Reaching for Gold

Group CEO & Chief Innovation Officer of Nexus TS Public Accounting Corporation and Nexia TS Shanghai Henry Tan picked up the Valuation Advisory Experts award 2021 by Corporate INTL for in March. The annual awards promote and recognise excellence in leading accountancy practices globally in various categories. “The pandemic has made us rethink our business models to better curb the challenges ahead. To this end, we will continue to strengthen our valuation techniques and enhance deliverables quality through the use of digital tools and artificial intelligence,” said Tan.

Meanwhile, Lee Chee Meng, Co-Chief Operating Officer at Pickupp Singapore, made the e27 Luminaries List, which recognises individuals who have led ground-breaking initiatives or made trailblazing achievements amidst a challenging year. Pickupp Singapore is a technology-driven platform that provides optimised delivery solutions, with Lee leading the start-up’s Southeast Asia businesses. 

Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2021 named Tushar Aggarwal and Edward Yee as movers and shakers in April. Aggarwal, founder of Singapore-based fintech company Persistence One, saw the company raise US $3.7 million last year, leveraging blockchain technologies to facilitate asset transactions. Yee, co-founder of Givfunds, was recognised for his initiative to invest in overlooked social enterprises in South Asia. Launched in 2017, Givfunds has invested in 48 social enterprises, directly impacting more than 45,000 people. Yee was awarded a Rhodes scholarship in 2019 – the first to a Singaporean in 14 years.

Creating winning marketing campaigns saw Siew Ting Foo, Chief Marketing Officer at Greater Asia at Hewlett Packard (HP), added to the 2021 Campaign Asia-Pacific Power List for the region’s most influential and purposeful marketers. A total of 24 women and 26 men from various industries based in 13 markets across Asia-Pacific made the list announced on 17 June.

Vikna Rajah, Head of Tax and Trust, and Private Clients at Rajah &Tann LLP, has been recognised as “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in Singapore 2022. This recognition is awarded annually to only one lawyer per practice area in each region who has received extremely high overall feedback from their peers. Kala Anandarajah, PBM, Partner, Head, Competition & Antitrust and Trade at the same law firm, has been recognised as a Thought Leader in Who's Who Legal Thought Leaders: Competition 2021 for the second year. 

On the international front, Adefunke Adeyemi received the A.G.W Lifetime Achievement Award for African Aviation 2021, as one of the Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD). Said Adeyemi: “We need to connect Africa better through a codependent ecosystem of trade, travel, tourism, and business in a sustainable way.” 

Kavya Kasiraman took the Entrepreneurship World Cup – Singapore 2021 National Champion (Idea Stage) title with her one-stop portal The Authentic Platform, which aims to connect individuals in need of services related to Autism Spectrum Disorder and other similar conditions with specialised service providers. She will be competing at the Global Finals in November, and has plans to officially launch the platform later this year with the help of a few of her friends who’ve joined her in the start-up. “We hope to build on our work and use the support we're receiving to create a social impact enterprise that helps people in need,” she said.