SIX years into his job as chairman of the Singapore Red Cross Society, former chief of defence force Winston Choo wanted to step down.

'It's not healthy to helm any group for too long,' said Lieutenant-General (Ret) Choo, 67.

So, President S R Nathan, who appoints the charity's chairman, asked him for a list of possible successors.

But for another six years, no suitable candidate could be found until Lt-Gen (Ret) Choo persuaded former police commissioner Tee Tua Ba to take over this month.

By then, he had spent 12 years volunteering at the charity and was its longest-serving chairman.

Yesterday, the Red Cross' new chief outlined his plans for the charity.

Top on Mr Tee's list is to uphold the trust the public has in the charity.

'Some people came with $100,000 in cold, hard cash to give us to help disaster victims previously,' Mr Tee said.

'I think this speaks volumes about the trust the public has in us, a trust we will never compromise.'

To smoke out any possible wrongdoing, the former top cop plans to set up a whistle-blowing system for staff and volunteers to report malpractice.

Not that any staff member has ever been involved in shady practices, he explained, but such a policy will help people come forward to report any wrongdoing.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.