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Mid-Career Professionals
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 Goh Soo Hui, Mid-Career Professional, 2006, Banking Department
I started my career in an international audit firm and subsequently joined the internal audit department of a foreign bank. Having been in an audit-related field for almost 10 years, I was looking for new challenges.
In my search for new challenges, MAS comes across as an attractive choice on two aspects. Firstly, it provides opportunities for me to build on my existing knowledge. Secondly, I look forward to the challenges in being part of an organization that is at the forefront of Singapore’s financial industry and plays a pivotal role in building Singapore as a reputable international financial hub.
My experience with MAS has been very fruitful so far. The nature of my work requires me to be frequently onsite at different banks. Through such onsite visits, I have the opportunity to deal with banks’ management and gain in-depth knowledge of their business and work practices. In addition, I have to constantly adapt to different work environments and interact with people from different cultures. Each assignment has been a great learning experience.
A unique experience was the participation in a seminar for regional central banks and regulatory agencies. The interaction I had with central bankers and regulatory agencies from other countries including those rapidly growing economies in Asia such as India and China were very enriching and insightful.
MAS is willing to invest in its people. There are many external and internal courses designed to help staff develop their technical knowledge as well as soft skills. Other than formal courses, MAS often invites experienced bankers to share knowledge with staff. There is also on-the-job training under the guidance of experienced staff. I have benefited from these learning and development experiences.
Colleagues across all levels are willing to share their knowledge and experience. Bosses also encourage sharing of ideas to improve and innovate continually. This culture of openness makes MAS an enjoyable place to work in.
I appreciate that MAS emphasizes on teamwork and the notion that more can be achieved as a team. This has encouraged sharing and cooperation among colleagues that created a friendly environment to work in.
As my past experiences were relevant to the job scope in MAS, I am able to adapt quickly and cope with the challenges that come with this new appointment. Having gained the trust of bosses, I am given the autonomy to work independently and also gradually assigned heavier responsibility in the team.
With MAS, I am learning new things everyday and I believe the exposure will be useful for my career development.
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 Sandra Seah, Mid-Career Professional, 2005, Currency Department
I started my career in MAS as a fresh graduate under the Graduate Officer programme. The main attraction then was the structured training programme MAS has for Graduate Officers and also the opportunity to join the organization that has an oversight of Singapore’s financial sector.
I left to join the private sector in various marketing and communications roles and rejoined again several years later as a Mid-Career Professional. The second time I decided to join (or re-join!) was because of the rare chance to be involved in an international event – Singapore 2006, which included the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank Group. The people I worked with during my first stint with the organization also left a deep impression on me, and I was happy to be part of the team again.
It has been an exciting and satisfying period for me. The most memorable experience so far was being a member of the Singapore 2006 organizing committee. I was given the opportunity to manage a diverse range of work, from the development of uniform designs for the volunteers to liaising with hotels on food and beverage arrangements and the events set-up.
Though Singapore 2006 is over, the experience that I’ve gathered during that period will continue to be of value to my current portfolio, which includes events support for regional and international seminars and conferences hosted by MAS.
There has been a good balance of classroom training, such as the Financial Foundation Programme, to on-the-job training and hands-on experience. More importantly was the ability to witness the decision-making process of visionary leaders and subsequently implementing this with people with many years of experience in the industry.
The bosses give us the trust and autonomy to work independently while keeping an eye out to ensure that we work towards the right direction.
I enjoy the wide range of work that I get to handle - from organizing international and regional events, to reviewing organizational policies on the management of corporate resources. My satisfaction stems from being able to see the fruits of my labour and the happy faces of participants in an event to more efficient operations resulting from a successful process review.
I joined as a specialist in communications and events management but have since developed and grown my skill sets substantially after taking on different roles in the varied projects and functions that I have been involved in. You can be a driver in one project group but a member in another. My previous experience in the private sector has also given me an alternative viewpoint of managing things. Overall, the broad based exposure and development that I have received in MAS will give me the flexibility to continue value-adding in my current role or to transfer my skills and capabilities to other areas of work.
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 Kwok Wai Lum, Mid-Career Professional, 2004, Capital Markets Intermediaries Department
When I started my career in 1997 as a young engineer in another Government Ministry, finance was certainly not a natural choice. By some quirk of fate, I had a mentor who got me very interested in the subject. I also had the good fortune to work on a big project to privatise and divest some government infrastructures, which gave me the opportunity to work closely with investment bankers and corporate financiers. It gave me insights and convinced me that I would eventually want to move into the field of finance. So when my bond ended in 2004, I started looking around.
It is said that each day, life will send you little windows of opportunity; your destiny will ultimately be defined by how you respond to these windows of opportunity. I think it is very true for me. I met a friend at a dinner occasion, who was working in MAS. MAS was then like a black box to me, but she did a fantastic pitch. What I found most attractive about MAS is the integrated organisation structure putting the financial services regulatory function, the central banking reserve management function, and the industry development function under one house. To be part of an organization that offers breath and depth of learning opportunities and career advancement was an overweighing consideration.
It has been nothing short of exciting really. When I joined the Capital Markets Intermediaries Department (CMI), I had no direct relevant industry experience. The curve was steep. Working among younger team members who were more experienced, there was pressure to hit the ground running and quickly get up to mark. But I had a great bunch of colleagues who were always ready to help, and coupled with good internal knowledge management systems and processes within the department, it made the transition that much easier. One thing I relish at CMI is the opportunity to meet opinion leaders and executives in senior positions from the industry in the course of my work. I recalled being put on my first audit assignment one month into my job, and there, I was holding a conversation with the managing director of a foreign bank-backed institution as “equals”. Even for someone working in a financial institution, I don’t think this is something that he or she will normally get to experience.
If one looks beyond the rules and regulations that we breathe as a regulator, there are a lot of perspectives to be gained in terms of the rationale behind these rules, and understanding why and how our licensees structure their business operations along certain frameworks or principles of corporate management. All these learning points are very applicable and will serve us well as policy makers or managers in any organizational setting within or outside MAS. Many of the best practices that we see in our institutions exist for a reason and are products of years of institutional knowledge.
Another interesting experience which is not immediately obvious is that my stint as a regulator has actually brought out the softer people skills in me. Our job is not just about policing rules and regulations but building relationships with people, be they licensees or colleagues. I like to see myself as a relationship manager to my companies, adding value to their business proposition from a compliance standpoint. In an environment where the industry is constantly innovating and pushing the regulatory envelop, we need to work closely with our stakeholders to ensure that the business initiatives are carried out in a fair and responsible manner. To this end, a regulator requires people skills to bring them on board. As my management often says, we are in the business of selling things which companies do not typically like to buy.
On a personal level, I learned a lot about managing teams for excellence. Someone once said, “Before you are a leader, success is about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is about growing others.” I can truly relate to that. I liked the idea of experimenting with management theories and practices at the work place. I subscribed a participative, inclusive approach with my team members. Although I am relatively inexperienced, I find that if our people feel involved in where the organisation is going and where decisions are being made, they find themselves attached much more to the work than any one individual. And that’s the way I think it should be.
The thing that struck me most on my first day of work is how every one calls each other by the first name. During my time in MAS, I have the good fortune to work with some of the most passionate and committed colleagues that I have come across. It was a joy working with them as their passion and brilliance rub off on me.
I really appreciate the fact that MAS took a chance on me even when I do not have the relevant experience, as well as the trust and opportunity that MAS has accorded me. What has been most helpful in terms of my learning and development has been the empowerment given to line managers to make decisions and carry out their work. I try to do the same with my team, but hold them accountable for the results.
Another aspect that impresses me is in how MAS takes operational excellence seriously. Operational excellence is not just about absolute targets, but also getting the consistency around the targets. Certainly within CMI, we are constantly looking to streamline our processes. We want to be able to make decisions faster, listen to industry better, so that we can continue to be very agile. This has been a hallmark for MAS.
They say you can only live life forward and understand it backward. I guess the same is true about careers. For me, a job should feel like a stretch, and above all, give me a continual sense of learning, growth and development. Looking back, I can say that my time at MAS has transformed that objective into actual experiences. I believe my work at CMI is but the tip of the iceberg, and certainly look forward to understand the workings of more sections of the organization if opportunity permits.
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 Wong Pei Yuen, Mid-Career Professional, 2006, Information Technology Department
The prospects of working for the central bank of the nation, with its critical role in ensuring the stability of the financial system, have always fascinated me. This is why I did not hesitate twice and jumped at the opportunity to join MAS a year ago. I’ve not looked back since.
It has been a fun and fruitful year for me since I joined. Colleagues and superiors are great to work with, and projects are interesting and sometimes even refreshing. As I am heavily involved in the development of a strategic IT plan for MAS, I’ve had the opportunity to work with peers and colleagues across all MAS departments including senior management. This has enabled me to understand MAS’ key roles and mission very well in a very short time, and the experience is certainly unique indeed!
Although I’ve only been in MAS for about a year, I have been given the opportunity to participate in events such as the CBITX, BIS workshops, etc., among other international meetings and cross-agency forums. These have given me a great deal of exposure and enabled me to benefit and learn from the experience of others. In addition, lots of training opportunities are available, hence learning and development needs are aptly met.
MAS is a truly unique organization with its multiple roles in policy making, regulation, industry promotion, currency issuance etc. It is precisely because of this uniqueness that makes the organization thrive with so many activities occurring simultaneously at the same time. When dealing with potentially thorny issues that could have dire consequences affecting the entire nation if not handled well, I am particularly impressed with the professionalism and tact that some of my colleagues exhibit.
I enjoyed being able to contribute to the continued excellence of the organization. In particular, being part of the strategic IT planning team and being able to partake in important operational excellence initiatives has given me great satisfaction in fulfilling some of my deepest desires to help chart the strategic direction of the organization.
I was recruited primarily because of my rich prior experience in information security. However, as soon as I am on board, I was quickly given the autonomy and responsibility to work on projects beyond information security and which have helped develop my various other traits. This has also allowed me to expand and stretch my job scope, enabling me to set new goals and challenge myself even further. Being ambitious with very clear career goals, I review my own progress regularly and have asked myself several times whether there is a career for me in MAS. The answer is always a resounding yes!
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