From Barracks to Boardroom: Mohd Fahmi Aliman on MFA Insights and the ASEAN Opportunity

There are few careers as varied  or as purposeful  as that of Mohd Fahmi Aliman. Over the span of three decades, he served Singapore as a decorated military officer, a religious community leader, a labour movement advocate, and a Member of Parliament representing the Sembawang GRC. For five years until 2025, he served as Mayor of Singapore’s South East District, working at the intersection of governance, community cohesion, and economic empowerment. When he stepped away from public office, many assumed he would step back. Instead, he stepped forward  founding MFA Insights Pte Ltd, a data and analytics-driven consultancy focused on helping cities and communities solve real, on-the-ground problems.

In this exclusive interview with Global Entrepreneurs Review, Mr. Fahmi reflects on the journey that led to MFA Insights, shares the company’s strategic vision for ASEAN and beyond, and offers candid advice for a generation of entrepreneurs trying to find their own path.

BACKGROUND

Mr. Fahmi, you’ve had an incredible career spanning the military, religious leadership, the labour movement, and politics. What made you decide to venture into the business world with MFA Insights?

Every chapter of my life has been rooted in community service  that’s been the common thread. After leaving politics, I kept asking myself: where can I still add value? I had attended the ASEAN Mayor’s Forum and listened to mayors from across the region share challenges they desperately needed solutions for. As a politician in Singapore, I couldn’t step in directly. There are rules about that. But after leaving office, I followed up and found that those problems still hadn’t been solved. That’s when I realised I had the tools, the relationships, and the insights to actually help. MFA Insights became the vehicle for that.

You’ve spent decades in public service. How do you think that experience shapes the way you’re approaching this business venture?

Public service, especially the military, trains you for forward planning. You don’t just react, you anticipate. That’s exactly what cities and communities need. Many cities have long-term visions. They talk about their 2030 or 2035 goals  but translating vision into action, especially in two or three year windows, is where they struggle. My decades in governance, policy, and the political arena give me the language and understanding to speak directly to city leadership and help them achieve their goals without overstepping. I understand the political realities they face. That’s not something you can learn from a textbook.

Can you walk us through what MFA Insights actually does? When a client comes to you, what problem are you solving for them?

We help cities and communities by providing critical insights: data analysis, issue breakdowns, gap identification, and then offering practical, executable solutions. When a city leader comes to us, we don’t just present a report  we present a roadmap. The name ‘Insights’ is deliberate. I didn’t want a big, flashy name. I wanted something that said exactly what we do. We see what others miss, and we help clients act on it.

ABOUT THE BUSINESS

You mentioned ‘data-driven strategic solutions’  in plain terms, what does that look like in practice? Can you give us an example?

Let me give you a concrete example: food security in Singapore and Brunei’s food export potential. Singapore and Brunei are what you might call ‘price takers’. We import the vast majority of our food. COVID19 exposed just how vulnerable that makes us. One of our current projects involves working with a partner in Brunei to scale up local egg and poultry production. The Brunei Economic Development Board identified that the missing piece was scalability. They were producing enough for local consumption but couldn’t export. So we are building a larger farming infrastructure to increase production for domestic use and export, targeting Singapore and potentially China. That decision wasn’t a guess; it was based on demand data and strategic analysis. That’s a data-driven strategy in action.

What gap in the market did you see that convinced you this business was needed?

The gap is trust, combined with technical capability. Cities in ASEAN have ambitious plans, funding, even land  but they don’t always have the right partners who understand their context. Many large multinationals are excellent, but they can be impersonal. A new city administration can feel like a small fish to them. We position ourselves differently: we’re leaner, more agile, and we bring both global best practices and deep local understanding through our regional partnerships. That combination is the gap we’re filling.

THE ASEAN STRATEGY

You’re focusing heavily on ASEAN through specialised partnerships and regional entities. Why ASEAN specifically, and why this partnership model rather than going it alone?

ASEAN is home to some of the world’s fastest growing economies and most rapidly urbanising communities. The problems cities here face are food security, employment, skills development, infrastructure  are urgent and solvable. I also know this region. As Mayor, I built relationships across ASEAN cities through forums and bilateral engagements. Those relationships are the foundation of what we’re building. As for partnerships: no company operating in a new market should go it alone. You need someone who understands the local culture, the unspoken rules, the sensitivities. Our partners give us that. We bring the technology, the frameworks, and the connections; they give us context and trust on the ground.

Which countries or markets in the region are you prioritising first, and why those particular ones?

Brunei is our first active project, given the strong alignment on food security and the relationships already in place. We’re also engaged in Indonesia, specifically in Brastagi, where we’re working on an initiative that involves IT and technical students in cold storage and agricultural processing. The model there is about giving young people in the farming ecosystem real work experience while building infrastructure. Beyond those, we’re building relationships across the region and being strategic about where we commit resources. The partnership first model means we move when the right partner and the right problem align.

What have been the biggest challenges in setting up these regional partnerships? Any surprises along the way?

The biggest challenge is trust  and it’s not a surprise, it’s simply a reality of being a young company. We don’t have a ten year track record to point to. What we do have is my background and the credibility that comes with it. When I reach out to a mayor or a minister I’ve met through the ASEAN Mayor’s Forum, the conversation starts from a different place than a cold call. But we always have to back up that initial trust with delivery. We’ve committed to always delivering what we promise  and so far, that’s been our most powerful business development tool. One genuine surprise: how receptive SMEs have been. We deliberately chose to work with small and medium-sized enterprises rather than multinationals, and their eagerness to partner and their agility have been remarkable.

GLOBAL AMBITIONS

You’ve mentioned plans to expand beyond Asia to other continents. That’s ambitious. What’s the timeline you’re looking at, and which regions are on your radar first?

The first five years are entirely dedicated to building a solid ASEAN foundation, getting our projects right, building our reputation, and establishing the brand. After that, we’re open to opportunities in the Middle East and the Gulf, where there’s extraordinary investment activity as economies transition from oil dependency toward tourism, technology, and sustainable development. Countries like Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are actively looking to replicate systems and models that work  including Singapore’s. India is also on our radar, given significant policy shifts that are opening up long-term foreign direct investment. But we won’t rush. A strong foundation in ASEAN is nonnegotiable.

How do you plan to compete with established global players in the strategic solutions space?

We won’t compete on size initially. We’ll compete on relevance. A large consultancy can give a city a beautiful slide deck. We give them something they can execute tomorrow. Our edge is the combination of public sector experience, regional relationships, and agile partnerships. We also focus on cities and communities that might feel overlooked by the global giants. That’s a large and underserved market. When you solve a real problem for a mayor who has been waiting years for a solution, the word spreads.

LEADERSHIP

As Mayor of the South East District from 2020 to 2025, what leadership approach did you find most effective in bridging diverse community needs and fostering cohesion?

Racial and religious harmony was my north star. Singapore’s diversity is our greatest strength, but it requires constant, deliberate nurturing. I initiated programmes that brought together youth from mosques, temples, churches, and clan associations not for grand events, but for genuine conversations. When young people sit together, share food, and talk honestly, they build the kind of trust that no policy alone can create. The other major focus was skills upgrading. Technology and AI are displacing jobs. That’s a reality we can’t ignore. As Mayor, I worked with government agencies to create clear pathways: residents could access subsidized courses and then step directly into job opportunities through a ‘green lane’ model. Keeping people employable and relevant was, to me, an act of community service.

You’re transitioning from MP and public servant to Founder and CEO. How different is the leadership style required?

In public service, you lead within a system. There are layers, processes, and accountability structures that both constrain and support you. As a founder, the accountability is stronger. It’s yours. The freedoms are also greater. But the philosophy I’ve carried from the military through to politics remains unchanged: service leadership. I serve my team before I direct them. I give people the space and the boundaries to do their best work, and I step in only when they hit an obstacle they can’t overcome alone. That ethos doesn’t change with the title on the door.

What kind of expertise have you brought in to complement your own background?

Deliberately, I’ve sought people who are stronger than I am in areas I’m not. Technical expertise in data analytics, on-the-ground knowledge in specific ASEAN markets, and commercial acumen that balances my policyfirst instincts. I’m also very clear that building a strong, happy team is not a soft goal, it’s the foundation of everything. Success is never a one man show.

PRACTICAL MATTERS

What does success look like for MFA Insights in year one? What about in five years?

In year one, success is executing our current projects well  delivering on the Brunei food security initiative, progressing the Indonesia project  and generating sufficient revenue to invest in the next phase. It’s also about building our reputation as a company that does what it says. In five years, I want MFA Insights to be recognised as ASEAN’s go-to partner for city and community solutions: a company with a clear track record, an established brand, and a pipeline of projects that are genuinely improving lives. That’s the measure that matters to me.

PERSONAL REFLECTION

Your career has been defined by service in the military, religious community, labour movement, government. How does running a for profit business fit with that sense of service?

I’ve thought about this a great deal, and I’ve made peace with it completely. The purpose of MFA Insights is to help cities and communities solve real problems. If we do that well, we build a sustainable business. The profit isn’t the purpose, it’s the outcome of doing the purpose well. That framing keeps me grounded. I’m not in this to maximise returns for shareholders. I’m in this to maximise impact for communities. If we do that, the business takes care of itself.

Was there a particular moment or experience in your career that planted the seed for MFA Insights? What excites you most about this venture?

It was the ASEAN Mayor’s Forum. Sitting in those sessions, hearing mayors articulate challenges I recognised  workforce transitions, food security, community resilience  and knowing I had seen solutions work in Singapore, but being unable to act because of my political position. That was genuinely frustrating. When I left politics, those conversations stayed with me. I followed up. The problems were still there. And that’s when I knew: this was the chapter I was preparing for without realising it. What excites me most is the tangibility of it. In politics, change can feel slow and diffuse. In business, you can see the farm being built, the cold storage going up, the students getting jobs. That concreteness is deeply satisfying.

LOOKING AHEAD

Any final thoughts on what this new chapter means for you personally?

It means I’m not done. That might sound simple, but it’s everything. I gave everything I had to public service, and I’m proud of that. But when I stepped away, I didn’t want to slow down, I wanted to redirect. MFA Insights is that redirection. It’s the culmination of every tour I’ve done, every constituent I’ve served, every mayor I’ve met. I carry all of that into every meeting and every project. And honestly, I’m having more fun than I expected.

What message or advice would you give to the younger generation trying to figure out their own paths?

Be fearless. Dare to go to the places others avoid, that’s where the real opportunities are. But don’t be reckless. Build your character first. Strong ethics and genuine trustworthiness are your most durable assets, no technology can replace them, and no setback can take them from you. And embrace a nonlinear path. My career looks like a zigzag from the outside, but every turn taught me something irreplaceable. Don’t be afraid of pivots. Don’t be afraid of reinvention. The younger generation has tools we never had. Use them. But anchor everything you do in service to others  that’s what gives a career lasting meaning.

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Mohd Fahmi Aliman is the Founder and CEO of MFA Insights Pte Ltd, a Singapore based data and analytics consultancy serving cities and communities across the ASEAN region. A former Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC and Mayor of Singapore’s South East District, he brings over three decades of public service experience to the challenge of building more productive, resilient, and connected communities.