Benjamin Pwee
Benjamin Pwee Yek Kwan (Chinese: 方月光; pinyin: Fāng Yuè Guāng; born 1968) is a Singaporean businessman, business development strategist and consultant, Christian public theologian and politician. He is currently Managing Director of CNP Business Advisory, and Chief Business Development Officer of CNPLaw LLP. He owned and ran his own regional business strategy consultancy firm, E-deo Asia Ltd, for 18 years before joining CNPLaw and CNP Business Advisory.
Benjamin Pwee | |
|---|---|
方月光 | |
| Managing Director, CNP Business Advisory Pte Ltd | |
| Assumed office 15 July 2020 | |
| Chief Business Development Officer, CNPLaw LLP | |
| Assumed office 15 July 2020 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1968 (age 53) Singapore |
| Political party | Singapore People's Party Democratic Progressive Party Singapore Democratic Party |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge Harvard Business School |
| Profession | Businessman, business development strategist and consultant, Christian theologian and politician |
Early life
Pwee grew up in the Bishan area of Singapore and is the son of Robert Pwee Kong Joo, a People's Action Party grassroots leader.
Pwee was educated at The Chinese High School (Singapore) (1981–82), Raffles Institution (1983–84) and Raffles Junior College (1985–86). He then received a Singapore government Overseas Merit Scholarship to study at University of Cambridge, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Literature and Music, and proceeded as Master of Arts.
Civil service career
Upon returning to Singapore from his studies in the UK, Pwee served in Administrative Service of the Singapore Civil Service for eight years. He was a former senior political diplomat with the Singapore Foreign Ministry, and has held senior positions in Singapore's Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Home Affairs. From 1995 to 1998, he was the First Secretary (Political and Economic Affairs) at the Singapore embassy in Beijing, where he was interpreter and note-taker for Singapore first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew during Lee's visits to China. He went on to become Executive Director of Medical Services International based in Hong Kong. He was also one of 12 Special Central Policy Advisors to the Hong Kong Government Chief Executive Donald Tsang. He was also involved in key investment projects such as the Singapore-Suzhou Industrial Park and the PSA-Dalian Port Development projects.
Business consultant career
Pwee left the civil service to become an Executive Director of Medical Services International, a regional non-governmental organisation doing social welfare work in China. He subsequently became the managing director of E-deo Asia, a business consultancy firm.[1] He led a team of 15 senior regional consultants in Asia, headquartered in Hong , with local presence in Japan, China, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore. They specialise specifically in regional business and organisational strategy consulting, for global MNCs, Asian conglomerates, family businesses, SMEs, start-ups, as well as international organizations, non-profits, charities, and faith-based organisations. The firm handles strategic consulting for sectors including healthcare, consumer retail, real estate, hospitality, banking and insurance, industrial manufacturing, education, energy, renewables, agriculture, technology, telecommunications, logistics and supply chain, as well as government.
As of 15 July 2020, he joined CNPLaw LLP as Chief Business Development Officer, and as Managing Director of CNP Business Advisory Pte Ltd.
Political career
In his youth, Pwee was the chairman of the youth wing of People's Action Party (PAP) in the Thomson area.
In 2011, Pwee joined the opposition Singapore People's Party (SPP) and stood as candidate for the party in the 2011 general elections in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC. The party's five-member team in the GRC, which also included then-party leader, Chiam See Tong, eventually garnered 47,205 votes (43.1%).[2] Shortly after the general election, Pwee became SPP's Second Assistant Secretary-General.[3][4] However, Pwee left the SPP in January 2012.[5]
In January 2013, Pwee joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) following an invitation from the party's founder Seow Khee Leng in December 2012 for its leadership renewal, and was appointed as the party's Acting Secretary-General. He was confirmed as the party's Secretary-General at an Ordinary Party Congress meeting on 31 March 2013.[6]
Pwee subsequently left the DPP in February 2019 to join Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), where he is currently a member, and heads up media management under the Central Executive Committee. He stood as a candidate for Singapore's National Parliamentary General Elections in July 2020 with a team of four others, in Marsiling Yew Tee constituency in Singapore.
Religious background
Pwee has been a committed Protestant Christian since youth. He grew up in the Navigators Singapore Campus Ministry, and went on to be part of International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) at Cambridge University UK.
Upon graduation and return to Singapore, he took on various local church lay leadership roles in his home church St James Church Singapore, including Missions Committee, Music Ministry, and Cell Group Leadership.
He did a Postgraduate Diploma in Intercultural Studies at Singapore Bible College, and went on to obtain a Master's degree in Christian Studies from the China Graduate School of Theology in Hong Kong. He continued into a Master's in Theology (ThM).
He has been Adjunct Lecturer at China Graduate School of Theology (Hong Kong), Bible Graduate School of Theology (Singapore), International School of Theology (Manila) and Kobe Lutheran Theological Seminary (Japan).[7]
He went on to take on part-time leadership roles as Associate General-Secretary of Asia Theological Association, Special Assistant to the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Singapore, and Vice-President of Graduates Christian Fellowship (Singapore).
Pwee has also been a highly sought-after Christian speaker, preacher and teacher for Christian events like missions conferences (Go Forth Singapore, regional conferences (IFES East Asia Graduates Conference, and seminars on Christian business ethics, business as missions, Christianity and government, Christian public theology and politics, etc. He speaks, teaches and preaches fluently in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
Personal life
On the non-profit, faith-based front, Pwee was previously Associate General-Secretary of Asia Theological Association, Special Assistant to the Anglican Bishop of Singapore, Vice-President of Singapore Graduates Christian Fellowship, and Development Director at China Graduate School of Theology. He was also Assistant Chief Commissioner of Singapore Scouts Association, and has held various advisory roles with Singapore Heart Foundation, Hong Kong Hospital Authority, Medicines Sans Frontiers Hong Kong, and more.
In 2015, after stepping into politics, Pwee went on to complete a Master in Public administration at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and a Master in Asian Studies at the S Rajaratnam School of Strategic and International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore thereafter. He went on to also become Adjunct Research Fellow at RSIS, and at the School of Public Policy Chiangmai University Thailand.
He is currently working on a PhD in Islamic Political Science at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) in Malaysia.
He is married with three children.[8]
References
- Benjamin Pwee, e-deo.asia. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- Parliamentary General Election 2011 – Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, singapore-elections.com. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- Benjamin Pwee to be SPP's 2nd Asst Sec-Gen Archived 18 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, AsiaOne, 13 May 2011.
- SPP's Pwee named 2nd assistant sec-general, Yahoo! News, 13 May 2011.
- Six members resigned from opposition Singapore People's Party, AsiaOne, 28 January 2012.
- "Democratic Progressive Party's 40th Anniversary". The Online Citizen. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
- Mr Benjamin Pwee, bgst.edu.sg. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- "Singapore GE2020: Ex-SingFirst chief Tan Jee Say applies to rejoin SDP". The Straits Times. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.