Arts House Limited CEO Lee Chor Lin resigns

SINGAPORE — Lee Chor Lin, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Arts House Limited, made news over the weekend following her resignation after three years with the organisation. Arts House Limited released an official statement yesterday afternoon confirming her departure in December this year after local media caught wind of her leaving the organisation.

Since 2013, Lee, 54, has been Chief Executive Officer of Arts House Limited, a company that operates the Singapore International Festival of Arts as well as three arts centres – The Arts House, Goodman Arts Centre in Mountbatten and Aliwal Arts Centre – helping to revamp and restructure these key assets, owned by Singapore’s National Arts Council.

Amidst rumours that Lee stepped down due to differences with the board, the board of Arts House Limited clarified the situation in a statement this morning: “The Board thanks Chor Lin and the Management team for setting up Arts House Limited in 2014 and ensuring the smooth transition of the merged entity (Arts Festival Limited and The Old Parliament House Limited). The Board is also grateful for her breathing creativity and new life into the venues AHL manages. Singapore International Festival of Arts over the last three years has also benefitted from her leadership. Chor Lin has set the foundation of AHL’s next phase of growth, and the organisation will build on this foundation.”

Lee’s time at the Arts House Limited has been a bumpy ride. In March 2014, she was involved in a public spat with Singapore International Festival of Arts artistic director Ong Keng Sen, who accused Lee of “hijacking” the festival In Jan 2015, Arts House director William Phuan resigned after almost six years at the helm and Lee was to take on a more prominent role in the Arts House’s activities.

Lee did not respond to TODAY’s queries but has earlier stated that she has “finished what I have set out to do and it’s time to go. It might seem like a short time, but I’ve done a lot of things and given the company a good foundation.”

A few members of the arts community feel differently. Nominated Member of Parliament for the arts Kok Heng Leun shared, “It would be better that the leadership could have stayed at the institution for longer so that the direction of the leadership could have a longer time to take shape and its impact to be felt more deeply.”

“It (Lee’s departure) saddens me. Good arts administrators at that level are hard to come by. I hope we do not lose her to some other country. It would be a crying shame,” added Alvin Tan, founder and director of The Necessary Stage.