TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi urges NTU doctoral graduates to ‘actively seek the unknown’ at conferment ceremony

“You’ve just spent years earning a PhD, proving that you already know how to push the boundaries of human knowledge. Now, take that superpower and apply it to the messy, ambiguous problems of the real world.

“Seek out rooms where you are the least experienced person in them. Embrace uncertainty because that is where meaningful innovation happens. As you go out there, rely on the network of brilliant peers sitting around you today, because they are your community,” he said.

The community will remind them of their purpose and reflect what they are truly capable of, added Mr Chew.

“So as you leave this university, keep that curiosity that first opened the map for you. Wherever this extraordinary educational passport takes you next, above all, remember to protect your creativity and to protect your joy, because you are the generation that will build the next era of positive innovation.”

UPBRINGING AND CURIOSITY

During his speech, Mr Chew reflected on his roots and the “unexpected journey” that led him to the stage.

“Along the way, my own world has grown in ways that I could never imagine. And looking back at that path, I’ve come to realise that education is a lifelong passport. It keeps redrawing the borders of your world over and over again,” he said.

His world when he was in primary school was “hyperlocal”, he said.

“My universe didn’t extend much further than my own neighbourhood in Yio Chu Kang, and the comfortable rhythm of my daily routine, and the familiar surroundings that I see every day.

“But eventually, I had this amazing opportunity to travel across the country from Yio Chu Kang to Bukit Timah to attend what is now known as Hwa Chong after my PSLE,” he said, referring to the Primary School Leaving Examination.

“I know Yio Chu Kang to Bukit Timah is not that far, but choosing to go there completely pushed me out of my comfort zone,” he added.

Making that leap sparked his intellectual curiosity that showed him that his potential could be as limitless as his imagination, and untouched by physical boundaries, the TikTok CEO said.

“In many ways, this is the same story of Singapore itself. Now we may be a very small island nation in our geographic borders, but through curiosity and resilience, we have always looked outwards and upwards and created an oversized global footprint.”