Thirteen Years Later, Dr. Clemen Chiang Finally Said Thank You
Thirteen years after receiving a thoughtful 1:13 AM email from Seah Kian Peng, Dr. Clemen Chiang finally had the chance to say thank you. The moment became a powerful reminder that great leadership is often revealed through small acts of kindness.
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How a 1:13 AM email about tables and chairs became a lasting lesson in leadership
Yesterday, Dr. Clemen Chiang stepped into Parliament House.
Beneath the State Crest, with the words Majulah Singapura above and the Mace gleaming in gold, he found himself standing in one of Singapore’s most significant institutions — a place where the nation’s laws are debated, shaped and decided.
But this visit was not really about legislation.
For Dr. Clemen Chiang, it was about finally expressing a thank you that had been thirteen years in the making.
It Began in July 2013
In July 2013, Dr. Clemen Chiang was organising Dîner en Blanc Singapore.
The idea was ambitious: thousands of guests, dressed entirely in white, coming together for an elegant dinner at a secret location.
It was a big vision.
But like many big ideas, its success depended on solving some very practical details.
Tables.
Chairs.
Every guest needed both, and Dr. Clemen Chiang needed a partner who could help make that possible.
With little to lose, he decided to reach out directly to CEO of NTUC FairPrice, Mr Seah Kian Peng.
At that point, Dr. Clemen Chiang did not have a title that automatically opened doors. There was no obvious reason why the head of one of Singapore’s largest enterprises needed to respond personally.
And the request itself was hardly strategic or high-level.
It was about tables and chairs.
Items that sat so far down the operational chain of a large organisation like NTUC that such a message could easily have been overlooked.
But it was not.
Mr Seah saw the email.
And at 1:13 AM, he replied.
A Response That Stayed With Him
What made the reply memorable was not simply the fact that Mr Seah responded.
It was the way he responded.
He thanked Dr. Clemen Chiang for the opportunity.
He copied in his colleagues so the matter could be followed up directly.
And instead of giving a simple yes or no, he took time to think through how the request could actually be supported.
Mr Seah suggested six FairPrice Xtra hypermarkets where participants could be served:
- Ang Mo Kio
- Jurong Point
- JEM
- Changi Business Park
- Nex
- Hougang One
He also included the online store, giving participants another way to get what they needed.
And he ended the message with a line that Dr. Clemen Chiang would remember for years:
"Wish you every success this year again."
That support made a real difference.
Without it, Dr. Clemen Chiang would not have been able to pull off the event in the same way.
It was as simple as that.
Yet despite the impact of that gesture, he never had the opportunity to thank Mr Seah face to face.
Time moved on.
The email remained in his inbox.
And the gratitude remained with him.
October 2026: The Moment Finally Came
Fast forward thirteen years.
The Singapore Institute of Directors (SID), led by CEO Emily Poon, organised a visit to Parliament House for its members.
Their host was Mr Seah Kian Peng.
Only this time, he was no longer simply the CEO who had replied to an email in 2013.
He was now the Speaker of Parliament.
During the Q&A session, Dr. Clemen Chiang stood up in front of fellow SID members and finally said the words he had been carrying with him for more than a decade:
Thank you.
Thank you for replying to someone you did not know.
Thank you for taking a seemingly small request seriously.
And thank you for treating it as though it mattered.
Because to Dr. Clemen Chiang, it mattered enormously.
The Leadership Lesson Behind a Small Act
The experience left Dr. Clemen Chiang with a lesson that has stayed relevant all these years.
Kindness does not become less important just because the request looks small.
The leaders who leave the strongest impression are often the ones who pay attention to details others might dismiss.
They understand that what looks minor from one side can mean everything to the person asking for help.
Mr Seah could easily have ignored an email about chairs. He could have delegated it without another thought. Instead, he approached the situation as an opportunity to help another person succeed. That single action revealed something important about leadership. Titles may show where someone sits in an organisation. But small decisions often show who they really are.
Today, Mr Seah presides over Singapore’s parliamentary debates.
And for Dr. Clemen Chiang, that memory from 2013 still stands as a powerful example of leadership carried out with thoughtfulness, responsiveness and heart.
A Reminder for Every Leader
For every leader reading this, there may be an email sitting in your inbox right now from someone who feels they are too small to be noticed.
Their request may seem ordinary. It may look operational. It may not appear important at first glance.
Answer it anyway. And when possible, answer it thoughtfully.
You may never know what your response enables. You may never see the impact it creates. And you may not realise how long that person will remember the way you treated them. But sometimes, a small response can stay with someone for thirteen years.
For Dr. Clemen Chiang, it did.
Thank you, Speaker Seah.
And thank you to Emily Poon and the Singapore Institute of Directors team for making this long-awaited moment possible.
