ST Education Forum 2025_IE

Piyush Gupta, Chairman of SMU’s Board of Trustees and Chairman of Mandai Park Holdings

Piyush Gupta was Chief Executive Officer and Director of DBS Group from November 2009 to March 2025. Under his leadership, DBS underwent a significant and successful transformation, being named Best Bank and Best Digital Bank in the world on several occasions, as well as one of the top ten transformative organizations of the 2010 - 2020 decade by Harvard Business Review. Prior to joining DBS, Piyush had a 27 year career at Citigroup, where his last position was Chief Executive Officer for South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Singapore Management University, and Chairman of the Mandai Park Holdings Board. In addition, he sits on the board of Singapore’s National Research Foundation and is a member of the Ministry of Trade and Industry Singapore - Future Economy Advisory Panel. Piyush is a term trustee of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA). Previously, he has been a member of the Singapore Emerging Stronger Taskforce, aimed at defining Singapore’s future in a post-Covid world, the UN Secretary General’s Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Board of Institute of International Finance, and the McKinsey Advisory Council.

Piyush has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, India and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM, Ahmedabad. Piyush was awarded the Public Service Star by the President of Singapore for his meritorious services to the nation in 2020. He is a recipient of the 2023 Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, the highest honour conferred by the Indian Government on the country’s diaspora. Piyush was named one of the world’s top 100 best-performing chief executives in Harvard Business Review - 2019 edition of "The CEO 100". He was named Global Indian of the Year by the Economic Times in 2021, Singapore Business Awards' Outstanding Chief Executive of the Year in 2016, and Singapore Business Leader of the Year by CNBC in 2014. In his personal capacity, Piyush takes a keen interest in nature, and is a Co-Chairman of the BirdLife International Advisory Group.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat

Mr Heng Swee Keat is Deputy Prime Minister. He is also Member of Parliament for East Coast GRC.Mr Heng is the Chairman of the National Research Foundation, which sets the direction for Singapore's research, innovation and enterprise (RIE) strategies. Mr Heng is overseeing the closer integration of our RIE and industry transformation efforts. He is also the Chairman of the Future Economy Advisory Panel, which provides expert advice to support Singapore’s next bound of economic growth and transformation. The FEAP will identify new growth areas where Singapore can be competitive and build capabilities in, to create better career prospects for our people. From 2017 to 2023, Mr Heng chaired the tripartite Future Economy Council (FEC) which oversaw the restructuring of our economy, design and implementation of national strategies in areas such as skills and capabilities development, innovation and productivity as well as the internationalisation of our companies.Mr Heng served as Minister for Education from 2011 to 2015. He also led the year-long Our Singapore Conversation from 2012 that helped to engage more than 47,000 Singaporeans from all walks of lifet hrough dialogues.

He also served as Minister for Finance from 2015 to 2021, overseeing 10 national budgets including an unprecedented five budgets to support Singaporeans and businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.Before entering politics in May 2011, Mr Heng was the Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He also served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, as well as CEO of the then-Trade Development Board. Between 1997 and 2000, he was Principal Private Secretary to then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew.In 2001, Mr Heng was awarded the Gold Medal in Public Administration, and the Meritorious Service Medal in 2010 for his contribution to the public service in Singapore. Mr Heng also received the NTUC Medal of Honour in 2021 for his contribution to thelabour movement.Mr Heng has an MA in Economics from Cambridge University. He also holds a Master in Public Administration from the HarvardKennedy School.

Aaron Tan, Co-founder and Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Carro

Aaron is co-founder and CEO of Carro. Former Singapore Computer Society IT Youth of the year, Aaron represented Singapore and won the only Worldskills bronze medal for web programming. After Worldskills, Aaron took the National Infocomm Scholarship and was one of the first few polytechnic graduates to be awarded a scholarship. Aaron subsequently enrolled into the CMU-SMU fast track master's programme and graduated summa cum laude from SMU and CMU with a perfect GPA. Aaron then joined Singtel Innov8 and started Blk71 in 2011 - Singapore’s largest startup ecosystem. While in Innov8, Aaron was involved in investing in over 50 companies globally. In 2016 upon completion of his bond, Aaron started Carro - SEA’s fastest growing and only profitable mobility unicorn. The company raised over S$1B to date and counts GIC and Softbank Vision Fund amongst its investors. To keep close to his roots, Aaron still actively codes and was most recently responsible for building Carro’s insurance underwriting and aftersales systems. Aaron sits on the investment committee/advisory committee of Insignia Venture Partners and Growtheum Capital Partners to invest in the next generation of tech startups in the region. Outside of company building, Aaron is an active community leader. He is a patron of the Toa Payoh East CCMC and currently serves on the Boards and IT committee of several non-profits including the National Library Board, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University IIE and KMS Monastery.

Jamie Ho, Editor of The Straits Times

Jaime Ho is the Editor of The Straits Times, where he is responsible for all aspects of the newsroom’s operations and growth. Before joining SPH Media Group in October 2022, Jaime’s career had spanned more than 25 years across journalism and the Singapore civil service.He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1997 to 2013, overseeing issues such as bilateral relations with Europe and climate change, while also serving in Washington, D.C. and Geneva. Jaime joined Mediacorp in 2013 as Associate Editor before becoming Deputy Chief Editor. He was appointed Chief Editor of CNA Digital in January 2016, a role he held until April 2022. Under his leadership, the team successfully navigated a period of significant audience growth, and the platform won several accolades. Jaime also wrote extensively at Mediacorp and fronted several broadcast events for CNA. From June to October 2022, Jaime was also a Partner at FGS Global, a global strategic advisory, where he led its Singapore office and its operations locally and regionally. Jaime graduated from the National University of Singapore with a BA (Hons) in 1997, and also holds a Master in Public Management from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in 2006.

Aldi Haryopratomo, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ruma

Aldi Haryopratomo is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ruma, a social enterprise that recruits and trains thousands of low-income entrepreneurs in Indonesia to provide services to their communities through a phone or android device. Ruma serves over 1.5 million customers through a network of over 10,000 micro-entrepreneurs who sell prepaid airtime, electricity payments and other value-added services. Ruma has won a number of awards, including Harvard University's Social Enterprise Competition. It has received investment from top Silicon Valley firms such as the Grameen Foundation, Omidyar Network and Unitus Impact Fund. Prior to Ruma, Haryopratomo worked at The Boston Consulting Group, and was an early employee at Kiva.org, a San Francisco based non-profit organization. He also worked at UNDP as an adviser to the Tsunami Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Programme. Haryopratomo holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BA in Engineering from Purdue University.

SMU Provost Professor Alan Chan

Prior to becoming Provost of SMU, Alan Chan was Provost and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), where he also held the Chair of J.S. Lee Professorof Chinese Culture. Professor Chan joined CUHK in 2020 from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) of Singapore, where he served as Toh Puan Mahani Idris Daim Chair Professor of Humanities, Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, and from 2018, Vice-President responsible for Global Engagement, Alumni Relations and Institutional Advancement. Before joining NTU, he was Professor of Philosophy at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he also held several leadership positions, including Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and Associate Provost (Undergraduate Education). While at NUS, Professor Chan twice received the Teaching Excellence Award. Professor Chan has held visiting professorships and fellowships in North America, Asia and Greater China and served as a member of various editorial and other boards. He was a member of the Governing Board of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of the Board of Directors, International Confucian Association, and Director of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU). He is a member of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong.