Kwong Weng Yap

Yap Kwong Weng

Yap speaking at a youth forum about the risks and returns of Southeast Asia's economy.
Born (1977-11-11) November 11, 1977
Occupation Author
Businessman
Nationality Singaporean
Alma mater
Website
yapkwongweng.com
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Yap.

Kwong Weng Yap (born November 11, 1977) is a Singaporean author, frontier entrepreneur, social activist and former soldier.[1][2] He is the CEO of Leap Group, and a founding board director of Triip, a Vietnam-based tech company.[3][4] Between 2014 and 2016 he was the COO of Parami Energy Group in Myanmar, where he managed the group's infrastructure deals, transformation and transparency plans[5] while advocating for the use of clean energy in Myanmar.[6] He has also worked for Jebsen & Jessen (SEA), a regional engineering company as a General Manager who oversaw its expansion into Laos and enhanced its business units in Myanmar. Yap has been named a World Cities Summit Leader in 2014 and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (2012 to 2017).[7][8]

In May 2016, Yap came to public attention after being featured in an article with the Singapore Straits Times, where he discussed his life and completion of US Navy SEAL training despite suffering from serious injuries.[9] During June of the same year, Marshall Cavendish published Leap: Journey of a Young Global Leader from Singapore, a memoir recounting stories of failures and successes in Yap's military training, work stints and world travels.[10] Kirkus Reviews said of Leap: "Kwong Weng’s debut memoir recounts a life of remarkable persistence."[11]

Background

Early years and education

Born in 1977, Yap grew up in Singapore, and lived in a small 3-room flat in Toa Payoh with his parents for over 25 years. He received his secondary education in the now defunct First Toa Payoh Secondary School where he was a member of the National Cadet Corps, and his pre-university education at Jurong Institute, now known as Millennia Institute. At 18, he applied several times to the National University of Singapore but was rejected. Instead, Yap decided to join the Singapore Armed Forces Commando Formation while saving up for a college education. The opportunity to pursue tertiary education, however, came many years later.[9]

Yap received a BA in Communication studies with Latin honors at age 30 from the State University of New York at Buffalo[12] with savings earned from the Army, as well as with pawned jewellery sold by his mother to fund his education.[9] Thereafter, he went on to pursue an MBA from Manchester Business School, and a Master of Public Administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy where he received a leadership award, and was profiled as an alumnus of the school.[13] He completed a PhD in crisis management from the University of Glasgow[14] and read peace and conflict studies as a Peace Fellow in Thailand's Chulalongkorn University under a Rotary Foundation Scholarship.[15][16]

In June 2016, when asked by Parenting World about the stresses of education in Singapore and students from non-elite schools who felt left out, Yap said: "I studied in neighbourhood schools for my primary and secondary education. Life was simple, fun and I learnt to become more independent...I hated books and studying when I was young. But I learnt, over the years, that knowledge gives us the best resource when it comes to decision-making."[17]

Military career

Yap at a Global Dignity event in Cambodia, 2013

Before entering the private sector, Yap served as a Commando Captain in the Singapore Armed Forces where he was trained as a paratrooper and a ranger. After being commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1998 from Officer Cadet School (Singapore) where he received a Sword of Merit, Yap was posted to 1st Commando Battalion and the Special Forces as a Platoon Commander. In 2001, he went on to attend Class 237 of the United States Navy SEAL selection and training, graduating in February 2002 from the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, California.[9]

Following his return to Singapore, Yap was assigned as an instructor to the Commando Training Wing where he trained soldiers in the ranger course, a grueling 65-day program that hones small unit tactics and leadership. Along the way, he realized that a university degree was needed for career progression; took study leave in 2005 and went back to school as a mature student. He returned to the unit after graduating in 2008 and served as head of leadership development in the Commando Training Institute.[9] It was at this time (in 2009) that comprehensive material on Singapore's Special Forces edited by Yap was published by Pointer (journal) as a monograph.[18] In 2010, Yap transferred to the Joint Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore) where he worked as an Intelligence analyst focusing on regional counter-terrorism.[19]

Yap served 13 years in the military and left the SAF in December 2012 for the private sector [9]

Civil society

Yap (left) with Lawrence Lai, Mayor of Miri City Council

Yap is active in community and social initiatives. He was the Secretary-General of the United Nations Association of Singapore (2011 to 2013) where he organized sustainability projects in Singapore and Sarawak with youth groups, civic and academic institutions.[20][21][22] Since 2013, he has been a country chair of non-profit Global Dignity, where he advocates dignity, a fundamental human right, for students in Cambodia.[23] He ran 100km across China's Taklamakan Desert in an ultramarathon to raise awareness for the UN's Millennium Development Goals and gave a TEDx talk on the wider benefits of volunteering.[24][25] On a voluntary basis, Yap gives talks to secondary school students, business executives and entrepreneurs.[26]

Writing

Yap started writing professionally during his time in the military. Influenced by military science,[27] Yap wrote his first book in 2009, where he developed Key Perspectives of Special Forces, a collection of articles on special forces literature with a foreword by Brigadier-General Lam Shiu Tong, former Commander of the Special Operations Task Force. His second book is Leap: Journey of a Young Global Leader from Singapore. In August 2016, Teenage Magazine wrote of Leap: "the author's proof that humble beginnings in this little red dot can inspire greatness, no matter how young you are".[10] Today, he writes about business and geopolitical issues on Southeast Asia and Myanmar and his articles have appeared in local and regional newspapers.

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Chew, Patrick. (November 2012). Mr Utopia: Yap Kwong Weng speaks about his intention to change the world. AugustMan. Burda Singapore.
  2. ↑ Chew Yen, Tan. (June 2016). 给大家一个尊严 [Dignity for Everyone]. PIN Prestige. Burda Singapore.
  3. ↑ "Kwong Weng Yap. Triip Profile".
  4. ↑ "Bower, Beatrice. Traveling with Yap Kwong Weng. Singapore National Trade Union Congress (M Magazine). June 2016, p.70. Retrieved 13 Oct 2016.".
  5. ↑ "Andrea Montano. Spotlight: Parami Energy Group. Myanmar Business Times (Sep 2014). Vol 2, Issue 34, p.19. Retrieved 30 Oct 2016." (PDF).
  6. ↑ "Parami Energy Group of Companies – COO speaks at ASEAN Energy Business Forum". Parami. November 4, 2015. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  7. ↑ "Kwong Weng Yap. World Economic Forum Profile".
  8. ↑ "Yap Kwong Weng. World Cities Summit Profile".
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wong, Kim Hoe (2016-05-15). "It Changed My Life: Navy Seals training and accident gave commando resolve to find purpose in life". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  10. 1 2 Lee, Kai Lin (2016-08-18). "Singapore Special (p.81)". Teenage Magazine (Singapore). Retrieved 2016-11-23.
  11. ↑ "LEAP by Yap Kwong Weng; Kirkus Reviews". Kirkusreviews.com. 2016-11-29. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  12. ↑ Chong, April. A fruitful 10-year partnership. The Straits Times (June 2014). Singapore Press Holdings.
  13. ↑ "Student Achievement Awards (2012), National University of Singapore, retrieved 13 Oct 2016" (PDF).
  14. ↑ "Kwong Weng Yap. University of Glasgow Profile".
  15. ↑ "Singaporean to lead dignity movement in Cambodia, AsiaOne, (18 Feb 2013), retrieved 3 Oct 2016".
  16. ↑ "Ph.D. Thesis. WorldCat Identities".
  17. ↑ Shobana, N (June 17, 2016). "Interview with Yap Kwong Weng, Man behind LEAP". Ourparentingworld.com.
  18. ↑ "Kwong Weng Yap (Ed). Key Perspectives on Special Forces. Journal of the Singapore Armed Forces (2009), retrieved 16 Nov 2016" (PDF).
  19. ↑ ASEAN Anti-terror confab pushes through Bayanihan.org. (28 Sep 2011) Retrieved 18 Nov 2016.
  20. ↑ Curtin Sarawak co-hosting sustainable development and leadership forum , Curtin University. (7 March 2011) Retrieved 30 Oct 2016.
  21. ↑ "Social capital vital in environmental sustainability, The Borneo Post, (19 Mar 2011), retrieved 25 Sep 2016".
  22. ↑ Norrlatep, Achil (11 December 2010). "Suburkan semangat sukarelawan generasi muda". The Borneo Post. Retrieved 22 Nov 2016.
  23. ↑ "Kwong Weng, Yap (2013). Securing a future for Dignity (21 Jan 2013), Global-is-Asian, retrieved 25 Sep 2016".
  24. ↑ "Yap Kwong Weng. TEDx Profile".
  25. ↑ "Singapore wonderman to trek 'desert of no return', The Brunei Times, (17 Aug 2010), retrieved 25 Sep 2016".
  26. ↑ "Speaker Profile at Singapore Business Leaders Program. Human Capital Leadership Institute, Singapore Management University. Retrieved 23 Nov 2016.".
  27. ↑ "Kwong Weng Yap. The SAF's Advanced Combat Man System: Hindrance or Help?, Ministry of Defence, (2009), retrieved 27 Sep 2016".

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