Jaslyn Tan

A courageous blind woman who ran a family business was one of the cornerstones of Jaslyn Tan’s early life. That resilient woman was her grandmother.
Ask Jaslyn what she really learned from her and she replies “inspiration”, after gazing into the distance for a few seconds.

"She was really one of the people who inspired me when I was little. My widowed grandmother wasn’t born blind, but she lost her sight because of diabetes. Even after the onset of blindness, she still managed our family business and I guess you could say that was my early life lesson in enablement.

"She had three sons and my father was her middle son. It was a great way to grow up because all of us, three families, lived together in a shophouse. Each family occupied a room. We had twenty people in three rooms and so there would be at least seven of us squeezed into one room. My earliest memories are all linked to that family closeness and how special it was to us. From the time I was really little I was so used to living with our extended family, with a range of different personalities, so it was very natural for us to connect with one another in a meaningful way. This ability to connect with others became second nature for me. When I was very young, I learnt to embrace diversity and get along well with others through respect, kindness and humility.

"My grandmother held the entire family together with her values, wisdom and determination. She was already blind by the time I was born and that is the way I remember her, but she was very alert and absolutely in tune with everything. She knew exactly what was happening around her. She taught me about being open-minded, kind, generous and courageous.

"I was probably sixteen when she passed away, but her influence certainly lives on. She taught me good values and told me to have ‘two hearts’ when making decisions, one to consider others’ welfare and one to assess my own needs. Even now, when I’m faced with any kind of situation that challenges me, I always put myself in others’ shoes."

Jaslyn chose to build her own career away from the family business and the first time a friend suggested that she should think about joining SAP, she told him she wasn’t interested. Then in 2016 he tried convincing her once more. Again, she told him she wasn’t looking for a job because she was very happy in her role as the senior marketing manager for an American publishing company.

"But he said, come and join us, it’s a really good place to work. I did some research and realized that the whole value system of the company really resonated with me. At that point I decided I would go for an interview. As it turned out, I had three interviews and they gave me a really good sense of the team dynamism at SAP. I felt a real connection straight away.

"On my first morning at SAP, I wasn’t really nervous, but it certainly did cross my mind that I was entering a completely different industry from what I was used to. On the surface, it might seem that IT and publishing sit at completely different ends of the professional spectrum, but most elements in the skill sets were transferable for me.

"It’s the first company I have worked at where CSR is far more important than wining and dining. If someone came to me now and said, Jaslyn, I’m thinking about joining SAP, I would say yes, of course, without a moment’s hesitation. We have a very healthy culture and the most important thing is that we can be ourselves. We really do embrace the concept of diversity and inclusion and there is a huge amount of respect for who you are. Because of that, it is an easy place to be inspired.

"It’s not just that we find great solutions for customers, it’s not just that we make the world run better, it’s truly the fact that this company actually makes us better people and makes the wider community a better place as well. It also helps us appreciate the benefit of continuous learning. It keeps us on our toes all the time. It makes us want to improve and it encourages all of us to be a better version of ourselves every day. To me, that really is the true power of SAP."