Khalid Awang

Khalid graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Central Oklahoma. He received a Graduate Research Assistant Scholarship for his MBA studies from the Department of Economics and in that capacity, had taught Micro Economics to the freshman at the University. He was inducted into Omicron Delta Epsilon, an international honor society in the field of economics. He also assisted in the management of the Centre for Urban Economics and Business Analysis, a research facility engaged by local and regional businesses in the US to study impacts of policies on their respective business organizations.

Upon returning to Singapore, Khalid began his career in finance as an Investment Analyst at Summit Securities, a major stockbroking firm before moving to a Canadian bank as the Assistant to the Chief Economist.

He ventured in a startup that supported global advertising agencies with creative works where he spearheaded marketing endeavors that led to a significant expansion of the client base. His effort saw strong market presence in industries including petrochemical, utilities, IT, finance, and government. A persistent believer in creating co-opetition environment, he orchestrated competitor-partner alliances to leverage on one another’s competitive advantages. The startup was later acquired by a major business consultancy firm.

After his startup adventure, Khalid embarked on a new portfolio as Country Manager for Vietnam of a regional IT distribution company shortly before the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. There he managed the sales and supply chain of its Indochina operations, redefined their respective business processes, re-engineered the business and engagement models, and finessed several notable vertical and horizontal integrations which resulted in his exiting the year at 65% above target. His business unit clinched various awards including Company Best – Highest Turnover Growth Per Employee, and Company Best – Corporate Alignment.

He had since left the corporate world and often jokes about his “unemployability” status whenever someone asks what he does for a living. A father of three himself, he writes widely on topics of parenting, education, personal finance, investing, retirement and real estate. He invests in SMEs, assists business owners in raising funds for their scaling up endeavors and enjoys occasional coffee sessions with aspiring entrepreneurs where he shares his life experiences. He has been on several LIVE radio shows, TV segments, given talks at public forums and events, and appeared on guest panels discussing current issues.