The
Reluctant
Leader

Blog

Update the Tools, Not the Truth

We can update our systems, apps, and methods, but not the truths that sustain us. Progress can make us faster, yet only principles make us timeless. When purpose anchors progress, innovation becomes legacy. The future belongs not to those who invent the newest, but to those who preserve the truest.

Ordinary vs Memorable Love

He asked, “Dad, can you for once swim with us?” That question became a mirror. Love measured by time will always feel insufficient. Love measured by attention becomes infinite. Ordinary love sustains life. Memorable love shapes legacy. The opposite of presence is not absence. It is distraction.

The Hidden Cost of “Having It All”

10.10 means different things to the world: wealth, success, fame. But for me, it revealed something deeper: I don’t belong to myself. My home, my work, my family, all entrusted, not owned. True fullness isn’t having more. It’s giving more, until ownership turns into worship and life becomes whole.

The Paradox of Design Thinking

When design forgets empathy, systems become cages. When empathy forgets design, chaos returns. The paradox of leadership is learning to hold both, to bring order without losing love. The best designs are not those that prevent mistakes, but those that make compassion inevitable.

Dog-Eat-Dog

In a dog-eat-dog world, leadership isn’t about fighting harder; it’s about protecting wiser. True strength absorbs chaos without becoming it, turns conflict into clarity, and power into protection. The strongest leaders guard the pack, not their pride, transforming every bite into bread and every wound into wisdom.

Is Comparison a Good Compass?

Suffering often begins the moment we start measuring. Comparison can poison or purify, depending on which way we turn the lens. The real question isn’t “Am I ahead?” but “Is my compass still true?” Gratitude doesn’t slow growth. It gives it direction.

The Thin Line Between Principle and Pragmatism

Leadership is not about choosing between principle and pragmatism. It is about walking the narrow space where both meet. When convenience tempts, conviction steadies. When control demands, surrender strengthens. In the end, principles may cost you comfort, but they build the kind of trust that outlasts every shortcut.

花好月圆 阖家团圆

今夜中秋，月白风清。我带着孩子漫步月下，一句一句教他们中文。语言如月光，温柔照亮回家的路。教他们学中文，也是教我做父亲：不求完美，只求耐心；不为他们学会，而为他们喜欢。

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Legacy

A radio song became a mirror. “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.” But what if every December is not about endings, but beginnings, a rehearsal for legacy? Leadership, I have learned, is not about how much we build, but how much of ourselves we are willing to release.

From Co-Create to Co-Impact

Form supports function, but sometimes creates new ones. AirAsia made everyone fly. The iPhone rewrote life. AI now rewrites authorship itself. Lead to Impact is not my story but a living mirror for the next generation, inviting them to co-create and more importantly, to co-impact.

The Discipline of Hitting Refresh

Leadership isn’t about avoiding pressure. It’s about knowing when to hit refresh. Weights in the gym make you strong, but carried home they break you. Refresh is not escape, but maturity, the discipline of leaving burdens behind so you can be fully present where it matters most.

Reconciling Growth and Impact

Expansion without reconciliation is noise. Impact without reconciliation is temporary. The last quarter of the year reminded me: nobody on their deathbed brags about growth. They remember reconciled moments with spouse, parents, children, and God. When growth reconciles with impact, leaders move from survival to legacy.

Giving What They Want, Not What You Think

Every birthday is not just another candle added, it is one candle closer to the final flame. Legacy is not built in extravagance, but in empathy. True love and leadership mean giving not what we think is best, but what others truly desire. Listening is the loudest honour.

I Wish the Day End Earlier

Exhausted one night, I whispered: I wish the day end earlier. But that small wish betrayed a deeper truth. Time is God-given. To cut it short is to play God. Integrity is not just tested by bribes or scandals. It is tested in tired evenings and hidden wishes.

Paradigm Shift at 11:11

At SG500, I entered invisible, unnoticed at the back row. Twenty minutes later, after sharing failure and redemption, I became visible. The crowd shifted, but I had not changed. True leadership is not in applause but in integrity. Being seen alters perception. Prayer and purpose transform legacy.

Push vs. Pull Leadership

Leadership built on push creates resistance. Leadership built on pull creates resilience. From parenting with a Nintendo Switch to buying a home during MCO gloom, I’ve learned this truth: fear drives compliance, but vision pulls legacy forward. Push secures results. Pull secures resilience, significance, and legacy.

Landing at the Best Airport Feels Wrong

We often confuse recognition with purpose, or excellence with alignment. Yesterday’s wedding and a foggy morning flight reminded me that landing at the best airport still feels wrong if it is not where you were meant to be. True leadership is arriving at God’s intended destination.

The Next Generation Is the Only Award That Matters

Awards are temporary, but legacy is lasting. From a Russian boy calling himself Malaysian to Valerie choosing to be a teacher, the real wins are not trophies but lives transformed. The next generation is the only award that matters, and our legacy is measured in them.

Image vs. Authenticity

Most of the time, people are not watching as closely as we fear. What they do notice is whether we are authentic. Image dazzles for a moment, but when it cracks, what remains is substance or the lack of it. Legacy is built on presence, not performance.

Love Never Fails, But We Must Grow to Live It

Love never fails. It is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But our capacity to live it must grow. Parenting, marriage, leadership all reveal that love’s essence is timeless, yet its expression must rise with us. Love endures. We are the ones called to mature.