Presidential Farewell

Gerard Ee passes on his legacy to Bernard Tay

The Automobile Association of Singapore said goodbye to its President, Gerard Ee at its Annual General Meeting on 31 May. Taking over as the new President from 1 June is Bernard Tay, who was elected as President at the same meeting.

After serving the AA for 20 long years, with 10 years at the motoring helm, Mr. Ee has decided to bow out to devote more time to his other portfolios he holds outside AA. "As I'm involved in quite a number of things, its only fair that one must have the time to focus on it. Besides, for good corporate governance, there should also be succession planning and rotation. Its always good to have new blood," said Mr. Ee

Mr. Ee was elected into the General Committee in April 1986, became the Vice President in May 1988 and took over as President in 1996. In all these years, Mr. Ee has devoted his time selflessly in leading the Association in its attempt to scale more peaks of excellence of various aspects of its operation than it can be properly acknowledged.

During his strong leadership, Mr. Ee was instrumental in leading the Association to new market and product opportunities, establishing AA as the leading service provider for roadside assistance and guiding the Association to leverage on modern technology, and thus strengthening the Association over the years.

In his farewell speech, Mr. Ee also shared the distinct challenges faced in the last two decades. "During that time, the dwindling membership was around 30,000, we owe the banks over S$5 million and we had about 15 litigations on hand. Today, we owe the bank nothing, we have over $20 million in the bank and in addition we have a building at Leng Kee and we have a healthy association. So having completed this, it's time to make way."

Mr. Ee is a natural diplomat whose people skills and genuine warmth was a balm to the Association's public image. Over the years, members and the motoring public alike had warmed up to Mr. Ee's sound and logical approach to motoring issues. As the spokesperson for the Association, he is never short of a good quote and has been referred to as "Mr. COE", often sought by the media for comments on the latest COE prices.

Now that his term is over, Mr. Ee will continue to head the National Council of Social Service. He also chairs the Public Transport Council and the National Kidney Foundation. Of his successor, Mr. Ee calls Mr. Tay a visionary leader with strong credentials. "It is not a one man show, we have build together a good team. You will continue to be in good hands and I've every confidence that AA will grow from strength to strength," said Mr. Ee.

Mr. Bernard Tay, 57, is presently the Chairman of a corporate advisory company. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (U.K.), the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore and Taxation Institute of Australia. He served as a member of AA's Staff Sub-Committee since 1988 and has been the Vice- President of AA since 2004. Mr. Tay is currently actively involved in voluntary community work and is an Independent Director to various public listed companies.

He is also the Vice-President of the Singapore Productivity Association. Mr. Tay said "I am truly honoured to be given the opportunity to serve as the next President. I shall strive to do my best to continue and consolidate the work we have carried out these past years."