Surbana Jurong's international chief executive resigns

Surbana Jurong said international CEO Teo Eng Cheong has resigned to pursue other interests.
Surbana Jurong said international CEO Teo Eng Cheong has resigned to pursue other interests.

Surbana Jurong's international chief executive officer Teo Eng Cheong has resigned to pursue other interests, said the urban and infrastructure consultancy yesterday.

Mr Teo, 54, is a former top civil servant who joined Surbana Jurong in January 2016. He is married to Manpower Minister Josephine Teo.

He will leave Surbana Jurong on Sept 30. The company did not say who will succeed him.

Responding to media queries, Surbana Jurong's group CEO Wong Heang Fine said Mr Teo had been instrumental in driving the company's business interests in South-east Asia, North Asia and Singapore.

"As Eng Cheong embarks on a new adventure, I would like to thank him for his lasting contributions to Surbana Jurong and wish him the very best," he said.

Surbana is owned by Singapore investment firm Temasek.

Before joining Surbana Jurong, Mr Teo was a senior government official with the apex Singapore Administrative Service and held top positions in several government agencies.

From 2011 to 2015, he was CEO of International Enterprise Singapore, which has since merged with Spring Singapore to form Enterprise Singapore.

He was also CEO of the Competition Commission of Singapore, now the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore, from 2008 to 2010, and director-general of Singapore Customs from 2004 to 2007.

In May, Mr Teo made headlines after several posts were circulated on social media and messaging platforms like WhatsApp, alleging that Surbana Jurong's involvement in developing facilities such as the community care facility at Singapore Expo had led to conflicts of interest. One such post concerned how he is Mrs Teo's husband.

The company refuted the allegations, which it called "unfounded accusations of profiteering and corruption". It also outlined how it got involved in setting up and running the facilities, noting it had been providing technical services to various government agencies amid the pandemic.

Two men who accused Mr and Mrs Teo of corruption, and received letters of demand from Mrs Teo's lawyers, subsequently apologised and took down the offending posts.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 03, 2020, with the headline Surbana Jurong's international chief executive resigns. Subscribe