Now, as vice-chairman of Hong Kong-based conglomerate the Kerry Group, Mr Yeo is exploring investment opportunities in the country that is fast opening up - whether to build hotels; how to transport goods, given its position between China and India; and hey, what about agriculture?
It is "nice", he says in his characteristic understated way, that as a businessman, he is helping his company reap "powerful benefits" from the policies that he, as a minister, had helped pushed for.
"It's almost as if you've been dealing at it one level, helping to design and build the swimming pool, and now you are swimming in it."
The 58-year-old looked relaxed when he met The Straits Times for an interview last week, his first with the Singapore media since he lost his seat in Aljunied GRC in May last year, putting an end to his 23 years in government.
Perched in his office on the 31st floor of the Kerry Centre, overlooking Victoria Harbour, Mr Yeo talks - over milk tea - about how his life has changed in the 17 months since he left politics.
While he declines to speak on Singapore or domestic politics, Mr Yeo, who helmed four ministries in his time, says he misses being involved in policy formulation.
"That part - where you're involved in policy formulation which affects Singaporeans - you don't have that as much in the private sector. When I look back on my various portfolios, there were opportunities to do good.
"I do view that with a certain nostalgia and gratitude."
Politics, though, is a different matter for the father of three, whose People's Action Party team lost in Aljunied GRC during the last general election to the Workers' Party's "A" slate led by its secretary-general Low Thia Khiang.
"Politics is insistent in its claim on your time and in its demands on one's nervous energy. That part, I don't really miss," he admits with a laugh. "Because I have more freedom now, less of that constant pressure."
Asked about criticisms over his decision to quit politics, leaving the PAP team and its activists to fight the next battle, he would only say: "I didn't resign. I was voted out."
He remains in touch with his former grassroots leaders and, when in Singapore, would head to Bedok Reservoir in his former constituency for a run. Residents are friendly - they wave and tell him, "so sad not to have you around".
While not speaking specifically of Singapore in the aftermath of the 2011 elections, Mr Yeo dwelt on how the nature of leadership around the world has changed. With the rise of social media and a smartphone in every pocket, "if a leader puts on airs and pretends, he loses credibility".
"In the old days you're protected by ritual, by hypocrisy, sometimes by ignorance. Today it's no longer possible. If a picture is too perfect, you know it can't be real."
In this context, political leaders - whether in Singapore, China or Hong Kong - are facing rising cynicism among younger citizens towards them and the political system, he observes.
There is thus an urgent need to build trust so that leaders can craft policies that strike a balance between individual needs and the collective good.
"If people feel that, in the end 'I'm in your heart', they're less likely to question every decision you make because they know it is for their good and the collective good.
"But if I begin to suspect you, that you're in it for yourself, then I will be much more insistent upon my needs being met."
Most of Mr Yeo's time now is spent outside Singapore - mainly in Hong Kong, where he has set up a second home with his wife Jennifer. Just last Saturday, he received an honorary doctorate in social science from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
He also travels the world for business and as a speaker at universities and forums.
While he has left the foreign office, he has clearly not lost his love for meeting people and exchanging ideas.
But the past year, during which he joined the Kerry Group and now helms its logistics arm, has been a leap into the unknown for the President's Scholar, who had hitherto spent his entire career in government.
Asked what new insight he has gleaned from his time in the private sector, he muses: "In business, every step has got to be a sure step, because otherwise you stumble and fall, and that can be the end of the story. There's no luxury of big buffers, which a country would have to ride through cycles."
If a parcel does not get to its client within 24 hours as promised, "you've got a problem".
Was it a difficult adjustment to make? Mr Yeo says with a smile: "I'm still learning."
xueying@sph.com.sg
It is "nice", he says in his characteristic understated way, that as a businessman, he is helping his company reap "powerful benefits" from the policies that he, as a minister, had helped pushed for.
"It's almost as if you've been dealing at it one level, helping to design and build the swimming pool, and now you are swimming in it."
The 58-year-old looked relaxed when he met The Straits Times for an interview last week, his first with the Singapore media since he lost his seat in Aljunied GRC in May last year, putting an end to his 23 years in government.
Perched in his office on the 31st floor of the Kerry Centre, overlooking Victoria Harbour, Mr Yeo talks - over milk tea - about how his life has changed in the 17 months since he left politics.
While he declines to speak on Singapore or domestic politics, Mr Yeo, who helmed four ministries in his time, says he misses being involved in policy formulation.
"That part - where you're involved in policy formulation which affects Singaporeans - you don't have that as much in the private sector. When I look back on my various portfolios, there were opportunities to do good.
"I do view that with a certain nostalgia and gratitude."
Politics, though, is a different matter for the father of three, whose People's Action Party team lost in Aljunied GRC during the last general election to the Workers' Party's "A" slate led by its secretary-general Low Thia Khiang.
"Politics is insistent in its claim on your time and in its demands on one's nervous energy. That part, I don't really miss," he admits with a laugh. "Because I have more freedom now, less of that constant pressure."
Asked about criticisms over his decision to quit politics, leaving the PAP team and its activists to fight the next battle, he would only say: "I didn't resign. I was voted out."
He remains in touch with his former grassroots leaders and, when in Singapore, would head to Bedok Reservoir in his former constituency for a run. Residents are friendly - they wave and tell him, "so sad not to have you around".
While not speaking specifically of Singapore in the aftermath of the 2011 elections, Mr Yeo dwelt on how the nature of leadership around the world has changed. With the rise of social media and a smartphone in every pocket, "if a leader puts on airs and pretends, he loses credibility".
"In the old days you're protected by ritual, by hypocrisy, sometimes by ignorance. Today it's no longer possible. If a picture is too perfect, you know it can't be real."
In this context, political leaders - whether in Singapore, China or Hong Kong - are facing rising cynicism among younger citizens towards them and the political system, he observes.
There is thus an urgent need to build trust so that leaders can craft policies that strike a balance between individual needs and the collective good.
"If people feel that, in the end 'I'm in your heart', they're less likely to question every decision you make because they know it is for their good and the collective good.
"But if I begin to suspect you, that you're in it for yourself, then I will be much more insistent upon my needs being met."
Most of Mr Yeo's time now is spent outside Singapore - mainly in Hong Kong, where he has set up a second home with his wife Jennifer. Just last Saturday, he received an honorary doctorate in social science from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
He also travels the world for business and as a speaker at universities and forums.
While he has left the foreign office, he has clearly not lost his love for meeting people and exchanging ideas.
But the past year, during which he joined the Kerry Group and now helms its logistics arm, has been a leap into the unknown for the President's Scholar, who had hitherto spent his entire career in government.
Asked what new insight he has gleaned from his time in the private sector, he muses: "In business, every step has got to be a sure step, because otherwise you stumble and fall, and that can be the end of the story. There's no luxury of big buffers, which a country would have to ride through cycles."
If a parcel does not get to its client within 24 hours as promised, "you've got a problem".
Was it a difficult adjustment to make? Mr Yeo says with a smile: "I'm still learning."
xueying@sph.com.sg
Background story
MORE FREEDOM NOW
Politics is insistent in its claim on your time and in its demands on one's nervous energy. That part, I don't really miss... Because I have more freedom now, less of that constant pressure.
- Mr Yeo, on life after politics
BUILDING TRUST
If people feel that, in the end 'I'm in your heart', they're less likely to question every decision you make because they know it is for their good and the collective good. But if I begin to suspect you, that you're in it for yourself, then I will be much more insistent upon my needs being met.
- Mr Yeo, on changes in the nature of leadership around the world
Politics is insistent in its claim on your time and in its demands on one's nervous energy. That part, I don't really miss... Because I have more freedom now, less of that constant pressure.
- Mr Yeo, on life after politics
BUILDING TRUST
If people feel that, in the end 'I'm in your heart', they're less likely to question every decision you make because they know it is for their good and the collective good. But if I begin to suspect you, that you're in it for yourself, then I will be much more insistent upon my needs being met.
- Mr Yeo, on changes in the nature of leadership around the world
