Jeffery Tan

Jeffery’s early aspiration was not law, but medicine. As a child, he spent countless hours in hospitals, accompanying his grandmother on visits to her ill sons. Watching doctors, nurses, and administrators at work left a deep impression on him—not because of prestige, but because he could see, firsthand, how systems and people came together to make a difference. Medicine felt meaningful. It felt real.

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That plan, however, did not materialize. Despite having the grades, Jeffery did not gain admission to medical school. Instead, he was posted to law school—a discipline that had never been on his radar. What initially felt like a detour soon became a foundation. He discovered that the study of law was not about argument for argument’s sake, but about persuasion, structure, and the discipline of seeing both sides of the same set of facts. As he later reflected, learning law “forces you to take a holistic view of things,” a mindset that would shape his career far beyond the courtroom.

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Jeffery began his career in private practice at a time when Singapore’s legal profession was opening up to international exposure. After an internship with Freshfields, he joined the firm as a young associate, only to experience early disruption when regulatory changes forced the firm to scale back its local presence. A short stint at Arthur Loke & Partners followed, before he eventually settled at Allen & Gledhill, where he worked on financial services transactions that would later become core to his in-house work. Those early years gave him something invaluable: exposure to international clients, diverse working styles, and a front-row seat to how global business really operated.

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Yet even as he progressed, Jeffery sensed a limitation. As an external lawyer, he was brought in to document deals—but rarely to see the full picture behind the decisions. “There is always a screen drawn,” he observed. “You see less as an outside lawyer than someone on the inside.” That curiosity—about how decisions were truly made—prompted his move in-house.

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His first corporate role with Thomson CSF offered a crash course in cross-cultural complexity. Operating within a French multinational, Jeffery quickly learned that legal expertise alone was insufficient; influence required cultural fluency. From there, he joined Motorola, a move that would become one of the most defining chapters of his career.

Jeffery spent 13 years at Motorola, joining as its first Asia-based local lawyer and eventually taking on regional leadership roles across Southeast Asia, North Asia, India, and China. It was an environment that prized inclusion and invested deeply in talent. He helped build legal teams across the region while supporting the rollout of transformative technologies—from pagers to early mobile phones—each market governed by a different regulatory regime. The experience sharpened his ability to navigate complexity at scale.

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Midway through his tenure, Jeffery made an uncommon transition: from legal leader to business executive. After expressing an interest in taking on a commercial role, he was appointed President of Motorola Asia Pacific. The shift was humbling. “As a lawyer, you recommend,” he said. “In a business role, you decide—and you get measured every 90 days.” The role exposed him to the realities of accountability, execution, and leadership under pressure, and deepened his respect for those running businesses on the ground.

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When Motorola later restructured its Asia operations and relocated its regional headquarters to Beijing, Jeffery chose not to move due to family considerations and was retrenched. Despite a generous exit package, the experience was sobering. “It took me a while to make peace with the fact that all of us are essentially a digit in a corporation,” he reflected. The episode reinforced a conviction that would increasingly guide his decisions: careers matter, but they cannot be the sole source of identity.

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Jeffery returned briefly to private practice at DLA Piper before being headhunted to Siemens at a critical moment, joining the company during its global compliance and governance overhaul. He played a role in rebuilding trust, strengthening controls, and engaging regulators—a rare opportunity to see corporate rehabilitation from the inside. Shortly after, he made a deliberate decision to step away from work to focus on family, a pause that helped clarify his priorities beyond professional momentum.

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When Jeffery re-entered the workforce, he brought with him a broader perspective. After roles with Cimpress and UTAC, he joined Jardine Cycle & Carriage in 2016, where he continues to serve today as Group General Counsel, Chief Sustainability Officer, and Director of Legal & Corporate Affairs. Beyond legal oversight, he leads sustainability, compliance, public affairs, and communications at the group level. He is also CEO and Company Secretary of MINDSET, a mental health charity under Jardine Matheson, reflecting his growing commitment to societal impact.

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In parallel, Jeffery has expanded his influence through board and advisory roles, including the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, City Mental Health Alliance Singapore, and One Mind’s Global Guiding Council. He writes actively for The Straits Times and The Business Times, using the written word to engage on issues of governance, sustainability, leadership, and mental health—topics he sees as bridges to mentoring younger professionals.

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Looking ahead, Jeffery is clear that the next chapter is not about titles. “Forget about the concept of retirement,” he says. What matters now is relevance, contribution, and impact—using experience not just to build institutions, but to develop people. His journey—from aspiring doctor to lawyer, corporate executive, and purpose-driven leader—underscores a powerful lesson: careers rarely follow a straight line, but clarity often emerges through reflection, faith, and deliberate choice.