30 September 2022
Good afternoon. What a morning it has been. As the Summit draws to a close, I want to express our deepest thanks and appreciation to all our distinguished speakers, Calls-to-Action Leads and Partners, and all of you, for taking the time to join us in person and virtually today. It is your support and active participation that make the Philanthropy Asia Summit a meaningful and insightful experience for us all.
I would also like to thank our Core and Pathfinder members of the Philanthropy Asia Alliance. We hope your leadership in giving will inspire renewed generosity among our philanthropic community to come up with our own version of a giving pledge. I look forward to us working closely together to build the Alliance in the coming months.
Singapore is abuzz this week with many events and meetings organised in the lead-up to F1 this weekend. To me, F1 is not about the cars whizzing around the circuit, or about the winner doing his victory lap. I am personally fascinated with the pit stops. They are nerve-wracking. 3 seconds - that’s all the time a good pit crew has to change all the four tyres. 2 seconds is better and could mean all the difference to get on the podium. Each member – from the driver to the pit crew - is an expert in what they do, but none can win on their own. It is only with great teamwork that these top teams become champions. Four-time winner of the Singapore Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, nailed it when he said - “We win and lose together.” The same holds true as we confront the challenges facing our world today.
Winning in F1 means the chance to stand on the podium. For all of us gathered here with a common purpose, winning is existential. It is about securing the best future for our next generation and setting us on the right course for our planet to thrive. No one in this room will be able to solve the problems of today and tomorrow alone. We win and lose together. Together we can be a great force for good – each of us needs to bring our resources, expertise and resolve and come together as a team in the race to win for mankind.
We look forward to more of you joining the Philanthropy Asia Alliance, so that we can combine our strengths, dream bigger, and make a deeper impact.
Thank you all again for joining us at the Philanthropy Asia Summit, and I look forward to seeing you next year. Thank you.