Sowing The Seeds

For change Trina Liang understands that change takes time. She's prepared to make things fall into place so it can happen.

IN MARCH, AS the world celebrated International Women's Day, luxury cognac LOUIS XIII released a campaign called Believe in Time. The campaign was striking, not only for the fact that it paid tribute to the concept of time as an irreplaceable element of the LOUIS XIII craft, but also because it closely mirrored Trina Liang's journey in becoming one of Singapore's most eminent advocates for women's empowerment. The managing director of Temple-bridge Investments is also one of the foremost advocates for food sustainability in Singapore, and to say that her philanthropic work is extensive would be an understatement.

What keeps her motivated? “I've been doing it for so many years that I feel it's part of my DNA and my purpose in life,” she says.

It all began somewhat innocuously. Liang had no idea of the whirlwind that would set her off on a lifelong journey as a catalyst for change. She had just received an invitation from Tan Su Shan, then executive director at Morgan Stanley and the current group head of Institutional Banking at DBS, to be part of the Financial Women's Association (FWA) of Singapore.

At the time, Liang hadn't thought much about it she was an investment banker just starting to find her feet in Hong Kong after having transferred from London in 2001; the good old days of the bustling financial hub would have put paid to any form of life outside work, especially for the financial sector. And yet, it was here that the seeds for her activism and philanthropic endeavours were sown.

It wasn't a common thing to have a networking group of women, especially in banking,” she recalls.“ I think when you're in your silos, you don't think about what you can do for society, what you can do for other women, and what you can do to mentor the young women coming up in the space.