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