New chairman to drive SBS Transit's next stage of growth
Bob Tan takes over from Lim Jit Poh who is retiring and taking up advisory role to secure continuity
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Mr Bob Tan Beng Hai (left) will succeed Mr Lim Jit Poh as chairman of SBS Transit from today. Mr Lim has been chairman of the transport operator since 2003.
Sembcorp Marine director Bob Tan Beng Hai will succeed Mr Lim Jit Poh as chairman of transport operator SBS Transit (SBST).
In a statement yesterday, SBST said Mr Tan, 69, who was on the board of rail operator SMRT from 2006 to 2017, will take over from today.
He will also be chairman of the SBST tenders committee, and a member of the nominating and remuneration committee.
"These are exciting times for the public transport sector which is undergoing structural change," Mr Tan said in the SBST statement. "I am honoured to be part of SBS Transit and I look forward to working with the board and management as we respond to this change and the ongoing challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic."
Mr Lim, 81, who retired after yesterday's annual general meeting (AGM), will stay on as senior adviser to ensure continuity in the group "as it navigates a changing environment in a tightly regulated industry".
He will also remain as chairman of SBST parent group ComfortDelGro and its vehicle inspection unit Vicom.
Mr Lim has been chairman of SBST since 2003.
His tenure with the public transport group, however, goes back to 1997, when he joined SBS Bus Services as a director, and subsequently sat on the board of DelGro after SBS was restructured.
Mr Lim said that he is "happy to be handing over the reins to Mr Bob Tan who is very seasoned and, in my opinion, well qualified to lead the group into the next phase of growth".
Mr Tan had also succeeded Mr Lim as chairman of property trust Ascott Reit about five years ago.
Mr Tan is an independent director at Sembcorp Marine, a marine engineering group.
He is also chairman of Sentosa Development Corp and Jurong Engineering. He also sits on the board of the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute, and is a member of the Monetary Authority of Singapore's corporate governance advisory committee and securities industry council.
Mr Tan is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Singapore Institute of Directors.
He had served as a director of SMRT when Ms Saw Phaik Hwa and Mr Desmond Kuek were at the helm, and left the company when Mr Seah Moon Ming became its chairman in 2017.
Meanwhile, SBST board members Benny Lim and John De Payva also retired at yesterday's AGM.
Replacing them are National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general and Tampines GRC MP Desmond Choo and SBST's newly minted chief executive Cheng Siak Kian.
Mr Cheng has been with the company since September 2015, and served as senior vice-president in the bus operations division where he was part of a tender team which clinched the Seletar Bus Package.
