Desmond Kuek

Kuek led SMRT's rail transformation effort to renew and improve the ageing North-South and East-West Lines, Singapore's oldest, longest and most heavily-used MRT lines . The multi-year, multi-project renewal effort spearheaded by Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) involves six major components and will stretch into the early 2020s. These are the six major components that SMRT has been working on together with LTA:

Kuek will join Swiss investment bank UBS on 18 February 2019 as its divisional vice-chairman for global wealth management and will be based in Singapore. UBS announced this in a statement on 4 February 2019.

Desmond Kuek Bak Chye is a Singaporean business executive and former army general. He was the sixth Chief of Defence Force of the Singapore Armed Forces from 2007–2010 and held the rank of Lieutenant-General. He was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Water Resource from 2010–2012. He was the President and Group Chief Executive Officer of SMRT Corporation until 31 July 2018.

In a press statement on 18 April 2018, SMRT announced that former Chief of Defence Force (CDF) Neo Kian Hong will replace Desmond Kuek as group CEO from 1 August.

On 24 November 2018, the Straits Times reported that Kuek had founded a leadership consultancy called Genium & Co. The company is helmed by two former SAF officers, Mr Fred Tan and Mr Ang Yau Choon, who serve as managing directors. Mr Tan headed the Singapore Armed Forces' Centre for Leadership Development while Mr Ang, 51, served as commander of the SAF Commando Training Institute. Genium's principal activities are in organisational transformation, strategy execution, crisis leadership, experiential learning and performance excellence.

As group CEO, he was also responsible for taking the company private by selling it to Temasek Holdings on 29 September 2016.

Working in partnership with LTA, three of the six projects were completed under Kuek's watch. These are the projects to renew the sleepers and power rails, and the re-signalling effort. A project with Otis Elevator Company to renew NSEWL escalators throughout the network began in August 2016 and is expected to be completed in the early 2020s.

Tan wrote: "But even though his tenure was marred by incidents such as track deaths and tunnel flooding, he was part of the team – along with SMRT Trains chief Lee Ling Wee – which rebuilt the reliability of the North-South and East-West lines. As of the end of March this year, the North-South Line clocked an average of 604,000 train-km before a delay lasting more than five minutes; for the East-West Line, the figure was 272,000 train-km. These were some 10 times better than the lines' performance in 2011. The number of major breakdowns – those lasting more than 30 minutes – on Singapore's two oldest lines has also decreased to just one in the first quarter. At their worst, the two lines chalked up nearly one such breakdown each month. The Circle Line, which is likewise operated by SMRT, also posted a tenfold improvement in reliability over the same period to 1.8 million train-km between delays."

On 1 October 2012, Kuek was appointed President and Group CEO of SMRT Corporation Limited (SMRT), a transport company providing rail, bus, and taxi services.

Kuek relinquished his appointment as the CDF on 31 March 2010 and was succeeded by Neo Kian Hong.

After leaving the military, Kuek served as a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources from 1 July 2010 to 30 September 2012. During his tenure, he co-chaired the Environment and Water Technologies (Clean Water) Executive Committee and the Steering Committee on CleanTech Park.

On 23 March 2007, he succeeded Ng Yat Chung as the Chief of Defence Force (CDF).

He also held directorships on the boards of the following companies: Housing and Development Board, from 2001 to 2003; International Enterprise Singapore, in 2005; JTC Corporation, from 2007 to 2010; Defence Science and Technology Agency, from 2007 to 2010; ST Engineering and its various subsidiaries, from 1994 to 2010.

Kuek studied in Anglo-Chinese School and Anglo-Chinese Junior College. He was awarded the Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship in 1982. He holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford, as well as a Master of Public Administration degree (Macroeconomics and Statistics) from Harvard University.

Kuek was enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1981. He attended the Infantry Officer Basic Course in Fort Benning, USA and was awarded the Distinguished Allied Leadership Graduate in 1985. He was the top student at the Army's Company Tactics Course in 1987 and Battalion Tactics Course in 1989, held in SAFTI, Singapore. He also attended the Command and Staff Course at Camberley Staff College in the United Kingdom in 1991. As a scholar, he rose rapidly through the ranks, receiving the following appointments: