1 BG Tan Yih San will assume the appointment of Chief Executive (CE) of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) with effect from 1 June 2011. He succeeds Ms Liew Woon Yin, who has served as CE, IPOS since 1 April 2001. Ms Liew will return to the Singapore Legal Service.
2 BG Tan, 45, was awarded the Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship in 1985 to study at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Physics), First Class Honours. He obtained a Master of Business Administration from the University of Hull in 1996. BG Tan was also awarded the SAF Postgraduate Scholarship (General Development) and obtained a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University in 1999.
3 BG Tan served with the SAF for over 26 years, during which he held various key command and staff appointments, including Future Systems Architect, Commander, 3rd Singapore Division and Assistant Chief of the General Staff (Intelligence). BG Tan will retire from the SAF and return to the Administrative Service with effect from 1 June 2011.
4 Ms Liew played an instrumental role in the formation of IPOS as a statutory board in 2001. Under her leadership, IPOS helped shape an IP landscape in Singapore that is strongly conducive for innovation and investment. It has strengthened considerably Singapore’s IP regime, with significant improvements to various IP Acts including the Copyright, Trade Marks and Patent Acts, and the provision of a highly efficient and robust system for the registration and protection of IP. Today, Singapore’s international rankings in IP protection and rights enforcement are one of the best worldwide and the top in Asia. Ms Liew also led IPOS’ active participation in international IP forums and engagement with partners such as the World Intellectual Property Organization and IP offices of other countries, and helped to establish IPOS as a constructive player on the international IP scene.
5 The Ministry of Law and IPOS deeply appreciate Ms Liew’s many years of dedicated service and contributions to IPOS, and wish her continued success and fulfilment in her future endeavours. We welcome BG Tan, as IPOS embarks on its next phase of development to build up Singapore as a hub for IP services and capabilities and as we continue to strengthen our IP regime to keep pace with technological advances.
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ABOUT BG TAN YIH SAN
1 BG Tan Yih San, aged 45, was awarded the Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship in 1985 to study at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Physics), First Class Honours. He obtained a Master of Business Administration from the University of Hull in 1996. BG Tan was also awarded the SAF Postgraduate Scholarship (General Development) and obtained a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University in 1999.
2 BG Tan has had a distinguished career with the SAF for over 26 years, during which he held significant command and staff appointments requiring strong leadership, analytical, and organisational skills. These included Future Systems Architect, Commander, 3rd Singapore Division and Assistant Chief of the General Staff (Intelligence). BG Tan will retire from the SAF and return to the Administrative Service with effect from 1 June 2011.
3 As Future Systems Architect, BG Tan assisted in the future planning of MINDEF and the SAF. He was instrumental in the development of the Innovation Hub that brought together various communities of developers to seed and experiment with novel technological solutions for SAF’s long-term needs.
4 BG Tan has also held many appointments outside the SAF, including as a Director on the Board of the Defence Science & Technology Agency, Cap Vista Private Limited and DSO National Laboratories. He was also a Member of the Temasek Polytechnic Board. He was awarded the National Day Public Administration Medal (Silver) (Military) in 2006.