Saw Phaik Hwa lands new job
Outgoing SMRT chief to join listed company not in transportation field
Published on Apr 3, 2012
By Christopher Tan, Senior Correspondent
MS SAW Phaik Hwa, who leaves train operator SMRT Corp on Thursday after helming it for nine years, has found a new job.
The 57-year-old would say only that
she is joining a listed company which is not in the transportation field. 
She added that it was not appropriate for her to reveal its identity, given that the company is publicly listed and should make the announcement of her appointment.
Ms Saw resigned from SMRT on Jan 6, shortly after two massive rail breakdowns of the North-South Line last December triggered a government-appointed committee of inquiry that will begin hearing on April 16.
Her resignation came as a surprise as she had said on Dec 18, a day after the second breakdown, that she was staying put despite calls for her to step down.
Her finding a new job so quickly is a reprise of a similar comeback she made nearly 10 years ago.
In December 2002, just months after being retrenched from duty-free retail chain DFS Venture Singapore after a 19-year stint, she was named chief executive of SMRT.
Her appointment raised eyebrows as, unlike her predecessors, she was not from the armed forces or civil service.
But over the years, Ms Saw proved her sceptics wrong by growing a second, lucrative business for SMRT: rental of retail space within stations.
The new business has since expanded to become the listed company's biggest profit generator, after train operations.
But following the breakdowns in December, critics said SMRT's success with the rental business was at the expense of its core competency to run a rail network.
The feisty, single executive, who is recuperating from knee surgery as well as a thyroid procedure, has started a blog.
In it, she has touched on early challenges such as the Bukit Panjang LRT system breaking down ever so frequently, merging bus company Tibs Holdings into the SMRT fold and SMRT's dismal profitability in the early days.
While SMRT's longest-serving chief executive, after the late Mr Lim Leong Geok, is leaving the company after her last day on Thursday, insiders said Ms Saw may be called to the stand at the inquiry convening on April 16 to investigate the breakdowns.
She, as well as SMRT, will be represented by senior counsel Cavinder Bull of Drew & Napier. The inquiry is expected to last eight weeks.
Meanwhile, the search for her replacement is ongoing. The Straits Times understands possible candidates include an SMRT board member and a senior manager at a major property group.
There is also talk that a retiring senior army officer is in the running.
An appointment is likely to be made only after the public inquiry is over - possibly in the third or fourth quarter.
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