SINGAPORE — Seven months after her move to join technology and ride-hailing company Grab Singapore sparked controversy, Member of Parliament (MP) for MacPherson Single Member Constituency Tin Pei Ling announced on Thursday (Aug 17) that she is leaving the firm for a financial tech (fintech) company.

Writing on professional networking platform LinkedIn, Ms Tin said that she “bids farewell” this week to her colleagues and her corporate development role at Grab and will take on “a more external-facing and commercial role in the tech-sector”. 

She said that she would be joining “an aspiring fintech company that aims to pioneer innovative advancements in the payment industry” on Oct 1, adding that her role would be a leadership one in strategic business development. 

“I am excited that this new role will give me the opportunity to support the company’s product innovation efforts and expansion into key Asia-Pacific markets,” she wrote.

She added that she will share more details after she starts her new job. 

Ms Tin declined to comment when contacted by TODAY.

INITIAL CONCERNS ABOUT CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Ms Tin’s initial appointment at Grab as director of public affairs and policy in January prompted questions from the public about a possible conflict of interest with her role as MP, before Grab announced in February that she would transfer to be director of corporate development instead. 

The role involved “realising synergies across our investments and acquisitions, as well as supporting strategy development”, Grab said in a statement then.

“I understand and have long come to accept the public scrutiny that comes with being an MP. But I would never want it to hinder my ability to serve my constituents well as MP, or to do my job at Grab effectively,” Ms Tin wrote in a Facebook post that month.

She had first described taking up her initial position director of public affairs and policy as an opportunity to broaden her horizons, hone new skills and “make a contribution in a different way”, a point she reiterated in her LinkedIn post on Thursday.

Before taking on the job at Grab, she had been the chief executive officer at Business China, a non-profit dedicated to cultivating Singapore-China relations.

Before that, she was the group director of corporate strategy of Jing King Tech Holdings — a fintech company now known as Adera Global — and a business and management consultant at Ernst and Young Advisory.

An MP since 2011, she is currently the chairperson of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Communications and Information, and a member of the GPCs for Culture, Community and Youth, and Social and Family Development. 

MPs in Singapore are allowed to hold full-time jobs as well as executive, advisory and directorship positions. 

For instance, Mr Derrick Goh of Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) is the managing director and head of group audit at DBS bank, and also a member of the GPC for Finance and GPC for Trade and Industry. 

Mr Ang Wei Neng of West Coast GRC is the president of SMRT Corporation's subsidiary Strides Mobility Services, and is also a member of the GPC for Health and GPC for Transport.