BY DR LEE OI KUM AND SUJAY SANTRA, IKURE Some of the most powerful stories in philanthropy aren’t about the size of a cheque—but rather, what happens when a funder stays in the room long after the initial gift. APC member Dr Lee Oi Kum‘s journey with Sujay Santra, Founder and CEO of iKure Techsoft, is one of those stories. The value of their relationship lies less in what iKure is today, and more in what their journey shows about how funders can journey alongside social entrepreneurs—from grassroots organisation, to funded social enterprise, to data-driven technology platform. That journey itself…
Beyond the Pavement: An Afternoon of Discovery and Learning at Hong Kong’s Chungking Mansions
BY YU TING POH, ASIA PHILANTHROPY CIRCLE Photo Credits: Flickr, Wikimedia Commons Chungking Mansions is one of those places in Hong Kong that comes with a Reputation. Ask most Hong Kongers about it, and you’ll likely get a look, or maybe even a warning. The building has been known as a dangerous place rife with crime and disaster for decades, and it’s a place people typically walk past quickly. With many of us in Hong Kong for the Philanthropy for Better Cities (PBC) Forum 2026, we took the opportunity to gather on the side for a site visit—meeting on Nathan…
Teaching, Not Fixing: Lessons from 15 Years of Philanthropic Venture Building
WITH RICO GONZALEZ, XCHANGE At a recent sharing for the Philanthropic Investing Collective, Rico Gonzalez shared his reflections on what it takes to build and support impact enterprises for the long haul—something he’s been doing through xchange, an impact-first venture he founded together with his wife back in 2011. Over 15 years, xchange grew from an investment vehicle into an impact-first venture and ecosystem builder supporting impact entrepreneurs through long-term accompaniment and hands-on partnership; it has since backed some 18 enterprises, channelling around US$5 million across grants, equity, and debt. Building trust before you invest xchange does not run open…
Sorry, GPT. The Future Isn’t Yours to Write.
WITH PROF LARRY KRAMER, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (LSE) While preparing his commencement speech for his graduating class this year, Prof Larry Kramer, President and Vice-Chancellor of the London School of Economics, decided to run an experiment. He opened an AI chatbot and typed in a simple request: Write me a speech on the effects AI will have on the future of my students, one I can deliver as a commencement address. The AI opened with the line: “I wanted to write a speech about AI, and curious to see what it would do, I asked a chatbot to write…
Anita’s Sabah Reflections
BY ANITA FAM, AGENCY FOR INTEGRATED CARE (AIC) They’re called Bui-Doi The Dust of life Conceived in hell And born is strife They are the living reminders Of all the good we failed to do We can’t forget Must not forget That they are all Our children too* *An excerpt from ‘Bui Doi’, a song from Miss Saigon This was shared by fellow APC member, Ong Beng Seng, at our last breakfast in Kota Kinabalu. He had woken up at 4 am that morning with this heavy on his mind. Sobering, but it pretty much sums up how we all…
Super El Niño: A Postcard from the Future ‘Normal’
BY MABEL LEE, ASIA PHILANTHROPY CIRCLE The Super El Niño could be a postcard from the future, telling us what the new ‘normal’ could look like. The verdict? A peek into models that are ‘very sobering’. In a session with Lou Munden, founder of climate risk consultancy TMP, APC members came together to better understand where the impacts of the Super El Niño are likely to land within the region. While not a scientific certainty, models present a grim scenario: “We’ve hit the same point of warming 115 days earlier than we did back in 1997, ’98. There is now…
Man in the Arena: Notes from Switzerland
BY NAN LI, ASIA PHILANTHROPY CIRCLE “My first learning journey, to Switzerland, left a deep impression on me. Seeing how elea brings together a dedicated team, committed patrons and professional rigour to invest in impact entrepreneurs through the “valley of death” showed me what it takes to build an ecosystem of patient capital and entrepreneurial partnership. I was inspired by one of our host Adrian’s passion and the way he combines a strong grounding in Swiss heritage and culture with an outward-looking worldview, a quality I value in leadership and saw reflected across the elea team. Learning alongside the PIC…
Laurence Lien Named to the 2026 Time100 Philanthropy List of the 100 Most Influential Leaders in Philanthropy
PRESS RELEASE: SINGAPORE, 15 MAY 2026 — TIME named Laurence Lien to the second-annual 2026 TIME100 Philanthropy list recognising singular figures who are shaping the future of giving. He is the only Singaporean—and the only representative from Southeast Asia—to have been named to the list since its inaugural edition in 2025. Laurence is Chairman of Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC), a community of Asia-focused philanthropists across 13 markets working together to build a more just and sustainable Asia through collaborative philanthropy, which he co-founded with Stanley Tan in 2015. Over the past two decades, he has been a key figure in…