Singapore bosses pledge to champion employees' mental well-being

TWENTY leaders in Singapore's private and public sectors on Thursday signed a joint pledge committing to champion and prioritise mental well-being within their organisations and the wider Singapore workforce.

Among them were Hsieh Fu Hua, chairman of the board of trustees at National University of Singapore (NUS); Toshiya Yoshida, chief executive officer (CEO) of Nomura Singapore; Puneet Chaddha, CEO and head of South-east Asia at HSBC Global Asset Management; and Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Anthea Ong.

The 20 head honchos met in a closed-door dialogue on Thursday, the first such session organised by the WorkWell Leaders Workgroup (WLW), to address the need for leaders to champion workplace well-being as a strategic priority. They shared with one another strategic and practical insights on employee mental health within their organisations.

They will also be continuing the conversation and sharing best practices in subsequent dialogue sessions with new CEO participants.

Through these dialogues, the leaders will create Singapore's first cross-sector workplace mental well-being commitment and high-level roadmap, WLW said in a media statement.

Founded in May 2018 by NMP Ms Ong, WLW is a volunteer-run initiative made up of leaders in C-suite, human resources, and diversity and inclusion teams from companies and national agencies.

The participants at Thursday's inaugural CEO+Leaders Breakfast Dialogue were:

• NUS: Hsieh Fu Hua, chairman of board of trustees

• Wood Mackenzie: Koh Khai Yang, Asia-Pacific chairman;

• HSBC Global Asset Management: Puneet Chaddha, CEO and head of South-east Asia;

• Public Service Division, Prime Minister's Office: Teoh Zsin Woon, deputy secretary;

• Nomura Singapore: Toshiya Yoshida, CEO;

• National University Health System: John Wong, CEO;

• AstraZeneca Singapore: How Ti-Hwei, country president;

• WWF Singapore: Maureen DeRooij, CEO;

• Agency for Integrated Care: Tan Kwang Cheak, CEO;

• National Council of Social Service: Sim Gim Guan, CEO;

• Mercer Singapore: Peta Latimer, CEO;

• Parkway Pantai: Daniel Tan, CEO of Parkway Laboratory Services and Angsana Molecular and Diagnostic Laboratory;

• National Healthcare Group: Chua Hong Choon, deputy group CEO;

• PwC Singapore: Sam Kok Weng, partner and leadership team member;

• Dow Chemical: Paul Fong, country manager for Singapore and Malaysia;

• Dell Singapore: Eric Goh, vice-president and managing director;

• BP: Eugene Leong, chief operating officer (COO) of BP Integrated Supply and Trading, Global Oil Eastern Hemisphere;

• Edelman Asia Pacific: Bob Grove, COO; and

• Hush TeaBar and A Good Space: NMP Anthea Ong, founder and CEO.

Read more: Mental health matters at work