Peggy Kek

Head of Public Affairs (2002 – 2004)

Peggy Kek was at IPS for a short period but served in the critical role of Head of Public Affairs from 2002 to 2004. Having worked with Professor Tommy Koh as Director of Public Affairs at the Asia-Europe Foundation, she joined IPS at his request after completing her Masters. Prof Koh and Arun Mahizhnan were looking to grow the Corporate Associates programme and boost fundraising. Ms Kek felt that the IPS brand image had become musty after 15 years. As such, she oversaw the introduction of a new logo and tagline (“Engaging Minds, Exchanging Ideas”). She also oversaw the conceptualisation of anniversary publication A World of Ideas, aiming to “humanise the reports a little bit more” and “capture people’s imagination”, and a 15th anniversary fundraising gala at the Istana.

Deviating from its reliance on closed-door dialogue sessions, IPS also began launching publications in a more public way and increased media engagement. Ms Kek cited the lack of awareness of think tank work as her biggest challenge, with more effort needed to convince businesses and the public to have a stake in public policy research. She credited Prof Koh’s leadership for fostering a family-like working environment at IPS and described the operating structure during her time. In her opinion, IPS was special as it had managed to capture public imagination on policy issues as the desire for more consultation increased.


This interview was conducted on 11 Sep 2019. Click here to listen to the full interview.