This week’s highlight is Emerald Sia, Business Operations Manager at Paktor Group, one of the lagest and most successful dating brands in Asia.

Icebreakers Q&A

Q: If you were a dog, what breed would you be?

A: Golden retriever. Big and gentle. Loyal.

Q: What character trait do you value in your coworkers and why?

A: Teamwork, open communication, and mutual respect! Teams that learn together, grow together!

Q: Name one (or more!) hobby and why you like it.

A: Drawing/Painting/Handicrafts. Although I have stopped for a long while because it requires so much time. It keeps me sane.

‍Q: What are some things that people might misunderstand about you that you should clarify?

A: My honest opinions may come across as insensitive to others. The truth hurts, and pain makes us grow. 😌 #thatswhatfriendsarefor Lucky for me that my coworkers are very accepting people tho, hahahahahaha...

Q: What is your guilty pleasure TV show?

A: Crime-related shows. Real crime documentaries preferred.

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A Brief Conversation

Can you tell us a bit more about Paktor?

Emerald: Paktor is Singapore’s homegrown dating app which started with the mission of connecting singles in Asia through technology-enabled platforms and has expanded beyond Singapore to the rest of Southeast Asia and North Asia!  

It is part of Paktor Group, one of the largest and most successful dating brands in Asia. With a controlling stake in Taiwan live streaming company 17 Media, Paktor Group comprises a suite of dating products such as mobile dating apps (Paktor, Goodnight), offline dating agency (GaiGai) and image and date coaching agency (Fleek), which combines for over 50 million users in Asia. :)

Is Paktor a distributed/remote team? If so, what are some things that you do for team building and culture?

Emerald: Yes, Paktor has many employees across different functions who are working remotely - from Croatia, Russia, and India. Paktor’s CTO, Luko Djenero is from Croatia and is also working remotely!

We value the diversity of work experiences and allow our employees work from home arrangements, or to work remotely from overseas. At Paktor, we place emphasis on experience gain, and believe in building an environment with high flexibility and job mobility.

One way that we build team culture is by organising yearly team-bonding overseas trip for the entire company - where all staff will come together together in one country for a week-long team-building session.

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What is one of the coolest things about working at Paktor?

Emerald: I would say the company culture. Even though Paktor has expanded greatly since its inception, we still maintain a start-up culture. We believe in having a healthy balance between work and play, as well as constantly improving ourselves.

Some of Paktor’s benefits include a Learning & Development scheme, which provides staff with self-development courses related to their job functions, and also a Health & Fitness scheme which encourages all employees to maintain a healthy lifestyle by allowing reimbursements for any fitness classes and memberships.

Paktor also has a 'no door policy'. Senior management are easily accessible and reachable at all times, which we believe builds trust and mutual respect in the working environment.

Re: your answers on clarifying misunderstanding, how do you balance sharing your honest opinions and not coming across as insensitive?

Emerald: I am an honest person by nature, and I believe in providing fair and constructive feedback. When I share my point of view, I always back up my words with research - with real data and past examples. The delivery of my words also matter, and am always aware of the tone I am using.

I am glad that my peers in Paktor are mature individuals who are goal-oriented and data-driven. With a common goal to bring value to our audience, my colleagues in Paktor are very welcoming and appreciative of my honest inputs! :)

Final question — any crime documentaries you want to recommend?

Emerald: I watch various documentaries, TV shows and talk shows, like Crime Investigation Asia, Korean drama “Partners for Justice 1 & 2” and talk shows done by renowned forensic scientist, Dr. Henry Lee.

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