Born and raised in a lower middle-class family in Penang, Thomas worked to support himself through university in Auckland, New Zealand. Recruited on campus by PwC, he worked there for a year before returning to Malaysia to help Swiss company Brown Boveri to start up their operations there. With the merger that formed Asea Brown Boveri in 1988, Thomas was transferred to Hong Kong as an expatriate Chief Financial Officer for ABB’s operations in China and Hong Kong. Between 1994 and 1998, Thomas was head-hunted by Rexam plc (was on the FSTE 100) to establish their Asia operations, with acquisitions, joint ventures and greenfield start-ups. He was invited to return to ABB in 1998 as President and Country Manager for the Philippines. This was the first time for ABB to have an Asian expatriate as a country manager. After retiring from corporate life in 2004 at the age of 47, Thomas joined the boards of various NGOs. One of them was a computer school for the blind. When he learnt how effectively the blind can use the computer and access the internet, he decided to start Genashtim with the purpose of providing employment for the disadvantaged, in particular the disabled. For what he does, Thomas has been featured in many international publications including Forbes, and newspapers in Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, Colombia, Morocco and Belgium. Thomas is a much sought-after speaker and some of the invitations include the Harkin Institute in Washington DC, the ILO in Geneva, The World Blind Union in Bangkok, The WHO in Sydney, Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), APEC in Hanoi, the Bali Democracy Forum, The Nippon Foundation in Yangon, Asian Regional Training Organisation in Cebu and in Yogyakarta, Asia Pacific CBR Convention in KL, and Rotary Clubs in Melbourne, Singapore and Malaysia. He is also one of the founding Global Advisors for Knowledge Impact Network, and he sits on the board of the ASEAN Responsible and Inclusive Business Alliance (ARAIBA).