Ms Chong Siak Ching, Chief Executive Officer of National Gallery Singapore, has been appointed Chair of the Governing Board of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YST) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) from 1 November 2020. She will succeed Mr Robert Tomlin, Vice Chairman of the Asian arm of Lepercq Neuflize & Co, who continues on as a member of the Board.

In addition to leading the National Gallery, Ms Chong is also Head of the Visual Arts Cluster that includes the Singapore Art Museum and Singapore Tyler Print Institute. She holds board positions in Yale-NUS College and Mandai Park Holdings Pte Ltd. She is Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to the Republic of Chile. Prior to joining the National Gallery, she was CEO at Ascendas, where she initiated the creation of the Ascendas Gives Foundation, which supports the arts, environment and community. 

“It is an honour to be leading YST in its growth as Asia’s most exciting international conservatory. Over its 17 years and under the outstanding past chairmanship of Mr Goh Yew Lin and Mr Robert Tomlin, YST has formed a strong reputation for excellence, and its alumni are highly visible in the local and international artistic landscape. It has also steadily built up a range of platforms for musical engagement across NUS and the general public, as well as partnerships that give music greater resonance. In fact, YST and the National Gallery have already partnered in the popular Resonates With concert series! I look forward to working further with the Conservatory’s Board, staff and students in its next phase,” said Ms Chong.

A keen supporter of education and the arts in Singapore, and of theatre and music in particular, Mr Tomlin joined the YST Governing Board in 2003 and had served as its Deputy Chairman from 2008 to 2018, before being appointed as its Chairman in 2018. His leadership saw the Conservatory transform its institutional identity, embracing a more diverse spectrum of artistic identities and integrating more fluidly into NUS and the Singaporean milieu. Mr Tomlin is also a member of the Board of Directors at LASALLE College of the Arts. He was previously Chairman of the Singapore Repertory Theatre, Chairman of the Design Singapore Council, and has held numerous directorships in the private sector. For his contributions to the arts and design landscape in Singapore, he was awarded the Public Service Medal (Friends of Singapore) in the 2015 National Day Awards.

“I thank all partners and friends of YST for your support as the Conservatory has grown from strength to strength, forming not only an impressive list of contributions and accomplishments, but also an ever-stronger contemporary Asian voice in the global conservatory landscape. It has been a pleasure working with the YST Board and team, and I am delighted to continue supporting the Conservatory,” said Mr Tomlin.