Top management of LTA, SBS Transit and SMRT
After the Nicoll Highway incident that claimed three lives and delayed Circle Line project, LTA welcomed a new CEO Mr Yam Ah Mee. Except for a few minor reorganisation to ensure more safety, LTA's top management was pretty stable. However, there had been some turbulence over the past year. Two top management left in late 2006. Now, another two left. The latest departure is reported in an article by Straits Times (attached below).
2 more directors quit
THE Land Transport Authority, beset with top-level resignations in recent months, has lost two more group directors.
Group director of roads Tham-Lee Siyou Kim, who is in her 50s, has quit. So has Ms Rebecca Teo, 47, group director of corporate services. Both left in May without new jobs. They were among nine top managers reporting to chief executive Yam Ah Mee, 49.
In January, deputy chief executive Low Tien Sio and director of policy and planning Eng Sok Yong quit.
Mr Low, 60, is now with a team building the Sentosa integrated resort, while Ms Eng, 39, is with corporate development at transport group SBS Transit.
Other LTA honchos who have left include former chief executive Ho Meng Kit, 50, and director of projects Rajan Krishnan, 56, who left soon after the Nicoll Highway collapse in 2004.
With the latest departures, Ms Maria Choy, in her late 50s, is the only 'old guard' LTA group director remaining. She heads the vehicle and transit licensing unit.
Source: The Straits Times (17 July 2007)
Unless we have insiders' news or the press decided to investigate further, we would not know the reasons of their departure. It just quite bewildering that top management people are leaving a company without a job. I do reckon they could be retiring early. However, that contravenes the government's effort in promoting a more elderly workforce.
For SMRT, all the old guards of former bus company TIBS had left, with the exception of Mr Morris Piper. The departure were inevitable for a merged company as it is usual that the staff in the acquired company leave. The only surprise is the departure of former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Mr Patrick Lau, who left in 2006. He is now heading a company reproducing famous art works.
For SBS Transit, Executive Director Mr Ong Boon Leong left in April 2007 to heed higher calling. There are no other departures.
Out of the three organisation, SBS Transit seems to be the only organisation with stable top management. In fact, they manage to rope in former LTA high-flyer Ms Eng Sok Yong to join as Senior Vice President (Corporate Development). With her experience in LTA, she now oversees the departments in the support area, with key focus on finance, human resource, information technology and corporate communications.
Personally I feel that such drastic movement is unhealthy. Especially in this times where the land transport industry is at an important juncture. LTA is currently undertaking a review of the industry, and it is better to have people who understand the land transport industry. Nevertheless, having new blood could bring fresh perspective to this industry that had seen little progress in recent years.
Let's keep our fingers crossed.
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5 comments:
Thanks for the insightful article.
My gut feel is that the land transport overhaul includes the removal (and replacement) of land transport honchos who have overstayed their terms of duty. But I can't be too sure of that though.
What goes behind the scene, though important, must translate into benefits for public transport users.
There is a certain truth that when most of the top notches leave a company, more often it signals the clash of ideas and disagreements between the top management people and the CEO, who you know that pinnacle is assumed by a general. Like most of the senior officers in the military, he may also exhibit this " i-am-always-right" kind of mentality, who may not have the essential management skills and know nuts about land transport, although he was formerly a deputy secretary in MOT. Oh yeah, isnt the head of SMRT Corporate communication a former military officer also?
Helloo!!
Just a general comment. Good to hear that there are transport enthusiasts around. I'm an Urban Planner coming back to Singapore to work - didn't know about the LTA issues. And yes I have done the "sat on the bus for the sake of travelling from bus interchange to terminal" journey! :D Perhaps we might meet in the industry - either LTA or URA
It was the CEO. He's an ex-army officer who made high demands at short deadlines and that is as much as i know.
I can only speculate on two possible things:
1) He was trying to climb ranks by his own agenda using the infantile skills of "i want" and "dont care how you do it".
2) that the army nut was given a mission to 'shake up' LTA to remove management discretely.
As you said, people dont leave jobs without a job. And its common that people quit because of upper management. I see this as one of the 'push' factors for migration.
to ww, forget about joining LTA or URA or any of the civil service, dun waste time, trust me. As for the ex DCE, directors who left, good riddance, they are no angels. The whole corporate culture in LTA under all these guys was really depressing and oppressive, they also have the army style of "i'm always right", "I want it, dun care how u do it", short deadlines,etc. The morale of the organisation was already at the bottom before the general army yap comes in.
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