For Christmas, my boss gave all of us books. Specifically, he gave us Volume 5 of Sunday Em@ils from a Chairman and wrote a note recommending certain chapters to each one of us. Since he asked us immediately after Christmas if we’ve finished it (spoiler alert: no one had), I decided to move this book to the top of my reading list, just in case.

Like the title says, Sunday Em@ils from a Chairman is a collection of emails that Liew Mun Leong sent out, divided into five parts:

1. Core Values, Leadership and Pragmatism: This was perhaps the most useful section for me. Over several emails, Liew Mun Leong talks about his leadership philosophy. Basically, he draws a line between pragmatism (being flexible and open to ideas but holding on to core values) and practical (everything is up for negotiation). The distinction is interesting and I think reminding myself to be pragmatic in the workplace will be useful. Unsurprisingly, chapters from this section were recommended to me.
2. Changi Airport and the Aviation Industry: These emails are more focused on Changi, its history, and the potential growth in the aviation industry for our region. That said, these emails also contain nuggets about how we can prepare for the future and the importance of giving people a chance to implement their ideas.
3. International Perspectives: The third section is called International Perspectives but a large chunk of it is about China, its development, and the One Belt, One Road/Belt and Road Initiative. Liew Mun Leong is largely positive about China and while I gained a sense of appreciation about how much China has developed in such a short time from his recollections, I think he’s a bit optimistic about the political intentions of the Chinese government. But to be fair to him, I’ve been a bit sceptical ever since I’ve learnt about the social credit system, the Nauru incident, and China detaining Canadians because of the Huawei arrest, so it’s very possible that he’s right about China and I’m just influenced by all the things I read (no sarcasm here because I do not have the ground experience he does).
4. Engineering and Project Management: Only three emails in here, but it’s pretty interesting and I’ve gained a newfound respect for project managers and engineers!
5. Personal Reflections: Here, he talks about art, food, and how to stay healthy! Definitely interesting reading, although I would have liked to know his thoughts on work-life balance (or was that covered in an earlier volume?)

The appendix of the book is basically a transcription of interviews with him, but if you’ve read the emails, then most of the main points would be covered.

Overall, I thought this book was interesting and surprisingly relevant to my working life. This is one of the books that you should read if you want to reap the benefit of years of experience without having to go through it. I’m actually really glad that my boss gave this to us.