Board of Directors

Ms. Chew Gek Khim was appointed to the Board of the Company as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director on 18 March 2016. She assumed the role as Chairman of the Company on 11 May 2016. She was also appointed as a member of both the Nominating and Remuneration Committee of the Company on 20 May 2016.

Ms. Chew is a lawyer by training. She has been Chairman of The Straits Trading Company Limited since 24 April 2008, first as Non-Executive and Non-Independent Chairman and then as Executive Chairman since 1 November 2009.

She is also Executive Chairman of Tecity Group, which she joined in 1987. She is Chairman of ARA Trust Management (Suntec) Limited and sits on the board of Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited.

Ms. Chew is also Deputy Chairman of Tan Chin Tuan Foundation in Singapore and Chairman of Tan Sri Tan Foundation in Malaysia. She is a Member of the Securities Industry Council of Singapore, the SSO Council and Board of Governors of S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. She was the Chairman of the National Environment Agency Board of Singapore from 2008 to 2015 and Deputy Chairman of ARA Asset Management Limited. Ms. Chew was also previously a director of CapitaLand Retail China Trust (formerly CapitaRetail China Trust Management Limited) and a board member of the Singapore Totalisator Board.

She was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite in 2010, the Singapore Businessman of the Year 2014 in 2015 and the Meritorious Service Medal at the National Day Award in 2016.

Ms. Chew Gek Khim is the Executive Chairman of The Straits Trading Company Limited, the major shareholder of the Company which owns 55.30% of the equity of the Company. Her mother is Dr. Tan Kheng Lian, a substantial shareholder of The Straits Trading Company Limited.

Mr. John Mathew a/l Mathai was appointed to the Board of the Company as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 23 March 2016. He was also appointed as a member of both the Nominating and Remuneration Committee of the Company on 4 April 2016.

He is an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya and has been in legal practice since February 1987. He is presently a partner of Messrs. Christopher & Lee Ong, Kuala Lumpur and co-heads the Dispute Resolution Practice of the firm. He is also a Notary Public.

Mr. Chia Chee Ming, Timothy was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company on 19 May 2016. He has been re-designated as Senior Independent Director of the Company with effect from 24 February 2017. He was also appointed as the Chairman of both the Nominating and Remuneration Committee of the Company on 20 May 2016.

He is the Chairman of Hup Soon Global Corporation Private Limited. He sits on the boards of several other private and public companies, including Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd., Fraser and Neave Limited, Singapore Power Limited, Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd., Ceylon Guardian Investment Trust PLC and Ceylon Investment PLC. He is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Singapore Management University, an Advisory Council Member of the ASEAN Business Club and a Member of the Advisory Board of the Asian Civilisations Museum.

Mr. Chia was the former Chairman – Asia for Coutts & Co Ltd., the private banking arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. From 1986 to 2004, he was a director of PAMA Group where he was responsible for private equity investments and served as president from 1995 to 2004. He was previously a director of SP PowerAssets Limited, PowerGas Limited, InnoTek Limited, and a senior advisor to EQT Funds Management Ltd.

Dato' Robert Teo Keng Tuan was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company on 17 May 2017. He was also appointed as the Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Company on the same date.

He is a Chartered Accountant by profession. Dato’ Robert Teo is the Managing Partner of RSM Malaysia, a professional public accounting firm, which is a member firm of RSM International. He has more than 35 years of experience in the fields of accounting, corporate taxation, audit assurance and corporate restructuring exercises. He has also undertaken Special Administrator appointments by Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad for certain public listed companies and is also involved in the restructuring of corporations, some of which are listed on the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.

Dato' Robert Teo's specialised industry knowledge lies in the property, construction and housing development sector with a focus on tax planning.

Dato' Robert Teo currently sits on the board of Symphony Life Berhad, Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and The Tan Sri Tan Foundation.

Datuk Kamaruddin Taib was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company on 16 November 2018.

He has significant experience in investment banking, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions. His career started in 1980 with a leading merchant bank in Malaysia. Subsequently, he served as a Director of several private companies, companies listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad ("Bursa") and companies listed on the Stock Exchange of India as well as listed on Nasdaq (U.S.A.).

Currently, Datuk Kamaruddin is the Chairman of DNV GL Malaysia Sdn Bhd, part of the Global DNV GL Group, which is a leading technical assurance company providing specialised services for the Oil and Gas Industry. He has been with the DNV GL Group since 1995, and retired as its Executive Chairman in June 2017.

Datuk Kamaruddin is currently the Independent Non-Executive Chairman of GHL Systems Berhad, Great Eastern Takaful Berhad and HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad. In addition, he is also an Independent Non-Executive Director of Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad, Great Eastern General Insurance (Malaysia) Berhad, BFC Exchange Sdn Bhd, FIDE FORUM (Financial Institutions Directors Education FORUM) and Fraser & Neave Holdings Berhad. He serves as a trustee for the Malaysian Oil & Gas Services Council. Prior to being a trustee, he was an elected executive council member.

Dato' Dr Ir Patrick Yong Mian Thong was appointed to as a Chief Executive Officer of the Company on 7 October 2016. Subsequently, he was appointed to the Board of the Company as a Non-Independent Executive Director on 1 June 2018.

He started his career as an engineer with the National Electricity Board of Malaysia (LLN). In 1989, Dato’ Dr Ir Patrick Yong left LLN to pursue his career as a consultant in electrical engineering.

Dato’ Dr Ir Patrick Yong founded Sulfarid Technologies in 2004 and was its Managing Director. The Company was subsequently acquired by the Hup Soon Global Corporation Group in November 2007 and renamed Borid Technologies.

Throughout his line of work, Dato’ Dr Ir Patrick Yong established his proficiency in electrical distribution systems and pursued research in the field of efficiency in energy conversion leading to a PhD in Electrical Engineering.

He was the Chief Operating Officer of Tai Kwang Yokohama Industries Berhad from 2007 to 2010 and former Chief Executive Officer of Yokohama Industries Berhad from 2010 to 2015, managing a secondary lead smelter and SLI battery manufacturing.