The chief executive officer of Singapore Pools, Mr Seah Chin Siong, has resigned from the organisation and will join the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) in May.

He will be leaving Singapore Pools on April 30, and will begin his role as president and CEO of SIM on May 1, Singapore Pools said yesterday. It said that his successor will be appointed "at an appropriate time".

Mr Seah, 54, said: "As a firm believer and advocate of lifelong learning and people development, the opportunity to join SIM fulfils both a personal and professional milestone in my career."

He thanked the Singapore Pools Board for its confidence during his tenure. "I am confident that with the current strong management team in place, they will continue to better fulfil Pools' mission well into the future," he said.

Mr Seah has held the reins since Jan 1, 2015. Before that, he was deputy CEO from October 2012.

In a press statement, Singapore Pools described Mr Seah as "a forward-looking leader" who implemented changes that let the organisation keep pace with the dynamic digital economy.

During his tenure, Singapore Pools attained Exempt Operator status in 2016 under the Remote Gambling Act. This allowed it to run an online betting platform, despite the Act, which outlaws online and phone gambling.

The organisation also achieved the highest level of certification in responsible gaming, awarded by the World Lottery Association.

Mr Seah also emphasised employee training and people development by introducing Learning Organisation principles and Systems Thinking in Singapore Pools.

He initiated iShine Cloud for charities here to provide them with a secure and affordable cloud-based IT platform to improve the governance and efficiency of their operations.

Mr Koh Choon Hui, chairman of Singapore Pools, said: "On behalf of the board and management of Singapore Pools, I would like to express our deep appreciation to Chin Siong for his contributions to the company and his leadership to enhance the charity sector through digitalisation."

Ms Euleen Goh, chairman of the SIM Governing Council, said Mr Seah shares the institution's passion for the part that education plays in touching and uplifting lives.

"His extensive experience will provide the impetus to steer SIM with a renewed relevance and focus to leverage technology to deliver programmes that enable effective continuous learning and equip workers with lifelong deep skills training," she said.