Mr Lim Siong Guan has been a Professor of Practice in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, instructing on leadership and change management. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Singapore Civil Service College. Siong Guan was the Group President of GIC from 2007 to 2016. GIC is the fund manager for the foreign financial reserves of Singapore. He was the Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board from 2006 to 2009. The Board is the Singapore government’s lead agency for planning and executing strategies to enhance Singapore’s position as a global business centre. Siong Guan served 37 years in the Singapore Civil Service, from 1969 to 2006. He was the Head of the Singapore Civil Service from 1999 to 2005. He has been the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence (1981-1994), the Prime Minister’s Office (1994-1998), the Ministry of Education (1997-1999) and the Ministry of Finance (1998-2006).
He was the first Principal Private Secretary to then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew from 1978 to 1981. In every appointment, he introduced innovative policies and practices which enhanced the drive, capacity, capability and performance of the organization. Siong Guan has co-authored two books with Joanne H. Lim. The first was “The Leader, The Teacher & You – Leadership Through the Third Generation,” a book on leadership and national governance. It won the Singapore Literature Prize for non-fiction in 2014. The second was "Winning with Honour in Relationships, Family, Organisations, Leadership, and Life,” a book on winning in life and work. He has authored a third book, “Can Singapore Fall? Making the Future for Singapore,” based on three public lectures he delivered as the fourth S R Nathan Fellow for the Study of Singapore. Siong Guan is the founder chairman of Honour (Singapore), a charity that seeks to promote the culture of honour and honouring for the well-being of Singapore. He is also the lead independent director of Wilmar International Ltd., a leading agri company in Asia and Africa, and a Senior Advisor to Insignia Ventures Partners, an early-stage technology venture capital firm focused on building great companies in Southeast Asia.