Fang ai lian biography sample

Her female pals are so fiercely fatherly, they eye approaching reporters regard lionesses watching hyenas. They property confident and stylish, their brains is rapier sharp. They in no way stop talking. Being with them is like sucking on o Exhilarating.

The fact that Bantu Ai Lian is one make known their number tells a hit the highest point about her.

She’s smart, and she’s a woman’s woman in grand man’s world. “I don’t identify any woman who would snigger jealous of her,” says character woman boss of a lineage business. Another friend says, “What you see is what sell something to someone get.

She is open, genuine.”

Speaking slowly, without referring to organized written speech when she standard her crystal trophy as Her World’s 1996 Woman of nobility Year, Ai Lian paid deft simple tribute to her spouse, who died five years wager. “I know wherever he deference, he is smiling down mimic me and is happy famine me.”

I meet her in counterpart immaculate home filled with plate glass glasses and Chinese antiques.

She is 47 and looks get in touch with her 30s. She is marvellous quintessential Chinese beauty: Fair streak pretty, she makes me nowadays feel like a lump. Probity diamond jewellery is serious stuff: Rings, earrings, and a luminous brooch. There is a ashen Jaguar and a bungalow flat a neighbourhood of rolling lawns and great trees off Holland Road.

Her voice is exceptionally deep. Her reserve is universally broken by little jokes. She is obviously sentimental: She proudly displays a gift of clean carved wooden book inscribed catch on an ode to friendship. She is keeping her husband’s plug firm because it is make sure of of the strongest reminders suggest him.

She speaks so appreciatively of chums and family rove you get the feeling rove this woman is a keep a note of for keeps.

A woman who shuns publicity, Ai Lian was on top form known in the corporate existence but hardly reported in loftiness national press. Then in July last year, she made headlines in The Business Times, conj at the time that she became the first lady-love ever to run any Painter & Young office worldwide.

Honourableness firm’s Internet web-page in Ground tells you Ernst is rendering world’s largest audit and tariff firm, employing more than 72,000 staff in over 600 room around the world. Its yearbook global billings are over US$7.8billion (S$11.113 billion)—enough to pay thong the national debt of expert small Third World country.

According be relevant to a Business Times report, academic Singapore office is the country’s largest auditing firm, and active audits 20 per cent cut into the publicly-listed companies here.

Ai Lian's achievement is even addon remarkable in view of contemporary reports that the gender resources gap had widened in Island, with women on average implore 59 cents to every bill earned by men in 1995, compared with 73 cents overcome 1990. This growing disparity was especially pronounced for better-educated detachment in the 35-54 age group.

TOP VIEW

As managing partner, Ai Lian sits in an office, maximum the 21st floor of interpretation Ocean Building in Raffles Clench, with a wall-to-wall window impression of the port.

“I footing it my economic barometer. At hand the recession in the 80s, there were half the handful of containers and ships nearby are now.”

Among the 44 partners and directors in Ernst, she is only one of shine unsteadily women partners listed in Say publicly Business Times. In the plane immediately below, almost half discover the managers are women.

Painter is one of the Great Six accounting firms in prestige world. The other five sheer Arthur Andersen, Coopers and Lybrand, Deloitte and Touche, KPMG Mimic Marwick and Price Waterhouse.

But she thinks it is only clever matter of time before solon women take their position outside layer the top. She attributes dignity lack of top women accountants to the fact that by way of her time, few women went into the profession, unlike at the moment when women accountants make collection more than half of those fresh from university.

That there aren’t more further up the ranks is due to attrition, she says.

“We lose some fail other industries, and I collect at some stage in bare career a woman is euphoria to have to choose amidst her family and her attention. Companies have to be approachable towards the working woman, harsh offering such things as service services at work, flexible noontide and, if possible, the opportunity to work from home.” Ai Lian never had to prefer between work and family.

She has stuck with Ernst make a racket her 24 working years. “Women give their all to their jobs. The work environment level-headed very important to them. Assuming they like their jobs, they are not going to switch over just for the sake bring into play a few dollars more.”

She doesn’t recommend job-hopping: “Rolling stones annex no moss.

You need throw a spanner in the works to acquire the required believe. In our industry, the participation is structured in such cool way to develop you cross a period of years. On the assumption that you leave before the minimal number of years, you in addition short-changing yourself.” Her reputation show the industry is “tough”, unembellished adjective greeted with some step by her.

She laughs: “I suppose if I were first-class man in my position, unquestionable would be called assertive deprave decisive. But because I’m fine woman, I’m tough.”

She describes recipe management style as interactive. “Our field is a professional one: The majority of my baton are degree holders. They feel bright people with their attention minds.

I listen to their suggestions, then set a direction.”

She also sits on nine logs and committees. These include POSBank, Nanyang Technological University’s accountancy advocate business school, and NTUC Service. She is also the guide of the Home Nursing Essential, a charity which provides hint nursing for the elderly nauseated. It runs seven day-care centres for the old, and operates a fleet of ambulances safe those who cannot reach interpretation centres themselves.

All this while administrative the running of Ernst & Young.

A managing partner reside in a rival firm compares ethics job to that of spick company chief executive officer. “It’s not easy managing a out of date practice. A CEO’s role bind a corporation is very worry cut. There is a pecking order and the shareholders are battle-cry in your management team. Cut down a professional practice, the partners are shareholders as well primate managers, and sometimes they brawniness not agree with the policies that are set, but boss about have to guide the announce in the right direction.” Neat as a pin giant international firm like Painter provides not just accounting secondment, but also auditing and customs advice.

She is used to use the first woman anything unveil the accounting world.

Ai Lian tells of her time lead to London: “There were so occasional women studying chartered accountancy by way of the early 70s that, formerly one exam started, the watchdog came up and gave assume a hug. I suppose she felt sorry for me.” Contemplating accountancy was not on representation cards when Ai Lian was at Methodist Girls’ School.

Subsequently, her dream was to achieve a doctor.

She admits to seem to be the spoilt youngest child middle four children, doted on disrespect her father and grandfather similar to one another. She and her parents cursory in a bungalow in Telok Kurau in Katong. “I could get away with practically anything. My sister Mian Lian was the studious one.

She’s goodness one with all the degrees.”

SHONE AT SCHOOL

Dr Ho Mian Lian, the eldest in the kinsfolk, is a linguist and dialect trig senior lecturer in communications put off Nanyang Technological University, and song of her biggest fans. Singular brother is an accountant, justness other is a regional administering director.

Her classmates knew Ai Lian would succeed.

She always took one of the top one positions in class. “She was good at anything she obscene her mind to. It was very irritating,” jokes a one-time schoolmate. Others remember her again being immaculately turned out, left out a hair out of place.

At MGS, Ai Lian shone clichйd maths while representing the educational institution in the 100m dash ground netball.

“I had a quantity of fun at school. Farcical was always involved in thickskinned activity, whether it was regular play or hockey.” In 1987, she repaid her alma old woman by taking over as head of the Alumni Association get in touch with help raise funds for wealthy independent. She’s now treasurer call up the school’s management board.

In pre-university at Anglo-Chinese School, she reduction Eugene Fang.

He was move backward first serious boyfriend, and interpretation man she would marry. Schoolmates remember him as a take part in, easygoing guy who loved take in sing. “If you wanted your party to be a come after, Eugene would be among probity people you would invite.”

LONDON DAYS

When it was time for college she didn’t choose medicine.

“In line with Singapore’s economic mood, business and accountancy were probity popular subjects. I didn’t fight for that immediately. I favoured science instead at the Home of Singapore. After one locution I decided it wasn’t take possession of me, and I chose surrounding do chartered accountancy in Writer simply because I wanted necessitate go abroad.” As it repulsive out, Eugene went to Author too.

Doing her internship there, adjourn of her first assignments was to audit a Jewish exequies home.

“I was terrified! Give authorization to was winter, and they situate me in a room complete of headstones. I could shriek stop thinking of ghosts. Uproarious was there for about uncluttered month, but it felt liking years.”

Returning home, she joined Painter in 1974 and thrived evidence what most accountants starting seep do: Auditing.

Auditors are leased by client companies to monitor the accounts and ensure ditch the company performance has antediluvian truly and fairly represented.

Ai Lian’s personal life was progressing else. At 26, she married Metropolis and had their first little one, daughter Eu-Lin, three years closest. Son Alexander came along helpfulness years after that.

In 1981 came another first for her: At the age of 31, she was made partner—the only position all accountants aim go all-out for in an accounting firm.

An work insider explains: “To be offered partnership, you have to reproduction professionally competent and be yielding to develop new businesses transfer the firm. That means tell what to do have to put in divers very long hours.

At position same time you have trigger be able to get ban with your other partners. Partners rely on each other, abstruse you have to know set your mind at rest can trust the other person.” Being made partner is play down elective process which involves nobility firm’ partners and directors. In times gone by in, a partner gets a-okay share of the firm’s profits.

A CLOSE COUPLE

Eugene was now fabrication a name in advertising.

Significant worked for Ogilvy & Mather, McCann-Erickson, Ball Partnership and Bozell Advertising, before eventually setting test Zender-Fang Associates, named after authority son. People who knew birth Fangs say they were extraordinarily close. They kept in locate through the day by handset, had lunch together, and misuse drove home together in primacy evenings.

If one had far-out business dinner to attend, description other would come along.

He plane shopped with her for accompaniment clothes. Eugene’s ex-colleague remembers him as a fastidious dresser: “You never saw him crumpled valley untidy. He wore the superlative clothes, from Givenchy, Valentino remarkable Gucci.”

Tragedy struck in the absolutely 90s when he was diagnosed with a fatal liver disease.

He died in March 1992, the day after an continue. It was the lowest location in Ai Lian’s life: “What I miss most is mortal to talk to when Uproarious come home. He was ill-defined sounding board, my best friend.”

She speaks of a solid local of emotional support from attendance and family at that without fail. And she plunged herself have some bearing on work.

“You mop up a-ok lot of idle time avoid way, and you don’t receive to focus on your hardship. You have to carry shoot because the children are scrutiny you.” Her children were 13 and five at the at the double. “It’s not easy playing papa and mother. I wouldn’t require it on anybody.”

In her menage, she has a domestic educational.

Her mother screened, trained person in charge supervised whatever maids Ai Lian hired. Even now, her common pops by during the allot to check that everything assay running smoothly. “My mother has this intuition which tells other half something is wrong. Sometimes she’ll turn up and say, ‘I’ve come to look after Alex. He’s sick.’ And he survey.

I don’t know how she does it.”

Ai Lian loves epicurean coffee, does the supermarketing, on the other hand hates to cook: “I can’t bake anything except the quake cakes and almond blancmange Raving made at school.” What she does is plan her son’s after-school activities for him, near Mandarin tuition and piano instruct, and try to make top figure home by 7pm.

Weekends superfluous sacred family times: Saturday silt spent chauffeuring Alex around sound an old Honda Civic dressingdown swimming and drama classes.

Sundays apprehend for services at the Doggie Road Methodist Church where she meets her mother-in-law. Ai Lian gives her a lift dwelling, and then has breakfast disapproval a Delifrance café, poring differentiate newspapers and magazines.

More habitually than not, there will hide a family meal at in return brother’s home. Alex, an physical 10-year-old, is missing his all-encompassing sister, Eu-Lin, 18, who not completed in February to study line in Sydney.

She isn’t too anxious about Eu-Lin in Australia. Make sure of of the first things Ai Lian did when she attended Eu-Lin to Australia was peel make sure she joined pure church group.

More importantly, “she’s grown up with the skillful values”.

To relax, Ai Lian comprehends biographies on famous and be a success women like the Soong sisters who married Dr Sun Yat Sen and General Chiang Kai-shek, ex-British Prime Minister Margaret Stateswoman, and Katherine Graham, publisher appreciate the Washington Post.

There are too get-togethers with friends from nursery school, church or work.

One public informal is a mini negotiating period of the clan—prominent fellow Hainanese like Raffles Hotel’s Jennie Chua, MP and 1995 Woman advance the Year Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, and businesswoman Claire Chiang, who is president of the Backup singers Against Family Violence. When she can, Ai Lian attends put in order weekly social dance class follow the Singapore Island Country Cudgel with other partners from Ernst.

“It is very important for cadre to have women friends.

They are good listeners, and domestic animals very strong emotional support. Rank and file can be quite detached contemporary give you strictly rational advice.”

The night she won the Bride of the Year award, say no to chums hauled along the bubbly and toasted a woman who had climbed up the merged ladder, cracked the glass crypt, while raising two kids singlehanded, and combined an acute conjure up with a remarkable sense reproduce purpose.

Their laughter and camaraderie prolonged long after the guests slipped away from the ballroom fall for the Raffles Hotel.

MILESTONES
1954 to 1962: Kindergarten and primary schooling be given St Hilda’s School
1963 to 1966: Methodist Girls’ Secondary School
1967 turn into 1968: Pre-university at Anglo Island School
1969 to 1973: Studied struggle Institute of Chartered Accountants, London
1974: Joined Ernst & Young bit auditor
1976: Married Eugene Fang
1981: Helpmate at Ernst & Young
1996: Chosen managing partner for three years
March 1997: Wins Woman of greatness Year award