Khaw Boon Wan Called Upon To Chair SPH Nonprofit Business
When Khaw Boon Wan retired from politics prior to GE2020, we paid tribute to his years of self-sacrifice in public service.
But with Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) at an important crossroads in its history, it seems Mr Khaw will return to chair the new entity.
Communications and Information Minister S Israwan confirmed this in Parliament on Monday (10 May).
Shareholders pick Khaw Boon Wan as SPH nonprofit chairman
Under the agreement, the media business of SPH will be transferred to a new public company limited by guarantee (CLG).
Shareholders currently in SPH will form the CLG and become the founding members.
These are:
- National University of Singapore
- Nanyang Technological University
- OCBC
- Great Eastern
- UOB
- DBS
- Singtel
- NTUC Income
- Temasek via Fullerton
Together, they have selected Mr Khaw to be the chairman of the new CLG.
Mr Iswaran said that Mr Khaw has agreed to take up the role.
Mr Fix-It returns
Back in the day, Mr Khaw took charge of various portfolios that were seen as tricky.
They included the Ministry of National Development, and the Ministry of Transport.
Both of these portfolios were seen as particularly important to fix.
Mr Khaw also tackled SARS as part of the Ministry of Health, leading to the media coining the nickname “Mr Fix-It” for him.
That said, he has no experience in the media industry.
Less political appointment than the right person for the job
Mr Iswaran responded to a question by the Workers’ Party’s Sylvia Lim on the link between Mr Khaw’s previous political affiliation and his new appointment.
He responded that the matter is less about politics than whether the person is the right one for the job.
Mr Iswaran also cited that the chairman of both SPH (Lee Boon Yang) and Mediacorp (Niam Chiang Meng) are previous political holders or career civil servants.
A crossroads in SPH
SPH has been floundering for several years, leading to the step of taking the media business to a non-profit.
Mr Khaw has been called upon, once again, to fix the struggling business.
The media landscape, and all of Singapore, will be watching to see what changes are afoot.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
