Speedhome CEO’s time in the moonlight

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Hello,

There was a recent hoo-ha a couple of months ago when Tin Pei Ling, a member of Singapore’s parliament, took on a second role at Grab. One of the biggest concerns was the potential conflict of interest, but there was another reason for the negative sentiment toward the move.

Tin serves in a country known for paying its politicians really well. This led many people to question why she could take on a second job when many ordinary workers in the civil service and those conscripted into National Service are either not allowed to do the same or face much difficulty in doing so.

In some cases, these regular Joes actually need the money to support their family and resort to moonlighting to supplement their income. In one instance, the pay for conscripts was so low that a man went away without official leave to work as he needed to pay for his mother’s hospitalization at the time. Even moonlighting would not have been enough.

While the judge acknowledged the man’s circumstances, there was one thing he said that irked me: “I am mindful of your family circumstances but you should be aware that your national service obligations must come first.”

Cases of moonlighting are really not uncommon, especially considering the tough times many people faced during the height of the pandemic. In today’s premium story, Emmanuel Samarathisa speaks to a startup CEO who had to moonlight to make ends meet.

Today we look at:

• Speedhome’s CEO having to work a second job
• Tan Hooi Ling stepping down from her operations roles in Grab
• Other newsy highlights such as Carro’s record-breaking EBITDA and Lazada’s new AI chatbot

— Jonathan

Premium summary

Second life

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Being a startup CEO is tough, but imagine having to juggle a second set of work responsibilities on top of that. Sounds crazy, but that’s what Speedhome CEO Wong Whei Meng had to do during the Covid-19 pandemic. He shared with us what that experience was like.

• Looking at LinkedIn: After work at Speedhome was done, Wong would host a talk show on LinkedIn. The show ran for three months, and viewers could give him donations and tips.
• Making enough: Wong says he received a few thousand ringgit from his viewers. However, he decided to stop because the work was “quite taxing in terms of time and topics.”
• Explaining himself: Of course, Speedhome investors had a right to be concerned. To allay their fears, Wong was transparent about his situation and told them how he would organize his time and effort. Eventually, the startup was able to reduce its burn and ride out the pandemic.

One Ling enters, another Ling leaves

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