Singapore Tourism Board chairman Chaly Mah is set to become infrastructure consultancy firm Surbana Jurong Group’s new chairman with effect from 1 January next year.
Mr Mah’s appointment came over four months after Surbana Jurong Group’s founding chairman Liew Mun Leong’s retirement in September from his public service and business roles at Surbana Jurong, Changi Airport Group, Temasek Foundation, and Temasek International.
Stating that he is “deeply honoured and humbled” with his new role, Mr Mah expressed his gratitude to Mr Liew, who, “with the SJ leadership team, was the driving force behind Surbana Jurong’s growth strategy”.
“I look forward to working with the board and management to leverage on this strong platform to advance the Group into a leading global player,” he added.
Mr Mah also chairs the Singapore Accountancy Commission, NetLink NBN, and the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School Accounting advisory board.
On top of that, he is also a member of the Board of Trustees of NUS, SG Eco Fund, the Singapore Economic Development Board, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Flipkart and CapitaLand.
Mr Mah previously served as chairman of the Singapore Land Authority between 2010 and 2014, and chairman of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce between 2015 and 2017.
He is also the Singapore non-resident Ambassador to Papua New Guinea and was awarded the Public Service Medal for his contributions to public service in 2014.
Surbana Jurong Group CEO Wong Heang Fine said that Mr Mah’s “deep experience and insights will benefit us greatly” as the group continues to “grow our portfolio of specialty consulting skills and expand our capabilities for the built environment, anchored on sustainability and technology for the future”.
Mr Liew’s announcement on his retirement came less than a week after a mass outpouring of negative public sentiment against him and his family, following the High Court’s acquittal of his former domestic worker Parti Liyani of theft charges on 4 September.
The theft charges made against her were in relation to his belongings and those of his family members, which originally totalled to S$50,000.
District Judge Olivia Low sentenced Ms Parti to 26 months of jail after removing items from and reducing value on the allegedly stolen items that defence lawyer Anil Balchandani had successfully disproved in the State Courts hearing.
In acquitting Ms Parti, Justice Chan Seng Onn found that Mr Liew and Mr Karl’s actions demonstrated “improper motives” in terminating Ms Parti’s employment and making the police report against her.
He stressed that the prosecution had failed to demonstrate that there was no improper motive by Mr Liew and Mr Karl in making the police report against Ms Parti “just two days” after she made an express threat to alert the Ministry of Manpower about her illegal deployment to the latter’s residence and office.
Mr Anil of Red Lion Circle, who represented Ms Parti at the trial and appeal stages, told Justice Chan that Ms Parti had decided not to seek compensation from Mr Liew.
According to Mr Anil, Ms Parti did not want to “add more” to Mr Liew’s “problems”, especially after her former employer’s resignation from his public service roles.
