A familiar face on the social circuit, Clarinda Tjia-Dharmadi is also an accomplished lawyer whose name appears on international lists of leading female lawyers.
From Most Inspiring CEO to Best Director to Most Promising Young Achiever to Best for Community Contribution, there are countless awards that honour deserving individuals every year. In a country that places high value on success and achievement like Singapore, prestigious awards are a means of recognising talent and identifying potential success tatler_tatler_stories, distinguishing the very best from the mediocre, and providing inspiration all around.
The first significant award is perhaps the most memorable and the strongest affirmation to keep striving and developing oneself. But subsequently, when even your work files start fighting for office space with your growing collection of medals and trophies, what do those awards mean? And conversely, is the well-decorated individual with an unrivalled medal tally really better than one who simply prefers to let his work speak for itself rather than through awards?
Melissa Gail Sing asks notable award winners in society to share their take on the meaning of an award, how they like to celebrate a big honour, and what distinctions they’d like to see given out in future.
Clarinda Tjia-Dharmadi
Finn Martin, Clarinda Tjia-Dharmadi, Cory Martin
A familiar face on the social circuit, Clarinda Tjia-Dharmadi is also an accomplished lawyer whose name appears on international lists of leading female lawyers. Throughout her career, the partner at international law firm Latham & Watkins and Global Co-Chair of the Energy – Power Group has earned various awards from respected bodies including Euromoney, International Financial Law Review and Project Finance Magazine. Clearly a woman who gives her best in more than one area, she has also been recognised by the National Art Council with several art supporter awards and in 2007, this fashionista and mother of two graciously accepted the Sophisticated Living honour from Singapore Tatler.
You’ve won a string of awards throughout your career. What do they mean to you today?
The first time I won a big award, I was elated. I was glad I didn’t chuck it all in earlier. It’s gratifying to be recognised for cutting-edge work as well as well as for one’s passion, toil and dedication to their clients. But I think it's a little precarious to start valuing oneself based on other people’s accolades because then you’d have to start valuing yourself based on other people’s criticisms too!
How have the awards helped you/the organisation you work for?
Winning a prestigious business award helps raise awareness of the quality of one’s organisation. It helps an organisation to stand out from the crowd, sends a positive message to existing clients and attracts new business. It is also a great recruiting tool for drawing new talent who want to work with the best of the best on the most sophisticated and groundbreaking deals.
Conversely, if you never won any awards, would that mean you/your organisation were less successful at what you do?
Not necessarily. Some types of work just don’t get the same visibility as others but that does not mean they are less important or less meaningful.
What’s the best way to celebrate an award?
By recognising the clients and vast support network that contributed to the award—and having perfectly chilled Krug, of course!
Next week, we speak to Classical music prodigy Darrell Ang – arguably one of Singapore’s best-known music exports.
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