Shaping Events

As a teacher at the elite Raffle's School, he found "joy and a personal satisfaction that money can never buy." But after ten years in the civil service (which is from where teachers in Singapore are recruited), he moved to Times Publishing, a multinational group. The group is among the three exhibition experts organising this power conference which is slated to be the largest in Asia.

Scheduled to take off next month, Powergen '96 is aimed at providing a platform to facilitate an exchange of ideas and, more importantly, strategic alliances. Big names like ABB, Siemens, Westinghouse, Mitsubishi and NTPC are among its participants.

Liew Kok Pun is upbeat about the benefits of such trade shows for the Indian economy. "After all, it has been confirmed beyond doubt that whatever the political complexion of the government in power, the reform process is irreversible," he says. And the response to the exhibition has been so overwhelming that the organisers are planning an Energy Week India next year. Liew Kok Pun has also met India's union minister of surface transport to garner support for a port infrastructure development project scheduled for January 1998.

A more than satisfied Liew Kok Pun now returns to Singapore to golf (which he is "mediocre" at) and his family. His one failing the teacher in him could never handle his two sons: "I used to get too emotionally attached to be effective. So I left it to my wife," he says, resignedly.