Chief Change Officer
#355 Tin Pei Ling: Making Motherhood, Parliament, and Progress Work—Her Way
Thu, 8 May 2025
Becoming Singapore’s youngest parliamentarian was just the beginning.In Part Two of this conversation, Tin Pei Ling reflects on how she’s evolved as a leader, mother, policymaker, and public voice. From walking the campaign trail just days after giving birth, to pursuing an MBA mid-term while managing a constituency, her path isn’t about having it all—it’s about knowing what to give, and when.She opens up about the guilt of missing milestones, the value of learning from older peers, and the real cost of public service. She also shares her ongoing fight for women’s empowerment, elderly inclusion, mental wellness, and Singapore’s digital future. For anyone navigating multiple roles at once, Pei Ling’s story is a case study in conviction—and quiet strength.Key Highlights of Our Interview:Why She Chose an MBA—After Already Getting Elected“Politics was public. But I needed something personal—to grow, stretch, and see the world differently.”What Booth Taught Her (Besides Economics)“I wasn’t just learning frameworks. I was building a new lens through which to see leadership.”Motherhood, Duty, and the Election That Didn’t Wait“Two weeks after giving birth, I was out campaigning. I came home to a baby who’d grown before my eyes.”There’s No Perfect Balance—Only Trade-Offs“As an MP, an employee, and a mother, I’ve had to make hard choices. But I’ve never walked alone.”Why Support Systems Are Everything“Behind every successful woman is an ecosystem. Mine includes teammates, voters, bosses, and family.”From Guilt to Advocacy: Fighting for Women’s Aspirations“Not everyone has what I had. That’s why I fight for better policies—for every woman with a dream.”Mental Health, Aging, and the Power of Policy“Youth need tools. Seniors need dignity. My job is to speak for both.”Why Digital Fluency Is a Women’s Issue Too“Tech can empower women—if we help them unlock it. That’s what smart nations really need: smart, supported women.”_________________________Connect with us:Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Tin Pei Ling --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.EdTech Leadership Awards 2025 Finalist.18 Million+ All-Time Downloads.80+ Countries Reached Daily.Global Top 1.5% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>170,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<
Chapter 1: How did Tin Pei Ling transition from psychology to politics?
Hi, everyone. Welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vince Chan, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist community for change progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world.
In her last episode, we look at how Pei Ling overcame the darkest period in her life, transforming from being a psychology major into winning the general election as the youngest elected parliamentarian. She discussed how facing biases related to age and gender has made her more resilient, both in terms of stamina and ability. A happy ending story for sure, but is that it? Of course not.
That's why we have part two, Before we dive in, let me share with you one golden rule of success in driving and sustaining change. Whatever change you try to make, lose weight, launch a new product, or even trying to stage a large-scale transformation project in your firm, this rule applies. This is a three-stage model of change proposed by the founding father of social psychology, Kurt Lewin.
According to him, in order to change, we need to first unfreeze, a stage where we understand the need and find the motivation to change. Second, change, the stage where you move towards a different behavior. Third, change, re-freeze, a stage where you solidify the change and establish that new behavior as the norm.
In Pei Ling's case, in the first stage, unfreeze, if you recall in part one of our interview, I asked her specifically about the why, about the need and the motivation to change, from psychology to business consulting, from private individual to public officer. So the need and the motivation to change, figure it out. This stage is very personal. It's about you. You may not get 100% of the why yet.
80, 90%, that's already very good. Because in the next stage, when you're going through the process of change, you will get to know more about yourself. So you'll figure out more, but you do need to start with a good chunk of understanding of your need and the motivation to change at the early stage, as in Pei Ling's case. The second stage, change, is the hardest part.
We start with thinking of yourself, but then in the second stage, you have to go beyond yourself, go above yourself. You need to think like a social psychologist. Change behavior is a function of a person and a situation. In the first stage, you figure out yourself, the person, but what about the situation? What in that environment that helps you drive and sustain the change?
What factors affect your behavior? What are some of the negative reinforcement factors? Well, in Pei Ling's case, for example, attacks in person and social media. What are the positive reinforcement factors? In Pei Ling's case, she got the support from the political party. In your case, you work in a big firm. You got support from a boss, from a CEO, from a board of directors.
You are an entrepreneur. You got support from your investors. Good for you. But that's only one piece of the situation. In Penning's case... She went out there, exposed herself, faced the people, faced the challenges, trying to turn distrust into trust, to win the hearts and minds of people, get the buy-in in order to fit in. On top of that, she went for an MBA degree.
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Chapter 2: What did Pei Ling learn during her MBA experience?
How would you describe your two years experience studying with people who are from different walks of life and most of us are older, have different experience from you?
I think it was wonderful. Fantastic. I really enjoyed my time at Chicago Booth. I meet a lot of different people from different walks of life. I learn from them and make great friends, including you, Vinz. Yeah, of course, of course. Of course. 10 years and counting. Yes, yes. Yeah, so... Okay, first of all, I like meeting people, but I also love learning.
After I graduated from university, I realized I do like being a student. I like to challenge myself and stretch my mind. I never really did study business type of subjects when I was in school. And so the MBA helps to put frameworks and theories to what I learned on the job. Business consulting, it is business, but... It's not like a formal education. It's on the job kind of training.
So going through MBA, I think that was useful. There is a lot of rigor in what Chicago Bulls offer. I remember, for example, macroeconomics.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, man. Heisinger. Professor Heisinger. I really liked him. He really drives us. He taught us how to look at trends, try to predict stuff using formulas. I know that some other, I shall not name other schools, but from my understanding, macroeconomics would be a little bit more intuitive in those causes. But for Chicago Booth, it was all formula-driven.
And then every week, no, every month we had an exam and in the week that we were together, every day there's a quiz. so it's quite crazy but I think it really trained us well placed us very well I think looking back it was a great experience but the question was why did I choose to do it As an elected member of parliament, I should constantly try to grow and learn.
As I mentioned earlier, my first term, I quit my job at Ernst & Young to focus on my constituency work. I think it was wonderful. After a while, when we get the hang of things, you build up experience, you establish processes, you establish the team. I start to have capacity. I felt that I needed to build new dimensions. I felt that I really needed to learn something.
When the Chicago Bulls opportunity came, I decided to just latch on and just go. It has been a wonderful two years.
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Chapter 3: How does Pei Ling balance motherhood with her political career?
You know, in Asian culture, there's a one month confinement. Yeah. So I basically, actually a few days after giving birth, I had to go out and start training my walking. Because by the second, because two weeks later after I gave birth, I have to start campaigning because general was just around the corner. I had to start campaigning. And so I recall that my firstborn,
Chapter 4: What are the trade-offs Tin Pei Ling faces in her roles?
Every day he looks different because there's a rapid growth period. And I remember after general election, when the dust has settled, I came back and I look at him also, oh my God, he has grown so much. What did I miss out? So it was, it was quite, quite emotional. And then of course now they are a bit older.
a little bit more independent in that sense and but I must say that in the end whatever that I could do I wouldn't have been able to achieve those if not for the great support of many wonderful people so within the constituency I have a great team who have stood by me even during the toughest of times and I'm grateful.
Residents have been very kind and understanding and they continue to place their trust in me and I'm grateful. At work, my colleagues and my bosses have also been appreciative of my other roles and they gave me the flexibility. I'm grateful. Of course, at home, I've got my family, my parents, my husband and friends as well who are willing to step in when I have to go out and do my part.
So it's a whole ecosystem of support. I recognize that not everyone enjoys the same level of support. And so actually... This thing about how can we better support women to achieve their aspirations actually became one of the causes that I've been fighting for or talking about since that second general election, since 2015, since becoming a mother.
You mentioned about women empowerment. Tell us a bit more about your work there, perhaps other issues that keep you busy, keep you on your toes.
Yeah, actually I'm passionate about a range of issues and causes. When I was in my 20s, when I was first fielded, I was very passionate and I continue to be passionate about elderly issues as well as youth because I've always been.
a youth volunteer and I believe in youth development mental health mental wellness being such a core part of issue that youth are concerned about so that naturally is something that I'm concerned about as well and I've always been interested in mental health that's why I chose psychology right Then seniors, my parents are aging.
As the only child, I have to think about how I can support them, how I can care for them. And I also start to think about how I would like to live my life when I eventually grow old and become an elderly myself. So that's from the personal point of view, but my constituency, One in three are aged 60 and above. So I have a fairly significant population of seniors that were under my care.
Naturally, issues concerning them would be my concern as well. Ensuring their basic living needs are being taken care of, ensuring that they continue to be socially and mentally engaged because I think the biggest red face that our elderly face today is isolation. Bread and butter, all these.
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Chapter 5: Why is support crucial for women's empowerment according to Pei Ling?
Chapter 6: What policies is Pei Ling advocating for women's aspirations?
You mentioned about women empowerment. Tell us a bit more about your work there, perhaps other issues that keep you busy, keep you on your toes.
Yeah, actually I'm passionate about a range of issues and causes. When I was in my 20s, when I was first fielded, I was very passionate and I continue to be passionate about elderly issues as well as youth because I've always been.
a youth volunteer and I believe in youth development mental health mental wellness being such a core part of issue that youth are concerned about so that naturally is something that I'm concerned about as well and I've always been interested in mental health that's why I chose psychology right Then seniors, my parents are aging.
As the only child, I have to think about how I can support them, how I can care for them. And I also start to think about how I would like to live my life when I eventually grow old and become an elderly myself. So that's from the personal point of view, but my constituency, One in three are aged 60 and above. So I have a fairly significant population of seniors that were under my care.
Chapter 7: How does mental health intersect with public policy?
Naturally, issues concerning them would be my concern as well. Ensuring their basic living needs are being taken care of, ensuring that they continue to be socially and mentally engaged because I think the biggest red face that our elderly face today is isolation. Bread and butter, all these.
Some do continue to struggle, but overall, I think with the government support, with the charities and community partners coming together, we can cover that part. For seniors, because of changing social structure, Many are living alone or they are living maybe with only one other person. Be a spouse, could be a helper.
But basically, because of that changing social structure, many seniors are going to be very lonely in their twilight years. And if we don't actively engage them, they can deteriorate very quickly, physically as well as mentally. And then the burden of care will therefore be very heavy. But the biggest thing is about their quality of life. So this is something that I continue to be very focused on.
Because women empowerment, as a mother, as a daughter, as a wife, as a whatever, so many different roles. It's really how can we empower women to create, to build capabilities, to create capacities, to break the ceiling and help them achieve their aspiration. And now as we move into the digital future, So this is also the other thing that I'm also very big on.
Chapter 8: Why is digital fluency important for women's empowerment?
It's about the digital economy, digital society, the smart nation, smart government, the whole digital realm, the digital future. This also is something that I'm very interested in. So there's a lot that I can cover, but basically, how can we make sure that Singapore continues to be well-placed? for the opportunities within this digital future?
How can we continue to ensure that our people are ready for this digital future? And under this portion is how can we empower women so that they are smart ladies for a smart nation? How can we help them unlock the opportunities that a digital future can offer them.
For example, when we talk about flexible work arrangement, technology plays a good part in this to enable women to be able to work from home or work remotely so that they can juggle their different roles.
By equipping women with digital skills, according to studies by Accenture, IMF and various bodies, by helping women to increase in their digital fluency, we can close the gender gap in half the time. For example, helping women to develop digital capabilities is very important.
You mentioned that you are a keen learner. So can you suggest books that have helped you learn, helped you grow over time and move forward?
Well, I think there are many possible books. I always think that life experiences, that person-to-person interaction is most precious. In terms of books, okay, I'm a big fan of our founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. There's a lot of hard truths and
very good wisdom that can be found in his book that's one recently he has many books I won't pinpoint any just go read them I'm still trying to get through to finish the book because I'm so busy but it's about the power of regret It's interesting because a lot of people when they talk about regret, it's like, oh, could have, would have, should have.
I think the crux of this is really about how can you view regret from a different perspective that actually drives you to take action.
to solve problems and to be a better person. Every guest, they will suggest some books that have inspired them. So that's why I like to share their collective knowledge, collective inspirations with our audience. So that's the reason why I asked you about your source of inspiration. I'm also a keen reader. I've published two books and I'm writing my third.
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