Board of Directors
President - Gerald Lee
Mr Gerald Lee is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific at The Ascott Group Limited. He is responsible for driving and growing Ascott’s business, including business development, asset management and operations in the Asia Pacific region, overseeing Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Prior to this, Mr Lee has held senior management positions within Ascott, heading areas such as operations, brand and marketing as well as the Group’s business in Europe.
Before joining Ascott, Mr Lee was the Senior Vice President of Corporate Marketing at CapitaLand. Earlier, he was Singapore Tourism Board’s Assistant Chief Executive (Leisure). Mr Lee has also worked with Sentosa Development Corporation as Director Strategic Development, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Singapore.
Mr Lee is a Co-chair of the Singapore Tourism Consultative Council, and was also a board member of the National Heritage Board and the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Mr Lee graduated from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration in 1991.
Vice President - Shiow Yi Tsay
Shiow Yi joined Host in November 2008 as Vice President, Acquisitions, to drive origination, evaluation and execution of investment transactions for Host’s Asian joint venture with GIC.
Prior to Host, Shiow Yi spent 7 years with Banyan Tree’s corporate head office in Singapore and 2 years in Horwath’s Asia lodging practice. During her time with Banyan Tree, she was instrumental in launching the holding company’s public listing and overseas placement and led the transaction management team of its first private equity fund, Banyan Tree Indochina Hospitality Fund. She was also responsible for evaluation and executing investment opportunities for the fund as well as other non-fund investment projects, and worked on projects in over 25 locations in Asia. While at Horwath, Shiow Yi worked on market feasibility studies, hotel industry operational studies, and valuations in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Cambodia.
Shiow Yi has a Bachelor of Science with Distinction from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and graduated as a Salutatorian with Distinction from "Les Roches", Hotel Management School Switzerland. Besides fluent in Mandarin, Shiow Yi speaks 2 Chinese dialects and is able to read and write both simplified and traditional Chinese. She is also conversant in both Japanese and French. Active in the Singapore Chapter of the Cornell Hotel Society since 1999, Shiow Yi is recently nominated as Vice President of the Chapter.
Secretary - Jonas Ogren
Based in Singapore, Jonas is responsible for the expansion of STR Global in Asia, bringing hotel benchmarking and industry statistics to new heights in the region. Prior to his current position at STR, he was part of Horwath HTL’s team of hospitality consultants where his work included feasibility studies, valuations, master planning, and strategic brand expansion studies.
Before moving to Singapore, Jonas was based on the island of Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands where he held the position of Managing Director of the Marianas Tourism Authority responsible for all marketing and destination management efforts. He was engaged in a wide variety of economic and tourism development initiatives in the region including a seat on the board of PATA.
With over 15 years of industry experience, including management positions in human resources, food & beverage, and sales & marketing, Jonas has developed a comprehensive background and extensive expertise in the region’s hotel and tourism industries.
Treasurer - William Ng
William Ng is the Executive Director of Furama Ltd. He has 20 years of hospitality experience and is responsible for diversifying and establishing a portfolio of hotels for the Furama group. William’s capability in the acquisition of hotels for Furama is treasured as he focuses on maximizing owners’ rate of return on investment, thus dictating his close involvement with the hotels’ operations, finance, human resources and sales & marketing functions.
William holds a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Honours) Degree. He enhanced his hotel professional education through Cornell’s General Manager Program in 1989, a Cornell University School of Hotel Administration program. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and a Certified Hotel Administrator of the American Hotel and Lodging Association. William serves as a Treasurer of the Cornell Hotelmen Society, Singapore Chapter.
Committee Member - Monika Dubaj
Leaving her native Poland at the age of seven to live in a small university town in Nigeria, West Africa was a turning point in Monika’s life, giving her a taste of international travel, hotels, discovery and adventure. Monika credits Nigeria with a rich and magical childhood, as well as the gift of near native fluency in the English language, which was pivotal in expanding the limits of her world.
As a high school student in Poland, Monika won the National English Language Olympiad. The first prize, a trip to the USA, was a dream come true for a teenage girl living between Moscow and the Berlin Wall. Monika spent the summer with a host family in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended classes at the Mark Twain Summer Institute. She went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree at Washington University in St. Louis, followed by a Master’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.
Monika now lives in Singapore, where she is Vice President – Development for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. She has also held acquisition and development roles with Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific, and has extensive hospitality consulting expertise gained with Arthur Andersen/Ernst & Young.
Outside of the corporate world, Monika has worked in the government sector and has been involved in the development of hospitality education institutions in Laos and Australia. Monika is also an avid sportswoman and a competitive windsurfer, swimmer and tri-athlete.
Committee Member - Michelle Ho
Michelle is originally from Macau and graduated from the Hotel School in 2005 where she was actively involved in Hotel Ezra Cornell and as a Teaching Assistant. After spending 2 years in Hong Kong with Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group post-graduation, she decided to move to Singapore to purse an opportunity with Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts. While in Hong Kong, Michelle served on the CHS, Hong Kong Chapter board as VP. She is looking forward to enlivening the CHS, Singapore Chapter with fun events in the months to come!
Committee Member - Andrea Quach
Andrea Quach graduated from the Hotel School in May 2007. She is originally from New York City, but has lived in Singapore for the last two years. She is currently working with Intercontinental Hotels Groups in their APAC corporate office as part of their Consumer Insights team. Andrea is excited to be working with CHS – Singapore Chapter and can’t wait for all the fun events that we will hold!
Committee Member - Richard Lee
Richard Lee is a Manager in the Acquisitions and Development group of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, managing a diverse portfolio of hotel and residential mixed use projects that span throughout the Asia-Pacific region. In this role, Richard manages the feasibility process, which includes financial analysis and forecasts, product positioning, and matching one of eight brands with a specific location and market.
Prior to this, Richard, a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California, managed tax compliance and consulting issues for real estate and venture capital clients, while employed at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Richard is a graduate of the MMH program, Class of 2008, with an emphasis on real estate finance and hospitality design and development. Prior to this degree he earned a B.S. in Business Administration at the University of California at Berkeley, with a concentration in Accounting and Global Management.
Committee Member - Shawn Tripp
Shawn graduated from Cornell University's Hotel School in 1997. He joined Anton Airfoods and managed restaurants in New York, Texas, Rhode Island and Ohio before returning home to Canada, where he spent the next four years at the ski resort town of Whistler, British Columbia, working at the renowned Nicklaus North Golf Course and then Val d'Isere, an award winning French Fine Dining restaurant.
He came to Singapore in 2003 to work at The Fullerton Hotel, then jonied The Cellar Door as General Manager for their Restaurant and Retail operations. Currently Shawn is teaching at Temasek Polytechnic as a lecturer in their Culinary and Catering Management diploma.
Shawn and his wife Nicole are the proud parents of a new baby boy, Graden.
