Cai Yiqing

SMU CIRCLE: To start off, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to do what you are doing now?

Yiqing: I was born in Shanghai and like many in my generation from China, am the only child in my family. In 1998, at the age of 15, I was offered a scholarship to study at Raffles Institution (RI) in Singapore, which was a dream come true as I had always wanted to study abroad.

I have always taken unconventional paths. For example, I did not follow my classmates to go to RJC (Raffles Junior College) after my O-Levels; and after my A-Levels, instead of taking up engineering and science (the usual route that the Ministry of Education set for scholarship holders), I chose to study Finance and Marketing at SMU instead. This move meant I had to give up the scholarship and take out study loans. And when I graduated in 2007 with a major in finance, I chose to work for a manufacturing company, General Electric (GE), instead of going to the banks.

At GE, I met many mentors, made many friends, and grew tremendously, both professionally and personally. As part of GE’s renowned financial leadership programme, I was assigned to 4-6 month rotational assignments around the world and worked with top talent from every continent. It was very stressful as I had to travel a lot and work 13 work days, 6 days a week. But it was exciting.

In 2012, I returned to Singapore and took on the role of Regional Supply Chain Finance Manager for GE Oil and Gas, where I progressed through various finance functions until I became the Asia Finance Leader for the downstream business. Then in 2017, when the merger between GE Oil and Gas - Baker Hughes was announced, I ventured out of finance to be the integration project manager for the merger, and subsequently the Southeast Asia regional commercial director, working on strategic projects with clients like Pertamina, Thai Oil, Chevron and CNOOC.

However, changes on the home front got me moving again. Due to the high level of travel in a regional role, I was unable to spend enough time with my daughters, who were born in 2012 and 2014. I also found that my accumulated experience was becoming increasingly niche and less relevant to other fast growing industries. When Baker Hughes restructured in early 2019, I gladly accepted the severance package and left the corporate world.

Around that time, I came across the SMU MI programme and was very interested as I had been very curious about the startup ecosystem and venture capitalists for some time. I signed up for the programme and have since started a small consulting company with my classmates to help Southeast Asian companies expand into China.

SMU CIRCLE: In your current work, what do you see to be the future for governments and businesses? And what can consumers look out for?

Yiqing: Recently, I have been working as a consultant for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in the fast-moving consumer goods segment. I see two related trends emerging as consumers become more aware, thanks to social media and the democratisation of information. First, brands that have managed to capture consumer attention through innovative marketing will face even tougher competition from the next wave of new products, and will therefore need to ensure good quality and product design to remain relevant. Secondly - and conversely - strong brands that have not previously relied on innovative marketing will now have to do so.

What governments and businesses can look out for is that there will be an increasing need for talent or companies who can help brands upgrade both their supply chain and marketing. They need to be prepared for that and proactively invest in it in order to stay ahead. From the perspective of the consumer, we can expect to see more innovative and high quality products getting popular, and taking over a lot of the spaces occupied by “big brands”. At the same time, as social media marketing becomes overwhelmingly crowded, new channels of communication and product experience will likely emerge.

Separately, and on a personal note, I believe the future will be more flat where start-ups, SMEs and freelancers will make a lot more difference than the big giants. That is a future I want my kids to live and thrive in. I want be part of the force that brings that future to reality.

SMU CIRCLE: Turning now to China and the Southeast Asian region… how do you see the future there? What shifts can we expect in the next 10 years or so?

Yiqing: I think China and Southeast Asia will become a lot more closely connected than they are today. China has the technology, manufacturing capability, product innovation capabilities and funding, while Southeast Asia has a young and growing market together with many unique resources. Both share part of the Asian cultures and beliefs, which makes it easier to adapt to each other’s way of doing things. We can expect to see increasing trade, technology, funding, and flow of talents between the two regions. We may see more Chinese products, brands and investments in Southeast Asia, while some of the cultural elements, including traditional food and designs, may start gaining more traction in China. We can also expect to see the Chinese social media and cultural content getting more popular in Southeast Asia, similar to how J-POP and K-POP have emerged and become huge here. This is likely to be accelerated by innovative tech products in a similar way that Tiktok has taken the world.

Overall I expect the quality of life to be improving rapidly, due to the popularisation of affordable products with high quality, increasing diversity of contents to enjoy, and wide spread improvement of service quality due to competition pressure from the Chinese players.

SMU CIRCLE: Will change be dramatic? Or gradual?

Yiqing: Similar to how other trends have emerged in human history, the changes will most likely be gradual at first, but once change has been stabilised, certain catalysts could propel it to suddenly accelerate quite dramatically in just a few years. At the moment, many of the Chinese companies are still trying to figure out how to localize in Southeast Asia. Most of them have not been successful yet, but any learning they accumulate will get disseminated among other companies very quickly.

Likewise, while there had not been too many Chinese expatriates until very recent years; with more and more of them living and working here, interacting and integrating with the locals, we can expect to see new ways of thinking, product strategies, and marketing practices emerge that would really resonate with the local market. On the other hand, similar to how durians have now become hugely popular in China, products or lifestyles that are Southeast Asian favourites could grow from a niche to being an every-day favourite in China in the near future.

SMU CIRCLE: What advice would you have for SMU, or SMU students and alumni, to prepare for this future?

Yiqing: The future is not about what you know, but more importantly who you know. That said, as social media becomes increasingly algorithm-dependent, it is very easy for information sources to become limited to what we are drawn to, and what is presented to us from our online habits. To prepare for the future, we must remain open to multiple sources of information and seek alternative views on any one topic, so as to have a more-rounded perspective of issues.

Second, in order to become successful in this more-connected future of Asia, we should establish personal connections with people from both China and different countries in Southeast Asia. Individuals should attend fun activities together, learn each other’s language, try their food, read about their culture and what is going on in their country. Better yet, try doing some businesses together. Your success in the future will likely depend on your network. Given that many of these circles are completely divided by language and social media platforms, individuals who are able to bridge these gaps will likely find themselves in high demand, and be able to capitalise on opportunities that others will not.

For SMU, we stand at a unique position between east and west, and between China and Southeast Asia. I would encourage the school to be at the forefront to conduct research on Chinese companies for the rest of the world to understand, and to research about Southeast Asia for major players like China to understand. This would bring tremendous value to both sides, bring the regions closer together, and help accelerate the arrival of that more-connected future.

SMU CIRCLE: You briefly mentioned your wife (Ru Yi (BBM 2007)) and your daughters earlier. Do share more about your family.  

Yiqing: I met Ru Yi in 2001. She is from China too and was studying at SIM. She tried applying to the public universities in Singapore, which was a rather difficult process at the time. But she was very determined, which really amazed me, and we spent many hours at KAP (King Albert Park) studying and chatting about life, about friends. In spite of our different backgrounds and perspectives, we share some commonalities too. For example, we both decided not to use our parents’ money and chose to take student loans or work to fund for our education. It was not easy giving tuition or working in a restaurant after a full day of lessons and projects at SMU, but we managed to get through and graduate in 3 years instead of 4.

As I was going through my programme in GE, Ru Yi was also moving the corporate ladder in the travel industry, from Sentosa Leisure Group to Far East Group, to Resorts World Sentosa, and finally becoming the Area General Manager of Trip.com. Despite her busy work and travel schedules (Ru Yi is very hard-working!), she loves spending time with our girls, playing games and reading stories to them. She wants to set a good example for them, to show that women can be very successful in managing a career and a family at the same time

Our two daughters, Evelyn (9) and Eavan (7) are a true blessing to us. They have always been very warm-hearted and helpful. They are curious about science, and enjoy dancing and playing board games.

SMU CIRCLE: What are your aspirations and wishes for the future, for your daughters?

Yiqing: My wish for the future is that the definition of success will be more diverse, and that one’s career no longer defines a person. While Ru Yi and I have both been successful in our corporate careers, I wish for our girls to have the freedom to choose a different path that they are truly passionate about, be it start-ups, being freelancers or artists.

For me, my aspiration is to be able to figure out what it takes to be successful in this new economy and alternative careers. And in so doing, better prepare my girls and many others in their generation for this different future.

Connect with Yiqing on LinkedIn.

About the SMU SINO Alumni Group

The SMU SINO Alumni Group (SINO) was established in April 2011 to help Chinese graduates integrate into Singapore society, through the wider SMU alumni network, friends, and business partners. With approximately 1000 members so far, SINO organises various events including lectures and webinars, orientation sessions for new students and graduates, as well as social gatherings during Chinese festivals and celebrations.