Tribute: The King of Singapore | Adrian Tan (President, Singapore Law Society)

Yesterday, we lost the King of Singapore.


I never had the privilege of meeting him, but a year ago, I sent
a cheeky email to Adrian Tan asking if he’d share his life story
on the So This Is My Why podcast.


In a true spirit of generosity, he said yes.


And we spoke for over 2 hours!


Podcast hosts shouldn’t have favourites but… Adrian was one of my
favourites. It is true.


Today, Adrian’s episode has been rereleased as a tribute to him.
It is the almost unedited version (minus the umm & ahhs), so
you’ll hear some of the parts that didn’t make the cut the first
time around in 1 full episode.


I hope this interview did justice in showcasing the kind of
person that he was.


If you don’t know Adrian’s backstory, here are some highlights
(found in the episode too):


Adrian grew up in a HDB flat that had zero concept of privacy.
His neighbours crowded outside his flat every day to watch their
TV & would get mad if it wasn’t available!


He was the subject of maternal gaslighting which helped him
become very, very good at English


His English was so good, he was refused a scholarship to do law
and told to do English instead! 


Adrian ended up writing multiple bestsellers - The Teenage
Textbook & The Teenage Workbook (they’ve been turned into a
play, TV series & movie!)


Ironically, Adrian was very embarrassed by the success of his
novels. Because he was a tough, hardened litigator but his
clients just wanted to talk about his silly teenage romance
novels?!


Despite being a lawyer, he found it impossible to stand up for
himself in real life.


But he realised that he needed to start speaking up. On
LinkedIn. 


Because it was time to strip away the “mystic” around the legal
profession & that begins with lawyers becoming legal
influencers.


Finally, his vow as the President of the Singapore Law Society to
“fight cancer, fight my cases in court & fight for lawyers as
their President, until the clock runs out”.


I hope you enjoy this re-released, unedited episode with the King
of Singapore.





Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/101


YouTube: https://youtu.be/QOEeOIiQvyk


 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a
portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work:
https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062