In a candid interview with The Straits Times, SMU Chairman and the founder-chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings Mr Ho Kwon Ping chronicled his life journey from his early years to the founding of Banyan Tree and SMU – the institution he nurtured from conception. SMU, Mr Ho said, is the university that is best positioned for providing talent for the workplace of the future.

"The need is to train people how to think, not what you think," he said. "Our whole pedagogy is so different from other universities. We have just 45 to a class, classrooms are designed to promote interaction. Our students are more articulate, more problem-solving and better able to work with other people," said Mr Ho. 

He recently launched his book Asking Why and a Straits Times Book Club event that featured him registered a record attendance of more than 350 people.