MFA Press Statement: Appointment of Singapore's Non-Resident Ambassador to The Slovak Republic

        The Government has appointed Mr Chay Wai Chuen as Singapore’s next Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, succeeding Ms Jennie Chua Kheng Yeng who is currently our Ambassador to the United Mexican States.  He will be resident in Singapore.

        Mr Chay Wai Chuen currently sits on the Board of SGX-listed Fraser Commercial Trust and the Singapore Corporation for Rehabilitative Enterprise.  He also undertakes consulting in productivity processes and business development for Small Medium Enterprises.

        Mr Chay served as a Member of Parliament from September 1988 to April 2006 and was a member of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament from 1993 to 2006.  He was also Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (Communications and IT) from 1997 to 2001, and Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (Transport) from 2002 to 2004.  Mr Chay was Chairman of the Brickworks and Tanjong Pagar Town Councils for more than 10 years.  He served as a member at the National University of Singapore Council from 2000 to 2004.  

        Mr Chay was the Chief Financial Officer and Director of Supply Chain in the NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd from 1996 to 2007.  He was also Chief Executive Officer of its subsidiary, Grocery Logistics of Singapore Pte Ltd.  He was appointed Singapore’s Non-Resident High Commissioner to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka from March 2009 to March 2013.  

.    .    .    .    .

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

25 JUNE 2014

_______________________________________________________

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY OF MR CHAY WAI CHUEN

        Mr Chay Wai Chuen (谢惠泉) was born in 1950 in Singapore.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) in Economics and Statistics from the University of Singapore in 1973 and was a Research Scholar in Economics at the University of Singapore (1973-1974).  He received a Master of Arts in Development Economics at the University of Sussex, UK in 1975 where he was a Commonwealth Scholar.  He also received a Master in Social Science from the University of Singapore in 1978.  Mr Chay served three years as an infantry officer under National Service and graduated from the Singapore Command and Staff College in 1988 as a National Service Reservist.  He attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2005.

          Mr Chay started his working career at the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 1979 as an economist.  He was the Chief Financial Officer and Director of Supply Chain of NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd, a S$3 billion food retailing chain, where he worked from 1996 to 2007.  He was also Chief Executive Officer of its subsidiary, Grocery Logistics of Singapore Pte Ltd.

          Mr Chay served as a Member of Parliament from September 1988 to April 2006 and was a member of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament from 1993 to 2006.  During this period, he was Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (Communications and IT) from 1997 to 2001, and Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (Transport) from 2002 to 2004.  He was also the Chairman of the Brickworks and Tanjong Pagar Town Councils for more than 10 years.  Mr Chay served as a Council member on the National University of Singapore Council from 2000 to 2004.  He currently sits on the Boards of SGX-listed Fraser Commercial Trust, a commercial REIT (where he is also Chairman of the Audit Committee), and the Singapore Corporation for Rehabilitative Enterprise, a Statutory Board.  He also undertakes consulting in productivity processes and business development for SMEs.

          Mr Chay was appointed Singapore’s Non-Resident High Commissioner to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka from March 2009 to March 2013.

.   .   .   .   .