From The Straits Times    |
It’s 2017 and women across the globe are making waves, continuing to fight the good fight and end discrimination. In Singapore, we’re still pushing for diversity in many areas, though a good bit of progress is being made largely due to more corporations embracing diversity and equality.
At DBS in particular, over 50 percent of the workforce is female. The company’s eye for equality has successfully paved the way for work policies like flexible hours and part-time work that are not only appealing to the average Singaporean, but especially important for any employee looking to balance work with personal commitments.
We take a look at three of the company’s leading women, and their paths less travelled which brought them to where they are today:
 
#1 Karen Ngui
Managing Director & Head Group Strategic Marketing and Communications
DBS Bank
 
It was on a plane on her way from the US to Singapore after completing her MBA that Karen saw a job ad in the newspaper which would take her on the path towards her first marketing role. Since then, she has acquired over 25 years of experience in various aspects of marketing, product development, corporate communications and corporate social responsibility.
One of the more recent initiatives that Karen and her team have rolled out is DBS Sparks, a mini-series which is an industry first about bankers and banking. Sparks is inspired by true stories and demonstrates how banking impacts real people and real lives, in addition to giving some insights into what the bank stands for and what it’s like to work at DBS.
Interesting fact: Testament to the fact that marketing is an art and a science, Karen holds an MBA from the University of Iowa and has degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Southern Illinois.
 
#2 Eng-Kwok Seat Moey
Managing Director and Head Capital Markets
DBS Bank
 
For Seat Moey, a career in banking was a natural progression. She majored in economics and statistics in university, and went on to complete a Masters in commerce majoring in banking and finance. So when it came to choosing a career, she couldn’t possibly ignore her natural interest and affinity with numbers.
Seat was Vice President of Asset Management at POSB before joining DBS in 1998 when it acquired POSB. The thing about her work that gives her the greatest satisfaction? Breaking ground and doing something for the first time. In fact, she was involved in the first property securitisation deal in Singapore in 1999, and the first commercial paper programme. She was also part of the team that pioneered the REIT (real estate investment trusts) and Business Trust markets in Singapore and even Thailand’s first property fund.
 
#3 Joyce Tee
Managing Director & Group Head of SME Banking Institutional Banking Group DBS Bank Ltd
 
Following her entrepreneurial dad around from an early age taught Joyce all about the hardships of running a business. It seemed only fitting then that she kicked off her career by providing management consultancy and financial advisory solutions to small businesses and entrepreneurs. After 12 years of working in the US, she returned to Singapore and joined DBS to further her efforts to help small business owners realise their dreams.
Joyce derives the greatest satisfaction from working with SMEs (small and medium enterprises). There’s a lot of legwork that goes into the process and getting to know the businesses in question, but the relationships that develop are often close and lasting ones; many of her clients have become personal friends and even makan kakis of hers.
A particularly memorable project for her has been helping Sunseap finance its solar leasing project (the first of its kind in Singapore). That project is in fact what inspired the first few episodes of the Sparks miniseries, and it’s truly heart-warming to watch it play out on screen.
Sunseap has since grown to become Singapore’s largest clean energy provider, which is an incredible feat unto itself.
 

Feeling inspired? Check out the latest episode of the DBS mini-series Sparks. The series, starring Adrian Pang, is inspired by true stories and follows a group of young bankers as they navigate their work and personal lives. The bite-sized episodes of entertainment will quite frankly get you more than a little hooked (we binge-watched them all in one seating).