Another ex-military man has been appointed to head Tower Transit Singapore, one of the newer transit companies in the nation. This comes about six months after transport operator SMRT appointed an ex-Chief of Defence Force to replace its outgoing chief executive, who was also an ex-Chief of Defence Force.
On Friday, Tower Transit Group announced that it has appointed former Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Chief Infantry Officer, Brigadier-General (NS) Winston Toh as the Managing Director of its Singapore bus operations. BG (NS) Toh will take charge of Tower Transit from 1 Feb.
After a 27-year career in the military, BG (NS) Toh retired from the military and joined ST Electronics (e-Services) Pte Ltd as General Manager. He left ST Electronics thereafter and became Deputy CEO of Singapore Workforce Development Agency – a statutory board, under the Ministry of Manpower.
A few years later, BG (NS) Toh became Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at ST Engineering, which is owned by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek. On his new appointment at Tower Transit, BG (NS) Toh said:
“I’ve visited Tower Transit Singapore’s Bulim depot to say hello to people and get an early feel of the ground. It’s a good feeling stepping into a company where staff are happy to work and where the culture is open.
“I intend to encourage that spirit of excellence and innovation and hope to use my experience to build on those foundations to deliver a best-in-class service for our passengers and the LTA.”
Tower Transit is a UK-founded company that was awarded the Singapore government’s first competitively-tendered bus contract in May 2015. Over three and a half years later, Tower Transit runs 29 bus services from Bukit Batok, Jurong East, Clementi and Joo Koon bus interchanges:
In a statement, Tower Transit’s chairman Neil Smith revealed how important the Singapore market is to the organisation.
He added that the company found BG (NS) Toh skills and abilities “extremely valuable” and that his appointment is part of the organisation’s plan to grow their business and strengthen local ties:
“Finding the right person to lead Tower Transit Singapore is critical because of how important Singapore is to us. Singapore’s reputation as a leader in public transport planning is quickly growing around the world, driven by a forward-thinking government that’s actively exploring and testing new technologies in passenger transport. We’re proud to operate here; we’ve sunk our roots and become part of the community, with close to 70% of our bus captains being citizens and permanent residents.
“Winston’s experience in leadership, business development, operations and organisational transformation combined with his ability to inspire people to get behind a vision will be extremely valuable to Tower Transit Singapore. His appointment as Managing Director is an integral part of our plan to grow our business here and strengthen our ties to the community and our stakeholders. I’m confident he will add a great deal of value to the business and our relationships with our staff, our passengers and our client the Land Transport Authority.”