Gan Seow Kee and Goh Swee Chen replaced former co-chairs Loh Boon Chye and Mildred Tan at the start of the year.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has appointed two new co-chairs to the Council for Board Diversity (CBD): Gan Seow Kee, deputy chairman of Singapore LNG Corporation; and Goh Swee Chen, chairman of the Nanyang Technological University Board of Trustees and National Arts Council.

Gan was formerly chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific, while Goh is currently a board director at JTC Corporation and Singapore Airlines C6l.

They replace outgoing co-chairs Loh Boon Chye, CEO and board director of Singapore Exchange S68 (SGX) Group; and Mildred Tan, chairman of Tote Board Singapore and the Singapore University of Social Sciences Board of Trustees. Both Loh and Tan served on the Council from 2019 to 2024.

Mildred Tan (left) and Loh Boon Chye deliver opening remarks at the CBD 5th Anniversary Forum on Aug 31, 2023 (Photo: CBD)

In a Jan 17 press release, MSF also announced the appointments of six new Council members. They are: 

• Ang Shih-Huei, deputy honorary secretary, Singapore Business Federation Council; and board director, Sentosa Development Corporation
• Datuk Maimoonah Hussain, board director, Singapore Exchange and Hong Leong Asia
• Seow Yian San, president, Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations 
• Tan Boon Gin, CEO, Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo); and Chairman, SATA CommHealth
• Juliet Teo, joint head, portfolio development group and head, Singapore market, Temasek International; and board director, CapitaLand Group 
• Gregory Vijayendran, member, Charity Council; and honorary general secretary, National Council of Social Service 

The change refreshes almost two-thirds of the Council. These six members, along with the two new co-chairs, began serving their two-year term at the start of the year. They join the following re-appointed members to form the current 13-member Council: 

• Azriman Mansor, board director, Yayasan Mendaki; and council member, Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS)
• Jonathan Eu, CEO and board director, Singapore Land
• Euleen Goh, chairman, Singapore Institute of Management; and board director, Jebsen & Jessen
• Han Neng Hsiu, dean and CEO, Civil Service College; and deputy secretary (leadership), Public Service Division
• Ong Ai Hua, MSF’s deputy secretary (family and society)

Including the two former co-chairs, 12 members completed their terms on Dec 31, 2024 and were not re-appointed. They include Piyush Gupta, CEO and board director of DBS Group Holdings; Elaine Heng, group managing director, head of group strategy, innovation and sustainability at OCBC; Steven Phan, board director at United Overseas Bank U11 and Jardine Cycle & Carriage C07; and Suhaimi Zainul-Abidin, CEO of Quantedge Capital and board director, National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre.

The CBD was established by MSF in 2019 to promote board diversity — including a sustained increase in the number of women directors — in listed companies, statutory boards and charities in Singapore.

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, patron of the Council, says: “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.” 

CBD says board gender diversity has progressed “strongly” across SGX-listed companies, statutory boards and Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) over the past six years, with the proportion of women directors rising to the highest on record. 

CBD set out its long-term ambition for equal proportion of men and women directors on boards in 2019. It also set targets for women’s participation on boards (WOB), which take into consideration the different starting positions of each sector in terms of WOB. 

For the top 100 primary-listed companies, CBD set a target for 20% WOB by end-2020, 25% by end-2025 and 30% by end-2030. 

For statutory boards and the top 100 IPCs, CBD set a target of 30% WOB “as soon as possible”.

All three sectors have also met these voluntary targets, says CBD. Statutory boards and top 100 IPCs lead the way, at 34.3% and 31.7% respectively, as at end-2024. This is an 11 percentage point (ppt) increase and 4 ppt increase from end-2018. 

Meanwhile, the proportion of women on the boards of the top 100 SGX-listed companies reached 25.1% at end-2024, crossing the interim target of 25% by end-2025 a year ahead of schedule. This is a 10 ppt increase from end-2018. 

Read more about the Council for Board Diversity (CBD):

• Women representation on boards of listcos, stat boards, charities reach record high in 2023: CBD (June 2024)
• ISCA, Council for Board Diversity sign MOU to improve support for Singapore’s board directors (May 2024)
• More than a quarter of top 100 SGX-listed issuers have board sustainability committees, up from just six in 2017: CBD (April 2024)
• Study finds 89% of SGX-listed issuers have board diversity policy but SGX RegCo says disclosures need more detail (November 2023)
• Singapore companies miss target for 20% female board members (April 2021)