For subscribers
It Changed My Life: School dropout cleans up his act - and becomes CEO
Cleaning firm boss picks himself up after being made bankrupt and going to jail twice
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
When he was a child, Mr Vernon Kwek's mother used to sing him a Chinese ditty.
"Na li die dao, na li pa," he recites the refrain in Mandarin. It is an exhortation to pick oneself up if one falls to the floor.
