Council for Board Diversity welcomes new co-chairs and members

                      The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) announced the appointment of new Co-Chairs, Mr Gan Seow Kee and Ms Goh Swee Chen, and six new members to the Council for Board Diversity (CBD) in 2025. The members will serve a two-year term. The CBD was established by MSF to promote board diversity, including a sustained increasein the number of women directors in listed companies, statutory boards, and charities in Singapore (see Annex A for more information). This change refreshes almost two-thirds of the Council, providing the opportunity to tap on fresh perspectives and valuable insights. The full list of 13 members, including the Co-Chairs, is in Annex B.

 2.                Mr Gan Seow Kee (颜少奇) and Ms Goh Swee Chen (吴瑞真) bring with them a wealth of board and corporate leadership experience. Mr Gan, Deputy Chairman of Singapore LNG Corporation, was formerly Chairman and Managing Director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific. Ms Goh is Chairman of the Nanyang Technological University Board of Trustees and National Arts Council, and is a board director at JTC Corporation and Singapore Airlines.

 3.               MSF also welcomes the following new members[1]:

1. Ms Ang Shih-Huei – Deputy Honorary Secretary, Singapore Business Federation Council, and Board Director, Sentosa Development Corporation
2. Datuk Maimoonah Hussain – Board Director, Hong Leong Asia Ltd and Singapore Exchange Limited
3. Dr Seow Yian San – President, Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations
4. Mr Tan Boon Gin – CEO, Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo), and Chairman, SATA CommHealth
5. Ms Juliet Teo – Joint Head, Portfolio Development Group and Head, Singapore Market, Temasek International, and Board Director, CapitaLand Group
6. Mr Gregory Vijayendran – Member, Charity Council, and Honorary General Secretary, National Council of Social Service

4.              They join the following Council members[2] who have been re-appointed for a new two-year term:

1. Mr Azriman Mansor – Board Director, Yayasan Mendaki, and Council Member, Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS)
2. Mr Jonathan Eu – Chief Executive Officer and Board Director, Singapore Land Group Limited
3. Ms Euleen Goh – Chairman, Singapore Institute of Management, and Board Director, Jebsen & Jessen Pte Ltd
4. Mr Han Neng Hsiu – Dean and CEO, Civil Service College; Deputy Secretary, (Leadership), Public Service Division
5. Ms Ong Ai Hua – Deputy Secretary (Family and Society), Ministry of Social and Family Development

5.            President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Patron of the Council, said: “Diversity is a strength. Different experiences, perspectives and skillsets add strength and resilience to any team, including a board of directors responsible for oversight, strategic planning and shaping the culture of an organisation. Since the Council’s inception, Mr Loh Boon Chye and Mrs Mildred Tan have sought to foster this positive culture, and I am sure Mr Gan Seow Kee and Ms Goh Swee Chen will take forward the cause.”

6.              Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for Social and Family Development, said: “The CBD has made great strides since its inception in 2019. There are more women board directors across the private, public and people sectors. I commend Council members past and present for their tireless efforts in progressing board diversity. Under Mr Loh Boon Chye’s and Mrs Mildred Tan’s stewardship, the Council has made remarkable progress in raising awareness of and shifting mindsets on the merits of board diversity that includes fostering a culture of good governance. I look forward to the new Council making further progress on board diversity. As outlined in the White Paper on Singapore Women’s Development, representation via board diversity reflects our commitment to equal opportunity. This is part of our efforts towards a fairer and more inclusive society.”

7.               Board gender diversity has progressed strongly across SGX-listed companies, statutory boards and Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) over the last six years, with the proportion of women directors rising to the highest on record. All three sectors have also met voluntary targets[3] introduced by the Council to encourage organisations on their board diversity journey. Statutory boards and Top 100 IPCs lead the way, at 34.3% and 31.7% respectively, as at end-Dec 2024, an 11-percentage point increase and 4-percentage point increase from end-2018. With a proportion of women on boards at 25.1% as at end-Dec 2024, Top 100 SGX-listed companies have newly crossed the interim target of 25% by end-2025 a year ahead of schedule. This is a 10-percentage point increase from end-2018.

8.               MSF expresses appreciation to Mr Loh Boon Chye and Mrs Mildred Tan, outgoing Co-Chairs who have led efforts in nurturing board diversity as a pillar of good governance since the Council’s establishment in 2019. MSF also thanks the following members[4] who completed their term/s on 31 December 2024 for their important contributions to progress in board diversity:

1. Mr Loh Boon Chye (2019-2024) – Chief Executive Officer and Board Director, SGX Group
2. Mrs Mildred Tan (2019-2024) – Chairman, Tote Board Singapore and Singapore University of Social Sciences Board of Trustees
3. Ms Janet Ang (2019-2024) – Chairman, Singapore Polytechnic, Public Transport Council and SISTIC
4. Ms Chan Wai Ching (2019-2024) – Chief Corporate Officer and Head, Organisation & People, Temasek Holdings
5. Ms Junie Foo (2019-2024) – Immediate Past President, Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations, and Chairperson, Singapore Kindness Movement
6. Mr Piyush Gupta (2019-2024) – Chief Executive Officer and Board Director, DBS Group
7. Ms Elaine Heng (2023-2024) – Group Managing Director, Head of Group Strategy, Innovation and Sustainability, OCBC
8. Ms Ho Hern Shin (2022-2024) – Deputy Managing Director (Financial Supervision), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Board Director, Central Provident Fund Board
9. Mdm Kay Kuok (2019-2024) – Chair, Yale-NUS College Governing Board, and Executive Chairman, Allgreen Properties
10. Mr Steven Phan (2023-2024) – Board Director, United Overseas Bank and Jardine Cycle & Carriage
11. Mr Suhaimi Zainul-Abidin (2019-2024) – Chief Executive Officer, Quantedge Capital, and Board Director, National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre
12. Dr Ming Tan (2023-2024) – Founding Executive Director, Tech for Good Institute, and Board Director, COMO Foundation
    

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ANNEX A

ABOUT THE COUNCIL FOR BOARD DIVERSITY

Established by the Ministry of Social and Family Development in 2019, CBD spearheads efforts to encourage organisations across the private, public and people sectors on their journey of leveraging board diversity for business value. CBD believes having a range of diversities best suited to an organisation’s needs and ambitions provides a broad-based judgement of risks and opportunities and access to fresh perspectives for better decision-making; In turn, building strong boards and resilient organisations.

2          Recognising the contribution of women—the most visible and measurable aspect of diversity—as a powerful lead-in to the consideration of other diversities, CBD’s ambition in the long-term is for organisations in Singapore to achieve equal proportion of men and women directors on boards.

www.councilforboarddiversity.sg  

ANNEX B

COUNCIL FOR BOARD DIVERSITY MEMBERS FROM JANUARY 2025