TaFF Council 2020/2022
Office-Bearers
Wilson Teo
TaFF President
Executive director of TEO Holdings Pte Ltd, a privately-owned investments holding company based in Singapore. Its group of companies are in the business of real estate, apparel manufacturing, trading and outsourcing as well as brand development for wholesale, retail and distribution in the baby products industry. The group’s investments are focused in Asia Pacific, with presence in Australia, China, Cambodia, Malaysia, India and Vietnam.
John Lee
TaFF Vice-President
John is the CEO of the Lee Yin Group of Companies. Lee Yin was founded in 1974 and he joined the company in 1988 as an Engineer. Currently, the group operates several factories in Indonesia and manufacture and export a range of apparels for leading brands around the world.
With engineering and marketing training, John has taken on technical, production, business development roles over the years and has a keen interest in Industry 4.0 development. He is actively involved in industrial engineering projects to elevate the group’s ODM capabilities to excel in the industry.
Lee Yin also operates a retail chain in the region by the name of COLDWEAR specializing in travel wear and accessories and John successfully spearheaded the expansion into Indonesia. COLDWEAR operates 10+ outlets in Singapore and Indonesia in major shopping malls.
Carolyn Kan
Honorary Secretary
Carolyn Kan is the founder and designer of artisan jewellery brand Carrie K. Besides Carrie K., Carolyn is also involved in programmes with Lasalle College of the Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. She is also the co-founder of Keepers, a collective of Singaporean independent designers, artists and craftsmen who come together to showcase their craft in rotational thematic installations.
Roger Yuen
Honorary Treasurer
Roger is the CEO & founder of Clozette, an omni-channel platform that enables brands to engage with the new consumer through a full suite of content-centric digital marketing solutions powered by a network of creators and influencers that spans over 700 million combined followers in South East Asia.He is also the chairman & co-founder of Visenze, an AI company that powers visual commerce at scale for retailers and publishers; and the co-founder of 6Estates that provides AI-driven real-time, actionable intelligence focused on the finance industry.
Ordinary Council Members
Nelson Yap
Council Member
Nelson Yap, is the founder and Chief Executive of Benjamin Barker. The brand has 10 retail outlets in Singapore and retails in Overseas countries like Australia and Cambodia. He studied at the University of Melbourne and graduated with Bachelor’s degree in Creative arts, Cinematography and Film/Video Production.
Felicia Gan
Council Member
Ms Gan began her career at GLG as a Legal Officer where she was assigned the task of leading the legal compliance office. She is now responsible for the overall management of the Sales & Marketing Teams and the Product, Development and Design department.
She builds, direct and drives the annual strategic sales and marketing plan to achieve results in sales, market penetration, day to day operations, customer relationships and order fulfilment. In addition, Ms Gan plans and implements marketing strategies to identify and develop new customers and business opportunities on a global scale.
Nicole van der Elst Desai
Council Member
Nicole van der Elst Desai’s 20 years of experience in the textile and apparel Industry come from working for brands and retailers as well as for their manufacturing partners. She is a valued expert in the field of textile technology innovation and sustainability.
VDE Consultancy is also the implementation partner for Circular Leap Asia (CLA), a programme by Forum for the Future. CLA empowers apparel manufacturers across Asia to fast-track solutions towards a circular economy.
Associate Council Members
Dro Tan, PhD
Associate Council Member
Dro Tan is Matex’s Executive Director since 2010. He is responsible for the group’s business, branding projects, and product innovation and development. He is also actively involved in the group’s diversification projects, to complement core businesses. Prior to Matex, Dro was with architectural firms in Seoul, Korea and Singapore. As Vice President of International Affairs at the Textile and Fashion Federation Singapore (TAFF) and an Academic and Examination Board Member of the Textile and Fashion Industry Training Centre (TaF.tc), he works closely with respective stakeholders to help develop and grow the Singapore textile and fashion Industry and its members globally. Dro graduated with a Masters in Architecture and Minor in Technopreneurship from the National University of Singapore, focusing on the global study and development of sustainable suburban communities.
Sonja Prokopec, PhD
Sonja Prokopec, PhD
Associate Council Member
Prof. Sonja Prokopec was named one of the Top 40 under 40 Business School Professors worldwide in 2015 (Poets&Quants ranking). Her research explores consumer judgment and decision-making. She is also interested in understanding the factors that affect brand perceptions of luxury brands.
Her research has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and International Journal of Research in Marketing among others, as well as a variety of media including the Huffington Post, the Business of Fashion and the Business Times Singapore.
Outside of teaching and research, she actively advises companies from the luxury and automotive industry in regard to consumer behaviour trends, consumer research and marketing and brand management issues.
Prof. Prokopec received her PhD in Marketing from University of Houston in 2007.
Wu Ying Fang
Wu Ying Fang
Associate Council Member
Wu Ying Fang is the Founder and Director of Fu Yuan International Holdings Pte Limited. In 2014-2015, she set up an International trade hub and consolidation center namely: Missy Fashion, T& , Snow Coase, Natural Textile, Brother fortune these 5 companies to cater to different market segment and demands.
Esther Huang
Esther Huang
Associate Council Member
Esther is currently Head of Digital and Experience design for National Gallery Singapore. An experienced professional with over a decade’s experience, she has driven numerous first-to-market and high-impact strategic projects in key markets such as China, Singapore and Australia.
Some of her significant achievements include end-to-end transformation projects in complex retail ecosystems, often including multiple disciplines such as digital innovation, marketing, design and real estate.
TaFF Advisors
Mark Lee
CEO, Sing Lun Holdings Pte Ltd
Mark is the Chief Executive Officer of Sing Lun Holdings Pte Ltd, a privately-owned enterprise, across a diverse range of business interests worldwide. The Group’s key business interests include Industries, Investments and Real Estate, and was awarded the EY-Standard Chartered Family Business Award of Excellence in 2018.
In recognition for his entrepreneur spirit, Mr. Lee was awarded “Most Outstanding Entrepreneur” during the Asia Pacific Entrepreneur Awards 2010 in Singapore. He is also the winner of the prestigious Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the Year (Manufacturing) 2015. In 2016, Mr Lee was also one of 30 members of the Committee for Future Economy (CFE) setup by Prime Minister in 2016 to position Singapore well for the future.
Chiang Loo Fern
Managing Director, CYC Company Pte Ltd
Loo Fern is the Managing Director of CYC. She is the third generation successor of a local 85-year old tailoring company.
In 1935, the inaugural CYC store opened, making them the first in the city to offer custom-made shirts. Over time CYC expanded within the city as well as to other locations such as Indonesia and Malaysia. It flagship store in Capitol Piazza features a giant interactive screen, allowing customers to enter the world of tailoring without having to step into the store. Customers can choose their favourite fabric from the screen, customising all kinds of styles, such as collar style, sleeve length, as well as viewing the model from different angles, pairing it with trousers of various fabrics.
P Balachandran
P Balachandran
Honorary Legal Counsel
P Balachandran began professional practice as a litigator in 1978 mainly in company, banking, contract, construction and engineering disputes. He broadened his experience by working for an English magic circle firm in London and Hong Kong. His main areas of work are litigation & arbitration, giving advice and drafting agreements for cross-border transactions, construction & engineering projects, infocomm technology transactions, commercial transactions and advising foreign companies operating in the ASEAN region. His arbitration experience is both as counsel and arbitrator. As Counsel, he has represented foreign companies in arbitrations involving construction and engineering projects, mining and commercial matters in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Thailand and Taiwan.
Hock Yun Khoong
Hock Yun Khoong
Honorary Digitalisation Officer
Khoong Hock Yun, a Harvard Business School alumnus, is Managing Partner (Block Chain Fund 1 and 2) at Tembusu Partners, and a Founding Board Member of the Klaytn Foundation.
He was the Chief Digital Evangelist and Assistant Chief Executive Officer heading the Development portfolio at the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore. He helped Singapore grow its ICT industrial revenue from S$20B in 2000 to $70B in 2015.
Mr Khoong is a Senior Member as well as member of the Engineering Accreditation Board (EAB) of the Institution of Engineers (Singapore), and a Fellow as well as member of the Executive Committee of the Singapore Computer Society (SCS).