Nice guys finish first

BAcc / Class of 1988
Nanyang Distinguished Alumni Award 2021

Henry Tan can wax lyrical about all the wonderful friends he’s made and things he’s learned at his alma mater, but the Nanyang Business School graduate heartily admits that his greatest find during his time there was his wife. "My wife was someone who would sit at the very front of the lecture hall, so I would join her there and became very studious in an attempt to impress her. I obtained First Class Honours because of that!"

He landed his first job at KPMG in 1988 where he stayed for five years. "When I was at KPMG, I had worked with a number of SMEs. While the power of a big firm can help push things through, it felt like those companies were learning to run before they could walk. What I wanted was to start a boutique firm so that I could journey alongside these SMEs and help them to grow and scale in a sustainable way," he says.

So, in 1993, Henry took the plunge and started his own accounting firm Tan & Sitoh Associates with a business partner. His ambition was modest, merely wanting a small outfit that could help two or three clients gain public listing. But today the company, now known as Nexia TS, is part of Nexia International, one of the world’s largest global accounting network of independent accounting and consulting firms. Nexia TS has offices in China, Malaysia and Myanmar, and was recently named the category winner of Valuation Advisory Experts of the Year in Singapore at last year’s Global Awards organised by business publisher Corporate INTL.

“A lot of people often ask me how we got our clients, how we went from zero to where we are today,” says Henry, who leads the company as its Group CEO and Chief Innovation Officer. His “secret”? Just be nice. “Who doesn’t want to interact with a nice person? Who doesn’t want to work for a nice boss? In order to prepare our graduates for the real world, we shouldn’t just be asking them to focus on academics, but also on soft skills like networking, being authentic, and listening to others.”

In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, his niceness was put to the test when he had to implement a company-wide pay cut. Once the situation stabilised and business was back on track, he made sure to give out a loyalty bonus that covered the cuts everyone had to take.

It is this spirit of giving that Henry hopes to foster among his fellow alumni and future graduates. “We must remember what the school has done for us. I think we all have a duty to contribute in any way, big or small. It doesn’t have to be with money, but with our time – through mentorships, for example. It’s all about helping to sow the seeds of success,” says Henry, who chairs the Nanyang Business School Alumni Advisory board.

Click here to read about other Nanyang Alumni Award recipients.

This article first appeared in the first issue of U, the NTU alumni magazine.