What you do once you have reached the pinnacle of your career, after having spent more than half your life dedicated to your profession?
Do you rest on laurels and sow the fruits of your labour, or do you move on to something else to push and challenge yourself?
For Gan Siow Huang, she chose the latter.
She had an illustrious 27-year career with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), before deciding to leave in March this year.
She signed on with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) at the tender age of 18.
Over the years, with diligence and perseverance, she rose swiftly through the ranks, becoming Singapore’s first female brigadier general in 2015, and was subsequently appointed as Chief of Staff – Air Staff in 2019.
Then this year, she decided to give it all up to join NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) as its Deputy CEO, heading the Strategic Enabler Group.
When asked about her family’s reaction when she decided to leave the SAF, she candidly mentioned her eldest daughter’s response to her decision.
“No mum, why? You love the Air Force so much. How could you leave?” she re-enacted her daughter’s reaction with a laugh.
She added: “The Air Force gave me many opportunities to grow as a leader and as a person. I made fantastic friends in the Air Force. So yes, I left with very mixed feelings.
“I had such good friends and people whom I had to work very closely with; but I suppose after 27 years, it is good to think of what’s next ... and I felt I ought to push myself more to try new things.”
The Strategic Enabler Group looks at policies that drive operations at e2i, and Siow Huang is no stranger to that.
She handled multiple portfolios in her previous role in the SAF, including policy, long-term planning, operations, intelligence and manpower.
Siow Huang said: “As the Deputy CEO in charge of policy, I work with the Government – particularly with Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore – and also, I consult with unions and the Labour Movement to put together policies that meet the intent.”
On why she chose this role as her next career move, she simply responded that the mission of the company connected with her.
“The mission of e2i is to help Singaporeans find jobs for a better life, and I feel that this is very noble and important,” she said.
Siow Huang assured that she seeks to serve rather than being served.
She said: “I feel I did well in the SAF because I wasn’t just another Type-A leader and I brought diversity to the leadership team.”
“I prefer to have collaborative teams and get people to work together. I listen to problems and try to bring out the best in the team.”
During her spare time, Siow Huang tries to spend as much of it as possible with her three young daughters.
If she is not with her family, she busies herself with two other main activities – Girl Guides Singapore (GGS) and Grassroots community work.
A girl guide and brownie during her schooling days, she reconnected with the guiding movement seven years ago.
“Being Chief Commissioner of the GGS is like being the CEO of another company. I am trying my best to bring the guiding movement to the next level.
“I enjoy it because it is about developing girls and young women, and I hope that the current generation will have similar opportunities to be developed into the future leaders of Singapore,” she said.
Now that she has left the SAF, she hopes that people at the workplace will no longer see her as another high-ranking military official.
She explained with a smile: “You know, in my previous job, people would call me Madam or Ma’am Gan. Now that I am out of the SAF, I hope that people will not look at me as another general or ex-general.
“See me for who I am and please, call me Siow Huang.”
When asked about her thoughts on the Labour Movement, she said: “I think the Labour Movement is about getting all workers together to make the best of the situation, not just for our current generation, but for the future generation of workers so that, as a country, we can have the best outcome.
“We need strong leaders, we need strong beliefs, and we need the Labour Movement to get workers to come together for a common goal.”
