The power of empathy and compassion for sustainable progress
[Music]
i want to bring some power to this room
if you would please raise your hands
with me
wide and high and perhaps even do this
when you are on the podium or when you
have won
these days we show our power when we’ve
moved ahead
of others when we are winning or have
won
we don’t show our power
when we are collaborating or we aren’t
doing anything good together
today i’d like to talk to you
about a power within us the power
of empathy and compassion
and it is with this power of empathy and
compassion
that we may progress sustainably
as one humanity
so my story begins when i was a 15 year
old
my mom comes in and passed me this
newspaper article
and it profiles the singaporean
olympians that are heading towards the
1988 olympic games
my short-term objective for the games
was to do the best time
and to break my national records but my
long-term ambition
was to drive for ferrari and
to live in a bungalow with a swimming
pool
and why not i grew up in singapore
and not unlike in other countries fast
developing countries
we were constantly reminded that the
matrix
of progress and success
were material attainments and in
singapore we all know so well the five
seas
cash car credit card condo and country
club
and we think that we’re moving ahead
we’re progressing
when we have attained them i would say
that
most of my friends the same generation
at that point in time
we all shared similar ambitions
and it is precisely this mindset this
mindset of self-centeredness
of greed that led us to the global
financial crisis
in 2008 and this is where
i’ll raise my hands up again and i’ll
say
mia kalpa i was part of the problem
i remember one evening at dinner with my
father
he passed me a brochure a structured
product
and he said son i put my retirement
money into this
my chest tightened up
and i recognized the product it was
exactly like the ones that my team and i
manufactured
we sold them on to financial
institutions who repackaged them
and resold them to the man on the street
the mom and pops
and to my dad and in normal
circumstances
it would be okay but
as we headed into the global financial
crisis
many moms and pops lost
all of their retirement monies fast
forward
to today 2021
covet a zoonotic disease
transferred from animal to humans
someone decided one day there was a good
idea to
eat an exotic wild bat
this virus spread wild throughout the
world
it’s infected close to 150 million
people
and it’s taken the lives of three
million
but during this time what we are seeing
is this self-centered
greed come out and arise
we see capitalism rear its ugly head
in some countries you see money and
power
being used as tools to help folks move
ahead
of the line ahead of the vaccination
line
this self-cherishing attitude
it has no space for virtuous action
and no space to help others
but i have hope i’m optimistic
because of the millennials in the gen z
they hold us accountable they
value purpose over profit
they’re morally anchored and ethically
conscious
our children the new generation
are our greatest teachers
just a few weeks back i bought
a paraben free shampoo and i was so
proud to show it to my family
and my youngest immediately turned
around to say dad
did you know that they do animal testing
i recognized my ignorance i had no idea
but at the same time i was inspired and
optimistic
because of their knowledge their wisdom
at this very young age
i’m also inspired
by the new breed of conscious investors
they’re collaborating in the power of
empathy
and compassion greatly influencing their
family wealth
removing investments that are misaligned
and crafting portfolios that are
authentically aligned
with their values
they are also very conscious in their
consumption
because every single cent that they
spend
they know is a vote for the company
with which they buy from
now these conscious investors they do so
because
they want to do good while making money
but
very importantly they are convinced that
they can make
a lot of money while doing good
luckily for me a bunch of events
happened that helped me change
my world view i bring it back to when i
was 15 years old
i’m in the holding room and
i see all these well-trained swimmers
around me
i even noticed the olympic champion the
last one just two seats away from me
my palms are sweating
this is the epitome of sport
every amateur athlete dreams of arriving
here
i’m 15 and i’m here soul
korea 1988.
they usher me and usher us out to our
lanes
as i walk towards my lane
i take a look at the black line that
goes across
to the end of the pool
i take off my olympic tag and put it in
the basket
my track suit and i put on my goggles
i walk to the front to the pool and i
splash some water on me
this is a ritual that i’ve done many
many times
but this time it feels different
the water is particularly cold and i
feel a shiver down my spine
i hear the announcer introduce us
to competitors for the 400 individual
melee
and as i hear my name i see in the
distance
in the spectator sand my parents waving
frantically
i wave back and i force a nervous smile
i hear a whistle and i jump out on the
starting block
and i realize my legs are shaking i can
barely balance
take your mark
i bend over like a record spring ready
to go
it’s all silent right now
except for the beating of my heart
we take off and before we enter the
water i hear
the roaring thunderous sound of the
crowd
it’s powerful and it’s energizing
and when i enter the water it feels like
an out of body experience
the 400 individual medley is known to be
the most gruesome
and grueling event in swimming but i
enjoy it
and as i do the first hundred meters
butterfly
i’m feeling strong and i’m enjoying
myself
and then when i turned for my backstroke
i was quite concerned because of the
backstroke it’s not
such a good stroke for me it’s my
weakest
but i feel like i’m kept keeping up
and finally i take a turn
for the third hundred which is for the
breaststroke
and this is where i have so much fun the
breaststroke is my favorite stroke
and i put more energy more power into it
and i feel like i’m catching up i can
see the side of my eyes
finally it’s the final 100 meters
and that’s the freestyle as i push off
an immense wave of lactic acid just hits
me
and it almost paralyzes me
and i say this you got to keep going
and i push on i push on
the final turn 25 meters left
i’m grasping for air i’m out of air i’m
literally taking a breath
in every stroke i take but the last 10
meters i put my head down
and i power to the end
i’m breathless
and the only thing i can think about
right now is whether i’ve done the best
i can
i look up to the board
to the timing board and i see my time up
there
it looks like i’ve done the best time
i’ve ever done in my life
but shortly after it changes
to a d
i shrug it off i thought it was a glitch
desmond d
so i make the french page news
imagine a 15 year old teenager
eyes of an entire nation on me
celebrated
as the prince of the pool someone who
would change
the face of swimming and sport in
singapore
but instead i make my mark
my olympic debut with a big
disqualification
this is just this is just the first of
numberless mistakes i make in my life
but it changes me for the next 10 years
or so
i continue swimming two more olympic
games and 20 years of finance career
but i have learned so much from all the
mistakes that i’ve made
it’s not about winning or the podium
it’s really about embracing failures
celebrating breakthroughs
it’s about commitment
it’s about tenacity it’s about the
practice
for me it’s about the friendship
it’s about humans and it’s about walking
together
in the power of empathy and compassion
as a tribe
it’s not about winning at all costs
i know because i have hurt myself and
others
along the way when i do so
i feel like i’m a hamster on a hamster
wheel
running chasing but i never really get
there
and if we continue this way
we head to a world with a lot more
inequality
and a lot more suffering
i know it’s not easy and i lose sight
often
just last week we had a rehearsal for
this talk
and i was focused on
crafting a winning speech the winning
talk
and
i lost sight of things
but we get reminders along the way
during the rehearsal i got an unnerving
phone call i dropped everything and i
rushed off
i remember my palm sweating and my heart
beating
as i reached home before i reached home
i saw the flashing lights
greeting me and when i arrived
my daughter in the front seat of the
ambulance
and my wife in the back
tended to by paramedics
this is a beautiful reminder to me of
the preciousness of our human life
and while we are on this earth
let us make meaningful choices
with that may i invite everyone
to raise your hands again please join me
but this time please place it on your
heart
may we walk in our power
of empathy and compassion
and may we focus our power
to progress sustainably
to benefit our 7.8 billion people
on this one planet that we share