Board of Directors

Toh Soon Huat is our founder, Acting Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He founded the business in 1984 and has been deeply involved and instrumental in the growth of the Group. Under his leadership, the Group has successfully established a chain of furniture retail stores under 8 established brands, and a chain of beauty retail stores and beauty salons in Singapore. Mr Toh's responsibilities include the management of the Group's overall business, particularly in the areas of business investments business development and expansion. He was conferred PhD in Business Administration for professional studies from Southern California University at Santa Ana, USA in 1999 and Honorary PhD in Business Administration from Honolulu University, USA in 2001. He possesses more than 20 years of experience in business development, especially in the area of retail and branding.

Manohar P Sabnani was appointed as our independent Director on 23 May 2003 and on 1 June 2007, he became our Executive Director responsible for the Group strategic investments and expansions. He was the Chief Executive Officer/ Editor-in-Chief of MediaCorp Press Ltd, TODAY until October 2006. Before joining MediaCorp, he was Executive Director at Corporate Brokers International. Prior to that, he had held various appointments including Managing Director for Equity Capital Markets at the DBS Bank Ltd, Managing Editor of The Straits Times and Head of the Editorial Support Unit of the English/Malay newspapers at Singapore Press Holdings. He has more than 25 years of experience in total as a newspaper journalist, editor, manager, investment banker, and equity research director. He graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Chong Hon Kuan I van Independent Director Chong Hon Kuan Ivan was appointed as our Non-Executive Director on 4 December 2000. On 1 June 2007, he became our Independent Director. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Consumers Association of Singapore [CASE] and chairs the Business Practice Committee and concurrently, the adviser to the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore [ASAS]. In the past, he had served as President of the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents and Chairman of ASAS.

Tay Beng Chuan was appointed as our Independent Director on 4 December 2000. He was a Nominated Member of Parliament from 1 October 1997 till dissolution of Parliament on 18 October 2001. He is a Member of the Singapore Parliamentary Society. A Board Member of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board since April 2005, he is now the Board's Chairman effective 7 February 2007. He was the President of The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry from March 1997 till March 2001 and is currently the Honorary President of the said Chamber. He is the Chairman of Premium Funding Singapore Pte Ltd, which is an insurance premium funding and licenced money-lending company. He is also the Managing Director of Winnow Investments Pte Ltd, Ocean Navigation Pte Ltd and Alor Star Shipping Pte Ltd. These companies are involved in general trading and investments, ship chartering and shipping related activities. He holds a Diploma of Commerce from the Gordon Technical Institution in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

Wong Meng Yeng was appointed as our independent Director on 4 December 2000. He graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1983 with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree. He has been an advocate and solicitor in Singapore for 24 years of which the last 18 were spent as a corporate lawyer. He is currently a director of Alliance LLC, a law corporation he cofounded and an independent director of several companies listed on the Singapore Exchange.