IN SUCCESSION

An emotional and introspective night prompted CHARMAIN KWEE to quit a budding law career for a world that belongs to her father. The affable executive director of Eurokars Group opens up to Crystal Lee about stepping into his shoes.

Each of us inhabits multiple roles in our lives. We are offspring, siblings, parents, partners, friends, employees, mentors and bosses. We are our beliefs, values and history.

Charmain Kwee is first and foremost a daughter. The younger child of Eurokars Group's executive chairman and founder Karsono Kwee has been cognizant of her father's eminence from an early age- and it is through this lens that she approaches life.

In January last year, 26-year-old Charmain was appointed executive director of the company her father founded in 1985. The largest privately held, multi-brand automotive dealership group in Singapore, Eurokars distributes luxury and premium brands the likes of Porsche, Rolls-Royce, McLaren, MG, Mini, Mazda and Pagani locally, as well as in Indonesia, China and Australia. Last May, BMW was inducted into the company's portfolio, and Charmain had a big part to play in this development.

There was a certain synchronicity in her involvement, too. Just as Porsche inspired the elder Kwee to establish Eurokars decades ago, the German carmaker was the reason Charmain went into the family business. "Porsche was a brand close to his heart," she says of her father's deep love for the marque. "Ever since he saw a green Porsche Targa on the road, he wanted to own or sell the car. When he got Porsche, he was integral in growing the brand. He pioneered the Porsche Club Singapore. When the joint venture between Porsche and Eurokars first came up, I could tell he was stressed out by it, concerned about how things would change."

TAKING THE LEAP