Appointment Of New Chief Executive Director For The People's Association

Mr Jimmy Toh to take over as new Chief Executive Director for PA from 1 Jan 2023.

Mr Jimmy Toh Yong Leng will be appointed as Chief Executive Director (Designate) of People’s Association (PA) from 1 November 2022 and will take over as Chief Executive Director (CED) of PA from 1 January 2023. He succeeds Mr Lim Hock Yu, who will be stepping down on the same day. 

Mr Lim Hock Yu

2 Mr Lim was appointed as PA’s CED in June 2020 and prior to that he was the Deputy Chief Executive from April 2016.  Under his leadership, PA embarked on Community 2025 plan, charting out the long-term ambition and strategies for PA to strengthen community bonds and social resilience.   

3 Mr Lim was instrumental in PA taking a lead, pivotal role in the fight against COVID-19. PA ensured the well-being of the community and strengthened resilience, by mobilising grassroots volunteers and staff to raise awareness on public health and safety, support quarantined families and ground up efforts to help neighbours, and implement financial assistance and support schemes. As the Task Force Commander for Vaccination Mobilisation and Engagement Operations, Mr Lim oversaw the national effort to reach out to seniors and the vulnerable to get vaccinated, and rapidly converted community clubs across the island into vaccination centres. Mr Lim also guided PA’s operational units to re-focus their efforts to support the Whole-of-Government (WOG) COVID-19 response, and work more closely with community partners, volunteers, grassroots leaders and staff to assist hundreds of thousands during the crisis. 

4 Mr Lim also drove outreach programmes to keep the community engaged despite the safe management measures. More PA courses and programmes went online to encourage residents to stay active and healthy, and Seniors Go Digital Hubs were set up to help seniors pick up essential digital skills.

5 More recently, Mr Lim has also planned and prepared PA for the post-COVID community building efforts. These include strengthening last mile delivery to residents, having a more concerted WOG public service delivery and shifting from a committee-centric to a network-centric grassroots movement to foster stronger relationship among residents and partners.

6 Under Mr Lim, PA has become a stronger institution. His contributions include institutionalising knowledge management, establishing operation and training systems, and building new capabilities to enhance PA’s effectiveness. He strengthened the training systems and technology deployment in PA to widen and sharpen PA’s capabilities, and to retool PA staff and volunteers.  He stepped-up PA’s transformation efforts in areas of resource optimisation, digitalisation and innovation. These efforts included piloting the setting-up of ServiceSG@CC together with the Public Service Division to bring multiple Government agencies key services together for a seamless experience for Singaporeans at CCs.  

7 Under Mr Lim’s guidance, PA also organised the first Digital Chingay, combining physical and virtual performance segments to present a unique blend of traditional and contemporary arts performance.

8 Mr Lim also ensured the well-being of staff, especially during COVID times. He personally distributed care packs to staff and supported their well-being and mental health through various workplace wellness initiatives.  

9 For his leadership and significant contributions to PA and the Public Service, Mr Lim was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2022.

Incoming Chief Executive Director Mr Jimmy Toh

10 As Deputy Chief of Government Communications (Operations) and Senior Director (Public Communications) in the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), Mr Toh has played a vital role in coordinating Whole of Government communications initiatives both within MCI’s Information Group and across Government. Most recently, he helmed the integrated and holistic effort to push out timely and accurate information on COVID-19 across an extensive range of channels, in order to encourage Singaporeans to adopt Safe Management Measures, health protocols and vaccinations. Mr Toh also spearheaded the transformation of government communications, for example by setting up the Gov.sg WhatsApp channel, developing the SG Translate Machine Translation engine, and installing Digital Display Panels in HDB estates island-wide to deliver public communications messages.

11 Prior to MCI, Mr Toh served as Senior Director of Prime Minister’s Office-Communications Group, and Senior Director (Engagement) in MCI. He received the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2017 for his contributions to the public service.

Secondment of Mr Lim Hock Yu to SCCCI

12 Mr Lim will be joining the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI) as Secretary-General with effect from 1 Jan 2023. As Secretary-General, Mr Lim will support the SCCCI Council to fulfill its mission to promote Singapore’s economic development, and advance the Chamber’s community, cultural and educational initiatives at a time when Singapore is charting a new roadmap for the future.

13 SCCCI President Mr Kho Choon Keng said: “We are delighted to welcome Hock Yu at an exciting time for SCCCI. In this rapidly changing business landscape, we have been looking to strengthen SCCCI as the leading business Chamber in Singapore that creates value for our members, and Hock Yu's wealth of experiences in strategic planning, stakeholder management, staff development, combined with strong operational capabilities will be valuable to the transformation of SCCCI. I am confident that Hock Yu will play a pivotal role in SCCCI’s next lap of growth.”   

Registration of appreciation

14 “I thank Mr Lim for his years of service with the PA, which he has discharged with distinction. He played a significant role in a very challenging period for the PA over the past two years. At the same time, he maintained a clear focus on many initiatives to make the PA more relevant and relatable to the people we serve. I am confident that Mr Lim will lead SCCCI with equal distinction and success," said Mr Edwin Tong, Deputy Chairman of PA.

15 The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) would like to thank Mr Lim for his leadership and significant contributions to PA and the MCCY Family, as well as welcome Mr Toh.