Leadership Network member an “emotional activist” and “grounded analyst”
When the Asia New Zealand Foundation caught up with him, Pok Wei-Heng was meant to be on a train to Perlis, a northern state in Malaysia bordering Thailand. Instead, he had spent the last few days cancelling accommodation bookings as the region was underwater.
Pok: "I just have a mind for complexity, I think. I never just look at one thing and go, 'that's it'.”
For the Asia New Zealand Foundation Leadership Network member, currently back in his childhood home of Malaysia to visit family, it was a stark, personal reminder of the industry he has spent the last five years working in.
“I’ve had to cancel the entire week because it flooded,” Pok says.
“It shows you the vulnerability that our region in Southeast Asia faces...this is always going to be a thing, and we’re always going to be one of the first to feel it.”
Pok is a climate change consultant - or a sustainability consultant, depending on the day.
In his day job back in New Zealand, he helps clients understand how to decarbonize and adapt to an increasingly volatile world.
But right now, he is in a period of flux himself. After five years of high-pressure work in the climate space, he is taking a breather.
“I think after five years, I’ve needed some time to pause...and have a sense of where I'm going next,” he says.
“It’s like if you want to see through muddy water, you need to let it settle, and we’re just thrashing.”
Come February, that settling process involves moving into a monastery in Northland for three months of deep reflection and meditation.
It is a pivot point in a career that was never linear to begin with.
Born in Singapore, Pok spent 20 years there and completed his military service before moving to New Zealand eight years ago.
His path to climate leadership wasn't paved with environmental science degrees – at university he studied accounting and supply chain management, a respectable and sensible choice that met family expectations.
But Pok had a history of going against the grain, earlier opting for courses in theatre studies and literature.
He realised early on in his tertiary studies he wasn't happy “helping people account for profit”, but he wondered if he could account for electricity and carbon use instead.
“I just have a mind for complexity, I think. I never just look at one thing and go, 'that's it',” he says.
In February, Pok will be heading to Northland for three months of deep reflection and meditation at a monastery
He describes himself as having two distinct sides: the emotional activist and the grounded analyst.
“There's an activist side of me that's very emotional, and then there's the very analytical side of me that's very grounded...very by the book,” he says.
“Fundamentally, what doesn't get measured doesn't get improved on.”
Breaking into the industry was a battle.
Environmental firms rejected him for having an accounting degree; accounting firms rejected him for having sustainability experience.
“The faster we move [as a society], I almost feel like the deeper we need to understand our roots of what it means to be human.”
Pok Wei-Hung
Eventually, a firm took a chance on an intern with "young blood", and his career took off.
His work has since seen him engage with clients from mana whenua in Tāmaki Makaurau in developing non-financial strategies.
It is a space where he feels his background allows him to see the nuance in New Zealand's identity.
“We’re like a bicultural nation with a multicultural reality,” Pok says.
“When we have visitors and guests visiting us in Southeast Asia, we embrace them with hospitality and explain the rules of our lands.
"I remind myself that I am still a guest and visitor of New Zealand.
“I need to decentre myself and be part of the kaupapa of assisting mana whenua in restoring the whenua and taking care of this land.”
Pok: "How does your land speak to you, and how do we work with that.”
He sees the economic and environmental pathways of his adopted home as deeply intertwined.
“How does your land speak to you, and how do we work with that,” he asks.
Now, as he prepares for his time in the monastery, Pok is also studying theology and ancient wisdom at the University of Auckland.
He is reading Celtic wisdom alongside the Tao Te Ching, looking backward to move forward.
“The faster we move [as a society], I almost feel like the deeper we need to understand our roots of what it means to be human,” he says.
“This feels like a real time to reassess my humanity.”
Whether he returns to strategy, policy, or something entirely different remains to be seen.
For now, the goal is simply to let the water clear.
The Asia New Zealand Foundation Leadership Network equips the next generation of Kiwi leaders to thrive in Asia. We provide members with the connections, knowledge and confidence to lead New Zealand’s future relationship with the region.
