Some conversations you plan. Some conversations just happen. The rarest kind are the ones you plan — and they still surprise you.
We recently partnered with SpeakIn and SG Enable to host a CXO roundtable at the Shangri-La Singapore — one of those evenings that reminded us exactly why The Builders Club exists.
The conversation centred on something most businesses still treat as a side agenda: the meaningful inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the workplace. Not as a CSR initiative. Not as optics. As a genuine business strategy — and a more honest way to build.
The roundtable in session — Shangri-La Singapore, September 25, 2025
What The Builders Club Brought to the Table
Our role was clear: bring the right people. SpeakIn and SG Enable had the vision and the infrastructure. We had the network.
We curated a group of CXOs and senior decision-makers from The Builders Club community — leaders willing to sit in a room, set aside rehearsed corporate positions, and actually talk about the friction they face when it comes to hiring and integrating PWD talent inside their organisations.
That kind of honest room doesn’t happen by accident. It takes the right hosts, the right setting, and the right people who trust each other enough to say what’s real.
What Was Said
The evening was convened under the vision of Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua, with SG Enable driving the policy and ecosystem perspective. What made the roundtable exceptional wasn’t the agenda. It was the honesty of the people in the room.
- Li-Fang Lai from OCBC shared how a personal experience with disability in her own family reframed everything for her professionally — and how OCBC is actively moving from charity thinking to capability thinking when it comes to PWD hiring.
- Engineer Lionel Lee showed — not just told — how customised roles unlock talent that standard job architectures completely miss. His presence in the room was its own argument.
- Edward Chew from SG Enable laid out the 360-degree policy ecosystem being built to make inclusion structurally viable — not just aspirationally good — for Singapore’s employers.
- Cheryl Chan from ST Engineering brought the kind of leadership presence that changes the energy of a room. Her engagement gave the entire discussion a new level of gravity.
- K V Rao and Dr. Timothy Low bridged the gap between policy ambition and operational reality — giving the employer side of the table a sharp, constructive voice.
Leaders gathered at the Shangri-La Singapore — September 2025
The One Line That Stayed With Us
“Inclusion isn’t just about doing good — it’s about doing business better.”
That was the thread running through the entire evening. The PWD talent pool isn’t a charity case. It’s an undertapped asset — one that carries unique strengths, deep loyalty, and capabilities that conventional hiring pipelines rarely surface.
The businesses that figure this out first won’t just be more equitable. They’ll be more competitive.
The conversations that matter most happen between the agenda points
Why This Is What Community Is For
The Builders Club exists for moments like this. Not to network. Not to broadcast. To move things forward — by putting the right people in the same room and letting what needs to happen, happen.
We didn’t build a stage. We built a table. And around that table, something shifted — in perspective, in commitment, and hopefully, in what gets actioned back in boardrooms across Singapore.
Our deepest thanks to SpeakIn for their commitment to conversations that count, and to SG Enable for the clarity and conviction they bring to inclusion work every single day.
If you’re a founder or CXO thinking about where your organisation stands on this — The Builders Club is a good place to start that conversation.
