Tin Pei Ling joining Grab Singapore: MP responds to conflict of interest queries, says ‘will be transparent, above board’
SINGAPORE — Member of Parliament (MP) Tin Pei Ling has addressed questions over a possible conflict of interest after she recently took up a job as director of public affairs and policy at ride-hailing giant Grab Singapore.

Ms Tin Pei Ling (pictured), Member of Parliament for MacPherson constituency, said there is a "clear and mutual understanding" that her role as a parliamentarian is distinct from her job role at Grab Singapore.
SINGAPORE — Member of Parliament (MP) Tin Pei Ling has addressed questions over a possible conflict of interest after she recently took up a job as director of public affairs and policy at ride-hailing giant Grab Singapore.
In a LinkedIn post on Thursday (Feb 2), Ms Tin, 39, said that there is a "clear and mutual understanding" that the two roles are distinct from each other.
In the post, she confirmed that she had taken up the new job at Grab, describing the position as an opportunity to broaden her horizons, hone new skills and "make a contribution in a different way".
On Wednesday, Grab confirmed her employment, adding that she will "build partnerships and programmes to harness the positive potential of technology to create impact in Singapore".
This came after The Straits Times reported on Ms Tin's new role, saying that she had been spotted at Grab's Chinese New Year lunch for its ride-hailing drivers.
In response to the news, social media users raised questions over whether Ms Tin holding the two positions could result in a conflict of interests.
The phrase "conflict of interests" in this context would usually refer to a hypothetical scenario when one job might require a person to do one thing, but the other job might call for a different response.
Ms Tin, who is MP for MacPherson constituency, said in her post: "There is a clear and mutual understanding that my role as a parliamentarian is distinct from my role at Grab.
"The company has established clear rules of engagement to ensure that any possible conflict of interest will be properly declared and avoided."
She added: "Likewise, the People's Action Party (PAP) has a published set of rules of prudence, as well as mechanisms in place for declarations of interest and the avoidance of conflicting interests."
She is "absolutely clear" that her constituents and Singapore come first while she is discharging her duties as an MP, and that Grab's interests have to be safeguarded when she is working on behalf of the company.
"As to which capacity I represent at any time: I will be transparent and above board," Ms Tin said.
"I look forward to continue contributing to the development of Singapore’s digital economy, and also growing as an individual."
Ms Tin was elected to Parliament in 2011. The PAP member is also the chairperson of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Communications and Information, and a member of the GPC for Culture, Community and Youth.
Since May 2018 and prior to taking on the job at Grab, she had been the chief executive officer at Business China, a non-profit dedicated to cultivating Singapore-China relationships.
Before that, she was the group director of corporate strategy of Jing King Tech Holdings — a financial technology company now known as Adera Global — and a business and management consultant at Ernst and Young Advisory.