Mr Kum Soh Har Michael is the Executive Chairman of the M&L Hospitality Group and Non-Executive Chairman of the M&L Manager Board. He is responsible for the overall direction of the M&L Hospitality Group, including devising the corporate and business strategies and plans of M&L Hospitality.

Mr Kum obtained a Certificate in Higher Commercial Law and Higher Costing (Cost Accounting) from the London Chamber of Commerce in 1966. He started his career in 1969 as the Finance and Administration Manager for Marine Charters (Singapore) Pte Ltd. He was subsequently appointed to the Board of Marine Charters (S) Pte Ltd in 1972 and continued his service in that position until 1975, when he resigned to establish Marine Equipment Pte Ltd, an offshore support vessel owning company.

In 1976, Michael Kum co-founded Offshore Equipment Pte Ltd to charter offshore support vessels and barges to the oil and gas exploration, development and production industry in the Middle East and South East Asia. Mr Kum was responsible for the development and expansion of Offshore Equipment Pte Ltd. By 1994, under Mr Kum’s leadership, Miclyn Holdings Pte Ltd, the holding company of Offshore Equipment Pte. Ltd, owned 10 offshore support vessels and barges. Miclyn Holdings Pte Ltd expanded its operations over time, and was consolidated and renamed Miclyn Offshore Pte Ltd (“Miclyn Offshore”) in 2004.

In 2005, Mr Kum spearheaded the strategic acquisition of a shipyard in Batam, Indonesia and in 2006, led the expansion of Miclyn Offshore to India. Mr Kum was an Executive Director in Miclyn Express Offshore (“MEO”) from 2007 to 2009, the new entity set up pursuant to the partial sale of Miclyn Offshore and its group of companies to a financial institution. In 2009, Mr Kum set up Grandline International Limited for investment holding purposes, with a focus on real estate hospitality investments. M&L Hospitality is wholly owned by Grandline International Limited.

Mr Kum has been instrumental in spearheading the growth and development of Grandline International Limited and its related entities in the real estate hospitality sector. Since 2009, under Mr Kum’s leadership, the M&L Hospitality Group has become a major hotel owner with properties across Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Ms Kum has been instrumental in spearheading the growth and development of Grandline International Limited and its related entities in the real estate hospitality sector. Since 2009, under Ms Kum’s leadership, the M&L Group has become a major hotel owner with properties across Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Prior to this, Ms Kum was the Chief Commercial Officer of Miclyn Express Offshore (“MEO”), a shipping company which charters offshore support vessels and barges to the offshore oil and gas exploration, development and production industry in the Middle East and Asia Pacific. In her role as Chief Commercial Officer she was responsible for all the commercial activities of MEO. She was also on the board of directors of MEO. MEO was the new entity formed pursuant to the partial sale of Miclyn Offshore and its group of companies to a financial institution.

From 2004 to 2007, Ms Kum was the Corporate Development Manager of Miclyn Offshore and was responsible for strategic planning and identifying potential mergers and acquisitions. She was integral in devising and executing the overall strategy of the group.

From 1994 to May 2004, Ms Kum worked in various banks and investment firms in equity capital markets transactions and corporate advisory roles based in Hong Kong and Singapore including Credit Lyonnais (Hong Kong) Limited, Nomura International (Hong Kong) Limited and CLSA Equity Capital Markets Limited.

Ms Kum obtained her Bachelor of Business majoring in Accounting from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, in 1994.

Mr Michael Perry is a Chartered Accountant and Independent Director of the M&L Manager Board. Mr Perry was a Senior Audit and Advisory Partner at EY, Australia.

He graduated in 1972 from the University of Melbourne with a degree in Bachelor of Commerce and joined the audit division of Arthur Andersen Melbourne. He was admitted to the global partnership in 1985 and transferred to the firm’s Brisbane office one year later. In 1991, Mr Perry returned to the Melbourne office. On the absorption of Arthur Andersen by Ernst & Young in 2002, Mr Perry was a Senior Partner.

Mr Perry has extensive experience in financial consulting services with specialist skills in auditing, business and financial advice, both within the corporate and government sectors. He has acted for clients engaging in a wide range of corporate transactions which include initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, valuations, debt raising and corporate financing. Mr Perry has extensive experience in structural issues within the property development, construction, investment and fund management industries, as well as hotel casino and gaming operations. During his 23 years as a partner at the Audit and Advisory firms, Mr Perry was the engagement partner responsible for the provision of audit and financial services of several large property trusts and REITs, and hotels in Australia.

Currently he is a Director of the Copland Foundation. He has recently retired as the Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Victorian Government’s Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. Earlier appointments included Director and Chair of Audit and Risk Committees for the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, Museums Victoria and the Commonwealth Government’s Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Agency.

Mr Ajaib Hari Dass is the Lead Independent Director of the M&L Manager Board. Currently, Mr Hari Dass is a consultant of Haridass Ho & Partners, a law firm in Singapore which he co-founded.

Graduating from the University of London in 1974 with an honours degree in law, he was admitted as a Barrister-At-Law, Middle Temple in 1975. He has more than 46 years of legal experience and specialises in shipping and admiralty matters, both litigious and non-litigious matters as well as matters relating to ship sale and purchase, ship financing and commodity based transactions. He has acted as counsel in corporate and professional negligence claims. On the admiralty/shipping front, he handles marine insurance claims, collision claims, salvage and cargo claims, oil pollution and bunker supply disputes, charterparty disputes, bills of lading, towage and shipbuilding/construction disputes. He also has an active practice in international sale of goods, commercial and banking litigation.

Besides litigation work, Mr Hari Dass also has experience in arbitration and mediation work. He is an accredited mediator of the Singapore Mediation Centre (“SMC”)and also a panel member of arbitrators of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) and the Chamber of Maritime Arbitration (“SCMA”). He is also a Senior Accredited Specialist (Maritime & Shipping) with the Singapore Academy of Law as well as a member of the MPA National Maritime Safety at Sea Council.

He had served as a Magistrate of the Subordinate Courts of Singapore as well as a Referee of the Small Claims Tribunal, Subordinate Courts of Singapore. He had also served for many years as a Justice of the Peace, Singapore.

Mr Hari Dass is also a Lead Independent Director of Sembcorp Industries Ltd, Nam Cheong Limited and Mertis Energy Limited, all listed companies in Singapore.  He is also a director of Singapore LNG Corporation Pte Ltd.

Mr Gwee Lian Kheng is an Independent Director of the M&L Manager Board. He is currently the Lead Independent Director, Chairman of the Audit Committee and the Nominating Committee, and a member of the Remuneration Committee of Atlantic Navigation Holdings (Singapore) Limited listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

Mr Gwee was the Group Chief Executive and Executive Director of UOL Group Limited, one of Singapore’s leading public-listed property companies. He has served the UOL Group for more than 45 years prior to his retirement on 31 January 2019. Mr Gwee was also the Non-Executive Director of United Industrial Corporation Limited until his resignation on 25 April 2019.

Mr Gwee is an accountant by profession and is a fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (United Kingdom), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (United Kingdom) and the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants. He graduated with a Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) from the University of Singapore in 1970.

Mr Gwee received the Asia Pacific Hotelier of the Year Award in 2003 and the Hotel Legends Hall of Fame Award at the 11th Australian New Zealand Pacific Hotel Industry Conference in 2011. He was awarded the Pingat Bakti Masyarakat (PBM) Public Service Medal and the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (BBM) Public Service Star in 1994 and 2002 respectively.