Melvin Poh

Melvin Poh FRSA is a Malaysian entrepreneur, barrister, investor, public intellectual, and author. He is recognised for his work in crowdsourcing knowledge in Asia and promoting greater accessibility to knowledge in the region. Poh has contributed to the development of platforms and initiatives aimed at increasing public engagement with knowledge-sharing, intellectual discourse, and philosophy, particularly within Southeast Asia. He has spoken extensively and written on issues related to knowledge accessibility, and is publicly associated with the access to knowledge movement.

Early life and education

Poh was born in Malaysia but had emigrated and spent most of his years living in New Zealand, Australia, United States and United Kingdom. He attended Hale School. He later pursued studies at Harvard University, Imperial College London and University of Cambridge. Poh subsequently became a barrister in the United Kingdom and was admitted as a member of The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn.

Career

The Asian Entrepreneur

In 2013, Poh founded The Asian Entrepreneur with another student at Harvard. The Asian Entrepreneur began in the United States as a print publication documenting business knowledge in Asia. The print publication was later developed by Poh into a digital crowdpublishing platform that allowed users to participate in the production of content and the editorial process through an open collaboration model. The Asian Entrepreneur then became an open access platform for accessing, exchanging and publishing business knowledge across Asia. The organization had worked with Southeast Asian governments on various startup initiatives for open access knowledge and education. In 2021 after raising funds, The Asian Entrepreneur was further expanded and officially rebranded to Empirics Asia.

Empirics Asia

In January 2021, Poh and his team raised US$8 million for The Asian Entrepreneur to expand its publishing scope further and renamed the company Empirics Asia. Empirics Asia was launched as an open access knowledge platform modeled on empiricism that incorporated social journalism, open publishing and crowdsourcing from Asia to publish direct insights on social scientific fields. Through the expanded publishing coverage, Empirics Asia worked with authors and experts to crowdsource knowledge and publish topics ranging from technology, psychology, philosophy, sociology, business, literature, economics, science and arts. Without operating a conventional paywall, content sponsorship and advertising, the platform aims to contribute to the democratization of knowledge. The organization also established a publishing and distribution operation for sourcing original titles and books from authors in Asia. The organization launched Empirics Podcast, an open access knowledge podcast produced and hosted by a machine learning artificial intelligence that was developed to study knowledge trends. As of September 2021, the organization has crowdsourced and published 1 million open access knowledge content in the social sciences from its network of writers and volunteers. In 2023, Empirics Asia released Librius, an artificial intelligence developed by the company to increase book knowledge by making learning from books more accessible to the public.

Public Intellectual Work

Poh has been an active contributor to public discourse on philosophy and knowledge accessibility, delivering keynote addresses and participating in international forums to advocate for public philosophy, collective knowledge, and the democratization of ideas. He regularly shares public commentary on intellectualism and the role of philosophy in contemporary society through his digital platforms and social media channels. In 2018, he spoke at The Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations Conference, organized by Harvard University, where he addressed the diffusion of knowledge through digital media. He has also delivered multiple TEDx talks across Singapore, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom, exploring themes such as philosophical literacy, knowledge accessibility and sustainable media development. He was invited by the Securities Commission Malaysia to join the panel of its Business Foresight Forum, where he advocated for the role of open access media in shaping future economic ecosystems. In 2021, he spoke at the Enterprise Asia Center of Entrepreneurship on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on knowledge diffusion. In 2023, Poh was a keynote speaker at the British Council’s 75th Anniversary Conference, where he addressed the widening knowledge gap among youth in Malaysia. In 2024, he delivered a keynote address at the ASEAN Business Forum, organised by Malaysia’s Ministry of International Trade and Investment, offering insights to regional government ministers on empowering young entrepreneurs through knowledge discourse and intellectualism. That same year, Poh founded The Philosophy Club, a digital platform designed to foster collective introspection and philosophical dialogue. In 2025, he authored and published ''Disconnected'', a philosophical reflection on modern life in a hyperconnected world, addressing erosion of attention, the commodification of identity, and the existential impact of digital media on contemporary thought.

Investments

Poh has been an active private equity investor. He co-founded an investment company that specialised in sourcing private equity for collegiate entrepreneurs and startup companies from Australia, United Kingdom and United States. In 2018, Poh became the second largest shareholder of De Clout, a SGX publicly listed company in Singapore by acquiring a 11.8% personal stake in the company. He later joined other investors in the development of several real estate in Singapore and co-founded a property development firm specializing in Singaporean real estate development. In 2021, it was revealed that Poh had an invested stake in a textile manufacturing plant based in Malaysia that specialized in interior building materials. Poh was reported to have made acquisitions of several significant cultural works in China in 2024. He is a co-founder of a Singaporean investment firm that engages in private equity investments in Southeast Asia.

Recognition

In 2019, Poh was among the 30 entrepreneurs admitted on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, for fostering education through crowdsourcing knowledge in Asia. He was listed on Prestige 40 Under 40 for contributing to open access knowledge in the region through digital crowdpublishing and was named among 30 honourees of industry leaders on Tatler's Generation.T Leaders Of Tomorrow for creating an open access knowledge hub in Asia and making contributions to regional education. In 2022, Poh was one of the 4 Malaysians whose work was recognized by British High Commission and HE Charles Hay; he subsequently was the recipient of the Business & Innovation Award from the British Council for his work in improving accessibility to knowledge in Asia. In 2023, Poh was conferred the title Fellow Of The Royal Society Of Arts (FRSA) in recognition for his contributions to knowledge accessibility.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poh, Melvin
Living people
Malaysian mass media people
Malaysian businesspeople
Year of birth missing (living people)
Malaysian investors
People educated at Hale School