Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam (Executive Chairman)
Sing Chi IP (Alternate: Diana Tung Wan LEE)
Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam Bin Abdullah (Group Managing Director)
John Stephen Ashworth (Alternate: Edith Shih)
Shaline Gnanalingam
Mohammad Reezal Bin Ahmad
Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam was appointed as Director of the Company on 1 January 2009 and as the Executive Chairman on 1 September 2013. Tan Sri Gnanalingam is also the Executive Chairman of WMSB, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, a position he has held since 2000. Prior to that, he was the Managing Director of WMSB from 1995 to 1999.
Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam attended the Royal Military College from 1960 until 1964 before obtaining his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Malaya in 1968. He is also an alumni of the Harvard Business School in Boston, USA, having attended the School’s Advanced Management Programme in 1983.
Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam started his career with the British American Tobacco group in 1968 as a sales representative and was later promoted to Marketing Director in 1980. In 1988, he started G-Team Consultants Sdn Bhd, a marketing consultancy that acted as the Corporate Consultant for the marketing operations of Radio Television Malaysia from 1988 to 2000. In 1994, Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam successfully secured the concession to operate Westports.
Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam’s efforts were recognized when he was named Transport Man of the Year in 2001 by the Ministry of Transport, Malaysia. In 2007, he received the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Platinum Award, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (“CILT”) Malaysia Achiever of the Year Award, and was admitted as a Chartered Fellow by the CILT, UK.
He was also presented with the Outstanding American Alumnus Award 2007 in the field of Logistics and Transport by the American Universities Alumni Malaysia.
In 2017, Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam was awarded as the Value Creator: Most Outstanding CEO by the Edge Billion Ringgit Club for his visionary leadership excellence in transforming Westports as Port Klang’s leading terminal operator.
Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam previously sat on the National PEMUDAH committee from 2007 until 2012 and was reappointed in 2014, a special task force set up by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia to facilitate businesses in Malaysia by identifying improvements to existing government processes and regulations based on global benchmarking reports and public feedback. He was also appointed a member of the National Export Council in March 2015.
In 2020, Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam was appointed to the Economic Action Council (“EAC”), which comprises members from the government and private sectors. The EAC has been tasked to ensure economic sustainability, find ways to stimulate the economy, recommend short and medium-term plans to ensure economic growth, and ensure that the EAC’s decisions are being executed efficiently.
Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam is a Non-Executive Director of Pembinaan Redzai Sdn Bhd. He is a major shareholder of the Company through his indirect interest in Pembinaan Redzai Sdn Bhd. He is also a Director of Westports Foundation.
His eldest son, Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam, is the Group Managing Director of the Company.
He attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam bin Abdullah was appointed as Director of the Company on 5 July 2005.
He attended Victoria Institution between 1989 to 1993 and later, Eton College in the UK from 1994 to 1995. Datuk Ruben graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, the UK, in 1998. He also holds a diploma in Port Management, awarded by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate.
Datuk Ruben started his career as a trainee in WMSB in 1999 before leaving WMSB to set up a start-up incubator known as The Makmal Group in 2000 until his departure in mid-2005. He then re-joined the Company as a Director in 2005 and was later appointed as Chief Executive Officer on 15 January 2009, a position he held until 31 December 2017 before being appointed as the Group Managing Director for Westports Holdings Bhd on 1 January 2018.
Datuk Ruben is the Owner and Vice-Chairman of Queens Park Rangers Football Club, which participates in the English Football League (EFL). He is also a founder and Board Member of the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) which is a member of the US Major League Soccer (MLS). He also serves as an Executive Council Member of the Football Association of Selangor.
He was appointed to the Board of the Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) on the 1st of January 2019. On the 1st of September 2020, he was also appointed to the Board of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) as a Professional Representative. He has been recently appointed as the Company’s Nominee Director to Port Klang Cruise Terminal Sdn Bhd on 23 September 2021.
Outside his professional engagements, Datuk Ruben has involvement in many other business and industry-related groups. He is the Deputy President of Kuala Lumpur Business Club Malaysia and in 2019 was appointed by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) as one of three (3) members representing Malaysia for the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). In 2020, he joined the CEO Action Network (CAN) as a Steering Committee Member. CAN is a coalition of leaders with the purpose to shape policies, winning stakeholders, and creating a favorable ecosystem for sustainable businesses and sustainable development in Malaysia.
From a charitable perspective, he also serves as the Chairman of the QPR Community Trust and has been appointed to the Westports Foundation on 5 September 2019.
He is the eldest son of our Executive Chairman, Tan Sri Datuk Gnanalingam A/L Gunanath Lingam. He is also a Director of Pembinaan Redzai Sdn Bhd and Semakin Ajaib Sdn Bhd, which in turn hold shares in the Company. Datuk Ruben is also a shareholder in Semakin Ajaib Sdn Bhd. He attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
Mr. Chan Soo Chee was appointed as Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company on 1 January 2018. Prior to his appointment on the Board of the Company, he was a member on the Board of WMSB, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, until his resignation on 1 January 2018. He was redesignated to Senior Independent Non-Executive Director on 1 March 2022.
He holds a Masters in Business Administration, majoring in Finance and Marketing from the University of Leicester. He also attended and completed the Executive Management Programme by Penn State University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Mr. Chan started his career in the maritime industry and has over 35 years of experience spanning South East Asia, Africa, South and West Asia. He qualified as a Master Mariner from the Government of Great Britain in 1987 prior to joining Orient Ocean Container Line (“OOCL”) Hong Kong and Japan, first serving as a Fleet Captain and later serving the OOCL Head Office in Hong Kong with responsibilities across a broad portfolio covering Operations, Audit & Risk, Consortium and Corporate Strategic Planning. Mr. Chan also represented OOCL on the Steering Committee leading to the formation of the Consortium of the Global Alliances comprising 5 major international shipping lines. In 1997, Mr. Chan was appointed as the Regional Director of OOCL Singapore and later appointed as the company’s Regional Managing Director in 2004, overseeing more than 30 countries across South East Asia, Africa, South, and West Asia. He then joined China Sonangol International Singapore as its Chief Executive Officer in 2015. He retired from the active day-to-day operations management in China Sonangol, whilst maintaining an advisory role in the sea transportation business community.
Mr. Chan is currently a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee upon his appointment as the Board committee member on 1 January 2018 and the Committee was renamed as Audit Committee on 1 January 2022. Mr. Chan was appointed as the Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee on 1 March 2022. Mr. Chan has no family relationship with any director or major shareholder of the Company nor has any conflict of interest with the Company. He attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
Mr. Sing Chi IP was appointed as Non-Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company on 5 April 2013.
Mr. Ip graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Coventry University, UK in 1979.
Mr. Ip has over 40 years’ of experience in the maritime industry, having joined Sun Hing Shipping Co., Ltd. in 1979 as an account executive. Subsequently, he joined Hongkong International Terminals Limited in 1993 as General Manager of commercial and was the Managing Director of the company from 1998 to 2011. In 2005, he was appointed as Director of Hutchison Port Holdings Limited (“Hutchison Ports”), and is currently the Group Managing Director of Hutchison Ports.
Mr. Ip is also an Executive Director of Hutchison Port Holdings Management Pte. Limited, the Trustee-Manager of Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (a business trust listed on the Singapore Exchange) and the Chairman of Yantian International Container Terminals Limited. In addition, he is an Independent Non-Executive Director of Piraeus Port Authority S.A., a company listed on the Athens Exchange, a Non-Executive Director of both Orient Overseas (International) Limited and COSCO SHIPPING Development Co., Ltd., companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.
He was a member of the Hong Kong Port Development Council until the end of December 2014 and was the founding Chairman (in 2000-2001) of the Hong Kong Container Terminal Operators Association Limited.
Hutchison Ports, through South Port Investment Holdings Limited, is a major shareholder of the Company. Mr. Ip is not involved in the management and day-to-day operations of the Company. He attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
Ms. Chan Chu Wei was appointed as a Director of the Company on 15 December 2000.
Ms. Chan obtained a Bachelor of Social Science Degree from University Sains Malaysia in 1977 and has attended the International Senior Managers Programme by Harvard Business School in Boston, USA, in 1993, as well as the Advance Management Programme by Templeton College in Oxford, UK in 1997.
She began her career with Tourist Development Corporation of Malaysia as Assistant Director in 1977 and moved on to join Malaysian Tobacco Company Berhad a year later, where she had working experience in the company’s human resources and marketing divisions over a 10 year period.
In 1988, she became a General Manager in G-Team Consultants Sdn Bhd, which acted as the Corporate Consultant for the marketing operations of Radio Television Malaysia. Ms. Chan joined WMSB, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company in 1994 as an Executive Director and assisted in drawing up the blueprint proposal that secured the concession for Westports. She oversaw both marketing and operational leadership roles for WMSB up until 2008, especially in container operations and she resigned from WMSB on 31 December 2021. Since 2014, Ms. Chan has been a Non-Executive Director of PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd.
Ms. Chan was re-designated as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company in 2008. She is currently a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee upon her appointment as the Board committee member on 1 January 2018 and resigned on 31 December 2021. Ms. Chan was appointed as a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee on 1 January 2022.
She is a Non-Executive Director of Pembinaan Redzai Sdn Bhd, which is a shareholder of the Company, resigned on 1 July 2021. She attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
Ms. Shanthi Kandiah was appointed as Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company on 1 August 2017.
She holds a Masters in Law from King’s College London, a Bachelor of Law (Honours) Degree from University of London as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Competition Economics from King’s College London.
She founded Shanthi Kandiah Chambers (SK Chambers) in 2014, a law firm providing niche legal and regulatory services in new, evolving, and complex areas of law and regulation namely competition law, the full spectrum of telecommunications and multimedia laws, privacy and data protection matters, cybersecurity laws as well as capital market laws and exchange rules.
Ms. Shanthi began her career in Securities Commission Malaysia in 1993 where she was part of the pioneer team that oversaw seminal law reform initiatives towards modernising and strengthening the Malaysian capital market. She was intimately involved in the development of the Finance Committee Report on Corporate Governance and the first Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance in 2000. She has also co-authored Malaysia’s reports for the World Bank and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Ms. Shanthi is a member of the Nomination, Remuneration, and Corporate Governance Committee upon her appointment as the Board committee member on 1 January 2018 and resigned on 31 December 2021. On 1 January 2022, she was appointed as the Chairman of the Risk Management Committee and a member of the Sustainability Committee.
She was appointed as the Company’s Nominee Director to Port Klang Cruise Terminal Sdn Bhd on 1 December 2021.
She has no family relationship with any director or major shareholder of the Company nor has any conflict of interest with the Company. She attended all four Board Meetings during the financial year.
She has extensive experience in financial and accounting matters as well as financial reporting and regulatory compliance. Prior to her appointment as Chief Financial Officer of Hutchison Ports, she had been the Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations Officer of the Trustee-Manager since May 2016 after having been appointed as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer of the Trustee-Manager in February 2011. Ms. Lee was also the Finance and Legal Director and Company Secretary of Yantian International Container Terminals and served as a member of HPH Trust Exco, a committee of executives that determines the strategy for HPH Trust.
She was appointed as a member of the Risk Management Committee on 1 January 2022.
Hutchison Ports, through South Port Investment Holdings Limited, is a major shareholder of the Company. Ms. Lee is not involved in the management and day-to-day operations of the Company.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Quantity Surveying from the University of Reading, United Kingdom in 1982 and obtained Diploma in Public Administration from the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) in 1989. She later obtained a Master in Business Administration (International Banking) from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom in 1995 and attended the Oxford High Performance Leadership Programme at Said Business School, University of Oxford, United Kingdom (UK) in 2010.
Datuk Siti Zauyah began her career in civil service in 1982 as a Quantity Surveyor with the Public Works Department and later moved on to hold several other positions with a higher learning institution and several private sectors before pursuing her Diploma in Public Administration at INTAN. Upon graduation, she joined the Ministry of Finance Malaysia (MOF) and served in the Contract Management Division as Assistant Secretary from 1989 to 1993 before pursuing her Master and graduating in 1995. She continued to serve as Assistant Secretary with the Tax Division and Finance Division at MOF before being promoted as Principal Assistant Secretary in 2001.
In 2003, she was seconded to the Asian Development Bank, Manila as Director’s Advisor until August 2006. Upon her return, she continued her service with MOF in the Loans Management Division and was appointed as the Deputy Secretary (Economy, Public Transportation and Infrastructure), Investment, MOF (Inc.) and Privatisation Division in April 2008. She was promoted as Secretary, Loan Management Division in November 2012 and later as Secretary, Government Investment Company Division on 13 January 2014 and subsequently serve as Director of National Budget, National Budget Office from 12 December 2014 until 1 February 2016. Datuk Siti Zauyah was then appointed the Deputy Secretary General (Policy) from 2 February 2016 until her retirement on 13 November 2019.
Datuk Siti Zauyah is currently a Director of Telekom Malaysia Berhad, Cagamas Holdings Berhad, Cagamas SRP Berhad and a Member of Board of Trustee of Capital Market Development Fund.
She was appointed as the Chairman of the Sustainability Committee on 1 January 2022 and a member of the Audit Committee on 1 March 2022.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and is an Associate of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. He is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and a Business Valuation Specialist of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. He is also a holder of a Capital Markets Services Representative’s Licence issued by the SC for the regulated activity of advising on corporate finance and a licensed approved company auditor by the Ministry of Finance.
Encik Zubir is currently a Director of Zulu Capital Sdn Bhd, a private equity fund management company registered with the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) that he co-founded in 2014 that invests in unlisted companies primarily in the food and beverage and retail industries. He is also an Executive Director of Thinkat Advisory Sdn Bhd, a boutique corporate finance advisory firm licensed by the SC. He also managing partner of Zubir Chang & Co. PLT is a limited liability partnership and a licensed audit firm.
En Zubir was an independent Director of Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd from April 2016 to March 2021. He has over seven years of experience within the offshore oil and gas industry, as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of three separate offshore construction companies. Before setting up Zulu Capital Sdn Bhd and Thinkat Advisory Sdn Bhd, he was CFO of Daya Offshore Construction Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Daya Materials Berhad that provides subsea construction services. Prior to that, he was CFO of Labuan Shipyard & Engineering Sdn Bhd, an offshore and marine services contractor, and SapuraAcergy Sdn Bhd, a seabed-to-surface engineering and construction contractor. These two companies were joint venture companies within the Sapura Energy Berhad group of companies.
Prior to joining the oil and gas industry, he spent over a decade in the financial services industry as a management consultant, investment banker, and auditor with Ethos Consulting, ECM Libra, CIMB Investment Bank, and PwC Malaysia, respectively.
He was appointed as a member of the Risk Management Committee on 1 January 2022 and as the Chairman of the Audit Committee on 1 March 2022.
Tan Sri Dato’ Seri served as Director-General of the Public Service Department from 1 October 2019 to 16 January 2022. Prior to that, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri was the Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Transports (MOT) from August 2017 before being promoted to the Secretary-General of the MOT in January 2019.
He has served at the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development, Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, Embassy of Malaysia in Japan and the High Commission of Malaysia in London. Upon his return, he served at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, followed by the Ministry of Education, as well as the Secretary General of Malaysia National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Malaysia National Point of Contact for the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) Malaysia.
Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Mohd Khairul Adib graduated with a Bachelor of Science and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Management. He also holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Saitama University, Japan, under a Japanese Government Scholarship.
In January 2022, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri was conferred the Japanese Decoration, The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star by the Emperor of Japan for his contributions to the Look East Policy through people-to-people exchange and cooperation in the field of transportation between Malaysia and Japan.
He is currently the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, Malaysian Qualifications Agency and Board Chairman of MMAG Holdings Berhad.
Tan Sri Dato’ Seri was appointed as a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee on 1 September 2022.
Mr. John Stephen Ashworth was appointed as Alternate Director to Mr. Ip Sing Chi, a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company, on 1 July 2016.
Mr. Ashworth graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
He started his career as a Chartered Accountant for Peat Marwick in London. Between 1992 and 2001, Mr. Ashworth worked for CK Hutchison Holdings Limited and the Hutchison Ports group in a number of senior finance and management positions. Between 2002 and 2010, he was Asia Pacific Chief Financial Officer for the Constituency Management Group, the marketing communications division of the U.S. listed Interpublic Group.
Mr. Ashworth was appointed Managing Director, South East Asia for Hutchison Ports in January 2017. Prior to his current position, he was Managing Director, Myanmar, Thailand & Vietnam between 2015 and 2016 and Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports Indonesia between 2010 and 2014. He is also a Director of Westports Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.
Hutchison Ports, through South Port Investment Holdings Limited, is a major shareholder of the Company. Mr. Ashworth is not involved in the management and day-to-day operations of the Company.
Mr. Andy Wing Kit Tsoi was appointed as Alternate Director to Ms. Diana Tung Wan Lee, a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company, on 1 January 2022.
Mr. Tsoi graduated from York University in Canada with Bachelor of Arts degree in 1989 and Master of Business Administration degree in 1991 before he started his career in ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Hong Kong where he held various senior positions between 1992 to 1997. Thereafter, he joined Debt Markets Division of BNP Paribas Hong Kong as an Associate Director where he was responsible for loan syndication prior to joining Hutchison Port Holdings Limited (“Hutchison Ports”) in 1998.
He was appointed as Hutchison Ports’ Regional Director for Pakistan, Oman, and Saudi Arabia in 2011 and since 2012, he had added management responsibilities for United Arab Emirates and Tanzania.
Mr. Tsoi has been the Managing Director, Middle East & Africa since January 2014 overseeing Hutchison Ports’ business in Pakistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Tanzania.
Hutchison Ports, through South Port Investment Holdings Limited, is a major shareholder of the Company. Mr. Tsoi is not involved in the management and day-to-day operations of the Company.
