Chen Xizhong
Executive Chairman
Chen Xizhong was appointed to our Board on 26 December 2007. He is the founder
of our Group and is responsible for the strategic development of our Group. Chen
Xizhong has over 20 years of experience in the backpack industry. He joined the
Huian Leather Company, a state owned enterprise engaged in the manufacturing
of backpacks in 1982 as an apprentice and was eventually promoted to the head of
the sales department of Huian Leather Company. He left Huian Leather Company in
December 1994 and went on to work in Dabao in 1995 and was subsequently made
the executive director. After gaining much expertise, Chen Xizhong incorporated
Dapai in April 2003. He has been in charge and responsible for Dapai’s daily
operations and was eventually made the executive director of Dapai, a position
which he still holds today.
Chen Xizhong graduated from Fujian Huian Province Number One Secondary
School in 1980 with a certificate in Business. Throughout his years in the backpack
industry, he has won many awards such as “Chinese Entrepreneur Figures of the
year 2000”. He has also assumed leadership positions in a number of various
organisations in China such as the Vice- Chairman of Quanzhou Fengze North
Street Federation of Overseas Chinese Citizens since 2004, and Vice-Chairman
of Quanzhou Sino-Foreign Enterprise Society since 2007. Chen Xizhong is also a
member of various other associations in China such as being a committee member
of the 12th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference of Huian County in
2006.
Chen Xizhong is the father of our CEO, Chen Yong and our Sales and Marketing
Manager, Chen Yi.
Chen Yong
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer
Chen Yong was appointed to our Board on 26 December 2007. He is responsible for
the strategic development, the overall management and the sales and marketing
of our Group. Chen Yong joined our Group’s sales and marketing department in
August 2003. Although he only officially joined our Group in 2003, he had often
assisted his father, Chen Xizhong, in the daily operations of our Group since young.
Through his frequent involvement in our Group’s daily operatons since young,
coupled with the experience he had gained when he officially joined our Group,
he was made the assistant to the general manager of Dapai in 2004, the deputy
general manager of Dapai in 2005, and eventually, the general manager of Dapai
in 2006. Pursuant to the Restructuring Exercise, he was appointed the executive
director of Dapai (HK) and Dapai. He was awarded “Entrepreneur of the Year
2006” by the Luocheng Town Committee. Chen Yong graduated from King George
International College with a specialised diploma in Business in July 2003. Chen
Yong is the son of our Executive Chairman, Chen Xizhong and is also the brother of
our Sales and Marketing Manager, Chen Yi.
Wong Hung Khim
Lead Independent Director
Wong Hung Khim was appointed to our Board on 10 March 2008. Wong Hung
Khim holds an Honours Degree in Physics from the University of Singapore
and attended the Advanced Management Programme of Harvard Business
School in 1980. Wong Hung Khim was a senior civil servant, having served as an
Executive Director of the Port of Singapore Authority (“PSA”) from 1979 to 1987
and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Community Development in 1985.
In 1987, Wong Hung Khim was seconded to the Telecommunication Authority of
Singapore to re-structure and corporatise the statutory board. Upon restructuring
and corporatisation, Wong Hung Khim subsequenly became the first President
and Chief Executive Officer of SingTel. Wong Hung Khim was then seconded to be
the Chairman of Jurong Town Corporation (“JTC”) from 1993 to 1997. After 31 years
of distinguished service, Wong Hung Khim joined the private sector and became
the Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Delgro Corporation, a public
listed company which operated public transport in Singapore, the United Kingdom
and China. In recognition of its outstanding achievements in public service, Wong
Hung Khim was awarded by the President of Singapore, the Meritorious Service
Medal in 1992.Wong Hung Khim is also an Independent Director of Stamford Land
Corporation and Medi-Flex Limited.
Lim Kern
Independent Director
Lim Kern was appointed to our Board on 27 February 2008. Lim Kern has over 15
years of experience in the finance sector, particularly in the field of mergers and
acquisitions. From 1998 to 2003, Lim Kern was with General Electric Company
based in USA and assumed various roles in various locations such as Plant
Controller for GE STG Manufacturing and GE Global Supply Chain Finance in
Schenectady, NY; Mergers and Acquisitions Leader for GE Power Systems in
Atlanta; Global Acquisition advisor to Global CFO of Eastman Kodak Company in
Rochester, NY. From 2003 to 2006, Lim Kern was Chief Financial Officer of Eastman
Kodak for Asia Pacific Region of New York-based Eastman Kodak Company where
he was in charge of the overall financial aspects of the company’s operations in the
Greater Asia Pacific Region. Lim Kern is currently the Vice President of Finance of
The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel where he is responsible for the Four Seasons
Properties in Macau (Mall Management, Gaming, Hotel Ops). Lim Kern graduated
from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore in 1994 with a Bachelor
of Science in Financial & Management Accounting and went on to attend various
executive programs at prestigious business schools such as the Stanford Graduate
School of Business and the Graduate School of Business in Harvard University.
Sam Kok Yin
Independent Director
Sam Kok Yin was appointed to our Board on 27 February 2008. Sam Kok Yin
started his career as a practicing Advocate and Solicitor with Rajah & Tann in
2000. In 2003, he left to join Yeo Wee Kiong Law Corporation where he was made
a Director in 2004. He also headed the China Practice at Yeo Wee Kiong Law
Corporation until he left practice on 31 March 2007. His main areas of practice
included corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate work
and he had been involved in several initial public offerings, reverse takeovers,
investment deals and other capital markets related transactions. Sam Kok Yin
obtained his honours degree in law from the National University of Singapore in
2000 under an Overseas Union Bank scholarship. He was called to the Singapore
Bar in 2001. He was ranked in first position in the postgraduate Practical Law
Course organised by the Board of Legal Education and awarded the Aw Boon Haw
and Aw Boon Par Memorial Prize.
In 2004, Sam Kok Yin was appointed as a Singapore-China Young Business
Ambassador as part of a program organised by the Singapore International
Foundation and spent 10 weeks in Shanghai as part of the exchange program.
Sam Kok Yin is currently a director of Perennial Advisory Pte. Ltd., a company
involved in investments and financial consultancy. He is also an independent
director of China Sports International Limited, a China-based company listed on
the Exchange which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of sports shoes and
sports apparels.