COUNCIL MEMBERS 2022/2024

Dr. Timothy Hsi
President
Founder of Abundanz Consulting
ABOUT ME
Ever since 1997, I’ve been involved in various roles that allowed me to live my mission “helping people reach their potential”. Today, I am in the sweet spot where I continue to provide therapy and coaching to individuals, while leveraging on my knowledge and skills as an educator and working to inspire a whole new generation of helping practitioners, both in Singapore and Australia.
SPECIALISES IN ...
Psychotherapy, Career Practice, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Higher Education
FUN FACT!
Tim lives in Adelaide and he describes himself as an occasional extrovert who enjoys online window shopping and reading through the regular catalogues from Coles, Woolies and Aldi in his mailbox.
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Chong Kum Hong
Vice President
Founder of IAM.SG
(Optimises Human Capital)
ABOUT ME
Over 30 years of significant corporate experience and a wide network of many MNC, SME and Corporate level leaders across the Asia Pacific region. Passionate in helping people to optimise their human capital resource development and businesses in Singapore and in the Asia-Pacific region.
SPECIALISES IN ...
Entrepreneurship, Training, Career Coaching & Education Consultancy, Special Events Management, Sales & Digital Marketing, Motivation Speaker, Business Development, Corporate Social Responsibility projects.
FUN FACT!
-
Appointed RC Vice Chairman & Grassroots leader
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NGO Chairman of Myanmar Committee for livelihood and outreach for social concern programmes
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Education Consultant and Professional Career Development Coach providing training for aspiring professional chefs and food entrepreneurs

Ivan Choong
Secretary,
Collaborations & Partnerships
ABOUT ME
I transited from Engineering -> Management Consultant -> Career Educator.
A strong believer in taking charge of your own career pathway/life. “Not how hard you fall
but how fast you bounce back”. Believe in Happenstance and how to turn “negative”
situation to a “positive” situation suitable for one.
SPECIALISES IN ...
Engineering knowledge, Data Analytics, Career Coaching, Management Consulting, Strategy (Balance Scorecard)
FUN FACT!
- Completed my first full marathon at age 40 with a timing of 4hr 50mins
- Dragon boater, soccer player

Irene Teh
Treasurer
ABOUT ME
I enjoy helping people grow. From the dynamics of individualised coaching to championing cohort-wide programmes, people's learning and development have been a key theme in my life. I am thankful for the privilege of being part of the journey of over four thousand cross-cultural individuals.
SPECIALISES IN ...
Career Discovery and Planning, Job Search Skills, Continuous Learning (upskilling or reskilling)
FUN FACT!
I am a phone card collector and like playing with Lego.

Dr. Ricky Tang
Council member
Affiliation with Republic Polytechnic and Workforce Singapore
ABOUT ME
Hailing as an international educator and expatriate manager in my earlier career life, I transformed myself and spent more than 17 years in career counselling and education as my second career. My current focus is on training of and providing clinical supervision for career practitioners.
SPECIALISES IN ...
Eclectic Counselling for Careers and Harmonious life, International Education, International HRM
FUN FACT!
My No.1 and No.2 hobby “is” making models like battleships, fighters, tanks… and Gundam.
My No.3 interest is cooking by following my Mum’s Hakka and Cantonese style.
Besides, I am a dog lover but have not owned a dog since my beloved Bobby was run over by a truck many years ago.

Samantha Ng
Council member
Founder of Becoming Irreplaceable
ABOUT ME:
If there is one thing you need to know about me, I belive that Education can transform lives. Over the past decade, I have worked with thousands professionals in Singapore and in Asia on personal & career development. I am on my way to my one million mark.
SPECIALISES IN ...
Career trends, Career softskills, Career wellness, Communication, Personal Branding, Entrepreneurship
FUN FACT!
I crossed the Gobi Desert in 4 days 3 nights on foot clocking a distance of 108km!
CDAS Council Duties:
2022 - Council Member (Social Media & Outreach, Collaborations & Partnerships)
2023 - Council Member (Memberships, Collaborations & Partnerships)

David Lai
Council member (IT)
ABOUT ME
A firm believer in continuous learning and upskilling as the saying “You don’t know what you don’t know”. I have the opportunities to perform various roles in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industries for the past 30 years, leading cross-culture project teams in delivering enterprise and national systems across different countries.
A career switch into the Lead Career Manager role back in 2017 and Practice Lead for Business Systems Analysis (BSA) practice. I am passionate on working with younger colleagues to groom and empower them to explore their full career potentials.
SPECIALISES IN ...
Project Management, Leadership, Bringing Awareness on new National ICT trends, Self-awareness, Mentoring and Identifying Learning Opportunities and Career Developments.
FUN FACT!
Nickname “Uncle David” because involved in coaching and mentoring more than 1500+ younger colleagues in various programmes and treat all of them as nieces and nephews.

Shirley Tham
Council member
(Continued Professional Development)
ABOUT ME
A firm believer in the formula: “Success = Opportunities + Preparation”,
I delight in helping others maximise their potential via understanding themselves and creating opportunities for development and greater career satisfaction. Certified MBTI and SII instructor.
SPECIALISES IN ...
Setting Strategy for Self-Development and preparing for Career next steps; discovering Human Potential, applying soft skills for work and study, Communication, Learning Principles
FUN FACT!
Changed career twice:
(1) becoming an educator after volunteering as a docent in Singapore Zoo’s reptile house
(2) transiting to a career coach role thanks to a contact from a training opportunity as an educator. Talk about one thing leading to another!

Irene Teh
Treasurer
ABOUT ME
I enjoy helping people grow. From the dynamics of individualised coaching to championing cohort-wide programmes, people's learning and development have been a key theme in my life. I am thankful for the privilege of being part of the journey of over four thousand cross-cultural individuals.
SPECIALISES IN ...
Career Discovery and Planning, Job Search Skills, Continuous Learning (upskilling or reskilling)
FUN FACT!
I am a phone card collector and like playing with Lego.

Nicole Lum
Council member
ABOUT ME
Started out my journey in HR, stepping on the traditional pathway of human resources administration, I have since grown into a people manager. Exploring and navigating through the various portfolio of human resources, I developed an extreme empathy for people and a thirst to know people on a deeper level. A certified career counsellor, I seek to know and work with people on a professional level, as well as a personal one.
SPECIALISES IN ...
Career Coaching, Counseling Psychology, Mindfulness Teaching, Human Resources Management, HR Business Partnering, Recruitment, Employee Relations
FUN FACT!
A certified fengshui learner and a certified mindfulness teacher, sometimes my friends say I'm living in another world inside my mind!