Hsien Hsien Lei: Building Bridges
Breaking down walls comes naturally to Dr Hsien Hsien Lei. Brick by brick, she builds bridges to connect individuals and businesses, or narrow the knowledge gap between layman and scientist, or challenge stereotypes – all by applying her years of experience, expertise and inclusive nature.
The current CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore is also an epidemiologist, which makes her insights compelling in this time of Covid-19.
“It’s interesting how the universe shifts to meet you,” reflects Hsien, who was appointed CEO in 2019. The AmCham role represents a confluence of her experiences in corporate and healthcare communications, advertising, public relations, scientific affairs and government policy. She is on top of her game.
Hsien’s story could well be a chapter in an American Dream anthology. Born in Taiwan in 1972, her family immigrated to the US when she was 7 years old. Her father was a structural and civil engineer who received his master’s degree from the University of Detroit, Michigan. Her mother was an architect who gave up her career to take care of the family and supplemented the family income by working in American SMEs.
MH and KY Lei, California, 2008
In Hsien’s CEO message to the AmCham in April 2021 she vividly describes her early years.
“My family always believed in the American dream – that through perseverance and resilience we could achieve our goals. We have been grateful for the diversity and inclusiveness of our communities and neighbours who, during our first year in the US, brought my sister and me to the zoo when we spoke very little English; for the beautiful California weather where my dad’s garden thrived; for Costco where my dad always bought too many pound cakes and jars of pickles; for educational opportunities at community colleges where my parents took Fortran computing classes after work; and for jobs that made it possible for them to buy their own home and send two girls to private universities with the help of federal loans. The US has been good to us.”
“I love the Chamber job because at the end of the day it’s about helping other people. I help companies raise issues, put things on the table that others don’t have a chance to do,” says the ever-effusive Hsien.
Together our SG Spirit: the AmCham team on Singapore National Day
The American Chamber of Commerce embodies the voice of the American business community and looks out for US business interests in Singapore. It has over 5,000 members representing 600 diverse companies from all sectors and industries. As such, it is the largest and most active international business association in Singapore.
“We bring together distinct voices in the community expressing different points of view looking at multiple perspectives,” Hsien’s Linked-In profile reads. “I most enjoy bringing together teams of people with different backgrounds and experiences to achieve a common goal,” she says.
Building bridges comes naturally to Hsien.
Hsien’s visible stature combined with her epidemiology degree makes her a much sought after speaker and panellist in the news and various conferences. Listening to her interviews, she strikes me as a very positive person.
“Americans in general are optimistic people! We really believe in bootstrapping. We believe that even if you were not born into privilege, you can work your way to the top. As the CEO of AmCham, I find myself playing the role of cheerleader of the business community, constantly looking for ways to lend a helping hand,” Hsien declares. “We represent American values. I believe in American values 110% - Freedom, Fairness, Transparency, Innovation, Diversity and Inclusion.”
Shifting the conversation, I decided to bring up the post Hsien wrote about “StopAsianHate” when she had a personal encounter with racism.
“It was around the time when the anti-Asian sentiment was prevalent in the US. A person called the office to say they didn’t think it was right for the Chamber to be led by someone who wasn’t American. My receptionist said ‘But our CEO is American. The caller said, ‘I want to talk to someone who is American-American’. The receptionist had to tell the caller, ‘I’ll have someone call you back.”
Hsien continues in a good-humoured way. “It doesn’t happen in the most obvious ways but I know I constantly surprise people. First of all, they see my name. It is Chinese. Actually, it is Taiwanese,” she qualifies. “Then they hear my voice (without seeing me yet); I have a strong American accent, so that’s a surprise.”
Photo: Ng Sor Luan for straitstime.com
“Then they meet me in person, and I’m not petite, I’m not thin (like a Chinese lady would be) and I’m really loud. So I surprise people on a number of different levels. It helps to break the ice,” Hsien chuckles.
“It also gives me freedom to break the stereotype of what people may think an American might be or what a Chinese person might be. I then do what is necessary. I can say, ‘Oh, I’m so American or Oh, that is the Chinese way of doing things,’” she says, eyes twinkling.
Diversity and gender equality are two of the values she pro-actively reinforces at every opportunity she gets.
“At the AmCham I have pushed to articulate our commitment on gender equality. So a couple of years ago, I was clear that we should have 50% women speakers. If we’re not mindful about it, it really slips. People are afraid to put numbers down, but I was clear: 50%. If we don’t meet it, it’s still okay because we are making progress.”
It was at Stanford University where Hsien was studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology that she met the man who was to become her husband. They got married one week after graduation.
“Some people may have thought, ‘You just cut off all your options! You didn’t date, you didn’t meet different people! For me, having that out of the way was actually very practical, I didn’t have to worry! It worked out great for us. We’re a low maintenance couple and very aligned in the way we think” shares Hsien.
While Hsien took her PhD in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, her husband went to Hong Kong on an internship. They reunited in Asia and have lived in Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, the UK and then Singapore, which has been home for the past 13 years. Two children were born along the way.
Frequent moves taught Hsien to spot opportunities to keep busy whilst nurturing her young family. She worked as a part-time English teacher and became the de facto English editor or science editor for English publications.
She also worked remotely for genomic start-ups in the US, helping with their business plans and press releases. She was one of the first science bloggers on the Internet in 2003.
“Recently, I met someone who actually read my blog! Apparently, I was the only one at the time writing about the intersection between genetics and public health,” shares Hsien in disbelief.
Her way of working – managing a portfolio of assignments and working remotely – feels very contemporary. Hsien learned to develop initiative and organisation skills that she took with her wherever she went.
“It takes a lot of discipline to get work done at home. You really have to manage your timeline. You think ‘Oh I have a couple of hours now because the kids are asleep’ then you find another couple of hours later when they’re watching TV. You learn to be very focused in those couple of hours. And they add up.”
Concurrent to her AmCham role, Hsien finds a way of utilising her science education and experience. She is Adjunct Associate Professor at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore.
Recording the first episode of the Precision Public Health Asia podcast series, at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, NUS
Hsien always wanted to work in Healthcare. She realised, however, she did not want to be a doctor, a nurse or a paramedic. That requires “an enormous amount of empathy and I don’t have a lot of patience.”
“I love Public Health because of the scale of it. I love its holistic nature. To help populations, you need to consider their socio-economic context. It’s not just about the physiology and biology, it’s also about the environment: what’s going to nudge people toward better behaviour? So it combines behaviour science, psychology and biology.
“I always wanted to be an activist and up until 2 years ago, I saw myself as a scientist-activist. But my AmCham experience evolved my thinking: I now want to be a science advocate. How do we bring science into policy making? How do we bring science into the boardroom? I also want to help scientists be better understood. I see myself as a science advocate or a science enabler,” Hsien muses. Sounds like a new bridge is underway.
As if she wasn’t busy enough, Hsien also does a lot of volunteer work. From 2017-2018, she was involved with Talent Trust, an organization built on skills-based volunteering where they ask you to use your experience and knowledge and bring that expertise into a local charity. Hsien worked in a team to support Daughters of Tomorrow, which helps underprivileged women get into the workforce for the first time.
Currently, she volunteers in three organizations: the Health Advisory Board at her Alma Mater Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Singapore Institute of Directors and Precision Public Health Asia Society. Precision health is about being able to deliver the right intervention to the right population at the right time. It makes use of all the data that is available: genetic, population, behavioural data.
“I’d rather people take my data and do something good with it, rather than to keep it locked up for the sake of privacy,” she says.
Lunch with the team
Despite an impressive resume and the multiple roles she juggles, Hsien is remarkably down-to-earth. She is charmingly self-effacing.
“I actually like goofing around with the same people at work. I never eat by myself. I have meals with my members. Or I have lunch with my team. You really notice things over lunch.” Hsien is still building bridges even on her lunch break.
“People say, ‘You’re so amazing and have done so many things’. I’m like ‘Ah-ah, I’m not comfortable with this conversation’. But I have been told that I need to accept my accomplishments. I shouldn’t undermine myself.”
I finally ask Hsien if she ever switches off. What does she do to relax?
“Well, I get a massage every month. And I binge on Netflix especially K-drama,” she proclaims much to my surprise.
Roxanne | ws
Some of Dr Hsien Hsien Lei’s insights : stopasianhate-dr-hsien-hsien-lei protecting-freedom-dr-hsien-hsien-lei
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