Board of Directors

First appointed : 21 August 1970

Last re-elected : 26 April 2021

Mr Albert Teo joined the Group as Non-Executive Director in 1970 and became an Executive Director in 1982, where he was responsible for the development of Amara Hotel, marking the Group’s entry into the hotel industry. Currently he serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, as well as a member of the Nominating Committee.

Mr Teo has been instrumental in spearheading the direction and development of the Group. He plays a pivotal role in the Group’s diversification and expansion strategy, particularly in broadening Amara’s earnings base through penetration within the Asian region.

As the Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Teo is passionately involved in the Group’s corporate developments, including the transformation of Amara Singapore, as well as the Group’s entry into the resort hotel business, Amara Sanctuary Resort, Sentosa.

Under his leadership, the Group’s recurring earnings have been further strengthened with the revamped and rebranded mall - 100 AM, located in the heart of the Tanjong Pagar district, which was successfully opened in November 2012. The Group’s recurring income streams have been broadened through projects such as Amara Bangkok, a business hotel development in Bangkok CBD, which was opened in 2015; Amara Signature Shanghai which opened in 2018; as well as 100 AM Shanghai which comprises an office building and retail centre. Mr Teo is committed in building the Amara brand as a homegrown Singaporean brand competing alongside international hospitality players. 

Mr Teo brings with him a wealth of experience to the Group. His past experience includes working with Pricewaterhouse (now known as PwC), an international public accounting firm; a large listed group involved in wholesaling, manufacturing and retailing; and an international bank in Singapore.

Mr Teo was a board member of Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) from September 2005 to November 2022 and served as its President from July 2015 to June 2019. Mr Teo was also Chairman of Singapore Hotel and Tourism Education Centre (SHATEC) from July 2006 to June 2015.

Mr Teo holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Western Australia and is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of London.

First appointed : 26 May 1995

Last re-elected : 26 April 2022

Ms Susan Teo has held the position of Company Secretary since September 1984.

Her past experience includes working with Pricewaterhouse (now known as PwC), an international public accounting firm in Singapore and Australia.

In her current role, Ms Teo has direct oversight of the function of the corporate affairs of the Group which includes treasury, finance, legal, company secretarial, human resource and administration.

Ms Teo holds a Bachelor of Business (Distinction) degree from the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now known as Curtin University) and a Graduate Diploma in Computer Science from La Trobe University. She is a member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants.

First appointed : 26 May 1995

Last re-elected : 27 April 2023

Mr Lawrence Mok has been a Director of the Company since May 1995. He is a member of the Audit Committee as well as the Remuneration Committee. 

Mr Mok has more than 40 years of working experience spanning across Public Accounting, Information Technology and Engineering industries. His experience include financial and management accounting, treasury management, corporate planning, change management, quality and workplace safety and health process management, IT customer service operations management, logistic operations and general business management.

Currently, Mr Mok is a consultant in business operations and risk management. He holds a Bachelor of Accountancy (Hons) degree from the University of Singapore (now known as the National University of Singapore) and is a Fellow of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and CPA Australia. Mr Mok holds various certifications related to construction productivity, BizSafe and general management.

First Appointed: 11 May 2022

Last Re-elected: 27 April 2023

Mr Bill Chua was appointed as an Independent Director of the Board of Amara Holdings Limited in May 2022. He chairs the Nominating Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee.

Mr Chua is a seasoned banker with 34 years at Citibank, United Overseas Bank and Overseas Union Bank. He has extensive experience in business management, deal structuring, capital markets, investments, distribution, risk management, operations, people development, project and change management at these banks. After a successful and distinguished career covering institutional, commercial, and retail banking, he retired from United Overseas Bank in November 2014 as the Managing Director and Head of Global Financial Institutions Group.

Mr Chua has also been on various local and foreign boards for more than 20 years. He has been involved with companies in engineering, design and built, technology, finance, investments, education, research, and project implementation. Given his extensive banking experience and engineering background, he often focuses on business strategy, and provides oversight on the governance, risk and compliance functions on the boards.

Mr Chua is a Colombo Plan Scholar. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) Degree and a Bachelor of Engineering Honours Class 1 (Industrial) Degree from the University of Newcastle, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Directors, and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore. He is active in the financial, education and social communities, and was awarded the Public Service Medal (PBM) in 2004, and the Public Service Star (BBM) in 2012 by the Government of Singapore.

First Appointed: 11 May 2022
Last Re-elected: 27 April 2023

Ms Ginney Lim joined the Board of Amara Holdings Limited in May 2022 and was appointed Lead Independent Director in June 2022. She serves as the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and is a member of the Nominating Committee.

Ms Lim is General Counsel and Group Company Secretary of Cuscaden Peak Investments Private Limited (formerly known as Singapore Press Holdings Private Limited) (“CPIPL”). She heads the Secretariat/Legal Division of CPIPL. She was also the General Manager of Singapore Press Holdings Foundation Limited, an Institution of Public Character established in 2003 by Singapore Press Holdings (“SPH”) until December 2021.

 When she joined SPH in December 1991, she was tasked to set up the Secretariat/Legal Division. She was also responsible for sustainability reporting, insurance functions and the risk management department until it was integrated into another division in SPH.

Ms Lim is currently responsible for the corporate secretarial, legal and compliance functions in the CPIPL Group and sits on several steering and senior management committees. She also had oversight of the group communications division until 31 December 2023 when the division was disbanded.

Ms Lim is a director of PARAGON REIT Management Pte Ltd which is the manager of PARAGON REIT (formerly known as SPH REIT), a real estate investment trust listed on the mainboard of the Singapore Stock Exchange. She is also a director of several subsidiaries of CPIPL. She is a member of the NUS Law Advisory Council and the Singapore Institute of Directors Company Secretaries Network. She is also a specialist mediator of the Singapore International Mediation Centre.

Ms Lim was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore and holds a Bachelor of Law (Honours) degree from the National University of Singapore. She is also a Fellow in the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute. She completed an executive management programme organized by the Wharton Business School. She has experience in mergers and acquisition in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Japan. She was also involved in several major initial public offerings, corporate restructuring projects, capital reduction exercises, fund raising through issuance of medium term notes and perpetual bonds, divestments of assets and businesses, schemes of arrangement and takeover matters.

First Appointed: 11 May 2022

Last Re-elected: 27 April 2023

Mr George Seow joined the Board of Amara Holdings Limited in May 2022. He chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the Nominating Committee as well as the Remuneration Committee.

Mr Seow has over 25 years of experience in heading the finance organisations of multinationals in Malaysia. After completing his Bachelor of Commerce from The University of Western Australia, he joined a Chartered Accountants firm in Perth where he did his articleship and obtained his Associate membership from The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.  He then joined Kassim Chan & Co, Malaysia (now known as Deloitte Malaysia) as audit supervisor.

Mr Seow moved on to head the finance organisations at various US multinationals. He joined Motorola Penang as Financial Controller. Thereafter he started the finance team as a pioneer at Control Data/Imprimis, later called Seagate Malaysia. At Seagate he oversaw its growth to become one of the largest employers in the electronics industry in Malaysia. He held the position of Vice President Finance in charge of finance for its three plants in Malaysia. After his retirement from Seagate he was recruited to head the finance organisation in Komag Malaysia on a contract basis for four years with the objective, among others, to stabilise the turnover rate of its vital finance organisation and to provide finance leadership of its SAP ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementation.

While Mr Seow has retired from active work, he still holds membership in the Malaysian Institute of Accountants with the designation of Chartered Accountant, Malaysia.

First Appointed : 31 July 2022

Last re-elected : 27 April 2023

Mr Tan Kim Seng was appointed as Independent Director of the Board of Amara Holdings Limited in July 2022. He is a member of the Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee.

Mr Tan embarked on his career in the hospitality and real estate industry, after being awarded the inaugural Shangri-La Scholarship in 1981 to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree at the renowned Cornell University’s School of Hotel Management in the United States, graduating at the top of his class as Class Valedictorian in 1985.

After a decade with Shangri-La Asia in various operational and corporate roles in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Malaysia, he moved over to Allgreen Properties Limited to oversee the development and operations of serviced apartments and other hospitality investments for another decade.

As Senior Vice-President for Millennium & Copthorne Hotels & Resorts from 2007-2008, Mr Tan oversaw the group’s 18 hotels in the Asia Pacific, prior to joining SGX-listed OUE Limited in 2008. He was Chief Operating Officer of Meritus Hotels & Resorts as part of the OUE Group, and served as Advisor (Hospitality) of OUE Limited until the end of 2022.

Apart from participating as featured speaker and panellist in numerous international tourism and travel conferences, Mr Tan also serves on a number of corporate boards and committees – as a Director on the Board of the Singapore Hotel Association; as President of the Singapore Serviced Apartments Association; as Advisor on the Cornell-Nanyang Institute’s Advisory Panel; as Advisor for the SAFRA Strategic Review Steering Committee; as Vice-President of the Cornell Hotel Society; as Executive Committee member of the Orchard Road Business Association; as Advisor on the SDH Institute Industry Advisory Board; and as Honorary Advisor for Horwath International’s Hotel Annual Studies Advisory Board. 

He was also Managing Director of the Asia Pacific Region for IFH Worldwide, a global training and quality performance benchmarking service provider for the international hospitality industry from 2013 to 2015.

From 2006 to 2011, Mr Tan also served as a Non-Executive, Independent Director of SGX-listed Maveric Ltd. 

In January 2024, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of Club Wyndham Asia as an Independent Representative.

First appointed

21 March 2024

Mr Keith Tan was appointed as a Non-Executive Non-Independent Director of Amara Holdings Limited in March 2024.

He is the Chairman of the Dymon Asia Private Equity Investment Committee and a founding partner of Dymon Asia Capital, one of the largest asset management companies in Singapore. Prior to Dymon, he was a Director at Abax Global Capital, a special situations hedge fund based in Hong Kong, where he originated, structured and executed investment transactions across Asia. During his career, Mr Tan was also a member of the Executive Committee of Standard Chartered Bank (China), Legal Representative and Branch Manager of Standard Chartered Bank’s Shanghai Branch. Mr Tan also sits, as a Director, on the Board of Challenger Technologies Limited.

Mr Tan graduated with a 2nd Class Honours in Banking and Finance from Nanyang Technological University. He is a Council Member as well as the Vice Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the 61st Council of Singapore Chinese Chamber Commerce & Industry. He is the Patron of the Chong Pang Citizens’ Consultative Committee and serves on the Board of Governors of the UOB-SMU Asian Enterprise Institute. He is also a member of The Yellow Ribbon Fund Main Committee.

First appointed

9 March 2023

Ms Dawn Teo was appointed as Alternate Director to Mr Albert Teo Hock Chuan on 9 March 2023.

At Amara, Ms Teo is responsible for the Hotel Investment and Management division.  She also spearheads the Group’s investment and acquisition strategies in the region.

Ms Teo is also the Co-Founder and Director of Objectifs, a visual arts space in Singapore that focuses on film and photography and their value to society.  

Prior to joining Amara, Ms Teo held senior positions in several multinational banks, and has spent over a decade with UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG. She is a graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Economics.

Ms Teo is the Second Vice President of the Singapore Hotel Association. She is also a Council Member of the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council, a statutory board under the Ministry of Manpower that is supported by Tripartite Alliance Limited, and the Chairperson of the WSH Council (Hospitality and Entertainment Industries Committee). She serves on the board of SHATEC Institutes, a hospitality and tourism school in Singapore, and on the School Advisory Council for Republic Polytechnic School of Hospitality.