BCorp appoints first all-woman executive board; Vincent Tan steps down

Berjaya Corp Bhd founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan -- BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) has announced several changes in its boardroom effective March 1.

In a statement, the conglomerate said the group’s founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun, 71, relinquished his position as non-independent non-executive chairman of BCorp.

He will assume the role of advisor to provide guidance to the board and support the continued growth of the group.

The new line-up reflects an all-female BCorp boardroom comprising:

1. Tunku Tun Aminah Binti Sultan Ibrahim Ismail – Non-Independent Non-Executive Chairman

2. Vivienne Cheng Chi Fan – Joint Group Chief Executive Officer/ Executive Director

3. Nerine Tan Sheik Ping – Joint Group Chief Executive Officer/ Executive Director

4. Norlela Baharudin – Executive Director

5. Chryseis Tan Sheik Ling – Executive Director

6. Dr. Jayanti Naidu G. Danasamy – Independent Non-Executive Director

7. Penelope Gan Paik Ling – Independent Non-Executive Director

8. Datuk Leong Kwei Chun, JP (Dato’ Anne Eu, JP) – Independent Non-Executive Director

“The latest changes in the BCorp boardroom reflect the group’s commitment to promote women's empowerment in the workplace. I have every confidence in the leadership abilities of all the women on the board to effectively lead the group to greater heights,” Vincent said.

“In my advisor’s role, I will still be very much involved with the group and its business activities, but now I shall be able to devote more of my time to promote my charitable foundation, Yayasan MyFirst Home, which is almost 1 year old now,” he added.

“I am particularly passionate about finding solutions to assist the B40 group to be able to buy and own an affordable home which is the reason I founded Yayasan MyFirst Home with a personal donation of RM5mil to fund its initial start-up and operating costs.

“I strongly urge all Malaysians, especially the rich and powerful among us, to help the lower income B40s to buy their own affordable homes so that when they eventually retire and are no longer gainfully employed, they will have a roof over their head.”

Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Robin Tan Yeong Ching has been appointed as Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) non-independent non-executive deputy chairman and Tan Peng Lam as BLand independent non-executive director effective March 1.

In addition, Syed Ali Shahul Hameed has been redesignated as BLand group chief executive officer and Datuk Abdul Rahim Md Zin as BLand group executive director, while Datuk Robert Yong Kuen Loke will continue to serve as BLand senior independent non-executive director.