Some people write e-mails, others key in a line or two. Liew Mun Leong, group president and CEO of CapitaLand, composes them, not just a paragraph or two but kilometre after kilometre of cyber scribble.
Of course, coming from the big boss of the largest listed property company in Southeast Asia, these are more than mere scribbles.
'Personally, I find it very relaxing to spend several hours on a Sunday - when I have the luxury of complete privacy - to organise my thoughts and reflections, and weave them into a story-telling e-mail,' he writes.
In these e-mails, Liew shares his vision and his company's core values and strategy. Hitting the 'send' button pushes Liew's e-mails to 11,000 of his colleagues in 113 cities across more than 20 countries. It is practically - and literally - a captive audience.
This book is the second volume of a compilation of his e-mails. The first was launched in November 2007 - almost a decade after Liew started composing his Sunday electronic missives. That book is being used as a management training teaching tool for participants at the CapitaLand Institute of Management and Business - the company's in-house training institute in Singapore - and is standard reading material at orientation sessions for all new hires.
Given its often raw source material, the book would have benefited from tighter editing and distillation. One saving grace, perhaps, is that all royalties from the two books will go to CapitaLand Hope Foundation, which aids programmes for the shelter, education and medical needs of poor children.
Critics may think of this project as a bit self-indulgent, but Liew's stature and experience do give his words a certain heft, given his career of almost half-a-century in the public and private sectors. Liew was appointed head honcho of Singapore's engineering board after helping build airports, military camps and airbases in the city-state.