a girl is worth nothing that was what I
was told for 17 years of my life
it was hard for me to accept and even
harder for me to ignore over the years
I’ve learned that technology is a great
equalizer technology changed my life in
many ways it has brought me today here
as the chief technology officer of the
World Bank Group
I’m honored today to share with you my
journey of how I change my fate and not
accepting it the way I was born in so
technology career for me happen
fortuitously it was the door that was
available for me at that time and that
was the only door I could take and thank
goodness I token and he has become one
of the critical moments in my life that
changes everything afterwards but
unfortunately not many women and girls
have that opportunity on understand the
meaning of technology as an equalizer
for them that is sad for me but I hope
through my story
we will have the opportunity to figure
out how we can help everyone men and
women partake in this journey together
let me take you into a humble beginning
in Singapore I was born out of wedlock
to a teenage eighteen year old girl she
was not ready to have a daughter at that
time and have famous or popular of
saying was giving birth to you doesn’t
mean I have to race you I was so hurt
and I was carrying that curse with me
until I was a teenager and then realize
friends are God’s way of apologizing for
so I suffered a lot through my whole
childhood going through a lot of abuses
but I came to my realization that the
abuse may be with me but they don’t own
me so I at 18 I was accepted to the
National University of Singapore after I
finished my a level exam in arts and
humanities but that’s when I really
suffered this whole identity crisis and
I spiraled down into depression mode and
finally I took that one-way ticket to
California and with just 25 cents to my
name then I realize oh I don’t have the
right skills I am a poor starving artist
in a foreign land
what do I do I wrote to several
university but unfortunately the only
ones who will give me a scholarship is
in computer engineering mathematics
thank God I had a good foundation in
science and math in Singapore so I pivot
I talk the growth mindset and embraces
change and I understand what it is how
hard it is but that did not deter me I
wanted to make it work and from that
point onwards I became good in science
technology engineering and mathematics
my career started as a telecommunication
engineer designing data center for axon
while it was interesting it was not what
I really wanted shortly after that I
joined Deloitte and that’s when I
discover the developments for
applications and systems for the clients
Deloitte open my mind to all the
possibilities of applying my technology
skills to industry verticals such as
health care financial services and
government I also discover a
for Entrepreneurship so I decided to
start my own business in consulting
which I ran for 15 years I enjoy running
my business but a friend of mine
challenged me he said well you know
you’ve done well but what if you get out
of that comfort zone and join a big
corporation and see what it feels like
for a woman in technology and I said
well let me give it a try
enjoy Microsoft at first I thought I
could figure it out but I did not
realize how hard it was for me having to
pivot from a start-up my said to a big
corporation I didn’t understand why is
it so hard for woman and technology to
thrive in a big organization to
encourage more women to step up in
technology then I realized I needed to
embrace that growth mindset again
and step out of my comfort zone I have
my first moment of gender bias when I
was on the job and I presented a
proposal to put my learnings of the last
three years in a large pharmaceutical
and share my architectural design to the
audience this is an annual technical
meeting and the reaction for my male
colleague was is this going to be
technical enough I was offended but then
I regained my composure and I said you
wouldn’t know until you gave me a chance
without a doubt my friends came to my
rescue
to help me prepare for this event what
was a dreaded experience for me was that
I was given the last slot on the last
day of the conference and that was
unnerving for me but my friends men and
women come to my rescue they rallied a
friends to come to that event and
supported me the presentation was
outstanding
and I got great feedback from that point
onwards and every year after that I had
a chance to present a that technical
meeting it’s what we call the geek fest
I loved every moment of it but in that
journey what I’ve learned is that you
may have those moments of gender bias
but we need to come together men and
women to support the woman it give them
the confidence to step up to the
occasion and I was fortunate enough to
have that opportunity in those years I
learned that I need to be politically
savvy I need to build the confidence to
navigate in that ecosystem I also learn
how to navigate in the big maze of an
organization over a hundred thousand
employees around the world and I value
that experience for seven years not one
not two seven during that journey I also
found out that there’s a humble
beginning that I needed to go back in
Asia to close a chapter I began so I
went back to Asia to cover the financial
services and I learn what it is like to
support the regional banks as they
transform in the digital economy to
really pick up new skills the FinTech
startups are going after the same market
and eroding the market share of the
banks they’re going after new
technologies such as blockchain Internet
of Things and also the areas around
artificial intelligence to serve the
customers cheaper faster and with more
capabilities than the banks could those
are the aha moments that gave the bank’s
a wake-up call and say they need to also
transform during that time in Asia I
also see firsthand how technology
changes the lives of this woman social
enterprises
it gives them a chance an equaliser for
them to step up in the digital economy
and it gives them the hope that they can
change the fate that they were born in
just like me in this journey I became
more resolved to want to convert that
technology skills into doing social good
I did a lot of work in public speaking
but I also done a lot of work in reach
out to various programs in Asia but I
also come to realize in order to have a
greater social impact I needed to step
outside of my comfort zone again to
trust in the skills that I’ve developed
over the years to also count on my
support network and to also believe in
the technology equalizing force to bring
it to the next level so on March 1st
2018 I decided that this is time for me
to turn the chapter to now join the
largest development institution in the
world
the wallbang group this has been an
honor and an opportunity for me to
embrace the learnings of all these years
from all the support that I have been
given I couldn’t have done all that
without the help of folks who believed
in me
men and women who come together to help
me through those dark moments and the
hardest points in my life and it’s a
moment for me to give back using
technology to solve development
challenges around the world to reduce
war poverty and increase prosperity my
career in technology has gotten me to
this far but I can only imagine how many
women and men around the world may not
have the opportunity to rise to the
Asian and understand the full power of
technology as the equalizer with all
that that I’ve learned what I wanted to
do is to use this platform to share with
the community I started in the
telecommunication as a network engineer
for axon connecting systems and
applications that translate into
building community of bringing people
together of helping each other learn and
grow together in the new technology
space
well our lives is a factor in so many
ways by the events of artificial
intelligence and for students there are
so many new areas where technology can
create new jobs for you this is when I
started realizing that there is an
opportunity for all of us to come
together and a call to action for
parents you can learn about the new
technology and the implication of how
this technology can create new jobs for
your children let us cast aside a
prevalent bias that STEM education is
only for boys girls can code and we want
to give girls a chance and encourage
them to go take the stem education track
so that they can have equal chance in
life to leverage the power of this
equalizing force for teachers is never
too early to learn about artificial
intelligence you have the chance to
influence the young minds of all ages to
partake in this journey where you can
take the data and bring it to life with
storytelling of the visualization effect
of using technology and converting that
raw data into insights for tech
companies this is the opportunity to
continue that partnership where you can
create more jobs and also internship so
that the students can learn
and apply these skills in to good use we
need more role models more advocates
more mentors and sponsors for students
men and women in order for them to have
the stepping stone to rise up to the
occasion and for the girls around the
world continue to dream big because as
you know a girl with a big dream will
become the woman with a vision the
skills and the will to change the world
thank you [Applause]
was told for 17 years of my life
it was hard for me to accept and even
harder for me to ignore over the years
I’ve learned that technology is a great
equalizer technology changed my life in
many ways it has brought me today here
as the chief technology officer of the
World Bank Group
I’m honored today to share with you my
journey of how I change my fate and not
accepting it the way I was born in so
technology career for me happen
fortuitously it was the door that was
available for me at that time and that
was the only door I could take and thank
goodness I token and he has become one
of the critical moments in my life that
changes everything afterwards but
unfortunately not many women and girls
have that opportunity on understand the
meaning of technology as an equalizer
for them that is sad for me but I hope
through my story
we will have the opportunity to figure
out how we can help everyone men and
women partake in this journey together
let me take you into a humble beginning
in Singapore I was born out of wedlock
to a teenage eighteen year old girl she
was not ready to have a daughter at that
time and have famous or popular of
saying was giving birth to you doesn’t
mean I have to race you I was so hurt
and I was carrying that curse with me
until I was a teenager and then realize
friends are God’s way of apologizing for
so I suffered a lot through my whole
childhood going through a lot of abuses
but I came to my realization that the
abuse may be with me but they don’t own
me so I at 18 I was accepted to the
National University of Singapore after I
finished my a level exam in arts and
humanities but that’s when I really
suffered this whole identity crisis and
I spiraled down into depression mode and
finally I took that one-way ticket to
California and with just 25 cents to my
name then I realize oh I don’t have the
right skills I am a poor starving artist
in a foreign land
what do I do I wrote to several
university but unfortunately the only
ones who will give me a scholarship is
in computer engineering mathematics
thank God I had a good foundation in
science and math in Singapore so I pivot
I talk the growth mindset and embraces
change and I understand what it is how
hard it is but that did not deter me I
wanted to make it work and from that
point onwards I became good in science
technology engineering and mathematics
my career started as a telecommunication
engineer designing data center for axon
while it was interesting it was not what
I really wanted shortly after that I
joined Deloitte and that’s when I
discover the developments for
applications and systems for the clients
Deloitte open my mind to all the
possibilities of applying my technology
skills to industry verticals such as
health care financial services and
government I also discover a
for Entrepreneurship so I decided to
start my own business in consulting
which I ran for 15 years I enjoy running
my business but a friend of mine
challenged me he said well you know
you’ve done well but what if you get out
of that comfort zone and join a big
corporation and see what it feels like
for a woman in technology and I said
well let me give it a try
enjoy Microsoft at first I thought I
could figure it out but I did not
realize how hard it was for me having to
pivot from a start-up my said to a big
corporation I didn’t understand why is
it so hard for woman and technology to
thrive in a big organization to
encourage more women to step up in
technology then I realized I needed to
embrace that growth mindset again
and step out of my comfort zone I have
my first moment of gender bias when I
was on the job and I presented a
proposal to put my learnings of the last
three years in a large pharmaceutical
and share my architectural design to the
audience this is an annual technical
meeting and the reaction for my male
colleague was is this going to be
technical enough I was offended but then
I regained my composure and I said you
wouldn’t know until you gave me a chance
without a doubt my friends came to my
rescue
to help me prepare for this event what
was a dreaded experience for me was that
I was given the last slot on the last
day of the conference and that was
unnerving for me but my friends men and
women come to my rescue they rallied a
friends to come to that event and
supported me the presentation was
outstanding
and I got great feedback from that point
onwards and every year after that I had
a chance to present a that technical
meeting it’s what we call the geek fest
I loved every moment of it but in that
journey what I’ve learned is that you
may have those moments of gender bias
but we need to come together men and
women to support the woman it give them
the confidence to step up to the
occasion and I was fortunate enough to
have that opportunity in those years I
learned that I need to be politically
savvy I need to build the confidence to
navigate in that ecosystem I also learn
how to navigate in the big maze of an
organization over a hundred thousand
employees around the world and I value
that experience for seven years not one
not two seven during that journey I also
found out that there’s a humble
beginning that I needed to go back in
Asia to close a chapter I began so I
went back to Asia to cover the financial
services and I learn what it is like to
support the regional banks as they
transform in the digital economy to
really pick up new skills the FinTech
startups are going after the same market
and eroding the market share of the
banks they’re going after new
technologies such as blockchain Internet
of Things and also the areas around
artificial intelligence to serve the
customers cheaper faster and with more
capabilities than the banks could those
are the aha moments that gave the bank’s
a wake-up call and say they need to also
transform during that time in Asia I
also see firsthand how technology
changes the lives of this woman social
enterprises
it gives them a chance an equaliser for
them to step up in the digital economy
and it gives them the hope that they can
change the fate that they were born in
just like me in this journey I became
more resolved to want to convert that
technology skills into doing social good
I did a lot of work in public speaking
but I also done a lot of work in reach
out to various programs in Asia but I
also come to realize in order to have a
greater social impact I needed to step
outside of my comfort zone again to
trust in the skills that I’ve developed
over the years to also count on my
support network and to also believe in
the technology equalizing force to bring
it to the next level so on March 1st
2018 I decided that this is time for me
to turn the chapter to now join the
largest development institution in the
world
the wallbang group this has been an
honor and an opportunity for me to
embrace the learnings of all these years
from all the support that I have been
given I couldn’t have done all that
without the help of folks who believed
in me
men and women who come together to help
me through those dark moments and the
hardest points in my life and it’s a
moment for me to give back using
technology to solve development
challenges around the world to reduce
war poverty and increase prosperity my
career in technology has gotten me to
this far but I can only imagine how many
women and men around the world may not
have the opportunity to rise to the
Asian and understand the full power of
technology as the equalizer with all
that that I’ve learned what I wanted to
do is to use this platform to share with
the community I started in the
telecommunication as a network engineer
for axon connecting systems and
applications that translate into
building community of bringing people
together of helping each other learn and
grow together in the new technology
space
well our lives is a factor in so many
ways by the events of artificial
intelligence and for students there are
so many new areas where technology can
create new jobs for you this is when I
started realizing that there is an
opportunity for all of us to come
together and a call to action for
parents you can learn about the new
technology and the implication of how
this technology can create new jobs for
your children let us cast aside a
prevalent bias that STEM education is
only for boys girls can code and we want
to give girls a chance and encourage
them to go take the stem education track
so that they can have equal chance in
life to leverage the power of this
equalizing force for teachers is never
too early to learn about artificial
intelligence you have the chance to
influence the young minds of all ages to
partake in this journey where you can
take the data and bring it to life with
storytelling of the visualization effect
of using technology and converting that
raw data into insights for tech
companies this is the opportunity to
continue that partnership where you can
create more jobs and also internship so
that the students can learn
and apply these skills in to good use we
need more role models more advocates
more mentors and sponsors for students
men and women in order for them to have
the stepping stone to rise up to the
occasion and for the girls around the
world continue to dream big because as
you know a girl with a big dream will
become the woman with a vision the
skills and the will to change the world
thank you [Applause]
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