Her Father's Daughter

Whether in business or at home, the influence of family on Lam Tze Tze is hard to ignore, discovers ZARA ZHUANG

- Zara Zhuang

LAM TZE TZE spent much of her childhood in her parents’ office, playing computer games — Lode Runner, Pac-Man, Pinball, and Super Mario Brothers — from the age of four, surrounded by tech equipment and business meetings, and seeing first-hand the satisfaction and excitement when projects were won at Electro- Acoustics Systems (EAS). “I was, in a way, conditioned to feel comfortable in a business environment,” she says.

Coming from an entrepreneurial family — her paternal grandfather owned businesses in gold bullion trading, jewellery, pawnbroking, textiles and garments, while her parents worked in multinational companies in the UKand Singapore before striking out on their own to found one of Singapore’s leading multimedia system integrators — Lam has inherited that same drive and spunk. Today, she works alongside her father, EAS Managing Director Lam Tong Loy, and oversees business development and investments for the company, particularly in the areas of artificial intelligence and robotics (her mother, Lam Ping Yee, handles finance). The company, which turns 35 this year, is staying ahead of the game by intensifying its focus on new partnerships and investing in innovative technologies, through collaborations with start-ups and other companies. And in line with China’s One Belt and One Road Initiative, EAS is joining forces with a Chinese investor to benefit from infrastructure investments along the route.

Setting her own direction while working shoulder to shoulder with her father hadn’t been part of Lam’s plan for herself. “We are close and we discuss many matters but I wasn’t sure we could work together as we both have strong opinions,” she says. “Perhaps because of my experience working for others, I’ve learnt to handle things better and to look at the broader picture.”