The Foundation Of Success

Reflecting on His More Than Three Decades in the Construction Industry, Swee Hong Executive Directormoorthy Varadhan, Talks About the Lessons He’s Learned Throughout His Career.

- Jordan Murray

When Moorthy Varadhan was offered the job of General Manager at Swee Hong in 2016, he felt like a “free man”, he tells The CEO Magazine. Having worked in India since the 1980s, he had just finished working on a major metro rail development with Larsen and Toubro (L&T) in September that year and felt he needed a new direction in his career. Moving to Singapore to take the job, he became Executive Director the following year and, in that role, oversaw an improvement in the company’s credit rating and secured projects worth millions of dollars in the space of six months.

That outcome is to be expected from Moorthy. Throughout his career, he has built his reputation on delivering projects on time and under budget, while being formally recognised with awards from both the British Safety Council and the Royal Society of Prevention of Accidents for the safety standards he has set. He’s candid about his success, chalking it up to his ability to think clearly and learn from his experiences.

“I’ve created a lot of new business value and invested in new technologies during my career,” he says. “I’ve evolved because I make plans and I’m not extreme. In fact, I encourage people to be calm when confronted by problems and try to find new solutions where possible.”