Raffles Education's independent director defers retiring despite board disagreements

Benjamin Cher

Published Mon, Nov 1, 2021 · 08:17 AM

RAFFLES Education (REC) revealed that independent non-executive director, Gan Hui Tin, wanted to retire in June 2021 over disagreements with the board for not disclosing a writ from Affin Bank, which was received on May 27 with the board notified on May 28.

In a bourse filing on Sunday (Oct 31), the private school operator disclosed that its chairman, Chew Hua Seng, had requested Gan hold back her resignation to Oct 30, when REC would hold its annual general meeting. She had requested to resign with immediate effect over a phone call with Chew on Jun 16, 2021 and an email on Jun 17, 2021.

The main disagreements Gan had with the board was regarding the treatment of the receipt of Affin Bank's writ and the disputes the company has with the bank.

Chew said that Gan's reason of differences in opinion stated in the disclosure of her resignation notice could attract unnecessary attention, and potentially jeopardise the ongoing negotiations with Affin Bank. He had assured her that the negotiations were going well and the writ would be withdrawn soon.

Gan then decided after considering Chew's request, to defer her resignation until REC's annual general meeting on Oct 30, when she was due for retirement. The independent director would continue to take different positions from the board regarding certain announcements to shareholders and responses to the Singapore Exchange, according to the filing.

Shares of Raffles Education traded lower 3.8 per cent or S$0.003 to S$0.077 at the end of trading on Friday (Oct 29).