Annex
Awards committee
Chairman
Mr Peter Seah (BBA Hons 1968)
Chairman, DBS Bank
Vice Chairman
Professor Bernard Yeung
Dean and Stephen Riady Distinguished Professor
NUS Business School
Members
Mr Benny Lee (BBA 1976)
President, NUS Business School Alumni Association
Managing Director, Benroth International
Mr Malcolm Koh (APEX-MBA 2007)
President, MBA Alumni-NUS
Head, Customer Service, Customer Service Department
American International Assurance Company Limited
Dr Chung Tang Fong, William BBM (Executive Education, 1988)
President, NUS Business School Mandarin Alumni
Managing Director, Xi-Hong Enterprise
Mr Aw Beng Teck
Director, Global Alumni Network Office, NUS Business School
Selection process
The selection process for the award winners involved several rounds. Firstly, NUS
Business School alumni, students, faculty members and staff were invited to
nominate suitable alumni. Each nominee was then graded by the Presidents of the
alumni associations based on the criteria: Performance, Corporate Governance and
Leadership, Character and Influence.
The final list of the top candidates was presented to the Chairman of the Awards
Committee for further deliberation before the winners were chosen.
AWARD WINNERS
SENIOR ALUMNI CATEGORY
Chew Hua Seng (BBA 1979)
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Raffles Education Corporation
Chew Hua Seng graduated from the University of Singapore
in 1979 with a BBA and has become a successful
entrepreneur. He is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Raffles
Education Corporation Limited, which is now Asia’s largest
private tertiary education provider with 38 colleges in 35 cities
across 14 countries.
In 1990, he founded RafflesEducationCorp and led it to an initial public offering on
the Singapore Exchange in 2002. The Group was ranked amongst the Top 200 AsiaPacific companies on Forbes Asia’s “Best Under a Billion” list for four consecutive
years.
In 2000, he was made a Consulting Professor at Garment College of Donghua
University. He is a board member of Donghua University Foundation and is also Vice
President of the China Textile and Fashion Education Society.
In 2007, he established the Chew Hua Seng Foundation to further charitable causes,
predominantly in education with the motto “Compassion Through the Generations”.
Conferred the Public Service Medal by the President of the Republic of Singapore for
his contribution to community service in 2010, he aligned the Foundation’s mission
with RafflesEducationCorp’s overarching principle to provide education to needy
youths, with a special focus on supporting poor students in the Asia-Pacific.
SENIOR ALUMNI CATEGORY
Chua Sock Koong (BACC Hons 1979)
Group Chief Executive Officer
SingTel
Chua Sock Koong graduated in 1979 with First Class
Honours in Accountancy from the University of Singapore.
Some 28 years later, she reached the pinnacle of her
career when she was appointed Group Chief Executive of
Singapore Telecommunications Limited overseeing its
three key businesses in Singapore, Australia and International.
A Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst, she joined SingTel in
1989 as Treasurer. A decade later, she was promoted to Chief Financial Officer
(CFO).
In February 2006, she was appointed as Group CFO and CEO International,
responsible for the key drivers of SingTel’s international business. Besides overseeing the Group Information Systems and SingTel’s regional associates, she was also
responsible for driving strategic acquisitions and international business. Later that
year, she was made Deputy Group CEO, a post she held until she was appointed as
Group CEO in April 2007.
She is an Executive Director of SingTel and a Board member of Bharti Airtel Limited.
She is also a member of the Singapore Management University (SMU) Board of
Trustees, the Casino Regulatory Authority, the Public Service Commission and the
Corporate Governance Council of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Ms Chua is very active in encouraging staff volunteerism. Staff are entitled to one
day of Voluntary Service Leave annually to work with their chosen charities or
community projects.
SENIOR ALUMNI CATEGORY
Lam Kwong Yu (APEX-MBA 2004)
Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Starlite Holdings Limited
Lam Kwong Yu graduated from the NUS Chinese Executive
MBA course in 2004.
In 1970, he started his printing business with a capital of
USD600. Throughout its 40 years of history, the Starlite
Group has achieved several awards, including the Forbes
Asia “200 Best Under a Billion Listed Company” in 2005.
Today, Starlite Holdings Limited is a listed company that has subsidiaries in
Shenzhen, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Shaoguan, Malaysia and Singapore. It also has
representative offices in Shanghai, London, Los Angeles, Paris and New York.
Mr. Lam was awarded the “Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award
1986”, the “Young Industrialist Award of Hong Kong 1988”, the ‘‘Hong Kong
Entrepreneurs Award 1990’’, and the “Medal of Honor (M.H.)’’ from the government
of the HKSAR in 2002.
He is a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political
Consultative Conference, a member of the Selection Committee for the first and
second Government of HKSAR and a committee member of the 2006 Election
Committee Subsector Elections. He is a director of the Chinese Overseas Friendship
Association, an Adjunct Professor of City University of Hong Kong, a Director of
Guangzhou Jinan University and a Guest Professor of Wuhan University and South
China Normal University.
YOUNG ALUMNI CATEGORY
Huynh Quang Hai
(MSC (MOT) 2000, GDBA 1999)
Group Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer
VSIP North
A native of Vietnam, Huynh Quang Hai started working in
the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in 1995, as the
Assistant to the CEO. VSIP is a world-class industrial park
that was initiated by the governments of Vietnam and
Singapore. It has attracted more than 380 projects from 22
countries and has created more than 70,000 jobs. It has also brought in more than
US$2 billion of investments into the country.
After three years, VSIP sent him to NUS Business School in Singapore to study for a
business degree. He obtained a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration as
well as a Master of Science (Management of Technology) from the NUS Business
School within a short 18 months. He returned to Vietnam in 2000 a more confident
person and found it easier to work with people and tackle on-the-job issues.
He soon swiftly rose up the ranks and by 2005, he had become the Deputy CEO of
VSIP South. Today, he is the Group Executive Director and the CEO of VSIP North,
and the co-chairman of VSIP BacNinh and VSIP Haiphong.
He is also the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Chapter of the NUS Business
School Alumni, Vice Chairman of Eastern International University, a university of
international standards that began operations in 2010, and a member of the
international advisory committee of Vietnam 2020, an organization of Vietnamese
professionals working in Singapore.
Today, VSIP is considered the most successful company in its field in Vietnam and
has contributed substantially to the country’s development.
Being observant and diligent since young, Hai feels that there is no scope for
arrogance. Despite his brilliant academic and career record, he remains humble and
modest. There are some things he believes strongly in in order to be successful in
business and life. “Be knowledgeable, be sincere, deliver your promises and think
long-term partnerships and friendships,” he advises.
YOUNG ALUMNI CATEGORY
Laurence Lien (MBA 2000)
Chief Executive Officer
National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre
Laurence Lien obtained an MBA from the National
University of Singapore in 2000. He obtained his degree
while serving in the Singapore Administrative Service.
During his 14-year stint there, he rotated between different
positions in the Ministries of Community Development, Youth
and Sports, Home Affairs and Education. He was also the
former Director of Governance and Investment at the Ministry of Finance.
During his stint at the Ministry, he was involved in formulating the Generally
Accepted Principles and Practices for sovereign wealth funds. He also helped to
develop new rules for the spending of the Government’s reserves.
Actively involved in the non-profit sector, he is the Chairman of the Lien Foundation,
the Deputy Chairman of Lien Aid, and a board member of the Lien Centre for Social
Innovation at the Singapore Management University. He is also the President of
Centre for Non-Profit Leadership, and a board member of the Community
Foundation of Singapore and Caritas Singapore Community Council.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford
University. Apart from his MBA from NUS, he also has a Masters in Public
Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. In 2010,
he was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship.
ALUMNI SERVICE AWARD
Robin Ng (Executive Program 1981)
Chairman
Sin Thai Hin Group of Companies
Robin Ng completed the NUS Business School Executive
Program in 1981 while running the Sin Thai Hin group of
companies. He later helped to start up the Mandarin Alumni
and was its Founding President in 1992. He stepped down
in 1996 and two years later, was appointed its Honorary
Advisor.
Robin was instrumental in forming the Mandarin Alumni. When it was formed, it had
less than 100 members. Over the years, it has recruited more than 800 local and
overseas members from Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Thailand and South Africa. Its
members are successful entrepreneurs and senior managers in diverse industries
such as hospitality, banking, manufacturing and shipping. Under Robin’s leadership,
the association raised funds to create the ‘Mandarin Alumni Gold Medal’ in 1997.
This award is still being given to outstanding MBA students today.
He is a successful entrepreneur with wide ranging business interests. He is involved
in automobile financing, car rentals, property development, healthcare, hospitality,
and ship building and marine services.
He is also heavily involved in grassroots work. He is the chairman of the Hong Kah
North Citizens’ Consultative Committee and he is a Councillor on the South West
Community Development Council. He was awarded the Public Service Medal in
2006.
ALUMNI SERVICE AWARD
Paul Yap (BBA 1973, MBA 1985)
Consultant
Ideaction
Paul Yap graduated from the University of Singapore with
a BBA in 1973 and later obtained his Masters in Business
Administration in 1985.
After getting his MBA, he formed the MBA Alumni-NUS,
together with a few of the newly graduated first batch of
MBAs. He was elected to the post of Vice-President and
later assumed the Presidency when the president left Singapore.
He led the alumni for the next 12 years and during that period, it was recognised as
one of the most active alumni associations on campus.
Paul also had a very successful career in the food industry. It includes stints as the
managing director of Gardenia at QAF, the divisional director of Sunshine Bakeries,
the executive director of Auric Pacific Foods and the managing director of Intraco
Foods. Since 2001, he has been running his own management consultancy
company, Ideaction.
One of his passions is running. He ran his first marathon in 1999, and since then, he
has taken part in various full and half marathons. He was Chairman of the council of
the Biblical Graduate School of Theology from 1997-2006. He has been a Senator in
Jaycees International since 1995.
Paul was known for respecting his employees, no matter what level they were at,
and for always giving people he worked with a fair deal. He believes people have the
capacity to solve their own problems if only they knew what they were. He feels that
“the meaning of life is to make the world a better place than you found it, rather than
take everything from this world and enjoy them for yourself. When people see that
you care, they will work hard for you.”