners of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (2001-2004). Ms. Hadiputranto was the first lawyer to be licensed with Bapepam (now the Financial Services Authority (OJK)) to do capital market work in Indonesia, as well as represented the first Indonesian company to undertake an international offering and listing of its American depository receipts on the New York stock exchange.

With all her dedicated work, in 2009 she was named as one of Indonesia’s 99 Most Powerful Women by Globe Asia Magazines and in 2015, she became the most inspiring woman in Indonesia from Forbes Indonesia.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• Success meaning changes over time, life is not black or white.
• People weren’t used to seeing women in corporate law then, but having a good mentor goes a long way.
• In order to achieve equality, be confident, do a lot of work, and show results.
• The younger generation needs to learn patience - the digital era gives instant satisfaction, which is not something common in everyday life.
• Don’t need to follow the norm - if you want to have only 1 kid and work full time, do that
• Give kids background in order to be able to analyze anything - see things not as linear, not from one point of view but from many. Otherwise, things move too fast for them, and will miss a lot of good points

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Mark has spent his entire career in communications and has worked in Indonesia since 1992. Mostly involved in strategic communications, stakeholder engagement and reputation management, Mark helps companies and organizations tell their stories. Mark has been elected three times to the Board of Governors of AmCham. He is a trained barista (who sometimes pulls shots at Rul’s Coffee Gallery), a former climber of volcanos, and now an avid road cyclist around the capital and the Indonesian archipelago, which he first visited in 1985 while traveling around the world.

In this episode, we talked about:

• Understanding each other's strengths and weaknesses to compliment each other as a couple.
• Travel to open up yourself to get exposed to opportunities
• Digital revolution is a game changer and leadership in organizations

“If you don't know how to tell your story...why what you are doing are important...then you will struggle with your company.”

Mark is a graduate of Haverford, the oldest Quaker college in the US, with a BA in Political Science, and of the International School of Geneva, where his basketball team won the Swiss National Championship. In addition to Bahasa Indonesia, he also speaks French and German and a smattering of other languages from three decades in Asia.

Some of his signature projects include an IPO on the NYSE, the re-organization of Pertamina’s corporate communications, the world’s first @america public diplomacy center, the BalinaleX film industry forum, and the initial planning for the Indonesia Pavilions at the Astana World Expo in Kazakhstan and the Expo 2020 Dubai. Mark has also mentored digital start-ups in Indonesia for Plug and Play and other accelerator programs (including BCA and BEKRAF, the government body overseeing the creative economy) and provided communications coaching to KEMLU and private companies.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• Communications are important in every aspect of your life to be successful.
• Compartmentalization, know when to disconnect when at home.
• Travel and understand other cultures to open yourself to other opportunities.

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In this episode we are co-hosted by Daniel Kan, a co-founder at Cruise Automation self driving auto in the US.

A mother of 3 highly successful silicon valley sons -- Justin Kan, Daniel Kan and Damien Kan -- Auntie Treesia is an amazingly inspiring person you’d love to hear from.

In this episode, we talked about:

• Her struggles early on as an Indonesian Immigrant in China in the 1960s, an immigrant in Malaysia, and later the US.
• How she views goals vs milestones - of not selling yourself short and break down big problems into small problems
• How her view changed over time and found the right way to live
• Her parenting philosophy - life is all about having fun! Responsibilities vs privileges

“If you can love yourself, your true self, not the one in a suit or dress, whoever you are, if we can embrace and love that person, then out of that, will come everything else. Because if you can love yourself, you can love other people. If you can love other people, you can share good things with them.”

Treesia Kan went to University of Washington, where she graduated with a BS in physics and got a master’s in computer science." Treesia would go on to get a job at Digital Equipment Corporation and later start her own real estate business as a real estate professional.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• Life is a continuum of polishing, polishing and adding on until you self-actualize.
• We live as a balance, we have responsibilities and privileges. If you have more responsibilities, you have more privileges.
• Break stuff into small problems, so can achieve the goals/milestones
• Success and failure doesn’t mean anything to me, reward is a bonus but if you aim for experience, you get all those
• Keep your eye on the ball, keep moving
• Whatever your heart desires, if you truly live out of your heart, you will receive it.
• If you love what you do, just do it. I don’t see that it’s work at all if you have fun.
• Don’t forget to be a citizen of the world as well
• One thing I wish for the younger generation is patience.

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In this episode, we are co-Hosted by Justin Kan. The founder of Twitch.tv and Atrium.

Growing up as a foreigner since he was little - as a Chinese in Malaysia and in Seattle - Uncle Hentley has built an extremely positive attitude towards life.

In this episode, we talked about:

• How he became one of the early computer scientists and aerospace engineer in the 1970s
• His positive attitude towards everything in life - how it helped shape him
• Traditional and old computer systems at Boeing in the 1970s
• His near-death experience and how that changed him
• Importance of people around him

“People around you really make a difference in your life, they can help you out, they can discourage you. Different people impact you differently.”

Hentley Liem was born in Hong Kong, moved to Malaysia at age 6, then migrated to America at age 15. He finished High School in Seattle, then went to the University of Washington. He graduated from the School of Engineering with a Computer Science degree in the '70s. Then went to work for Boeing Company as an Aerospace Engineer. Helped design the Boeing 757, 767 and the 777, by designing several computer systems. Retired from Boeing 19 years later.

Hentley values Good Health, People he spends time with, and TIME above everything else. He loves to play sports, most sport, especially Badminton. Also loves to travel. Hentley is married to Alice, and lives happily ever after!

Wisdoms Takeaway

• If you start something, finish it.
• Positivity - try to make the best out of every situation, no matter how bad it is. It gives you a lot more opportunities in life.
• See your situation as an advantage rather than a disadvantage - as a foreigner, I am special, not different.
• Living life to the fullest is a good thing - 1.) health - be as healthy as you can be 2.) people around you - get along as much as you can with people around you 3.) time - treasure your time
• Find things that you are passionate about and do them well. But enjoy your time while at it.

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Bu Yuli is so full of passion with a strong sense of mission of sharing accurate information to the world. Her intellectual curiosity drives her to work albeit immense challenges, physically and emotionally.

In this episode, we talked about

• Her challenges as a journalist - from physical violence to personal trauma
• Civil war in Srilanka experience - her most difficult fieldwork going through land mines
• Breaking the barriers of culture - being a woman in a religious country
• The role of social media in journalism - how it should change to incorporate more accountability of misinformation, defamation, etc. and what is she currently doing to solve this
• Her advice to young people

“Looking forward we will live in a more globalized world, no longer the mentality of a village or kumpung or even a nation. We are globalizing, there will be no more borders. The fact that we can travel easily, communicate in seconds with somebody on the other side of the world.”

Yuli Ismartono is a journalist from Indonesia. She has been in media and communications for three decades. She worked for Tempo,the largest news weekly magazine in Indonesia since 1983 as a foreign correspondent covering Southeast Asia based in Bangkok, Thailand, until the magazine was banned by the New Order regime in 1994. Her assignments included covering conflicts and interviewing leaders in the region.

During Tempo’s ban, Ismartono worked for the Jakarta-based TV company SCTV and did consulting work for a number of companies in the field of communications strategy. She rejoined Tempo magazine in 2001 when it started re-publishing following the start of Indonesia’s reform era. Her new job was chief editor of Tempo English, a unit of the newly-formed TEMPO Media Group. In May 2015, she became publisher of Tempo English, in charge of its overall management and operations. She retired in June 2017 and is now the co-founder and managing editor of AsiaViews, an online weekly regional magazine covering Southeast Asia.

Ismartono sits on the board of a number of institutions, such as the Bali-based Coral Triangle Center, Prestasi Junior Indonesia (PJI), Natural Resources Governance Institute (NRGI), and Switzerland-based Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).

She is also involved in Altsean-Burma, an NGO working to advocate democratic values and principles in Myanmar.

Ms Ismartono received her undergraduate studies in political science in New Delhi, India and her graduate studies in journalism at Syracuse, New York, USA. She is a member of AJI (Alliance of Independence Journalists), the Jakarta Editors Club, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand and the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• If you want to be a journalist, you need to expect some violence.
• To cope with mental stress, you would need a really strong support group. Whether it’s your family or friends.
• Luck, perseverance and careful planning allow her to become successful
• You can do whatever you want to do at any age
• What do you want to do, go get it.
• Find yourself in this world, if you don’t know what you want, you will go left and right missing all the great opportunities.

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Dato Dominic grew up in a highly intellectual family as an Indian in Malaysia and was growing up during the wave of anti-colonial movement in Asia at its height. With so much passion - he took a lot of risks throughout his journey including joining Mr. Lee Kuan Yew in establishing PAP.

In this episode, we talked about

• His early life during the remarkable surge of idealism and unity of Asia as free people
• His father’s unique career path and how that shaped him and his brothers
• His initial involvement when Lee Kuan Yew started PAP
• Risks he took throughout his life as an anti-colonist
• The importance of intellectual class and sense of history
• His principles and values of life
• The meaning and ideal of democracy especially in the world today with fake news and social media.

"My dream for the future generations would be to open up the minds, search for knowledge without fear or favor. Go back to the poets and the intellectuals and be open minded."

Dato Dominic was born in Kerala, India in May 27, 1934, to a well-respected Indian family. His family later moved to Malaya, Johor Baru when he was four months old. By the mid-1950s, he was studying at the Singapore Teachers' Training College. At a protest meeting, he made an anti-colonial speech in Malay and was expelled. And in 1954, he was part of the formation of Singapore's People's Action Party.

In 1956, he revamped the Singapore Trades Union Congress into the Trades Union Congress -- where he was labeled one of the Ten Tall Men on the secretariat. He later became assistant general-secretary of Singapore's General Employees Union and was the leader of the Singapore Association of Trade Unions (Satu).

In 1961, Dominic was one of the Big Six trade union leaders who left with 13 PAP MPs to form Barisan Sosialis where he was founder vice-president -- after losing the vote on the issue of full internal self-government and abolition of the Internal Security Council before merger with Malaysia. He was arrested in Operation Coldstore in 1963 and banished from Singapore until the 1990 when his banishment from Singapore was lifted. He started a self-respect movement, "Than Maana Iyakam", for the Indian community there and held political "school" for them on Sundays to educate them on political issues and empower them.

In 2011, Dominic's son Janil was elected as an MP at PAP and had by 2019 became the Party Whip of PAP.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• University of life is the best university - books cannot compare
• You will always take risks in your life
• Sense of history is so important for younger generations. Value system of younger generations is only related to getting rich as much as possible and as fast as possible. There has to be a change.
• Spend your time thinking also, there is no point in just reading and doing but also about thinking
• Concern for other human beings and sense of human dignity for every citizens are an important values
• I take joy in discovering new ideas and bigger picture - that drives me everyday

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Mark Phillips’ work is a testament to his ability to tell a story through his pictures, not just by observing from a distance but by becoming closely involved and bringing his empathy with each subject to the fore. His work is also defined by a deep respect and admiration for his subjects and their individual stories. Through the course of his work, he has beaten, detained, arrested, and deported from four different countries. He is still banned from entering Chad. Yet with all the pain he endured, Mark continued to pursue his passion in reporting the truth through the lens.

In this podcast, he shares his experience and wisdom with those aspiring to be a journalist. One of the most important lesson is to be nice to others:

"Little people become big people. People may not remember you being nice but people remember you being assholes so that can come back and haunt you."

Mark is an award-winning Cameraman with experience in broadcast journalism for over 30 years and covered every major conflict in past 20 years including Afghanistan, Iraq, Rwanda, and Pakistan with Christian Amanpour. He has been honored with two Emmys, one for video journalism for his work in Afghanistan and the Philippines and the other for his coverage in Syria and Iraq. He has also received awards from the Royal Television Society, Peabody and Dupont.

Mark started his career in regional television in Australia, then moving to the United Kingdom in the early 90s. He then joined CNN in 1993 and was sent to Bosnia the following year to work alongside Christiane Amanpour with whom he would continue to work for the next 15 years, covering Rwanda, Afghanistan, Iran, and many other countries in conflict during the 90s.

In the 2000s, he was one of the first journalists to enter Kabul after the fall of the Taliban and was embedded with the British forward command for the second Iraq war. He was the pool camera for the start of Saddam Hussein’s trial. In 2004 he covered the Asian tsunami and within the next two years was one of only a few Western journalists to report on cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. In the 2010s, Mark was in Sirte, Libya, for the fall of Gaddafi. He went on to cover the Japanese tsunami and later cyclone Haiyan in the Philippines. He would continue reporting on Afghanistan, Iraq, and later Syria. Mark has lived in Southeast Asia for the past 20 years, residing in Bangkok for the last 10.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• Pay attention to your own health by exercising and understanding your own mental state to deal with the traumatic experiences
• Be nice to people
• As a cameraman, you have to speak to your correspondent to understand the narrative and shots that aligns with the story
• Be proficient with your setup so that you can focus on what matters

Like this podcast? Find more wisdom at The Wisdom Archiver.

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Kamalaya is an award-winning wellness retreat located on the beautiful beachfront of the tropical southern coastline in Koh Samui. This retreat offers a holistic experience that integrates healing practice from East and West and was founded with the vision to create a transformative experience and positive impact on people’s lives for both the guests and the team.

In this podcast, we will hear from John and Karina Stewart as the founders of Kamalaya about their journey as a couple in pioneering the wellness movement. Against all odds and struggles, they have proven that we can all start if we are willing to have the humility to keep learning and persevere.

Remember that the most important thing in life is your faith, your relationships, that all those people that will work with you if you are a leader...you have to inspire them to be better...that every single human being seeking the same thing, to be able to be healthy, to find peace, to put their kids through school. And if you treat all your employees and your customers like that, then you can build a great business and have a loyal following because authenticity is more than anything.

Karina Stewart grew up in Mexico until the age of 15 when her family moved to San Antonio in Texas. Her interest in meditation and Asian spiritual Philosophies started at a young age, influenced by her mother’s interest in natural healing, yoga, and spirituality. She went to Princeton University to achieve a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and Asian religions. Prior to Kamalaya, Karina founded a health center in Kathmandu, Nepal, where for seven years she practiced traditional Chinese medicine and created a range of Chinese herbal products. Later she collaborated on a detoxification research project in California with Dr. Dahlgren, a UCLA professor and renowned environmental toxicologist, and Dr. Maoshing Ni, co-founder of Yo San University and Traditions of Tao.

John Stewart was born in Canada and went through hardships early on. He was introduced to spirituality at the early age of 15 by Timothy Leary and moved to India at 23 where he was taught by his yogi master Herakhan Baba ("Babaji") in India. During his first year, he lived in a cave beside a Himalayan river and eventually spent over 15 years embracing a traditional yogi lifestyle as a monk. While a monk, he helped to build schools and hospitals in Indian communities and set up small local businesses in Kathmandu. After he left the monastery in 1993, he became a successful art dealer and settled in Kathmandu with his wife Karina until the political instability forced them to leave Nepal. It was during that time that John at 47, together with Karina decided to pioneer in a wellness resort and established Kamalaya.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• Perseverance is the key to success
• Authenticity is important and it is a rare trait
• Ensure that you take care of your own employees and customers with care
• Create the change you want to achieve by putting the passion towards positivity by seeking a positive perspective
• Diversity enriches and broadens your horizon

Like this podcast? Find more wisdom at The Wisdom Archiver.

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Join us to hear how Dr. Mari Elka Pangestu continues to break thick concrete ceilings over the last 3 decades, as a minority in many ways – Chinese, female, Christian in the world’s most populous Muslim country and in the male-dominated government. She was the first Indonesian female to have obtained a Ph.D. in economics overseas. With her strong sense of right and wrong, she was able to drive and motivate herself to navigate through extremely difficult situations. More importantly, how she was able to manage work-life balance and build a loving family – get up close into her family life conversations with our co-host Arya, her son.

“Value your integrity and credibility, it’s the most important thing for me. You cannot bargain on this one. So I was known for being clear on my views but I learned how to do it politely in the Suharto era, you don’t do it confrontationally. I was known to be vocal in those days (speak your mind during the authoritarian era)....Fortunately, I was never jailed….”

Dr. Mari Elka Pangestu is the Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships in the World Bank. Previously she served as Minister of Trade in Indonesia from 2004 to 2011 and Minister of Tourism and Creative Industry from 2011 to 2014.

She has had vast experience of over 30 years in academia, second track processes, international organizations and government working in areas related to international trade, investment and development in multilateral, regional and national settings.

Most recently, she was a Senior Fellow at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, as well as Professor of International Economics at the University of Indonesia, adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University and a Board Member of Indonesia Bureau of Economic Research (IBER), as well as Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta.

She is highly regarded as an international expert on a range of global issues. She served as Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington D.C and as advisor to the Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi. Her record of board and task force service includes the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), co-chair of the expert group for the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, the panel of the WHO health initiative, the Equal Access Initiative, commissioner for the Low Carbon Development Initiative of Indonesia and executive board member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). She has also served on the board of a number of private sector companies.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• Be confident of your ability, believe in yourself
• Value your integrity and credibility
• No matter what you do, excel in it, deliver well and build credibility over time
• Mentorship is very important
• You should always be financially independent
• Having a network is important but maintaining them is more important - tips - write down their non-work details so you can have better conversations, join associations or communities that you are interested in, always be helpful first to others, and be open, you never know who you meet randomly like airplane rides.
• There are unfortunately unconscious bias for women, the most important thing is to do your homework (find out first where the biggest dissent will come from, that is how she survived)

You can find Mari on Linkedin.

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Nations in conflict are drawn to the mediation process on the basis of the perceived promise that neutrality holds and yet the concept of neutrality is fraught with difficulty. A mediator is often required to be a neutral intervener in the parties’ dispute’. Unfortunately, often times the mediation process failed because ego gets in the way, and parties forget to listen; resulting in interruptions where parties talk over each other and preventing the dispute to be solved.

Active listening is a technique that helps people establish a foundation of trust and understanding with the conflicting parties. In this podcast, Sundeep talks about the importance of listening. We also explore his life as an independent mediator in his quest to resolve conflicts between nations peacefully. He shares with us the techniques and wisdom he acquired throughout his career.

"There's less risk in listening than talking...When you talk you can make a mistake, and you can say something which may be interpreted in a way that is not really helpful..."

Sundeep Waslekar is an Indian thought leader on conflict resolution and global future. He is the President of Strategic Foresight Group and has authored three books on governance and several research reports on managing future challenges. Sundeep Waslekar is known for developing innovative policy concepts for peaceful change.

He has been involved in parallel diplomatic exercises to find common ground in the times of crisis, negotiating with Heads of Government, cabinet ministers, diplomats, hydraulic engineers and terrorists. He has facilitated dialogue between Indian and Pakistani decision makers, heads of Nepalese political parties and water authorities in Africa and the Middle East.

In the 1990s, he authored three books on governance The New World Order, South Asian Drama, and Dharma-Rajya: Path-breaking Reforms for India's Governance. Since 2002, he has authored several research reports on global future under the auspices of the Strategic Foresight Group.

Sundeep has authored a best-seller book in his native Marathi language, Eka Dishecha Shodh (on new directions for India's future), which had 15 editions in the first three years. It has been translated into other Indian languages, converted into a Talking Book and been an inspiration for the formation of several civil society organisations.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• If you are listening, there is no question of misinterpretation.
• Advise should be based on solid research and logic rather than emotion.
• Being open allows you to understand other people's view which allows you to find solutions in conflicts
• Individuals can participate and influence decisions of governments
• Humankind is not warmongering, only 25 countries in the world are actually increasing military power
• Passion doesn't deliver on its own
• Understand your destiny x support with determination = deliver result with satisfaction

You can find Sundeep on LinkedIn. Like this podcast? Find more wisdom at The Wisdom Archiver.

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Have you ever felt like you don’t know what to do in life? Actually we have that feeling every once in a while and it holds us back. Your thoughts open opportunities and set you up for the journey that you want to take. If your thoughts are scrambled, then they are holding you back, hence you’re going nowhere. Without clarity, satisfaction in life decreases and complacency sets in.

In this podcast, Peng shares his stories and the wisdom he gained throughout his career and personal life. One of the biggest advice he gave was to have clarity in what you do and that leads to you redefining the meaning of work.

"Traditional definition of retirement is very dangerous...you work 30-40 years and then you stop and that is retirement. There is enough data to tell you that if you did that you die quickly after that."

Peng T. Ong is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Monk’s Hill Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage tech companies, primarily Series A, in Southeast Asia. Peng is an industry veteran with over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, founder, and investor in Silicon Valley and in Asia.

Prior to Monk’s Hill Ventures, he was a Venture Partner at GSR Ventures in China. The firm is known for its successful investments in companies like Didi Chuxing and Qunar. As an entrepreneur, he co-founded a series of successful companies including Electric Classifieds (today known as Match.com), Interwoven and Encentuate, which combined today generate over USD$1 billion in revenues annually.

Peng is currently the Chairman of SolveEducation! and serves as a board member of the International Advisory Board for the University of Texas at Austin and SEA Founders. Peng earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• If you start something, finish it.
• Clarity is the central point to start which will lead you to persevere because you believe or have faith.
• Remember the fundamentals, people with money are not always right. Understand what is strategic and what is stupid.
• Investing comes with a risk, there is no free lunch. Beware about jumping into the bandwagon as you only hear from those who gain from it while we don't hear from many more who lost.
• Understand the burden of leadership where you should know how to maintain your own mental health as it affects people you work with and people you lead.
• Take care of your body while you have one.

You can find Peng on LinkedIn. Like this podcast? Find more wisdom at The Wisdom Archiver.

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In the fast-changing world of digitalization, competition, and pandemic, many people suffer from increased levels of stress and frustration as the demand to keep pace with the change is even greater. The pressures of these demands are so immense that many are left burnt out and mentally fatigued. As the world is changing, people’s internal minds are also becoming more complex. There is an increased desire to align meaning and purpose with their career and there is a desire to reconnect with self and with others. In this podcast, Brian shares his philosophy and framework on how to live mindfully. He also shares his wisdom that is practical that can be applied to help us immediately.

"Mindfulness - it's being present in the moment without having yourself there...when we are paying enough attention in to what it is that we are doing and we are paying less and less attention what we think and what we are."

As the founder of the Asian Leadership Institute, Brian Bauerle has over 40 years’ experience working in Asia with multinational and family-run companies. He has been instrumental in creating ALI’s unique core competence in mindfulness-based leadership transformation. Brian trained as a professional psychotherapist, earning a postgraduate fellowship in psychoanalysis from the prestigious Menninger Foundation in the United States. He has also held faculty positions at major universities in both the US and Australia.

Five years spent as a monk in Tibet and Thailand gave Brian a deep experiential understanding of the fundamentals and essence of mindfulness training. He uses this unusual experience in a practical, yet provocative way that directly applies to business.

He has worked closely with a wide variety of corporate and governmental institutions to design and implement strategies for organizational and personal change. In recent years, he has focused more of his time working with large Asian family-run businesses, where family dynamics play a new and challenging role in the transformational process. His success derives from his practical awareness, his extensive experience with business, and the wise, intuitive counsel he provides to his clients. He enjoys a regular meditation and yoga practice and continues a lifelong tradition of social work with his support for an orphanage on the Thai / Burmese border named Schools of Hope.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• Mindfulness is to pay attention to what we’re doing, not to what we’re thinking or who we are
• Every problems you have are self-created - “pressured from investors, pressured from board members, etc.” you projected those on to yourself. You are the one who pressured yourself
• Don’t ever limit yourself to who you “think” you are
• Practice 5 mins every day

You can find Brian on LinkedIn. Like this podcast? Find more wisdom at The Wisdom Archiver.

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A highly successful and respected leader in the business world, a loving husband and a father, a thoughtful mentor for many young entrepreneurs, and an avid world traveler, Gregory Crichton joins us here to share his wisdom. Hear his story from his risk-taking decision to move to Asia since he was young to his thoughts on successful marriages. Listen in to hear his many advice on life, marriage, work, leadership, and investing.

“You must always change, you don’t change just because there’s a competitor. You should be leading that competitor. If they come after you and tries to copy you, you just have to do it better.“

Greg is for many years an independent non-executive director of a Hong Kong listed company. He has held numerous directorships in various entities and countries including American International Assurance Co., Ltd. (AIA) and continues to work in the insurance industry. He served as President Commissioner of an Indonesian life insurance company and was an advisor to a successful Singapore reinsurance start-up, as well as serving on the Inland Revenue Board of Review and other bodies. He is currently a non-executive director and advisor of a major international insurer and sits on a number of related committees; he is also the managing director of a corporate services trust licensed Asian company.

Wisdoms Takeaway

• The secret to happy marriage - “compromise”
• Understanding that everybody plays important role in society, never think of yourself as more important than someone else
• Friendship - you have to be there for others when they need you, not just having fun gatherings during good times
• Trust your people
• Must always open to change
• Be true to yourself, continue to change, respect others

You can find Greg on LinkedIn. Like this podcast? Find more wisdom at The Wisdom Archiver.