The Yin and Yang of Corporate Governance

Asked about his philosophy of corporate governance, Global Logistic Properties (GLP) non-executive chairman Seek Ngee Huat brings up the Chinese philosophical concepts of yin and yang. The Chinese speak of finding the right balance through opposite yet complementary forces. To him, corporate governance is a matter of not controlling too much, but setting a framework for managers to work within.”You want to set very high corporate governance standards. But at the same time, you don’t want to set it such that everybody is too scared to do everything,” said Dr Seek, who has a doctorate in urban research and was previously the president of GIC Real Estate. “You want to make sure there’s enough yang that staff and management are out there generating returns. But at the same time, you don’t want them to go wild about it.” At GLP, Dr Seek, 66, oversees a board of 10 directors where eight members, including himself, are independent.