By Mak Yuen Teen
On 12 December, Lai Hock Meng resigned as independent director and non-executive chairman of Transcorp Holdings, having joined the board just over four months earlier on 3 August. His resignation follows the earlier resignation of Wang Yingyang as CFO and company secretary on 7 December. Mr Wang lasted just four days in the company. Remarkably, in both cases, the continuing sponsor Asian Corporate Advisors said that, based on enquiries made, it is satisfied that there are no reasons for the cessation other than those stated in the announcement. This once again raises questions about whether certain continuing sponsors are adequately discharging their responsibilities.
In Mr Lai’s case, the announcement said that the resignation was “due to medical reasons”. I wish he gets better. The cessation announcement lists 14 other current directorships in listed and private companies, including Delong Holdings which is listed on SGX. Since Mr Lai is resigning for medical reasons, it would seem reasonable to assume that he would also resign from these other directorships. This may also aid in his recuperation. If he is saying that by medical reasons, he meant that the company is ill but not him, then the announcement should make that clear.
Perhaps SGX would be as curious as I am about whether the reasons stated are accurate?
