Transcription
Good morning everyone, and congratulations to the class, class of 2026. It is an absolute honor to be here to celebrate your achievements. I want to thank the leadership and the distinguished faculty of NTEU for the invitation. It's wonderful to look out here and see all of you today, surrounded by so many people who have shaped your journey to this momentous occasion.
Today is a day for celebration and a day for gratitude. We are celebrating your hard work, your grit, and your perseverance. We are also here today to say thank you to everyone for those, for all those little moments that contributed to your success. When I look across this filled room and think about the impact of those chance moments, it actually makes me feel a little nostalgic.
Standing here today brings me back to my roots, back in Singapore, to the unexpected journey that led me to this stage in front of you today. Along the way, my own world has grown in ways that I could never imagine. And looking back at that path, I've come to realize that education is a lifelong passport. It keeps rejoining the borders of your world over and over again.
I was born in the 80s, and back in primary school, my world was hyper-local. My universe didn't extend much further than my own neighborhood in Yukang and the comfortable rhythm of my daily routine and the familiar surroundings that I see every day. But eventually, I had this amazing opportunity to travel across the country from Yosha Kam to Bukitima to attend what is now known as Wong after my peer sales. Now, for a kid back then whose world is so small, I know Yukang to Bukitima is not that far, but, but, um, choosing to go there completely pushed me out of my comfort zone. And that leap sparked intellectual curiosity that showed me that my potential could be as limitless as my imagination and is untouched, really, by physical boundaries.
In many ways, this is the same story of Singapore itself. Now, we may be a very small island nation in our geographic borders, but through curiosity and resilience, we have always looked outwards and upwards and created an oversized global footprint. Now, today, your global footprint expands, too. You now have the passport to look beyond the walls of this institution and take your work to the world stage. You are graduating with deep, specialized academic experience and with the passion and preparation to challenge the status quo.
Now, I didn't take the path that you are taking, but I've built my career on following curiosity as well, on believing that impact often means doing things differently than what everyone expects. That belief started early in life. Back when I was young, my father bought a 286 computer. Uh, the reason why he bought it is because there was a Lotus 123 salesperson that promised him wonders. Now, I ended up spending countless hours on that computer, and I loved it. I would love to tell you that I was using the computer to code some brilliant software and building the future. But the reality is, I was playing computer games, a lot of them. Still, spending all that time on that keyboard fueled my love for technology.
And as I left that desktop behind, my journey took some incredible, unexpected turns. I headed to University College London, where I studied economics, and then, uh, eventually worked in London at Goldman Sachs. I then moved on to Harvard Business School to do my MBA. I chose that path because I was deeply fascinated by where global business and investment were heading. And yet, being in finance gave me a unique vantage point on where the world was heading. I was watching a massive shift in real-time as major investments began pouring into innovative new ideas and early-stage technology startups. It was really eye-opening to see the velocity of it all and how much life was changing all around us.
Over time, that pull I felt towards technology when I was younger kept resurfacing. And that's the beautiful thing about genuine curiosity. It's incredibly resilient. It always brings you back to where your passions lie. I dreamed of being part of world-changing technology, the kind of innovation that reshapes how people experience the world. And I didn't just want to watch from the sidelines anymore. So I made the decision to follow what called me, and I quickly realized that my background in finance was the perfect bridge to tech entrepreneurs, and helping them scale their ideas is what eventually led me to where I am today.
Uh, today, running a global company that enriches lives by fundamentally reshaping how everyday people express their creativity, find their communities, and discover joy is one of the greatest pleasures of my life. One thing I've learned in all my experiences, from growing up in an analog world to launching my career during the digital transformation to leading TikTok in the age of AI, is that technology is not just about hardware and code. It is also about unlocking human potential. Is about taking a single idea and giving it the scale to reach millions or billions, if you're lucky. Is removing barriers between us and giving everyone with a story to tell the global stage to connect with others. I believe that is the real impact of your field: the ability to take very complex knowledge and turn it into something that enriches people's lives.
Now, starting today, this mission belongs to you. It's time for you to take the lead. You are stepping into the workforce in a new and uncharted AI era. This is a time, again, of massive structural change. We see it every single day, and an unprecedented big-picture innovation era. This is a pivotal and exciting point in history where change is not constant, but exponential and compounding.
So how do you meet a moment like this? I've asked myself, what would I tell my younger self, and what would I charge you with today? I believe it will be to actively seek out the unknown. You've just spent years earning a PhD, proving that you already know how to push the boundaries of human knowledge. Now, take that superpower and apply it to the messy, ambiguous problems of the real world. Seek out rooms where you are the least experienced person in them. Embrace uncertainty, because that is where innov, meaningful innovation happens.
As you go out there, rely on the network of brilliant peers sitting around you today, because they are your community, and in the moments where, when it matters, the community is what sustains us. It reminds us of our purpose, and it reflects back to us what we are truly capable of. I know you will continue to set your standards high and push the boundaries of what's possible, because that's what you do, and that's who you are. Otherwise, you wouldn't be sitting in these seats today.
So, as you leave this university, keep that curiosity that first opened the map for you. Wherever this extraordinary educational passport takes you next. Above all, remember to protect your creativity and to protect your joy, because you are the generation that will build the next era of positive innovation. The world is yours, and I can't wait to see what you do with it. Congratulations to the class of 2026. Thank you very much.