Singtel announced that Chua Sock Koong has decided to retire as Group Chief Executive Officer on 1 January 2021. The Singtel Board has appointed Yuen Kuan Moon to succeed her as the Group’s CEO.   

Yuen, currently the CEO of Singtel’s Singapore Consumer Business and the Chief Digital Officer, is a Singtel veteran who joined the Group in 1993. He has risen through the ranks of the company, with leadership positions in marketing, business development and sales, and Telkomsel in Indonesia, before his appointment as CEO, Consumer Singapore in 2012. He has been appointed GCEO-designate and will assume the role of Group CEO upon Chua’s retirement. His appointment comes after a global search was conducted that considered both internal and external candidates for the job. Chua will stay on as Senior Advisor to the Chairman to assist with the transition.

Lee Theng Kiat, Chairman of Singtel, said, “On behalf of the Board, I want to acknowledge Sock Koong’s demonstrated leadership and outstanding contributions to Singtel.”

“Sock Koong is one of Singapore’s most successful CEOs and has played a key role in making Singtel the operationally and financially strong company it is today.”  

Chua said, “It has been an immense privilege to be involved in Singtel’s growth and transformation. It has been an amazing 31 years, 13 of those as GCEO.”

 “I’ve seen a few global crises on my watch – the dot.com bust, the Global Financial Crisis, the India competition challenges – and I’m proud of how we’ve weathered those storms and business challenges. I’ve always said that Singtel’s strength lies in the resilience of our people and I’m confident this will see us through the current COVID crisis as well.”  

“With Singtel well-positioned for the future, it is a good time for me to retire and I’m glad to be passing the baton to Moon whose unflagging commitment to managing and growing the Consumer business has earned him the respect of his peers and colleagues.”       

Commenting on Yuen’s appointment, Lee said, “We are pleased to have a leader of Moon’s caliber take on the mantle of Group CEO in January. His years of honed experience in the company’s core telecom business and his more recent focus on transforming the Group digitally for growth, make him extremely well placed to lead Singtel forward in an era of disruption. My fellow directors and I look forward to working with him to grow and develop the Group’s businesses.”

Yuen holds a First Class Honours degree in Engineering from the University of Western Australia and a Master of Science in Management from Stanford University.