In addition, Mr Thakral is the Chairman of the Thakral Family Companies and the Joint Chairman of Thakral Holdings Limited, a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. He joined the family trading business in 1949.  He was a director of the Singapore Trade Development Board appointed by the Minister for Trade and Industry for a period of four years until 31 December 1998 and a non-executive director of India listed GIVO Limited till 31 March 2009.  He was also a member of the Committee to Promote Enterprise Overseas and a member of the Regional Business Forum, both appointed by the Singapore Government. He is a trustee of the Singapore Sikh Education Foundation and Sri Guru Nanak Sat Sang Sabha and was a trustee of Singapore Indian Development Association from 1991 till 31 December 2006.

Natarajan Subramaniam

Deputy Chairman and Independent Non-Executive Director

Mr Natarajan Subramaniam is a non-executive director of the Company. He was first appointed a Director since 15 November 1995 and was last re-appointed on 30 April 2009. He is also the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Nomination Committee and Audit Committee and member of the Compensation Committee of the Company. The Company’s Nomination Committee considers Mr Subramaniam to be an independent director.

Mr Subramaniam began his accounting career in 1965 as a trainee with Blackborn Mellstrom & Co, London and subsequently with Ernst & Young, London. He had been a partner of Ernst & Young, Singapore from July 1976 to December 1993 and was an associate of the firm from January 1994 until December 2003. His major areas of experience include audit, investigations, IPOs, mergers and acquisitions. He was for a number of years a member of the Accounting Standards Committee of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore and a member of the Accounting and Auditing Standards, Quality Control and Professional Development Committees of Ernst & Young International. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Singapore. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Malaya in Singapore. He is currently a non-executive director of India listed Karthikeya Paper & Boards Ltd. 

Teo Tong Kooi
Non-Executive Director

Mr Teo Tong Kooi is a non-executive director of the Company. He is also an alternate member to Mr Ting Sii Tien @ Yao Sik Tien on the Compensation Committee. He was first appointed a Director since 23 March 2005 and was last re-elected on 24 April 2008.

Mr Teo is the Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Hong Leong Asia Ltd. ("HLA"), Vice Chairman and Executive Director of Malaysia listed Tasek Corporation Berhad ("Tasek") and a Director of New York listed China Yuchai International Limited ("CYI") and Singapore listed HL Global Enterprises Limited ("HLGE"). He is also a Director of Isyoda Corporation Berhad which was previously listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.

Mr Teo holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing Management and a Master of Business Administration (both from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, California, USA). He has also completed the Executive Management Programme at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He has a wealth of corporate and commercial banking experience with many years in senior management positions where he was Head of Corporate Banking of Deutsche Bank, Malaysia and Chief Operating Officer of Hong Leong Bank Berhad, Malaysia. 

Inderbethal Singh Thakral

Executive Director

Mr Inderbethal Singh Thakral ("Mr Bethal") is the Managing Director, Distribution Business of the Group. Prior to this, he was Executive Director, Distribution Business of the Group and was a non-executive director of the Company from October 2007 to 30 November 2008. He was first appointed a Director since 12 August 1994 and was last re-elected on 26 April 2007.

Mr Bethal has extensive experience in the electronics distribution business and headed the Group's operations in Hong Kong and China from 1984 to 2006. He joined the family business, Thakral Brothers (Pte) Ltd in Singapore in 1975. In 1980, he moved to Japan to familiarise himself with the operations and business partners there. With China trade becoming an important part of Hong Kong’s business direction, Mr Bethal focused on expanding the Group’s business in the PRC and developing trade relations in the PRC and Hong Kong. At the same time, he enlarged the range of brands as well as product lines carried by the Group thereby increasing its share of the consumer electronics market.

Mr Bethal is also a non-executive director of Thakral Holdings Limited, a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and Chairman of Sahib Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Education Trust, Hong Kong.

Ting Sii Tien @ Yao Sik Tien 

Non-Executive Director

Mr Ting Sii Tien @ Yao Sik Tien is a non-executive director and a member of the Compensation Committee of the Company. He was first appointed a Director since 5 May 2008 and was last re-elected on 30 April 2009. Prior to his appointment as non-executive director, he was an Alternate Director to Mr Teo Tong Kooi on the Board of the Company.

Mr Ting is currently the Group General Manager of Hong Leong Corporation Holdings Pte Ltd and a Director of HLGE and Tasek. He was previously the Group Chief Financial Officer of HLA and the Chief Financial Officer of CYI. During the past 3 years, he was a Director of CYI and an Alternate Director to Mr Teo on the board of HLGE. He has over 25 years of experience as a financial controller in various companies including Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (Singapore), Bank of Montreal, Singapore and is an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. 

Jasvinder Singh Thakral
Executive Director

Mr Jasvinder Singh Thakral ("Mr Jasvinder") is an executive director of the Company. He was first appointed a Director since 15 November 1995 and was last re-elected on 28 July 2006.

Mr Jasvinder joined the Group as Managing Director of Thakral Japan in 1970 and is responsible for the operations of the Osaka buying office. Being born and brought up in Japan, he has extensive experience in Japanese business and work culture and has been in charge of sourcing consumer electronic products directly from Japanese manufacturers. Over the years, Mr Jasvinder has strengthened relationships with the Group suppliers and has managed to retain their support despite difficult times. He has also been the key person in managing the change-over to the current high-end product line that the Group distributes.

Lately, being actively involved in the PRC operations and developing relations with suppliers, Mr Jasvinder has been spending considerable time in the PRC. He was also involved in building relationships with new manufacturers for India and has successfully added Canon, Casio, Panasonic and Sony to the brands of consumer electronic products which the Group distributes in India. 

Lee Ying Cheun

Independent Non-Executive Director

Mr Lee Ying Cheun is a non-executive director of the Company and is considered to be an independent director by the Company’s Nomination Committee. He was first appointed a Director on 15 November 1995 and was last re-elected on 26 April 2007. Mr Lee is the Chairman of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Audit Committee.

Mr Lee held appointments in the Economic Development Board locally and overseas from 1966 to 1984. He was the Deputy CEO of Trade Development Board from 1985 to 1994, the Group General Manager of WBL Corporation and the Managing Director of Wearnes Technologies from 1994 to 1998, an Executive Director of Hong Kong listed Vincent Intertrans Limited from 1999 to 2000. He held various executive positions (Asia) in optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., USA from 2001 to 2006. Mr Lee served as an Independent Director on boards of various listed companies in the last 10 years including FHTK Holdings Limited (now known as Sunmoon Food Company Limited), Freight Links Express Holdings Limited, Freight Links Express Holdings (Australia) Limited and Jurong Technologies Industrial Corporation Limited ("JTIC"). He was the Non-Executive Chairman and subsequently the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of JTIC.

He is currently the Corporate Investment Adviser to Bu Chang Pharmaceuticals Group, China, Honorary Chairman of HealthTrends Holdings Pte. Ltd. and HealthTrends Medical Investments Pte. Ltd. and a Director of Global EMS Management Pte. Ltd. In public service, Mr Lee was the Consul General to Osaka, Singapore Trade Representative to China, Singapore Ambassador to Mexico, Brazil and Panama. He is a Patron of Toa Payoh East Citizen Consultative Committee and Moulmein Wind Symphony. Mr Lee holds degrees in Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Science with Honours (Applied Chemistry) from the University of Singapore. He completed programs in Operations Research (University of Birmingham), Training Methodologies (Turin), Management of Small/Medium Size Enterprises (Osaka) and Advanced Management Programs at INSEAD and Harvard. He was a Chartered Chemist with the Royal Institute of Chemistry, UK. He is an Honorary Fellow of the All India Management Association and a member of the Singapore Institute of Directors. 

Jaginder Singh Pasricha

Executive Director

Mr Jaginder Singh Pasricha is the Managing Director, Real Estate & Corporate of the Company. Prior to this, he was a non-executive director of the Company and a full-time consultant to the Company. He was first appointed a Director on 2 September 2008 and was last re-elected on 30 April 2009.

Mr Pasricha was a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria since 1979. He had conducted a boutique law firm specialising in commercial and corporate matters prior to joining Babcock & Brown to lead the investment bank's real estate operations in India. Mr Pasricha has extensive experience in corporate structuring, tax planning, mergers and acquisitions, company listing, international cross border transactions, debt restructuring, joint ventures and negotiating complex transactions, acting for a select corporate clientele in Australia and Asia.

Mr Pasricha is a non-executive Director of Singapore listed Jacks International Limited and Australia listed Thakral Holdings Limited. He is a graduate of King’s College London University where he also read his masters at law. He is a member of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple.

Hoh Weng Ming

(Alternate to Teo Tong Kooi)

Mr Hoh Weng Ming was appointed as an Alternate Director to non-executive director, Mr Teo Tong Kooi since 5 May 2008.

Mr Hoh holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree majoring in Accountancy and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Canterbury and the Massey University (both in New Zealand) respectively. He is a Chartered Accountant in New Zealand and Malaysia and a Fellow Member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Mr Hoh is currently the Chief Financial Officer of CYI. Prior to re-joining CYI, he was the Group Controller of the Industrial Product Group division for Hong Kong listed Johnson Electric Industrial Manufactory Limited, a leading industrial electric motor producer from 2005 to 2008. He was also the Financial Controller for two of HLA's subsidiaries, namely Henan Xinfei Electric Co., Ltd from 2003 to 2005 and CYI from 2002 to 2003. Mr Hoh has over 25 years of working experience in accounting and financial management with extensive regional exposure. He has worked in Malaysia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China and Singapore.