SLA Reshuffles Board as Yeoh Oon Jin Steps Down After 9 Years

One of the greatest changes in leadership at the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) is expected to come when Yeoh Oon Jin, a man who has served the body as the chairman of the board of directors begins to quit his position after a nine-year tenure in office. On July 28, the Ministry of Law came forward to confirm the ministerial handover; Yeoh will leave his position on July 31, and a new minister, as well as other board members, will come to office on August 1.

Yeoh, who was the topmost manager at PwC Singapore, joined the SLA as a director back in August 2016 and has taken a leading role concerning the strategic direction of the agency. His presidency has been characterised by an attempt to put new life into old state structures to make them available to the residents, and giant digital projects to enhance efficiencies in land deals.

During his tenure:

• SLA initiated adaptive reuse projects for heritage sites, including the former St Andrew’s Mission Hospital.
• A Digital Conveyancing Portal was developed to streamline property transactions. The full rollout is scheduled for 2026.
• The agency was appointed co-chair of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management.
• A refreshed National Geospatial Masterplan was launched to support Singapore’s smart city goals.

To fill in the position of Yeoh is Loh Lik Peng who is the current deputy chairman of SLA. Loh is a prominent businessperson and owner of Unlisted Collection, and he has extensive experience in hospitality, arts, and cultural areas. His appointment as chairman begins August 1.

Since 2017, Loh has served on the SLA board, and in 2020 he was appointed deputy chairman. He also chairs several key organisations in Singapore, including:

• Shatec Institutes
• Singapore Arts School
• Singapore Cruise Centre
• National Museum of Singapore

Moreover, he is a board member in the National Heritage Board, and this fits well in SLA structures in its property/heritage activities.

Jerry Koh, managing partner of one of the leading law firms in Singapore (Allen & Gledhill), will replace him as deputy chairman. Koh has served on the SLA board since 2020.

The other two new faces in SLA include new positions in the creative sector:

• Boo Junfeng, an award-winning filmmaker and director at Peanut Pictures.
• Rafiq Bin Mohamad, founder and branding director at Feral, a local creative firm.

Their inclusion is seen as a move to bring in. Their introduction is regarded as a step towards introducing wider views as SLA tries to balance the roles of real estate and those of community, heritage, and design under the same platform.

These include six of the existing board members who will be reappointed by another two years. These include:

• Jaelle Ang, CEO and co-founder of The Great Room
• Angelene Chan, executive chairman of DP Architects
• Cheung Pui Yuen, chief risk officer at Deloitte Southeast Asia
• Chong Siak Ching, former CEO of National Gallery Singapore
• Lien Choong Luen, general manager of Gojek Singapore
• Melvyn Yeo, managing partner at venture capital firm Trirec

Another outgoing member, Angeline Poh who is currently working at Mediacorp will end her term on 31 st July and will not be reappointed.

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Other existing board members will remain unchanged. These include:

• Calvin Phua, SLA’s chief executive
• Colin Chow, deputy secretary (policy) at the Ministry of Law
• Kenny Tan, deputy secretary (workforce) at the Ministry of Manpower

The board reshuffle is done when SLA is intensifying its digital transformation, heritage integration, and sustainable land use. It is anticipated that the new composition of the board will assist these goals by providing a combination of legal, creative, corporate and policy experience.

This reorganization is part of the overall tendency to introduce the variety of expertise into governance in the sphere of the public sector. With the departure of Yeoh, who served in the organisation nearly one decade, the SLA is in its new phase manned by a new leadership team that crosses boundaries of expertise beyond traditional government administration.